Dear Citizens and Elected Officials:
Last evening, I received an Email from a friend and I might even call mentor, Dan Rupli, an international trade attorney and much else who has been backing Martin O’Malley’s White House bid, having had long time Maryland roots.
Dan was pleading that while his heart and political values ought to make him a Sanders supporter, his head was with Hillary Clinton and he was asking O’Malley to publicly endorse her.
I take the timing as a reflection of what we all know now, that the momentum, and America’s heart, is turning to Sanders, and the ad I refer to, if you haven’t seen it, is now close to 1.8 million viewers in just over one day:
Here it is again just in case you missed it, because it is truly sweeping the nation, and I just saw Art Garfunkel on, of all anti-Sanders places, CNN, explaining his heartfelt yes to Sanders and the ad.
In response to Dan’s Email, here is what I sent out around 11:00 PM last night. I felt I had to respond quickly; ordinarily that would not be my choice of time slots.
January 22, 2016
Dear Citizens and Elected Officials:
If you haven’t heard by now, you deserve to. Bernie Sanders’ campaign launched today, in New Hampshire and Iowa, a one minute ad entitled simply “America,” to the background music of Simon and Garfunkel’s song of that title and the refrain “Gone to Look for America.”
Shedding tears before it had even finished playing, I knew in my heart that this was it, the piece that had captured 40 years of American frustration under conservative and Centrist Democratic rule, and our longing for something deeper, and better: to find the “better angels” of our political selves.
When I did my posting around 2:00 PM yesterday, the You Tube version had just over 100,000 views. Today it has over 1.3 million. Yesterday, before knowing what would happen, I explained why I thought it was going to sweep not just those two states, but the nation, and Bernie into the White House.
Here is the link to my brief comments at the Daily Kos and the ad itself: www.dailykos.com/...
I wish everyone safe keeping during the coming storm; we are forecast to get 30 inches in Frostburg. Care for your neighbors, cherish and nurture your children, be as good to your pets as they are to you…and I’ll see you on the other side of a better world.
Best,
Bill Neil
billofrights at the Daily Kos
Frostburg, MD