 Op Ed: I still vividly recall being harassed by fellow college seniors for volunteering to work for Bobby Kennedy. They strongly supported Eugene McCarthy because he confronted President Lyndon Johnson months before RFK.
What is happening today, at least in my eyes, is similar to 1968. McCarthy’s troops, led by students, hated Bobby for waiting so long. The fact that politicians would hate him for challenging LBJ did not matter to these students. To a certain degree Hillary Clinton is in a similar fix. And so is the country. If Sanders’ cadres drop her it could elect Donald Trump. In 1968, after Bobby was killed, I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Hubert Humphrey. Richard Nixon was elected. No more need be said. So should Bernie back off, or even consider running as Hillary’s vice president? That is what it looks like to me. The Daily Beast suggested Sanders is not a candidate suited for minorities because he does not understand them. It’s not just about poverty. Some minorities are middle class are doing even better. But they face constant insults and in some cases, are targets for police. This raises the philosophical question an individual can only answer for herself or himself. Should I vote for the lesser of all the evils or not vote and take what happens. At least then the voter can not be blamed. Or can he/she? Then there is the question of whether citizens should abandon the ballot box or if that is a sort of treason. It is unreasonable to say this is not the same issue because we do not have 500,000 mostly drafted soldiers in Vietnam. Trump and most of the leading Republicans are ready to carpetbomb the Middle East and any other area they fear. More bombs were dropped on Laos alone than the U.S. dumped in World War 2. Though it is not being mentioned much, if at all, by the mainstream media the declining living standards may not be the only thing angering people. Some of these people willing to ignore outrageous statements by Trump may be so angry because they are upset with court decisions allowing gays to marry and continuing to allow women to have abortions and many other issues that are not being decided the way they would prefer.
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