I saw the long lines on Sunday, here in Minneapolis. People were surprised, undeterred, and all smiles as they waited almost 4,000 strong to send a message to the usual suspects in our dysfunctional political parties. "This isn't about political parties", one white-haired stalwart told me. "This is movement politics".
Remember "Keep clean with Gene"? I was a political creature eye witness to those years and we stumbled badly as a nation when we let the dark creatures around Nixon lead us further into an abyss. Whizzing by the oil shock, deep recession, near-hyperinflation, and the Iran-Contra subversion of our government, we now have the same sinister manipulation now impacting the mainstream press, the national judiciary, the Congress itself and sadly a presidency that lies, tortures, and consummates backroom deals with multinational corporations who give nary a fig for traditional American values.
The lesson I take from these years of discontent is that Lincoln was right about the risks of fooling people. I also pay heed to cautionary language from Ben Franklin about wanton divisiveness. The oligarchs who run our political parties like so many satrapies are not divine. If they are sufficiently inept at responsible governance, as surely seems to be the case, consent of the governed becomes frangible, then fragile, then likely withdrawn - the silly-willy gun-toting Texans and the NRA zealots notwithstanding.
Mere money won't spend if people are sufficiently aroused. Heavily armed storm troopers are also last week's news. We have the most guns per capita on the planet and "stand your ground" becomes quite a clarion call if the folks with badges keep murdering people. Who needs "foreign" terrorists are we to destroy ourselves from within?
Or - we can learn from Bernie Sanders that speaking truth to power is the highest and best form of courage. The truth shall set us free.