Let’s face it. The sectarian fighting in this primary season is reaching Biblical proportions. So before we summon fire and brimstone down from a sun as black as sackcloth, please take a moment to think what Bernie Sanders means when he is calling for a “political revolution.”
Prior to this presidential election, Bernie Sanders was not a Democrat. Repeat that to yourself five times.
I’ll wait.
Now that you remember that crucial fact, it renders hollow those calls from many to just make sure a Democrat, any Democrat, gets elected in 2016. Hillary is a Democrat, through and through. No one denies that. But what Bernie’s supporters (mostly (hopefully)) recognize is that being a Democrat is not what should drive your vote. That is why Bernie gains support from all points on the political spectrum.
A revolution is not partisan politics. A revolution is rejection of the system that has screwed the left and right for at least the last half century. And that is why if you support Bernie Sanders now, you MUST support him at least through November.
Bernie is not perfect. No candidate could be, or ever is. But he is perfect for this moment in our history. He has the opportunity to turn the dial steering our nation a few degrees farther toward justice than any other candidate* to ever have such national (and international) popularity. (*h/t to Dan Carlin’s Common Sense for that analogy.) And with the momentum that movement will have, we can start to see something resembling real progress.
But, if voters who support Bernie in the primary defect to Hillary in the general election, that movement dies. And we may not see it again when it can still be viable. Not in many of our lifetimes.
Bernie is calling for a revolution. A revolution is not “settling for the Lesser Evil.” It is not voting for someone just because you abhor the thought of living with “[insert GOP candidate]” as the commander-in-chief. A revolution is recognizing, accepting, and truly living as if the little letters next to a legislator’s name are meaningless. Because they are.
Bernie has acted consistently on many issues which, as chief executive and civilian commander of the military, he could finally manage with top-down integrity. Name the last time we had a president who could make that claim.
I’ll wait.
(FDR would be an acceptable answer, if it wasn’t the Day of Remembrance today.)
What does this all mean? It means that Bernie is counting on me, on you, and on everyone else in your sphere of influence to join his revolution.
This means paying attention, not to the noise, but to reality.
This isn’t a fight about whether or not it is the time for a woman president. It has always been time for a woman president. But if Hillary is the only woman the DNC thought would be “qualified” for that job this year, well, that is their own fault. 2016 is no more or less an appropriate time to have a woman president than it was in 2008. And then, the candidate the majority of voters wanted was someone who appointed a Goldman Sachs attorney to the head of the Department of Justice, committed the first extrajudicial killings of American citizens in the War on Terror, and let a dingo loose into the henhouse that is the FCC. Why? Because Barack Obama, by all accounts, was a Democrat before that election season.
Yes, electing our first Black president was a historic moment, but it was not a revolution. It resulted in the same politics operating with the same financial interests at the helm.
Bernie Sanders will not operate like that. And that is why his presidency, the nation, and by extension, the entire globe will be different. Different than any of us could have hoped to see.
If I support Bernie Sanders now, I will Write-in Bernie Sanders if I have to. Now repeat that to yourself five times.
I’ll wait.
Wednesday, Mar 9, 2016 · 8:32:56 PM +00:00
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justiceformost
For the Flaggers: “The battle for the party is not an ideological battle. It's one between establishment and anti-establishment factions. And as I've said a million times, the status quo is untenable.”
Taken directly from the FAQ. The Status Quo is untenable. Hillary Clinton represents the Status Quo and the Establishment, and no one will ever be able to provide evidence to dispute that cold hard fact. So, if you advocate for her on this site, you are the problem. Not me. To steal a phrase from Vicente Fox: Open your FUCKING eyes.