Factoring Bernie
May 18th, 2015 | 
Author: What I hate about Americans is our notion of what is presidential.
Tall, calm and graying at the temples.
Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan etc, all very presidential.
The cult of political celebrity.
Whatever.
Bernie Sanders is not presidential but I’d like to have a drink with him.
Bernie shows up on TV looking like he combed his hair with a sharp rock. His suit is wrinkled and his tie is cheesy. He sounds like a cab driver from Brooklyn and he has the on air presence of an assistant district attorney from south Boston. His Achilles heel is AIPAC and all matters Israel and he’s got gun issues.
These things give me pause.
He’s not ideal.
But he is smart and completely unafraid.
No candidate is perfect. None will ever be as far as I’m concerned. None will ever be as far as you are either. Look in the mirror. That’s as close as you are ever going to get and you will never run for president.
He’s not a choice because of what we’ve learned to picture on our screens. It’s the only test he doesn’t pass. Otherwise, he’s been consistent from the day he walked on. He’s a socialist. Our republic is a failing model because of unchecked capitalism. It survives only because of some modicum of socialism.
It’s why we don’t don’t actually enslave the migrant workers that clean our hotel rooms or why our salads aren’t $50 a pop. Instead, the bigots bitch about them taking jobs none of us would ever consider and they get to go to the emergency room when it’s a matter of life and death. It’s a better deal than most of them will ever admit.
Bernie Sanders is a socialist. That very word is so polarizing it will probably prevent him from ever being elected. Nevermind the socialist constructs in this country that we all take for granted everyday. Fire departments and libraries, medicare and social security. For whatever reason Americans have been taught to fear that word so profoundly that we imagine it threatens our existence.
It’s sucks because it is why we aren’t a third world country.
Or a theocracy or plutocracy.
All of the above
Can Bernie beat Hillary?
It’s unlikely.
Hillary’s support is broad but shallow. She’s hawkish and corporate cozy. Her path is trickier than most estimate. She’s got baggage and skeletons and a lot of Americans think she’s a bitch.
She is vulnerable.
She has the amps but maybe not the volts.
Bernie has voltage. A long history of consistent values, beliefs and actions that amount to a rare integrity. It’s formidable. His support is deep. But he needs amperage. Broader support. Crucial and hard to come by. Wattage.
He is not presidential and that might just be the best reason to vote for him.
He is the best person to run for president in my lifetime.
Thom Hartmann says Bernie is not kidding. He’s not here to pull Clinton to the left. He’s in it to win it. I hope he’s right. He probably won’t get the nomination and what pisses me me off is he won’t get taken seriously by the media. We deserve him. This man says every single thing I crave to hear on every issue that every other politician has avoided for the entire time I’ve been paying attention.
He goes right at it.
Fuck big banks, fuck big pharma, fuck big energy, fuck the military industrial complex. Fuck everything that fucks with most of us every fucking day. Goddamn I love that. He is a no bullshit, unapologetic liberal. He is a socialist. We need socialism because capitalism is running amok. Capitalism is why an education costs as much as a house. Capitalism is why a $1 bag of saline costs $700 in a hospital. Capitalism is why I pay $1.30 more a gallon for gas in California than the rest of the country despite oil being less than $50 a barrel. The minimum wage used to be a living wage and capitalism is why it is now not enough sustain an individual. Capitalism is why, despite all of this, corporations are far richer than they have ever been while worker productivity is at an all time high and wages are stagnant.
Capitalism is why they are no longer embarrassed to buy and sell our elected representatives on television.
Bernie Sanders has been talking about this shit his entire life.
What more do you want?
He has my vote.
Then I’ll vote for Hillary in the general because the GOP offers nothing but filthy idiots.
Drinks for my friends.
Posted in Uncategorized
It’s certainly going to be an interesting race. Bernie, I think, really does have a chance. Given that every reich-wing think tank has multiple strategies for attacking Hillary, as they keep at it, it’s likely something might actually stick. Besides her, who else do we have? Martin O’Malley? I’ll need to research him more. I don’t know much about him, and I think most Americans don’t either. If Hillary, for some reason were to drop out, would Warren listen to her loyal fans and take up the fight?
It’s going to be a very interesting race.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ll simply add that there are only two candidates who believe that grown women are sufficiently responsible to make their own life decisions without their options being severely limited or eliminated by a bunch of elderly fat cats who believe that sex is only for procreation. (Rule does not apply to men.) And any woman who enjoys sex for its own sake is a whore. (Rule does not apply to men.) They care to understand nothing about knowing these women or their circumstances. Female anatomy is an unexplored mystery best left in the dark. Still they forcibly inject their presence into women’s clinics with no medical knowledge, and force doctors to lie to women or face legal prosecution. They demand forced birthing by young girls who clearly haven’t yet figured out how to take care of themselves, mere children themselves, incapable of assuming responsibility for another. But by God, they’ll have these babies and they damned well better not look to the government for any help.
