Is there a way forward? [View all]

[kryptoniandawn]

In all seriousness - and acknowledging that I'm something if a pessimist - does progress (Democrats) have a way forward right now? Because I think we are gearing up for some dark times.

- the Democratic establishment is running Hillary. This is just the way it is. We cannot decide the outcome of the nomination race. Some people still believe that the super delegates will choose to side with Bernie when he has the popular votes, but that is already being disproven after two states. And their support for her so early will likely color future results.

-Hillary, if she does not end up sunk by one of her many scandals, or whatever scandals are still to come in the race, is not doing well in the general election polls vs. Any Republican except Trump, and her lead over him is gradually eroding.

- Even if Bernie won, against a Republican Congress he'd make very little headway.

- There is a chance for dems to take the Senate, but it's not a great one. The chair deficit is pretty stark right now.

- There will be only 8 SCOTUS judges for the next year or so. If a dem manages to win the white house, I fully expect 8 years without that 9th judge. Call it treason if you like, but rejecting every judge along party lines is perfectly legal and constitutional. If we assume the usual partisanship that we sadly can expect from them, we have 8 years of tie votes that effectively mean we have no SCOTUS for those 8 years, because a tie vote means the lower court ruling stands.

While it's fun to think of the anarchy that will result from a lack of supreme Court, I recognize also that I live in the northwest, where no one is trying to overturn the decisions on abortion, marriage equality, etc. What happens when all the rep governors issue orders to stop gay marriage? Who will stop them? The Republican Congress? The Republican president? The Republican SCOTUS?

Without some drastic, statistically unexpected election results, the USA is approaching a dark age of social rollback. We have made so much progress in just a few years, and by February of next year it will be completely undone. Say goodbye to the ACA, gay marriage, legal weed, abortion, and lets be honest, probably some extreme anti-Islam laws. We'll be at war with the world, in the name of money and the Christian God.

So basically, anyone think this isn't true, and have facts to back up that stance? Because I would really, really love to be reassured that this is all pessimism. I'm realizing we do not live in a civilized, democratic nation, and it's kinda terrifying.