This post was prompted by the latest meme doing the rounds - you know, the patronizing, condescending one about giving Sander's supporters their space to grieve - to get over their loss and all that other BS. Anyway, I am not grieving, am not at any stage of the process. To be honest I am ecstatic and here is why.

Sanders is doing way better than I thought he would be at this stage. I thought that it would be a done deal by Super Tuesday - not due to any weakness in the candidate but because everything, literally everything, was stacked against him. The fact that he is still in with a shout is stunning.

While the above is reason enough not to be downcast it is not the main reason not by a very long shot. The reason that I am happy with events is that Sander's candidacy is a part of a much larger process that is currently underway, much larger than whether neolibcons A or neolibcons B get to squat in the Whitehouse for the next four years.

This larger process is made up of seemingly disparate groups who want superficially different things but they all share a common underlying theme. As you may have worked out by now, I'm referring to movements such as Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matters, parts of Anonymous and now the Sanders campaign. Though the aims are different the engine, the driving force is the same - injustice, a deeply held belief that society has become fundamentally unfair. Blacks are more likely to be imprisoned than whites, both are more likely to feel the wrath of the law than the rich.

Prior to September 2011 things were pretty bleak - the US was heading towards ultra capitalism (now called Neoliberalism) at breakneck speed with seemingly no opposition from either inside, or outside of the existing political system. Then Zucotti Park happened and everything that led from it. The actions themselves may have done little to change the existing power structured but, to my mind, they achieved something far more consequential - they showed those of us that felt that the system was fundamentally unfair that others not only felt the way we did but were prepared to risk their own safety and comfort to make their voices heard. It is worth noting that OWS was inspired by the 15-M anti-austerity movement out of Spain. This showed that some US residents were paying attention to others in the world who were fighting the system.

Black Lives Matter were also prepared to come out and do whatever it took to make their voices heard. Not only did they make their voices heard right around the world but their actions led to concrete change. Just in the last week or so the police in Colorado are tightening up their hiring policy , the police that stood by while a man sucker punched a protester at a Trump rally are being disciplined, and one of Chicago's most powerful political figures, Anita Alvarez was unceremoniously dumped from office. A movement that started as a reaction to yet another murder of a black youth by a racist cop was now directly impacting the halls of power of a major city. None of this would have happened prior to BLM.

Now to this election. Prior to this primary season the Democratic wing of the Establishment made one huge mistake, they attempted to clear the field, and deliberately shrink the bench, for one of their own -Clinton. If they hadn't done this the other contenders would likely have cancelled each other out and she would have had a clear run without the non Establishment wing of the party and much of the country rising up against her.

As it was Bernie came to represent everyone that was not comfortable with the status quo. Those of us who were outraged and offended by what the Establishment was doing to us now had someone, on our side, who was a serious contender for the top job in the country. Others in previous cycles had tried to convince us that they were concerned with the fate of the average person We've had the ambulance chaser who suddenly,out of nowhere, wanted to correct the 'Two Americas' problem and the guy who sounded progressive on first hearing but a whole lot less progressive once his words were deconstructed but we knew deep down that these, and others like them, were using us - that after securing our vote they were not going to make change for our benefit. Sanders, on the other hand, had decades of doing and attempting to do exactly what he was promising to do in the future. He was authentic.

Don't get me wrong, we have a long way to go on all fronts, US police forces need rebuilding from the ground up to lose their structural racism, structural sense of superiority to those they are meant to serve and protect, and their seeming inability to apply the same rules of conduct to themselves as they do to us. We need a thousand Bernie Sanders in Washington and at all levels of the political system in all parts of the country. As for Wall Street and everything it represents - of course that needs to be completely reformed.

Now though, at least we know that there are thousands if not millions who feel the way that we do and we know that we are prepared to do whatever it takes to get things back on track. We also know, and here is the crux of the whole thing, that Sanders election bid is not something that is happening in splendid isolation but rather one part of a much bigger process. If Bernie happens to become the next POTUS great but even if he doesn't other movements will form and the work will continue.

So, to those Clinton supporters who insist on running with the stages of grief thing note this: I could not be happier because now I know that we will win this war. Even if Bernie doesn't win this battle.. We will keep coming at you, both inside and outside of the system, until we do.