An Open Letter to President Bernie Sanders

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BERNIE SANDERS:

You may wonder why I am addressing you as President Sanders when all the facts, as endlessly repeated by the mainstream media, indicate that Hillary Clinton has already won the Democratic nomination, which would appear to exclude you from the presidency. A friend told me she heard you saying recently that you would be meeting with Hillary next Tuesday to iron out some final details before arriving at an endorsement of her for President. I actually wouldn't have believed what she told me except I subsequently saw a number of such reports on facebook, which included video clips of you saying you think it is imperative to support Hillary in order to defeat Trump.

The reason I'm addressing you as President Sanders is because you already are the President in the hearts and minds of the American people. I'm sure you saw those studies coming out of Stanford and UC Berkeley saying that the odds of Clinton having won the primaries without there having been election fraud are one in 77 billion? Clinton's unfavorability ratings with the American public were already incredibly high (at 63% the last time I looked), and i'm sure they are now increasing by leaps and bounds with Director Comey's admission that she violated the law numerous times and any other person would have to pay the consequences if they committed the same illegal acts.

I know you are a very strong person and I also know that you have been battered almost beyond endurance. Despite your attracting crowds of 10-100,000 people to your rallies, as opposed to your opponent's ability to fill a high school gymnasium, you have been expected to believe that she was the choice of voters all over the country and humbly accept your defeat. I don't watch mainstream news but I know they have been hammering away at you non-stop since you have not dropped out of the race. I know that you were booed by your fellow Democrats in Congress, and even the strongest person in the world could not but have been hurt by that. And despite your obvious great courage and staying power, you are after all human. You've played a significant role in changing the political landscape, you've inspired thousands of people to get involved politically, and even run for office themselves, isn't that enough? Isn't it time for an old man to gracefully step aside and let history take its course?

No actually it's not. President Sanders, the American people need you to stay in the race. The planet and every living creature on it needs you to stay in the race. No one will believe that you're still in the race of you endorse Clinton. I know it will take a miracle for you to win this presidential election but miracles can't happen unless we trust that they are possible. Please have the belief in yourself and the universe to know that you can still win the presidency, and in fact have already won. The simple fact is that the planet can't survive four more years of either of the two presumptive nominees. I don't need to remind you why a Trump presidency would be a crushing blow to human rights and planetary survival. But perhaps I do need to remind you why another Clinton presidency would also represent those things.

Some of us have said Clinton was lying when she said she cared about stopping global warming and helping with the struggles of poor people, when she said she opposed fracking and the TPP. If there was ever any doubt, now it's crystal clear. She was lying. Her representatives on the Democratic platform committee opposed every single measure to decrease global warming except for more bike trails. They voted not to oppose fracking and not to oppose the TPP. They did of course oppose any cost of living increase for people barely able to survive on Social Security. Well--what if you could get Clinton to agree to those parts of your platform, couldn't you then just step aside and know that you've done everything humanly possible to accomplish your goals?

No, no, you can't. A platform in the end is a piece of paper. She doesn't have to follow what's in it, any more than she has had to follow any of her empty campaign promises. I haven't even touched on Clinton's terrifying foreign policy positions, her legendary temper, her reckless disregard for ordinary precautions, and her historical lack of concern about the destruction of human life. Nuclear war seems like a definite possibility with a Clinton presidency. So we, your supporters, are asking you for one more thing. Please continue to fight for us, not as a Senator or leader of the progressive wing of your party, but as the President that we know you to be. We don't care what you tell the vultures in the media or Congress. Make up anything. Or you could tell them the truth, that you had considered endorsing her, maybe even had decided to endorse her, but in the end, when it came down to it, all the millions of people whose hearts you have set on fire responded in one giant chorus: We will only vote for Bernie, Never Hillary!

In solidarity,
Jenny Miller