I can understand disappointment. I can understand feeling like I have been sold down the river. I want to explain why getting behind our nominee is important and why if anyone had a reason to be angry for not seeing Sanders as the nominee, it would be me BUT...I am realistic and can see an ocean not just a gulf between Trump and Sec. Clinton.
I lost my home to Wall Street and big banks. I will be 66 June 18th.. not much time for a big comeback. I have lived with a disabled husband who fought in an illegal war in the jungles of Vietnam whereas the likes of Kissinger brings blood to a boiling temperature and helped shape that nightmare. I have worked free of charge and all night to help veterans from the Iraq war.
I have lived in Florida where the likes of Jeb Bush ruled the state. Now we have Trump’s good buddy Scott running the state. I have seen big money and loss of income and job help take the life of my grandson back in November. I have fought for economic equality for years and years while giving up and moving and watching depleted bank accounts. All thanks to Wall Street...Big Insurance and Corporations and Banks.
I loved Bernie and still do but Bernie has created a movement that I believe Hillary Clinton can build upon and learn from. Hillary has worked most of her life for this opportunity. I remember when I wanted a piano and was a single working Mom and needed a man’s signature to get that piano even though I paid my bills, had good credit and my only downfall...I was a woman. I remember being paid a lot less and having more seniority in a job than a man who got the better shift because he was a man. I remember not being taken seriously about any political discussion or input about business. I remember being groped and raped and disrespected because of bullies and men who felt they had a right to insult me. I think women and men can identify with this but most women seem to have suffered some sort of abuse from a man simply because there was no respect for the woman. I have been beaten and robbed and still came back demanding respect for being a female. I do not want my daughters and granddaughters go back to the days where Trump wants to demean them and take us back to an era where this was the commonplace rule of thumb.
I don’t want my children and grandchildren to have to be afraid to have a Hispanic, Muslim or black friend. I had to hide under a table with my little black friend in the 50’s. I watched the lady who loved me like a Mother afraid to sit at the table with my Mother and my sisters because the curtains were open. I remember having gay friends but knew they were being mistreated as late as the early 90’s. I remember unions being voted down in the south and my parents struggled working for the big Corporation basically for pennies on the corporation’s big dollars. I remember guns being for protection and not a reason to play John Wayne or Annie Oakley.
I look at Hillary Clinton as our nominee and no matter what she may or may have not done… I do not care. She is for the little person. She may have rubbed elbows with people I despise but she is who she is and I certainly liked her husband even with his faults. I do not expect a perfect nominee. I do not expect a magic wand to change all that has and is wrong with this country but I know my duty. I voted for Obama twice… I will vote for Hillary Clinton and encourage everyone to do so.
I do not want a man unfit to be Leader of the boy scouts, much less Leader of the free world. I do not want to return to the days of women not having choices.
I had many reasons for supporting Bernie Sanders but I have more reason for now getting behind Hillary Clinton. Politics is a nasty business but this Trump thing is beyond politics..it is insanity.
I can get behind this nominee. I can work to get the vote out. I can do this because it is not all about my gender...it is about my sanity and safety. She is qualified and she is ready. I’m with her.