Sunday: Go outside and play!

It’s June, fergawdsakes. Don’t you have geraniums to plant or beaches to go to? Why are you inside reading this blog when you could be outside making vitamin D and splashing in the pool?!

Ok, I know why you’re here. But I want to tell you that despite what happened yesterday, you have unbelievable power. You *are* the power brokers of 2008. That is what Hillary’s speech was all about yesterday. If you don’t believe me, read Anglachel’s most recent post, The Frontlines of Democracy.

We heard Hillary suspend her campaign yesterday but she did not concede a thing. She threw her support behind Obama but she set conditions on that support. Her business is the machinery of the party. Ours business is to see to it that Barry honors the principles of the party. That is our task.

Peeps, we are presented with a problem that has a number of givens and assumptions and only a few solutions. The givens are that Obama the Unready is the presumptuous nominee of the party. We have every right to expect the party to come to realize over the next couple of months that he is unelectable. I truly believe this. But for the moment, this is the person upon which all of their hopes and dreams rest.

We also know that he has gotten this far by flattering his supporters into thinking they are Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models with PhDs in Architecture. They are without equal. (Gag me with a spoon). But he will not win without us. Yes, Hillary wants us to unite behind him but uniting means different things to different people. To the Kossacks, it means capitulation. Alas, the Kossacks are every one of them deceived. True unity can only be accomplished when we all understand and agree to the principles under which we will unite.

We will yield not one inch. The party that many of us joined in our youth was one built on shared responsibility, equality, social justice, fiscal responsibility, a healthy planet, privacy and peace. Now, it is Barry’s turn to embrace these principles and demonstrate to us that he is assuming the leadership role of that Democratic party.

To unite means to become a true Democrat, to live those values and principles. It is our job to see that he does. If he does not meet our standards, he will not get our votes. And let us not get distracted by the overt sexism of this primary season. We are well aware of it. But appeasement on sexism without embracing the principles we hold dear will not achieve anything.

We must hold Barry’s feet to the fire and forge him into the Democrat we want. He has to prove himself to us. He has to bridge the divide and come to us.

Do not back down. Hold him to a higher standard and challenge him to meet it. Then, do as your conscience directs you on election day. You have the power.