I just got out of the hospital after spending a week getting over pneumonia. After 12 solid years of caregiving it is the first time I've had time to just think of something other than caregiving. One of the incidents at the hospital and a talk with a nurse pointed out a problem that can't be fixed. You can't teach common sense. The vast amount of medicine made me really nauseous and as of Sunday I couldn't keep a lot down. Common sense would tell you that you don't try and pass off spicy lasagna as a gastrointestinal diet dish.

One of the things my family has always told me was that I had the common sense in the family. At 68 I've been there and done that and I thought maybe I would share some of what I've learned in my 68 years in a series of diaries. I generally shy away from writing pure political diaries but I think maybe I can help some people here understand the thought processes of people my age and Bernie Sanders. It may help make sense of what he is doing. I would ask you to please read all the way through first and then comment. I'll try to answer as much as I can but I still need bed rest so it may be a bit sporadic.

Bernie Sanders is 75. We both grew up during the political era of Civil Rights and Vietnam. We know how long it takes for real progress to happen. We have a stodgy old political system that we are stuck with until we go through the process of changing the laws which has to be done through the stodgy old political system. It is what we call Catch 22.

At this time in history we are watching the Republican Party destroy itself and as good Democrats we are doing the same thing to our party. In our case however we have the chance that people like Sanders and I have been working for all these many years. We are watching the end of the Clinton style politicians. For the first time since FDR, if we play our cards right, we can finally get a Progressive agenda through for the Americans who need help and not the rich.

I believe what Bernie Sanders is doing is the common sense approach. He hasn't sold us out. No one got to him. Like a good poker player he is holding his cards tight to his chest. You don't have a strategy to win if you let the opponent know too early what you are up to. We are not Europe. We can't just waltz in with a third party candidate and win. We don't have the type of parliamentary system that has multiple elections and can sustain multiple parties. Sanders knows this. This is what I think, as another veteran of that era, he is doing.

1. The endorsement is a smoke screen. He is contesting the nomination but at the same time taking away TPB talking points of "dividing the party". It is very much see I am a good Democrat working against Donald Trump. As a theater major I can tell you from watching Hillary Clinton's reaction to Bernie Sanders it is an endorsement she never wanted. Sanders and his followers are in a stronger position now to force her into Progressive stances. Remember during the primaries she always hemmed and hawed on a position until Sanders declared so she could have his position.
2. Sanders doesn't want to be Vice President. He wants to be President. Even if offered he would not have taken the position because politically he is stronger continuing as he is doing now. Clinton can not make an appendage of him.
3. Sanders is waiting and watching because he knows that not only is Clinton in big trouble but so is the party. The DNC blew it big time and this time they can't hide what they did. Sanders screaming and yelling and storming away from the party is what they want now to try and salvage this mess. They really underestimated Bernie. By staying in and remaining a gentleman he is there in their faces even more than ever. Sanders is waiting for the other shoe to drop and the Clinton Foundation to be opened up to scrutiny like the DNC is now because of the emails. It is coming, be patient.
4. We have supported him this long we need to trust him that he has a master plan. He has the delegates if honestly counted to be our candidate. As more and more comes through with lawsuits and email scandals the American people are going to realize that Sanders is the rightful candidate. Clinton is not going to politically survive this. If it happens before the election then Sanders has the organization in place and the support if we don't abandon him to step right into the role of the candidate we voted for in the primaries and defeat Donald Trump.
5. If Clinton gets elected and we turn the Senate Sanders has the visibility now to push through Progressive legislation while waiting for see number 4 to come to fruit.
6. Sanders realistically knows that the only way to get elected in 2016 is through the current Democrat/Republican fields. We do not have the luxury or the time to try and convince the public, get the real money and organization together, and grow a different party this election.
7. I believe Sanders is waiting for the DNC to self destruct and then he can just walk right in and take over a known quality with known donors and known organization right from the start. Why start over if you can take over? It just makes sense to make the Democrat Party new again. Make it the opposite of the Republican party. From a public relations standpoint it will be much easier to sell to the public.

So final thoughts from this old lady. I've worked since my teens with people like Bernie Sanders. We started out as young and radical and wanting to change to world now. We discovered the world isn't as easy to change as we thought in our youth. We have been working towards this moment for over half a century. It has been a hard fight. Bernie Sanders has energized a new generation. It is for us a third generation we are influencing. He has not sold us out. He is watching and putting in the work for the final takeover. The old system is finally going down. Bernie and my generation of Progressives will see what we wanted in our youth happening but we need the youth of today to stay with us and help. We are doing this for you. We are on our last hurrah but we intend to go out with a bang.

Thanks for reading this. A week of staring at the hospital clock gave me a lot of time to think and if you are agreeable I have a few other diaries on some hot topics that I would like to write about from the older viewpoint.