(Yes, this is a Bernie diary. No, there is nothing bad about Hillary or Hillary supporters in it).
Obviously, we have all had a very, very, very, VERY hard weekend, and some of us are rightfully feeling upset, so I thought it might be time for something nice I’ve been thinking about, and also an admission I need to make.
Hi, I’m Egghead, and I have a unicorn problem. And it’s not just because Paul Krugman called me out on it. I’ve had it since I was a teeny tiny Egghead.
It feels so good to get it out there.
Fellow Bernie supporters, do you also have a unicorn problem? If so, follow me under the break.
Something I’ve noticed, and you probably have too, is the way Bernie Sanders and Bernie supporters are tied in with unicorns.
Bernie Sanders’ budget is unicorn-based, his social policies are unicorn, his peacenik foreign policy is strongly pro-unicorn. Skeptical people just don’t seem to be able to avoid talking about unicorns when talking about Sanders (also puppies and rainbows). And I am totally cool with this. I have an unicorn “problem.” I own this shit.
It’s not just because little girls love unicorns. Unicorns love us back, according to popular mythology. If only BernieBros like Bernie Sanders, does that make them all Bronies? There are worse things to be. I’m not a bro, but I am a fan of My Little Pony, and it is almost certainly reflective of my unicorn problem.
1. Problems are solved collectively and cooperatively. Everyone’s contribution is important.
2. Share
3. When in doubt, choose the non-violent option.
4. There are lots of tasty baked goods. (More on that in a bit).
I also watch the show because it’s one of the few shows on television with a wide variety of female characters, no love interests, and which passes the Bechdel Test in every episode. I could say more about the “Bro” thing, such as “I’m used to being erased in media narratives about popular culture,” but let us move on.
I’m about the message, not the messenger. I come from four generations of unicorn-lovin’ liberals. My great-grandfather got off the boat from Lithuania. He pushed a cart, but thanks to an education that I’m almost certain was tuition free, he qualified to become a dentist. He was a dreamer, a political radical and a member of the Stelton Colony. He taught himself several languages, including Esperanto. Did he live to see a perfect world in his lifetime? Obviously not, but he never gave up working towards it.
My grandparents were also leftists, friends of artists, admirers of Paul Robeson. I can’t really go into too much more detail without spelling out in detail who I and my family are (not important, just recognizable), but my parents were at the March on Washington, anti-war activists, were anti-nuke and pro-refugee. I’m WAY less politically active than they are. Did I mention that my dad has been in favor of legalizing pot for as long as I’ve known him? Personally, I don’t see the attraction in the stuff, but there it is.
Bernie Sanders’ message was tailor-made for me the way Iowa was tailor-made for him.
As Rachel Maddow said a week or two ago, it’s lonely to be a liberal in this country. Unless you live in a few unicornocentric enclaves, like the Bay Area, you’re used to being laughed at and your ideas dismissed. Even in the Democratic Party, you’re used to looks of incredulity. Free college? National health care? It really was like walking into your classroom or office and announcing, “so, I believe in unicorns, just laying it out there.”
And then through what alignment of the stars I do not know, some little old guy who looks and talks a lot like my relatives wanders onto the political stage and says stuff I’ve thought my whole life, and to my amazement a whole lot of people are nodding and saying, “yes, that makes sense.” The younger people can see that what we have now isn’t working very well, and they’re saying publicly “unicorns.” And then a whole lot of other people popped up and we’re all like “You can see them too??”
There are a lot of us, as it turns out. We like unicorns. We like solving problems together. We believe in sharing. There’s plenty for everybody if a few of us don’t grab. We take care of each other. We hurt when we don’t.
And we’re willing to fight like hell for it.
There’s a long tradition on Daily Kos of responding to tsuris with recipes. May I humbly suggest, as the Bernie Sanders Baked Good, the Unicorn Poop Cookie?
Full instructions here!
Sure, it’s a little bit labor-intensive. It involves sugar cookie dough, tinting the cookie dough with food dye, making long strips and twisting them into lumps, adding dragees, painting them with glitter gel, adding stars and disco dust, but we’re all about labor, right?
If nothing else, I hope this cheered you up. Don’t give up, don’t give in, and hold fast to your ideals.