In the grit and grime of the political life, we often get caught up, and carried away with the process.
GOTV and the eternal campaign for dollars are necessary to any politician. It has always been so. To believe otherwise is to dig a pit in the sand for our collective heads.
These are specialized activities which, in the world of instantaneous information and access challenge even the very best campaigners. It is also true that these activities are in part designed to divert attention, resources, time, talent and treasure away from the center (or what should be, at least the center) of any political activity.
This is a most important point of reality that must be confronted, addressed and dealt with.
However, it does not drill down to the central core that any idividual or group political life should inhabit. If you'd like my point of view, please follow me below the squiggledoodlethingey fold.
It might be something you can use.
There is a very old saying (perhaps erroneously) attributed to Chinese wisdom which says:
"May you live in interesting times."
This saying is usually meant as a curse...and a most powerful curse it potentially is, indeed. Around our world, we are living in some of the most interesting times in the recorded histories of our species, regardless of origin or geographic location.
One of the most dependable measures of the interesting times we live in, as humans anyway, is the "white noise" surrounding us. From news pages, to the media, to the internet and this new phenomenon we call "social media", we are slowly desensitized, distracted, and dismayed.
Questions abound. But, this diary is not about those questions. It is about other questions. Instead of questioning, for but one small, insignificant instance the insane pontifications of "The Donald", other questions come to my mind.
Like, for instance, why would the Republicans support, endorse and/or encourage this useless, malevolent windbag?
While there may have been some surface nods to shutting him up, I see the Republicans, Conservatives, and Tea Party Terrorists pushing Trump into as many venues as possible. Why?
He is the current version of "Benghazi", and Darryl Issa, that's why...with one significant exception. It is not Hillary Clinton the party opposite is having palpitations over. Thrusting Trump's impossibility upon the American (and world, for that matter) media in such cacophony is nothing more than white noise. But who is it meant to drown out?
Bernie Sanders.
Content that the vile and nefarious damage (presumably) inflicted upon the Clinton campaign with unprecedented and supercilious affrontery by their raging congressional lunatic contingent, and with the outright support of media at every possible level, the Republicans have pretty much sailed the Libyan boat as far as they can. They have, if you have noticed, abandoned that particular ship immediately prior to the sinking of it.
Why?
The dance had been danced, and the band left the stage, that's why. Playing in the interim was its entire purpose. There was never the first concern about who would, or would not dance to the tune...that was never important. Why?
Distraction, obfuscation, diversion, and/or distraction, that's why. To weaken a candidate which, at the beginning, had a 46% margin over ANY potential Republican candidate, something...anything had to be done. That is why. But there is something more, and much more important.
The belief (I contend mostly a wrong belief) was that those issues, policies, and considerations those in the center, and left of center (as it is currently defined) would not be able to escape the sound cloud of the white noise. To that degree, and for very, very little money I might add, the strategy worked. And, do not be deluded, it very much and very specifically WAS, IS, and WILL BE a core strategy of this campaign season.
It has been (rightly, I contend) that those to the right of Center, politically have not, are not, and will not tell the voting citizens of this country anything other than all the things they oppose. Theirs is the party of "those things we stand against!" If you need any education on this score, this diary will not provide it to you. Just check out YouTube for the Republican Candidate of your choice, and listen...and much more importantly, watch.
Look not only at the noise, the white noise of their words, but pay especial attention to their bodies, their movements, and their physical presences. Pick your poison.
So, why Trump, and why now?
He is the only presence that can cover with white noise the reality of the people on Main Street, while subjecting us again to the vagaries of Wall Street. I mean, could there possibly be a more preeminent candidate for Wall Street than Trump? But, again. Why?
Bernie Sanders is very actively, but quietly speaking the truth to America. He has been discounted, "been done away with". His message is lost in the din. They believe. Mrs. Clinton has decided on a "Five paces back!" policy regarding this campaign. Quite frankly, who could blame her? Not me.
But her campaign also suffers from a dilemma. She is not (much to the chagrin and horror of the Republicans and their ilk) stupid. She is very much aware of the ease with which she will, in time, deal with the Clown Car. But Sanders? Now, that's a problem. Why?
Sanders is speaking the truth to a voting populous desperate to have a leader who will trust them with the truth of things, that's why. And as Americans, as Democrats, and Liberals, and Progressives, we have a clear and (for me, anyway) obvious choice. Mrs. Clinton knows it. She has seen it. And she quite frankly doesn't quite know how to handle it, much less deal with it. That's why.
We have an abundant opportunity to define our party, our philosophy, and our politics as a party as never before. But we must decide what it is that we stand FOR, and stand for it against all comers. Ours is not the task to deride, demean, or disenfranchise potential party members and voters by finger pointing against them, or especially against our own. Hillary Clinton knows this. Negativity is in her blood, and she's not afraid to be seen fully involved in it. It's not her history that is diffusing potential voters. It is a clear lack of stating what things there are in America today that she stands for.
I am not an "anti" anyone person. But, what exactly does it mean to be a Democrat? Or a Liberal? Or a Progressive? The unique identification of the Sanders campaign stands or falls on only one thing: the truth. Our party must identify the truth of what we stand FOR, fight for those things, and bring Americans into the reality of democracy in action, not lip service.
Ours has forever been a big tent, or as the British say, a "huge church". Yet, we cower in ghostly corners dictated by those who would simply reply to us with "you birthed the KKK". (Umm, no we actually didn't, but that's for another day.)
