Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced!?!

I am still reflecting back on the day of the endorsement. As I review the responses from everyone else who saw it or heard about it, I am reminded of the strong feelings in my gut the first time I read of it. I am reminded of how I felt driving home, listening to Jimi Hendrix. I didn't get to hear the last song of that CD on the way home. I heard it the next day on the way to work.

The title of this blog post is in reference to the last song on the CD, "Are you experienced?" In the song he asks the second question, "Have you ever been experienced!?!' As I think of those words, I am reminded of the discussion of the body language displayed by both Sanders and Clinton during that fateful gathering in New Hampshire on the 12th of July. Here is a sample:

The image above to me, is that of a man completely in touch with his feelings about what he is about to do or has done. The woman to the left, seems to be completely bereft of any compassion for the man. I can't help but think that she is enjoying the sight of seeing someone do the one thing he doesn't want to do.

These are two entirely different experiences for two different people. For Sanders, I can totally get the emotional pain he is going through. But I also get that he is doing what he needs to do in order to get through the door. He is not doing this of his own volition. To unite against Trump, the worst GOP candidate for president, evah? I don't think so. I surmise that he is doing this because the DNC said that he's going to do it or they will kick him out and not let him back in. They can talk about it in court later, after the convention.

Clinton? Well, she's reveling in what we might call, social class essentialism. That's a fancy phrase for the behavior seen in people who think they are superior to others. I am reminded of a meme I just saw this morning. It contained a quote from Ernest Hemmingway:

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self."

This is how I live my own life. I avoid comparing myself to others. I look for ways to compare myself to myself yesterday and today. I find that as I polish this stone that I call peace, my life gets better.

I simply don't see Clinton doing that. I see her history on foreign policy and I don't see peace. I see her history with the DNC and I don't see peace. Oh, they're working together, but its not for the betterment of the country. Their work has one goal: to get Clinton elected no matter how the people voted or wanted to vote. I see how she has so far escaped prosecution for her alleged crimes. If she truly believed that she were innocent, then she would proudly suspend her campaign, do the trial and get back to it.

But she is far from innocent. As one person put it in a post on Google+:

Then there is my credibility. I want real reform. I don't want a candidate that pretends to want reform and goes back to the same old thing once in office. Hillary is emblematic of the status quo. The lack of indictment for the e-mail issue only proved that her being a political insider makes her immune to laws that would have us in jail for doing anything similar.

If I want equal justice under the law (which I do), how can I vote for a person who got special treatment? How can I support such a candidate by not being dishonest or a hypocrite? The answer is... I can't. If I was willing to cast a vote for Hillary, then I might as well be willing to vote for Trump. No thanks!

The truth is, Hillary doesn't act like someone who is willing to live under the same laws that that rest of us do. This is why I will never vote for her. As I watched video of the New Hampshire event, I tried hard to believe her speech. I could see her echoing the words of Sanders. But I could see her, even then, ever so slightly walking back his words. I just could not bring myself to believe that she believes what he believes. I could see her as president walking back every word better than Michael Jackson ever did the moonwalk. Why?

Because she, like so many other politicians, has refined the act of soliciting campaign contributions to an art and science. She has a family foundation perfectly suited to the task. "Hey you big Middle East tyrant! Want some arms? Baby, I got a special on surface to air missiles for you. Just make a quiet contribution of $2 million or more and I'll include tech support for free." She is the model citizen to explain why we need to get big money out of politics.

Sanders knows her history. He has known her for 25 years. That red face I saw when he was at the podium must have been something like rage, knowing that he has to make an endorsement to someone who cajoled him for his position on gun control, while arranging deals for arms as Secretary of State.

As I watched that video, I saw Sanders completely in touch with his feelings. Clinton, not so much. She smiled when she needed to smile. She was a bobblehead much of the time. She clapped somberly when she needed to clap. But when she smiled, she smiled more like someone in control of someone else rather that someone who had actually earned what she was getting.

This post is just another in a long series to show that I am #stillsanders. It is to share with you all, including Clinton supporters, that I'm just not going to change my mind on this one. Clinton could say exactly what Sanders says and I won't believe her. Sanders could endorse here and that won't save her. If Clinton supporters want to unite the party, they know what to do.