Deja vu all over again - No dignity at end of life for you

Well, it's happening again, some wussie Democratic legislators, Assembly members this time, are holding up the passage of death with dignity in the State of California, citing the Catholic Church belief in "life," as the reason. Life? This is not about life, it is about choice, about having the right to choose when your life is no longer worth surviving (not living), because you are in intractable pain in the final stages of a lethal disease. You should suffer. It's what they all celebrate about Jesus.

Who would Jesus want to see suffering? Ask youirselves that question, and then vote for what's right. Not what Mother Church tells you.

In 2006, when I worked on the campaign to pass a similar bill the California Medical Association joined the Church in its opposition. No more. Today the CMA is neutral. In 2006 Senator Joe Dunn killed the vote after a long speech about a talk he had with his Bishop. Soon thereafter he took a plum job with the CMA.

Who are these Senators really beholden to?

Pardon my cynicism.

Spoiler Alert! Green Party running Jill Stein for President

Some people never learn. Some political parties too. This time, the Green Party is running Jill Stein, I'm sure a perfectly lovely person with good politics, who cares about all the right things, except one.  That one is helping move this country forward, by not running another spoiler. Of course, Jill does not have the gravitas or following of Ralph Nader, but seriously, do they think they can influence the conversation? Move the agenda in a more progressive direction? If so, they picked another boneheaded way to do it, in my humble opinion.

Why not support Bernie Sanders, a serious Democratic Socialist, with a track record in the U.S. Senate, who at the very least would never throw the race to the Republicans. And yes, I do blame Ralph Nader. Hanging chads, bad campaigning by Al Gore and bad decision making on the Democrats part in Florida 2000 notwithstanding.

A progressive Democrat-Green Party coalition around Bernie could be powerful. Could even be a game changer. But the Green Party is just playing tired old party politics like all the other parties before them, like the parties they rail against, only without the clout.

How do you get the clout? By running serious campaigns on the local level, school boards, City Councils, sewer boards, building up the farm team and then, and only then, going after the big offices.

Without numbers and a measure of success on the local level, no amount of political holier-than-thouism will advance the cause.

Bernie Sanders at anti-TPP rally

OK, in my NOT so humble opinion.