Political rant time

But first, a bit of history...When I was 18, it was a presidential election year. 1988. I was told by older adults that I had to register as a Democrat or Republican because the other parties didn't matter, their votes never amounted to anything. I lived through Reagan. I knew if I had to choose, I was a Democrat. (I know now I have been a Progressive all my life...More on that in a bit)  Back then I believed what I was told. "That's how the game is played". That always bothered me. This is people's lives, not a fucking game. But back then, I thought Democrats were ok. I liked Jimmy Carter. Granted, I was in elementary school at the time. But I also liked Gerald Ford. I didn't really understand parties back then. I just thought they were both good men. I knew right away that I didn't like Reagan, or RayGun as we called him back then. He liked war. I was fascinated by the civil unrest of the 60s when I was in high school. My dad served in Vietnam (and ultimately having done so was what killed him in 1991, he was only 41). I knew anyone in favor of war was a bad guy.
As the years went on, I did my duty as a good little Democrat and voted with my party. I didn't feel engaged, because what the hell did my vote matter anyway? That was how the game was played. Right? I hated the Bushes, liked Bill Clinton but now cringe in retrospect. I mean, he played the sax on the Arsenio Hall show, he must be cool, right? I was so naive.
Then along came Obama, promising a brighter future. Progressive policies. Enough for 2 terms. But over the course of those 2 terms, it became clear that a lot of that was mostly just lip service. I wanted to like Obama, I still do to some degree, but realized he was just part of the political "game".
Then I hear about this senator. Surprised I hadn't heard of him before, because he's been in the senate a long time, but decided to do some research. The more I learned the more I knew, THIS WAS HIM. The once in a lifetime (well, twice now, actually ha ha) candidate that was actually fighting for the working class. I read articles, watched senate clips. I got goosebumps. This was our guy. And then I knew what I was. A progressive supporter of human rights. (Seriously, its in my FB and Twitter bios, has been for years now). And that's what Bernie Sanders is, a man of the people, and more astonishingly, probably the only honest man in politics. He was running against Hillary, who quickly revealed herself to be a corporate shill. I talked to my mom about it. She said she was voting for Hillary, she's got the recognition and will probably get the votes. I said, well, just check out this guy Bernie, mom, I think he's got a shot, and what he says is so on point. A few days later I talked to her again. She did her own research and was so enthusiastic, and agreed that he's the guy. I had never known my mom to be super political. I mean, I know she was part of the counter culture movement in the 60s, "we wanted to change the world", but that was before I was born, and when I was a toddler (we lived on Alcatraz for a few months as part of that Native American occupation in the early 70s). Today she is one of the biggest Bernie supporters that I know. I also found out recently that while I went Green in the general in 2016, she did what I was scared to do and wrote Bernie in. This time I will be following her lead, if Bernie is not the nominee. AND. After Oregon's primary and voting for Bernie (Oregon is one of the states where you have to be a registered Democrat to vote for the Democratic nominee), I will be leaving the Democratic party as I did in 2016 with one difference: I won't be back. I'm done. The Democrats are no longer a party of the people (if they ever were), they serve their corporate overlords just like the Republicans. There is no evil and less evil anymore, there is just evil with two faces, and I refuse to be a party to it any longer. I'm done. #DemExit, but for permanent. I am disgusted by how far we have fallen. Disgusted by the current government in this country. Kind of wish I had the blinders of yesteryear, thinking things were so great, but also grateful that the blinders have fallen away and I see things for what they are: broken. And I will fight for a better world. This can't be the best we can do. It just can't.