Dragonette Talked Me Into It: I'm With Her (I Guess)

I have a number of issues with the slogan "I'm With Her". First, in a largely two-party system, almost everyone is either with the Blue Team or the Red Team. Hillary Clinton is currently with the Purple Team. Also, when you are trying to stop a Neo-Fascist Egomaniac from taking office in any capacity, millions are adding the silent "I Guess" to the end of the slogan. It also seems to be written to give women, the same women who are still not earning equal wages, the guilt trip about daring to vote for anyone other than a 'Her'. Let me be clear, it is long past time that women should have to justify voting for a not 'Her', particularly if the "Her" is a problematic candidate to say the least.

I have a brain that easily gets pulled in tangential thinking. It might start with an image or a voice, something I read, 10 steps later I find myself rushing to sample music the moment some random lyric comes to mind. You know what they say about those songs that get stuck in your head and drive you up one wall and down another. I know if I don't make a point of jotting it down, it may be lost again for a while. Today I caught a whisper of 'I Get Around' by Dragonette.

Dragonette hails from my hometown in Toronto, and have some brilliant electronic music. Their first studio album Galore lent itself to some of my favorite remixes. One in particular is featured below, a digital download remix by Australia's Midnight Juggernauts. The 2007 remix is pure pop and fun, but the song is actually about a woman who 'gets around', unapologetic and comfortable with her sexualtiy, but clearly suggests that she will "say yes when I ought to say no". All I can say is girl, you do you, be safe, you are my sister. I doubt Dragonette ever imagined that this particular song would inspire this response, or if they would even agree to my interpretation of it.

The lyrics that made me finally say "I'm With Her" (I guess) are all through this catchy tune. But in particular, the following;

The radio alarm clock is set for soon, I know your friends and you know mine too. You don't tell on me, I won't tell on you. I get around

Put a little lipstick back on my face. Blow a little kiss to you from the doorway. Walk the hall right past the staircase. Here I come when I better go.

I say "Yes" when I ought to say "No"

I say "Yes" when I ought to say "No"

I say "Yes"

I say "Yes"

I say "Yes"

I say "Yes"

I say "Yes"

Say "Yes"

Say "Yeah"

Allow me to explain. I am not an American citizen, I am not voting in your election, I can't. But if I could, if I had to face the reality of explaining to my child why America allowed Donald J. Trump to become President, I would go and get in line to cast my vote for "Not Donald Trump". Unfortunately, that means electing someone who hardly walks the walk of a Progressive Democrat. That is a hard call for those that do have a vote to cast.

Hillary Clinton, the time has come, the alarm clock is ticking. I know what nasty, unethical, and illegal things some of your 'friends' have done, and you know what the Progressives and Bernie supporters are willing to do to get the right people into office, those are my friends. If you screw Bernie Sanders over, there will be a revolution like you have never seen, if you do the right things by the American people, all of them, even the one who didn't fund your campaign, then we will give you a chance to prove us wrong. 

Historically, a woman putting on her lipstick was her way of saying "this woman is ready to face the world, bring it on". But lipstick isn't just for the gals anymore, anyone can work it. So I am ready to put on my metaphorical lipstick, my kiss from the doorway is my promise to never let Trump win this election if I have any power to stop him, my promise to future generations never to let this piece of history repeat itself.

So I say "Yes" to her I guess, just like in the song, when I ought to say no. When my heart isn't really with "Her", when my trust isn't with "Her" either. I say yes, yeah, I suppose. Because I do not believe Hillary Clinton is a psychopath, because I do not believe she is evil or a racist, and I do not believe every ridiculous conspiracy aimed at her by her Republican opponents. But I do believe she has been so focused on becoming the POTUS, particularly since her 2008 failure to secure the nomination, that she has used every legal and illegal loophole to fund her campaign and that her absolute resolve to become the Democratic Candidate has meant a huge slide towards a centrist agenda and willfully (with the help of 'friends') orchestrating the elimination of any challenger. This is well documented fact, as we learned from the Wikileaks bombshell last weekend, and can be seen in the way Clinton has funded her campaign. We all know where this is headed. So a song has talked me into putting on my big girl pants and fighting for 'Not Trump', which means I say "Yes" even when everything in my being is screaming "No". Wake me up when November comes.

Generativity Versus Stagnation: A Climate of Change

Being a Progressive isn't just about one person and one vote, it is about caring for your fellow humans, fighting for their rights too, and about leaving the world a better place for all our children. Today, after many tears and sheer exasperation, I decided to no longer share my opinions on the American election with my real world friends and family on my own Facebook page. Some people think that, as a Canadian, I should not be so invested in the American political dysfunction going on just south of our border. If you don't care, that is your choice. I care because the next four years of American environmental policy will affect each and every one of us, our children, and every generation to come, no matter what country or part of the world you are in.