Republicans berate and criminalize those who need assistance, then sadistically do everything possible to thrust people from lower-to-middle classes into this very position – refusing contraception, denying sex education classes and defunding public education, transferring taxpayers’ funding from public education to their religious-based charter schools. Meanwhile every week brings a new sex scandal involving yet another Republican official. Hypocrites.
They say that “rape can be beautiful if it produces a child”. That’s goddamned sick.
They say that if a medical condition presented which threatened a pregnant woman’s life, the fetus should have priority. The woman should die. No matter what the parents wish.
And these are only the tip. They’ve made a challenge of insulting and humiliating women. Who can forget Rick Santorum’s advice to rape victims to make the best out of a bad situation …. and by the way, she should be grateful for it, too? Being thankful for rape and redefining rape into multiple degrees was all the talk of 2014.
You can talk about Republicans’ greed, their unchecked capitalism, and their many other faults, Mr. Douglass, but as I watch the rights of half the fucking U.S, population dwindle, as I hear victims of heinous crimes being publicly re-victimized in what surely feels like a slap across the face, there can be no other issue paramount to retaining our governance of our own choices, our bodies, our lives and our dignity. Their vicious legislative actions and dehumanizing opinions are beneath contempt and absolutely must be stopped.
There are only two candidates who consider women as independent, thinking, responsible people, rather than the occasional unfortunate extensions of male voters.
It’s no coincidence both these candidates are Democrats.
BRAVA!! I agree on all counts and these are things which MUST be said aloud. This is a case we cannot afford not to make, because in truth, our very lives depend upon it, and more importantly, so do the lives of our daughters and granddaughters. This whole debacle of the Duggars has illuminated their “strain” of Christianity – Dominionism and the Quiverfull movement – the two of which married together pose an incredible risk to this country, if not the planet. They are cranking out babies as quickly as possible for the express purpose of gaining ascendancy in this country and taking over, without a second thought, all of the fundamental structures of our country and putting them under their “dominion.” These people are hardly different from Isis, though they have better clothing and a distinct flair for “hypocrisy laced with piety.” We’re long past where they just want a space to live *their* lives, they’re intending to make sure we live them also.
And make no mistake whatsoever, this is the very ugly head of the Patriarchy rising up:
God->Man—->Woman–>children—>all the other completely fucked groups (people of color, those with disabilities, the permanently impoverished). I’ve certainly watched over the past 30 years how more and more people have been pushed – with deliberate intention – into poverty from which they will *never* escape.
And there’s a hard truth in this that we must remember – those who are at the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, i.e., survival, make very poor political activists. They’re fucking putting all their energy into simply staying alive, and it is exhausting, debilitating, and ensures their lives will be both short and brutish. Gutting the educational system, also over the past 30 years, guarantees that same group is largely ignorant on so many levels – a profound lack of understanding for what it means to be a citizen, an absolutely abysmal grasp of science and why the fuck it matters so much, an education informed, not by facts, but by things like “our government was begun under the tenets of Moses.” Teachers in Louisiana, I understand, can substitute the Bible now for a science textbook.
And then the final piece – the scapegoats – combined with a militarized police system across the country that now has no compunction whatsoever for simply murdering people of color, and anyone else they don’t like on the street, unarmed, frequently in no way a danger to anyone around them. Murdering 12 year olds within 5 seconds of arriving on a scene???
This is fascism we are up against, and it is real and it is dangerous. This truly may be the most important election of our lives. A critical mass of this kind, handed to the Republicans and conservatives at this point means the country is going to swing radically away from anything that has heart or goodness whatsoever. I’m going with the socialist myself – is there really any other choice?
Very astute analysis. I’d hope if Hillary wins, she’ll ask Bernie to be her running mate. But that ‘socialist’ label may give her pause. However, she’d generate a lot of enthusiasm with him on the ticket.
Absolutely agree. I dig Sanders. He’s one of my favorites and honestly I think he’d be amazingly presidential where it counts, on policy issues that I seriously agree with, and isn’t that what it’s all about? I have much the same issues with him that you do, but again am aware that no single candidate is going to check all the boxes (and if they did, I’d be worried, as no one candidate CAN fix everything and if they think they can they’re delusional.)
But, I’ve been saying since the first time I heard his name mentioned as viable for the Presidency that he just isn’t. It’s that word. That bad, no way, he’s a commie! word… Socialist. *gasp* Goddamn does America have a problem with certain words (typically because we make up definitions as we go along) and that one, that one right there, is a huge nope.
