Political Realism and Honesty

The above $13 aspirin is from my latest adventure at the local hospital.

The obvious reaction is that our medical system is messed up. And that is honestly true. But honesty does not drive policy. We live in a gerrymandered world where the government of the United States is subject to the Electoral College, an overweighting of empty white states, and the influence of big money.

Our medical system has literally saved my life several times. But on one of those occasions, I would have died if not for Obamacare.

Obama was a political realist. Instead of insisting on the best option, he pushed through the absolute best he could get -- down to the very last vote. (Yes, Joe Lieberman is effing evil.)

Is this sad? Do I wish it was otherwise? Of course. But this is the world we live in. It is a world with real consequences for real people.

I have heard "we have to smash the system" literally for decades. Uncounted individuals have suffered and died because people voted third party instead of for Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. Hundreds of thousands of people are dead and in the ground today because of this "my way or the highway" attitude. The Supreme Court is lost for a generation, as is much of the federal judiciary, and people will suffer and die because of this. Carbon emissions are getting worse, not better, and global hunger is actually going up after decades of progress. And any concept of caring beyond our tribe is circle is further away.

All this and much more because enough well-off white Americans decided they needed to "send a message" by voting for Nader and Stein.

All that matters now is defeating Trump and the Republicans. I honestly don't care what your positions are. If there is a 0.01% greater chance that candidate A will win compared to a vegan atheist scientist who shares all my positions and promises to end all my health problems, I will support candidate A. Because I am not the center of the universe.

If you want to say anything matters beyond winning Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona -- well, I just don't want to hear it. I have heard more than enough of destructive self-centered blather from well-off white folks in my life.