Here's what I'd like for Thom to justify: WHY he continually tells us to join our local democratic party when they have proven to us they will not run a candidate that wants what we want--even when he's popular & all polls show will WIN the Presidency! The hacks of the DNC during the campaign proved that the Dems kept Sanders from being the nominee because the elite in the party wanted Clinton instead. What sensible party does not go with their overwhelming best shot at a win, even if they wanted someone else? Thom justifies urging us to join the Dems by pointing out how the Tea party transformed the Repub party--but that was a very different situation, as even Thom will admit. The Koch Bros spent millions starting the tea party up, getting free PR in all the papers, organizing, training leaders & holding rallys, bringing candidates forward in the party. I recall that a gathering of about a dozen Tea party people in our rural county was plastered all over the front page of the various papers here along with several pictures--as if it were some kind of important news. The reason the tea party was able to transform the Repub party was because the Koch money talked. When we join the Dems, we won't have millions. I've tried joining my local Dem party. Their meetings are attended by precinct committee people only & the subject is always money & how to bring in more of it. They tell you how much the Repubs have in their war chest & how hard we must work to catch up. They want you to sell ads in the paper, sell tickets for their dinner, organize their bean supper, work on their float for the parade, etc. After you do all this work & give them the money you brought in, they allow you to come to a chat with their candidate that was chosen by the higher ups in the party--at a bar. We are not going to convince this person to represent the people's interests by chatting with them in a bar for a nminute or two, they get their marching orders from the elite in the party & they are the candidate of choice because they have agreed to follow orders. It's a joke to tell us to join the dem party. WHY should we bother with the Dem party at all anymore? Haven't they proven to us they will not do what we need? Thom talks about the Dems not doing much to stop Trump's horrible appointments, while the repubs did plenty to stop Obama's. Even Elizabeth Warren voted for these boobs. Do you see any Dems going on the TV shows to rally the libs, to talk about how awful Trump & his appointments are, how awful his policies are? NO. The job of the dems has always been to help the Repubs get away with all the awful things they do, mainly by keeping their mouth shut about it. If Thom is a true progressive, why is he telling us to join the dems? HE knows better than anybody, that the dems are not doing much to further progressive policies. A true progressive, lib, or whatever you want to call it--would want us to join a party that ALWAYS has a candidate that wants what we want like the Greens, & make it stronger & more relevant by increasing the numbers. Yet, I've heard Thom bad mouth Stein numerous times, saying she's a "vanity candidate" etc. WHY would he run the Green candidate down at all??!! The greens are on OUR side--the progressive side! Thom should never have run down a candidate that's on the same side as we are--he should be promoting her! It's shocking actually. If he were a true progressive, he would be glad to see any progressive in office, & not be in the bag for only the Dems. I don't see how he can explain his behavior.