Trump thinks climate change is a Hoax by the Chinese, Clinton thinks fracking is just fine and can be done safely in 'certain places'. Clearly there is no major American Political Party with an exclusive claim to stupid anymore. It's already too late to turn back the clock, entire species are going extinct, air is visibly polluted, sea levels are rising, oceans are being devastated by pollution and the bleaching of coral reefs, and wildfires are out of control in the US, Canada, and around the world. I could go on and on, but you get my point. We don't have another planet, another option other than immediate action, or a way get back all we have lost. If you think life is expensive now, imagine it when there is no more oil, no more coal, no more natural gas to be got, nothing clean and sustainable in place, and no petrochemicals to make the plastics and other elements so vital to the technology of today. We are striping the planet of more than fossil fuels, but also of rare minerals, metals, and materials that are finite elements. The refugees of Climate Change will far outnumber those from international conflict. Will we suddenly be better equipped to deal with an influx of people looking for higher ground, potable drinking water, and breathable air?

Go ahead and turn off your TV, don't read at the news, or treat it all as entertainment, but that doesn't mean this problem is going away. None of us wants to admit we have all been a party to what amounts to the rape of the planet, but the only thing worse than unwillingness to own our history is letting it go on while watching and saying nothing. I know that while my personal passion is wasted on even members of my own family, people I love but now clearly disagree with, it won't be a waste if even one person thinks a second time. If you are of retirement age and your only concern is lower taxes and the money you have worked your whole life to save for your retirement, I understand your motivations, but in 20-30 years your own grandchildren will be living on a dying planet unless you also care about climate change and environmental protection. Without a living wage they may never be able to afford to live independently, without affordable education they will never be able to reach their full potential, and without ongoing reform to the Health Care system, they may not even have access to the mental health care that too many of them already need.

This is not merely about American politics, this is about what we owe future generations. This is Erik Erikson's 'Generativity versus Stagnation' in a nutshell. As a nurse, I have been a student of Psychology for many years, Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages has made a large impact on me. According to Erikson, the seventh stage of development is about the virtue of Care. You either start to give back to the world and care about it's future, making it a better place, or you fail to find a way to contribute, withdraw, and likely disconnect from society as a whole. Future generations would ask for this if only they knew the facts, facts we feel are too disturbing to burden children with because they are too bleak. I hope you care enough about your own children and grandchildren to do the best you possibly can, in whatever way you find most meaningful, because that is the only way we as a society can move forward. I hold no ill will against anyone who wishes to unfriend me or block me, disagree with me or mock me, it's not my child you have to explain your action [or inaction] to, it is your own. Let's do it for them, our kids have no vote before the age of majority, so we must vote with them in mind.

Dear Bernie Sanders Supporters & Progressives Everywhere

Dear America,

As a Canadian looking on, let me first say that I adore Bernie Sanders, he is my conscious and my heart in human form, and it hurts to see that anyone would think he was such a threat to the Democrats and democracy that they had to stoop so low to undermine his campaign. They Democratic Party has destroyed itself, and that is not a bad thing, but in the immediate future, we need to prevent Trump from happening. I say this with full love and respect to all my fellow Bernie supporters, you have been wronged, but your hours of work, your financial investment on behalf of his campaign, and your passion have not been for nothing.

Bernie Sanders has got people woke to a Progressive movement that we need more than ever. While people feel that they cannot in good conscious vote for Hillary Clinton, I fully understand and would be in your same boat. But while the United States of America may survive a Trump presidency, the environment and the disenfranchised can not. Do whatever you need to do to be right with your conscious, yes, but don't hand over the position of the highest office in your country to a man who is divisive, a fraud, a bully, and thinks climate change is a hoax. He will make the world far less safe and livable for future generations around the world.

The so freshly abused and humiliated Bernie Sanders supporters need time to grieve the loss of a beautiful thing that united so many for all the right reasons. Grief is different for each and every one of us, but most importantly, we need to recognise that it takes time to move through the stages of grief when we are ready. Some may never be ready to vote for Hillary Clinton, and that is OK with me. But we must hold the Democrats to their promises to Bernie, his supporters, and to the left-leaning additions in the new Democratic Party Platform. Vote for Progressives you have vetted up and down the ticket, take back the house and senate from those who refuse to represent the people, and never let the movement Bernie Sanders brought to the people of world end until the work is done. We are better than Trump or Clinton, we are better than an out of touch government, but we can't stop now. If those fighting to end segregation had given up after their biggest setbacks, we would still be fighting for the most basic human rights in American today.