So my hope is that he pulls Clinton further to the left. At least a smidge. That he forces her to take a stronger stance on some liberal issues. At least a wee bit stronger. And that in the end, with having had a primary that wasn’t smooth sailing, we end up with a better candidate than we bargained for. At least.
Again, love your writing.
Bernie Sanders has, for far too long, been dismissed by many as a radical; as being too extreme. His message resonates now in a way that it hasn’t before because the scope and depth of our social and economic issues have increased to such an extent that only extreme measures can begin to lay the groundwork necessary to return America to its people. There’s only ONE candidate who’s message has been consistent and unwavering through the years. Sure, Hillary is more ‘political’–but that’s exactly why she’s, at best, an uninspiring and defensive choice. Frankly, I’ve lost faith in Hillary. In my opinion, she’s just another player; she’s fully immersed herself in the system, compromised her integrity, and lost touch with the very people who need her most. There’s a lack of sincerity that’s crept into her speech and her actions. I’ll grant that Bernie may appear to project a “not presidential” (your words) persona; but then again, we’ve tried lots of options that DID look the part, and–suffice it to say–that hasn’t worked out very well. The degree of change required in our political, economic and social systems—so vast, that in the next four years, we can, at best, only hope it’s initiated–will require the leadership of a true maverick, someone with his or her own voice who won’t be afraid to use it. Even at her best, Hillary’s too cautious, far too politically prudent, to assume that role.
I love Bernie, and I couldn’t give a flying fuck how he dresses or what he looks like … that said, nothing will change in America until all the money is taken completely OUT of the political process … I am sure I will be long gone from the planet when and if this happens … as always, I love your articles …
you could make him win…………YOU can do it with your thoughts….Remember when the black muslim won, twice!!!…Obama won because people like me got to hear him speak……..people will hear ol Bernie speak…….no worries on that…….AND you’ll be officially voting for him TWICE. Come on, Feel the Bern!
Excellent. As usual. Bernie has my vote.
I concur, my friend. You know I do.
I’d love for Bernie to win, but I’m not positive he’d actually be a good president. He’s fabulous as the “conscience” of the people and the party, and I think he should challenge Hillary over every single issue. My greatest hope is that enough people will finally realize how right he is on most issues, realize that we really do need most of those policy changes, and open their minds to such ideas at the local and state level, as well as in choosing members of Congress.
Then, we have to work our asses off to create this groundswell of progressivism that our nation, and the world, so badly needs!
The one thing I can say about Bernie is that I believe him to be truly honest. That is a word NEVER used to describe a politician. If he were to go against his beliefs , he could probably come up with the money to be a serious contender in this election. Personally I thaink a warren /sanders. ticket could win. Our country has become an oligarchy, our elections are basicly won by mbill8onaires on one side or the othe, and republicans will NEVER AGAIN pass legistlation to help the bottom 98%. I do hope if its not this election, soon will will see more senators and congressmen, and maybe even govenor on the far left. We true liberals need more than just a couple of voices i ,washington
Great piece Michael ….. People need to fully understand that for over 75 Years our Republic has been a Hybrid of both Capitalism and Socialism and worked well … until the 1980’s Free Market Trickle Down Conservative economic policy came along which led to the Great Recession. We need to find that delicate balance again. What I like most about Bernie is that he doesn’t have that slick polished image he is someone most average americans can relate too. I do believe the media and punditry totally under estimate Bernies appeal and will be in for a very rude surprise as Bernies backers begin to swell !
Step one to getting Bernie elected: Register as a Democrat.
Step two: Tell everyone you know to register as a Democrat. Especially Republicans…it shouldn’t be too hard to convince them since most dislike Hillary more than they fear the word “socialism”.
Step three: Vote in the primaries and tell others to do the same. If he can beat Hillary, no way he’ll lose to a Republican. May the force be with us all!
exactly, Michael, EXACFUCKINGLY. The USA has not been plagued by the oligarchy machine like this since TR. we need about 200 Bernies spread about Congress and the executive branches, require the Networks to provide a certain amount of airtime in an equal amount to any party, in Return for a license of OUR airwaves, and campaign limits of 10M for presidential elections, decreasing for each lesser election, and a ban on lobbying. Then, finally, each time a Corp. violates any provision, minimum prison sentences for the perpetrators, and a ban on any political activity for 10 years.
In the time between elections, with more and more Democrats getting routed in my beloved middle west, I began to feel as if the Jews of New York were the last hope of liberalism…that no one else on our side dared speak their conscience except the one group in American society who could be highly educated and still possess that earthy indignant fire. I don’t think one will be elected president, though. But we need them, if only because too many left of center have abdicated and fallen timid.