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By Judith Gayle | Political Waves

In the culture of the last century, my generation was schooled in civics and encouraged to stick up for our principles; if we had some, that is. Sadly, it seems that a lot of the Boomers have given up principles for comfort, and many of our younger citizens haven’t thought much about theirs.

Once identified, refusing to betray our standards may not be an effortless path, but it’s the one that allows us to feel good about ourselves, to sleep well at night. That may explain the epidemic of insomnia in America.

As I write, a television commercial in the background (promoting stock investment) insists that we must do whatever it takes to care for our families, which may explain why so many people aren’t bothered by working in jobs that routinely cross ethical boundaries. I’m calling a pox on having to choose between two concepts about which I feel so strongly, which probably also explains why I kept jumping off the corporate ladder, eager to distance myself from feeling ethically compromised.

I suppose that also explains my unimpressive bank balance. A legacy of the era just past is that crime DOES pay, which is one of the reasons Obama’s standard line about ‘playing by the rules’ rings hollow and seems a sure road to becoming one of Trump’s losers. Ask the kid with a college degree and no employment. Ask the industrial worker whose job has gone overseas. Ask the whistle-blowers and the truth-tellers who had to run for their lives.

Denying Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, is, arguably, the Republicans standing on principle — the one where the black guy mustn’t get anything accomplished on their watch. They’ve stood by silently while somewhere in the neighborhood of a million people lost out on food stamps in April, because, well, because their passion for family values doesn’t include feeding them. They feel the same way about school lunches, even though that’s the only real meal some kids get. Responding to the wishes of 80 percent of their base, they’ve rushed to embrace Donald Trump, although it seems as though they all despised him just twenty minutes ago.

In fact, some 67 percent of Pubs have decided that Don shares their values, 62 percent think he’s honest and trustworthy, and an astounding 54 percent think he has the temperament to do well in America’s top job. I think that the majority of those polled (NYT/CBS) were male, since Trump is champion of white males, but we can’t tell for sure. Women’s blanket bi-partisan disapproval of Trump does not guarantee political behavior.

In a recent conversation, my dear friend, Fishin’ Jim, said, “If you were a Republican woman you’d vote for him.” I answered, “If I was a Republican woman I would probably vote the way I was told.” My bias may be showing in that response, but anyone who could chart Trump’s patronizing of females he fancies, while directing mean-spirited attacks on those who cross him — all to be forgiven, it seems, with a sheepish, child-like “excuse me” (@ 6:41)  — and still champion him as the answer to America’s problems, has no authority over their own perceptions, let alone their reproductive decisions.

No, even with the Koch brothers pulling out their funding (warning: to focus on state candidates) and the religious contingent keeping mum, the GOP establishment is rushing to embrace their presumptive. Trump had a ‘great’ meeting with Paul Ryan on Tuesday, resulting in both announcing progress in ‘unifying the party.’ Later in the week, Donald met with Henry Kissinger for a friendly chat. Too bad Nixon isn’t still with us, the two share a level of cynicism and paranoia (read that pathology) that would lead to some fascinating sound bites.

Ultimately then, Donald Trump IS emblematic of today’s Republican Party, running from the party discipline of the old GOP and recreating it in his own image, which is so much a shape-shifter’s that it’s hard to tell what November will bring. Meanwhile, the Dems still have some sorting to do, despite Hillary’s announcement that she is, indeed, The One. The establishment candidate lost the Oregon primary and tied Sanders with less than a half percent ​ in Kentucky, similar to her win in Missouri with less than a full percentage difference. The Daily Beast called it a ‘razor thin’ win. It also called Hillary wounded.

Hillary was wounded going in. She represents all that’s solid and fixed — bought and paid for — at a time when none of that is welcome. Despite her numbers, it ain’t over ’til it’s over in the race for Democratic nominee. Yes, Hillary has the super-delegates. No, Bernie can’t collect enough to beat her. And yes, the system is rigged — SUPER delegates? Really?

No, Bernie is not likely to get the nod. Yes, he has a better chance of winning against Trump than Hillary does. And no, the establishment may (?!) win the fight for the status quo in 2016 but it will not — repeat, NOT — win the future of the prog​ressive movement. That is already well begun.

Over two decades of Clintonism — right-leaning triangulation and deference to corporate interests — have established loyalty to the system and its patrons as paramount for congressional lawmakers, especially with Citizens United poised to throw an expensive monkey-wrench into the works of those who don’t behave. While Bernie hopes that the super-delegates get a clue about who holds the stronger hand on the left, the cost of breaking ranks and turning toward the progressives is high indeed.

Any super-delegate who wishes to jump on board the Sanders express faces immediate punishment from the Democratic Party, which will withhold funds, important contacts, and positions. The very thought of it has put the whole left-hand establishment into panic mode, creating such an uproar over the Nevada caucus that you’d have thought those pesky Berners were actually Trumpeters, punching and bloodying those innocent Clintonistas.

That didn’t happen. Nothing was thrown but words. It’s difficult for the Berners not to be passionate about their candidate, since he’s the only one who is actually representing a progressive ticket. Noam Chomsky confirms that the Dem Party is actually an organization of moderate Republicans, all serving the same corporate masters. This is where Hillary fits nicely and will hardly work very hard to pass the left-leaning policies she’s been pushed to promote.

Sanders, on the other hand, is the real deal, the New Deal. If you’ve waited (your young life) to entertain the possibility that the principles of democracy and the promise of the Constitution could come to life in front of your very eyes, it’s impossible not to become impassioned. The press and the Dem establishment are trying very hard to make these millions of voters the enemy of the democratic process right now, and some will believe it, but don’t be blindsided by the PR. Even Nancy Pelosi, hardly a progressive zealot, thinks Bernie’s doing just fine, getting more people involved in the party.

I’m hearing a lot of stereo about the Sanders movement this week, and I’m going to leave you with a weekend read to encourage you that, whoever wins, the movement itself will continue. It’s by Seth Abramson, who tells us that Sandersism has already defeated Clintonism in the mind of the public, and I think he’s spot on. There are also groups coming together to capitalize on the Sanders platform, creating a larger network of progressive politics. This movement is just begun.

I’d say progressivism has made a come back, but, well, it never actually went anywhere, did it? Bernie Sanders has been ​making the same arguments for decades, waiting for us to catch up with the desperate need for checks and balances. What ‘came back’ was the need for democratic principles and a longing for ethical governance.

It’s going to be very ​difficult to put a stop to this movement Bernie has made the heart of his campaign.  ​This is the foundation of our political future.​ Trying to convince people who are newly invested in civic responsibility and political principles to just forget about it is like trying to stomp out a forest fire with your bare feet. Seems to me that anyone who tries is just gonna get Berned.