So yes, beloved Bernie supporters, you have done amazing things, you have worked harder than others will ever realise, your time and financial investments have not been wasted on me or the millions of people you have reached with your message and movement, in both the US and worldwide. I grieve with you, I stand with you, I still hope with you that real change can happen in my lifetime. I see you, your hopes and dreams, your right to quality affordable health care and debt free education, a sustainable clean environment, to a livable minimum wage, to giving a hand up and not a hand out, to freedom of religion, a right to practise cultural traditions with pride and not fear, to reform your for-profit prisons and to decriminalise addiction, to stop throwing money at a 'military solution' that solves nothing, to give everyone access to automatic voter registration, to bring back the opportunity and promise of the country you are trying really hard to love and make better. 

I see the pain you are in, the abuse you have taken, and the humiliation of the very best example of true humanity, Bernie Sanders. Grieve this moment, the world grieves with you, and then get mad as heck, and never accept anything less than your conscious will allow. The time for making bargains with the DNC is over, a new movement has been born, and you need to raise this Progressive baby to be a part of the American political landscape from this point forward. Be it Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green Party, or a new Progressive party founded on the movement a truly great man, Bernie Sanders, has sacrificed and fought for his whole life. 

When the grief and despair ends, and you are ready to fight once more, do it for Bernie, for all his supporters, for future generations, for those who cannot fight for themselves, for the Progressives around the world that Bernie has inspired, and for those not yet awake.

Sincerely,
The International Progressive Community You Have Inspired

Trump vs Clinton: A Democratic Disaster

Myles Dyer breaks down the "Democratic Disaster" that is the current political scene in America. This is a must-watch video that will give you a moment of clarity. Myles recognizes that we all have been disenfranchised, and that it is absolutely essential that Bernie Sanders supporters are treated with respect and understanding, not derision and dismissal.

Please continue to support independent media like The Young Turks and Myles Dyer so that you have access to unbiased and balanced information and commentary.

Lisa Ann Magerman

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is 'Stepping Down', Eventually

Image: truthinmedia.com

It's the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, PA and as the sane world awaits any indication that the American two-party political system is still relevant, the chickens have come home to roost for one unlucky Democrat. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair and Congressperson from the state of Florida, has finally amazed all her many critics, those from within the Democratic Party, and those looking on, by doing the only thing she could to attempt to mend the shattered image of DNC. Wasserman Schultz is 'stepping down' as the DNC Chair at the end of this week's DNC Convention.

Wasserman Schultz has been exposed as having some degree of dishonorable participation in the Democratic Primary process that appeared to highly favor former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the coveted Presidential ticket. This is hardly a bombshell bit of news for the Clinton campaign, as Wasserman Schultz was perhaps best known as the Co-Chair of Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 run for the Presidential Nomination. After the release of over 20,000 private documents regarding the committee's activities in the lead up to, and during, the 2016 Primaries, particularly with an eye to discrediting former Clinton opponent Senator Bernie Sanders, Wasserman Schultz could no longer shrug off the accusation that many Sanders supporters have been alleging since his campaign began in April of 2015. The so called "DNCLeaks" scandal was precisely the last thing the Democrats needed on the eve of convention, and that is precisely why the documents were released just this past week after the fear mongering paranoia show called the Republican National Convention.

Already, the Republican Nominee, Donald J. Trump has come out blasting Wasserman Schultz, Clinton, and the DNC for it's 'rigged' game against Bernie Sanders as he again tries to swoop in on Bernie Sanders supporters. While no sane progressive would actually vote for Trump in this election, the man does know how to capitalize on a good dead horse beating when he finds one. Always happy to chip in his negative take on any number of issues, Trump was is good spirits this weekend when interviewed by CNN's regarding the document leak.

What will be most important in the week to come will be the ability of the DNC to put aside ego, put aside finger pointing and hurt feelings, acknowledge where they did a great disservice to Bernie Sanders, the Committee, and the voters. The Clinton Campaign will have to woo many voters back to their cause, to make citizens believe that there is a moral compass within the party. As has been said before, there is perhaps nothing more important that preventing a Trump Presidency, but will the party be able to sway an abused membership, the disenfranchised, and independents alike? It remains to be seen.

The weight is now squarely on the shoulders of the Clinton Campaign, the DNC, and those speaking at this week's Convention in Philly, to unite this deeply fractured party if they expect to have any positive momentum to carry them into the polls in November of this year. While this win for Bernie Sanders supporters is cold comfort after the fact, it does throw the Democratic Party's nomination and primary process into question, questions that will need to be addressed in the very near future.  For now, Wasserman Schultz will no longer have her coveted speaking slot at the Convention, which begins tomorrow and will run through till Thursday, July 28th.