I make no bones about it, I am a die-hard Bernie Sanders fan. I have been since he entered the race. Like many Bernie folks, I posted some harsh diaries here on Kos about HRC. HRC earned the nomination and I congratulate her for it. I will always be a Bernie devote, but I agree with Sarah Silverman (my fellow Berner) that the Bernie or Busters at the convention were simply ridiculous.
I watched most of the DNC this week. The speeches ranged from mundane to amazing. Michelle Obama reminded us that she is a first lady with class to rival Jacqueline Kennedy. Bill Clinton reminded why he’s still “The Big Dog”. Michael Bloomberg was great in shredding his fellow billionaire. Barack Obama showed us why we fell in love with him back in 2004. Last night, Hillary, while not the greatest orator of the week, showed what a true leader looks like.
At the same time, less well-known speakers struck a chord with me. I had a close friend who was a police officer who died in the line of duty, so gun violence hits home for us. Watching the daughter of the Sandy Hook principal reminded me about the hole still in my heart and the empty place at celebrations with friends. Seeing the families of fallen officers last night, I can say that I understand their pain. Watching Bernie’s brother tearfully recall their parents while delivering the delegates for Democrats Abroad reminded me of my own immigrant grandparents.
However, it was two vastly different me who helped me decide what to do this November. The first was Vladimir Putin. For years, I have watched in horror as this megalomaniac has turned back the clock in Russia from the hope of glasnost to the paranoia of Stalin. Saturday Night Live called Russia “a country ruled by a Bond villain”, and that’s not far off. This week, we saw that Chump is so naive and so gullible that he has developed a bromance with this evil, evil man. From his past praise of Putin to his inviting the Russians to hack United States computers, this is frightening. Chump’s insinuating that we would not defend our NATO allies if they were attacked unless they “paid up” was seen by me as a green light for Putin to invade the Baltic states or the Ukraine. My family knows first-hand the horrors of a Russian tyrant bent on world conquest. While many of my relatives left Poland (actually, occupied Polish territory) in the years before World War I, but several stayed. We lost contact with them during World War II. After the war, we could find no trace of them. Only when glasnost thawed the Soviet glacier did we find out what happened to some of them. Some of my male relatives were rounded up by the Russians in the early months of the war. Like many other Polish military officers, clergy, intellectuals, and minor nobility, they were taken to the Katyn forest in rural Russia. There they were shot and their bodies dumped into a mass grave. When the graves were discovered, blame was placed by Stalin firmly on the Nazis. Only after Gorbachev and Yeltsin opened the files did the truth (and many of the names come out). While I never knew my relatives who were martyred at Katyn, it has made me very suspicious of Russian tyrants with a taste for conquest. To see a man who wants to lead this country praising and cozying up to the successor (both political and behavioral) to Stalin is frightening. This alone should disqualify Chump for the Presidency.
The second man who helped to make my decision could not be any different from Czar Putin. This was a quiet, unassuming man who spoke quietly but firmly and with no bitterness. Watching Khizr Khan speak so movingly of his war hero son and his sacrifice, I empathized with him. We are a Gold Star family. More importantly, we are a Gold Star family of immigrants. My grandfather’s brother volunteered for service in World War I, despite the fact that he was not even a United States citizen yet. He survived the war and came home. My grandmother’s younger brother voluntered for service in World War II and gave his life fighting in Normandy. After the war, my grandmother and her father (also an immigrant) brought him home to rest in the family plot. My grandmother always talked about her younger brother with immense pride. I went with grandma to the cemetery so many times to take flowers: on his birthday, on Memorial Day, on Veterans’ Day, at Christmas. As Grandma’s health began to fail and she could no longer go to the cemetery, she asked me to always remember our uncle. I still take flowers to his grave regularly. After grandma died, I received the flag that had covered his coffin when it was returned from France. i proudly display it in my living room along with his picture. Mr. Khan could have been my great-grandfather speaking about his son. His observation that Mr. Trump had never sacrificed anything rings so true. Chump is willing to denigrate an entire religion for the sake of firing up his ignorant followers. Yet, neither Chump nor any of his children has ever fought for this country. They don’t understand sacrifice. Mr. Khans family has given more to this country in the time since they immigrated here than the Trump family has ever given.
So, these two vastly different men have helped this old Berner decide what needs to be done. No, I’m still not in love with Hillary. She holds too many positions I can’t agree with. Yet, I will be voting for her this fall. Earlier this week, I couldn’t have said that. This convention showed that we must do EVERYTHING we can to see that this ignorant fascist wannabe strongman never, ever has a chance to infect the Oval Office. Donald Trump must be dropped into the sewer of history where he belongs. This country is great because of our differences, not in spite of them. When you denigrate immigrants, you denigrate my family. When you praise a dangerous dictator, you smear what my relatives died for. Yes, I will be voting for Hillary in November and I WILL expect her to follow through on her promises in her speech. The stakes of this election are probably the highest since 1964. Hillary Clinton is all that stands between us and Chump. There is no choice here. I love my country far too much to lose it.