BERNIE

Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont, is only the third openly avowed Socialist ever to be elected to Congress. The previous two won seats in the House but quickly faded from the scene. The most remarkable attribute about Sanders, however, is that at age 73, he still has the stamina and energy to traipse all over the country as he seeks the Democratic nomination to run for president. And he’s been drawing extremely enthusiastic crowds in the tens of thousands at various campaign rallies across the nation. Crowds that are a lot larger and far more enthused than anything Hillary Clinton has been able to generate thus far. His message of economic populism has resounded among massive segments of the population that believe they are being screwed over by Wall Street sharpies, banking institutions, hedge fund managers, and others with inside knowledge of how to manipulate the U.S. financial markets and economic systems. Basically, Bernie’s platform is one of redistribution of wealth. Take from those living in huge mansions, have private yachts and jets, drive top of the line Mercedes, etc., and give to those forced to live in rat-infested, crime and drug riddled slums, and not knowing when and where their next meal will be eaten. In effect, Bernie’s candidacy is an indictment of the very capitalist system that is the heart and soul of present day economics in the U.S.

Capitalism in this country has failed so many people for so long that massive crowds are turning to listen to Bernie’s message. Crowds that should have made the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, envious. Starting out as a huge underdog, recent polls show that Bernie is now within striking distance of Hillary overall, and is actual ahead of her in some early voting primary states. And why not? Bernie, even at 73, is a vigorous campaigner with a strong message for America, while Hillary is lackluster at best, during her campaign speeches. That might be forgiven where it not for the fact that Hillary has gotten herself entangled in some very messy “scandals” that have provided lots of fodder to her enemies. The latest one, of course, is her e-mail fiasco that has to be the very definition of self-inflicted wounds.

For some inexplicable reason, Hillary decided that she needed a server in her home in order to send and receive e-mails. Who does that? I have been sending and receiving e-mails on my computer for years without installing a server in my house. Beside it being prohibitively expensive, why would I need a server. Granted that Hillary’s e-mail volume vastly exceeds mine, but it still could have been handled without a server. The problem turns out to be that mixed among her private stuff, such as getting ready for Chelsea’s wedding, were also work related e-mails  in accordance with her job as Secretary of State. Critics are claiming that some of the work-related stuff was classified, some as high as top-secret. Processing classified information on a private, unsecured computer is definitely a no-no. To make matters worse, accusations are being made that she deliberately had the e-mails on her server erased so as to cover up the fact that she was processing classified info on an unsecured line. If any of this is true, we’re talking felony crime. Or, perhaps, more like felony stupidity.

Why would someone bent on becoming our first female president indulge in such risky behavior. Everyone down to the lowest mail clerk knows that any official government business, classified or otherwise, is the property of only the government, and only designated officials operating under strict rules have the right of disposal. But the Clintons, going back to their days in Arkansas, have a pattern of such dangerous undertakings. Besides Bill’s extra-marital dalliances, both Clinton’s were involved in some highly questionable financial schemes that edged right up to the line of illegality. Once in the White House, there was, of course, the whole Monica Lewinski fiasco. The only thing that saved Bill from being thrown out of office was Republican overreach. When the House voted to impeach him, Bill Clinton become a hugely sympathetic figure with the American public, and his approval ratings skyrocketed. Much to the GOP’s chagrin, its effort to have Bill removed from the White House totally backfired . A lesson they haven’t forgotten when there was some talk of impeaching Barack Obama.

Now, however, with this latest flare-up over Hillary’s e-mails, Democrats are becoming very frightened she will be inherently un-electable. That her campaign will go down in flames. This is also one of the reasons that Bernie Sanders is beginning to look more and more viable. But most people still are fixated on the fact that it is highly unlikely that a Socialist candidate can win the election. So Democratic pros are now turning to Vice-President Joe Biden to ride in on his white stead and save the day for them. Now, Biden is one of the most decent and honorable men in modern day American politics. The problem is, that besides being gaffe-prone, he’s rather colorless and endures a charisma deficiency. More importantly, however, he has suffered more tragedy in his life than most people can bear.

Many years ago, he lost his wife and infant daughter who were killed in a car accident. And just recently he lost his beautiful son, Beau Biden, age 45, to brain cancer. Beau was Attorney-General of Delaware, and every bit as decent and personable as his father. No parent should have to undergo that kind of nightmare. But the question is, after suffering such loss, would Joe Biden have the fortitude to mount an exhausting and depleting campaign for the U.S. presidency. Probably against the likes of a Donald Trump. So, as I’ve written before, the Democrats are caught between a rock and a hard place. And if they don’t figure it out soon, we could see the bellicosity and bullying of a bloviating Donald Trump in the White House for the next 4 to 8 years.