The difficulty for the Sanders campaign is relatively simple to diagnose. It's terribly difficult to treat, and nearly impossible to survive. Speaking specifically of Senator Sanders and his campaign team, I honestly believe and am convinced that Bernie Sanders knows this troubling disease, this unending illness we simply cannot (or will not) shake.
When Sanders talks, people in what are now approaching staggering numbers listen. They talk back. Dialogue happens, and democracy breaks out.Why? And why is that the greatest danger the parties opposite must overcome? Indeed.
That IS the question.
You know where Bernie Sanders stands. You know what he stands FOR. That's why. That is the long and short of it. Well, what do YOU stand for? If you disagree with Sanders on any particular point, you know why you disagree. That's troubling, isn't it? Well, what comes after that?
Engagement? Debate? Letters, and comments, and tweets? Or, perhaps the most damaging to any political campaign...silence. Because, you see, in order to do anything at all requires something many (or most) voters just simply are not finding themselves willing to try. Not to put too fine a point on it, such truth requires a bit of spine, backbone. Our political party has long been found lacking in that particular regard.
Sanders is asking us to fix that illness. I wonder if we will.
Sanders is, to me, the only legitimate candidate in this political season asking US to do anything. But what we choose to do must be done now. Not later. Voting is nowhere near enough.
Yet, Sanders is the one candidate who believes that it is the citizen who can win this election above the money, the evil and dark campaigning, the endless (pointless as well) ads which are being bought by billions from those who would own those who would lead this country into our futures. That's a pretty big lift, and Sanders knows he cannot do that by himself. That is his problem; that is the bet he is willing to stand up FOR. I happen to like that a lot. I also agree it is a bet worth taking on.
You know, there is one good and shining truth in all of this.
For the past eight years, we have had a President who asked the same thing of us. Mostly, we have sat back in the deep weeds of indifference and done...nothing. Well, sniping at any possible opportunity, perhaps. The Republicans thank you. We've done, as a party, without charge, what they couldn't do with every dollar in their war chests. Bernie knows that, too.
Sanders is a great enigma to many people, but not to those who have known him for any particular length of time. Therein lies a great difficulty for his opponents. Entire communities know and love him, respect him, and most important listen to him over the course of a lifetime of public service; service of which they have been direct beneficiaries. They communicate to and with him. He listens, and has dialogue with them. He knows those who disagree with him. He respects them and counts them as colleagues and friends. He never stops listening, talking, and trying to convince those to his side of an argument.
Consistency drips from his every pore. There is no lurching out in front of the latest gathering of those with a "position" to say he is their leader, as many have done, and will continue to do. That's simply not who the man is. It was a worrying possibility at the beginning of his campaign for many people. It no longer is a concern to most of them.
Sanders is a quiet and gentle man, a good man who makes his presence known in the Commons by simply standing there. People are lining up beside and behind him for a very particular reason. They to his words as he listens to theirs. They hear, struggling as they must against the white noise perpetrated by others around them, what he has to say because they know he respects them. They are willing to do the work required to get through the palaver because they thirst for the truth, and empowerment to become the change they seek. It doesn't hurt that Sanders counts every one of them as his friend. He calls them his brother, his sister. They don't mind; in fact, they relish it. Not from a particular political perspective, but from a deeply personal one.
The power of Sanders, at least thus far, comes from a far away and distant place that most of us only remember; that few have experienced ever. The trouble for Sanders and for us comes when we do finally make out what he says.
"Let me be clear! This is what I stand FOR. What do YOU Stand FOR? Can we talk?"
I, of course, would advise anyone willing to listen to know there is yet another and even more important question that we, and our party must answer.
"What are YOU going to do about it?"
I believe it is sincere, and genuine. I believe that we see the leader in the man, not the other way around. If we do not, cannot or will not determine very quickly what we stand FOR as a political party, and make those things our battle cry, we more than disappoint. We capitulate. I'm not willing to do that, and I am more than willing to answer the challenge which the Sanders campaign is bringing to every single American citizen.
I know what I stand for. I'm willing to stand for it. Do you know the same? Are you willing to do the same, no matter which candidate you prefer? Can you determine within yourself that it is counter to our party's stated principles to rail against anyone, or any campaign? If your ideas, principles, policies, and plans for the next five years cannot stand your scrutiny, do you really believe they will stand the unbelievably intense and destructive scrutiny of American opinion, media, and talking heads? This is the disease of our party. It is one only we can fix, if we but would.
Bernie is telling us what he stands for. That makes him undoubtedly the most dangerous man in America today. Must he stand alone?
That is not only the Sanders campaign's biggest fear, by the way. But it IS why we are spending all our resources, time, talent and treasure talking about Donald Trump.
Regardless of what I may or may not feel about Donald Trump and the Clown Car, it is not in my political self interest (never mind my own personal self interest) to spend one iota on it. This could be a really energizing campaign season, filled with us $3 donors with a pen, and a couple of functioning lower limbs. We could actually have a message we could unashamedly share with the strangers living near us. You know...democracy. If our party can define, and refine no more than five (5) things we stand FOR, we would much more than win the Presidency in November, 2016. We would change America...for the better.
If people do not know what we stand FOR, they will not trust us with the tasks required to lead this nation down the road. Coasting is not an option. Look around. Disease, and dis-ease. Wars. Pestilence. Global Climate Change. Division and hatred..and so much more.
We really ARE living in interesting times. And that matters. A lot.
That's why.