“The 2016 election coverage, I haven’t been this addicted to
television since Breaking Bad,” reads
one of my favorite memes currently circulating the internet.
It’s true. I can’t get enough of it. The debates. The
discussions about the debates. The endless stream of ever-changing polls. The memes. The
articles. The videos. It is American political theater at it’s finest. Our
democracy (cough cough oligarchy cough
cough), is at work in all her glory. The citizens are choosing their
leader. And in a democracy, every voice gets to be heard, even if it is a
misinformed, easily swayed, religiously motivated, poorly educated,
politically, culturally, and judicially ignorant voice. That’s democracy. The citizens get to vote for whatever reasons
they want to vote for. They may have a good understanding of American history
and policy, and be basing their vote on who fits into their understanding of
what is needed right now. They may have supported one of the two political
parties for a long time and be for whichever candidate arises from their chosen
party. They may be passionately for a specific social issue, or religious
issue, or foreign policy issue and be basing their vote solely on the candidate
who addresses that issue in the right way. Or they may just like the candidate in their gut.
That is how so many of us ultimately make our decisions, why
would voting for a presidential candidate be any different? We make some
choices emotionally. On instinct. What
feels right. So if I’m a committed
Christian, and one of the candidates is sure to bring up his Christian faith
often, I’m guessing something about him is just going to feel
right. And of course we want to feel
right about our president. This is why Trump and Sanders are such great
indicators of how the majority of the country is feeling. Their popularity can
clearly be attributed to a major dissatisfaction with the current political
system amongst our citizens. They are two opposite sides of the spectrum of
perspective in American citizens. As much as it pains me to associate Bernie Sanders
with Donald Trump in any way, their connection is clear. They come off as
authentic. They are consistent. Sanders has been consistent in his views and
stances for his entire political life. And Trump is consistently…Trump? They
are both seen as outsiders, which holds value in this election. Many Americans
have learned, with good reason, to distrust the political insiders.
Hillary Clinton is a career politician. She is a master in
the games of the political establishment, as seen from the political establishment.
(Feel free to read political
establishment as corporate establishment
as they are interchangeable). She is the only proper candidate, the perfect
candidate, way more electable, maybe already elected, crushing the polls, so
hip she’s dabbing with the youngsters, and invented Obamacare (Hillarycare), according the
media, which is entrenched in the political establishment. Sanders is an unelectable,
farfetched, overreaching, pie-in-the-sky, crazy uncle according to the media
which again, is entrenched in the political establishment. Trump is an unelectable,
unsuitable, undeserving, mockery of the game, according to the media (and I
might agree), which one more time, is entrenched in the political establishment. In case you missed it, the media is one in the same with the political corporate-funded establishment.
But that’s just it. The majority of citizens are not part of
the political establishment. And the rise of Trump and Sanders supporters shows
us how many of our citizens view the political establishment. They are angry at
the status quo of our political system. So whether you’re on the side of
liberalism, social justice, civil rights, equality, anti-corporate influence, and
overall accountability and reform, or
on the side of conserving “traditional america” (cough cough white america
cough cough), bomb’em, deport’em, wall’em, arrest’em, don’t need facts and
will not listen to facts and Obama is worse than Hitler: the message is clear: We want change. And we need a
perpetrator of that change. We need a leader of that change. We need a symbol
that things will be different. Cue Trump and Sanders.
There is actual Bernie Sanders, who has stood for civil
rights and social justice his entire political career, who has stood against
corporate greed and inequality his entire political career, who has stood
against the corrupting influence of money in politics his entire political
career, who has stood against the deregulation of Wallstreet, who has stood for
the fading middle class and struggling poor citizens, who voted against the Iraq war, who has stood for our under-cared-for veterans, and who has the footage to
prove this history. There are the actual Bernie Sanders policies that he has
laid out that can be studied and reflected upon. Policies based in addressing
the issues of the corrupting influence of money in politics, the massive issues
of student debt and healthcare costs, the failed war on drugs and booming
prison industry, and all around inequality culturally and financially. Then,
there also is what Bernie represents
to us. He represents a revolution of the political system that we have been so
dissatisfied with. He represents a hope that our system can actually work
again. He represents our lost hope. He
puts the progress in progressive. And his supporters respond to his
authenticity.
There is actual Donald Trump. The bankrupt four-times,
“build-a-wall-make-them-pay-for-it”, muslim-deporting, celebrity-businessman
making America great again. There is his actual great comebacks and zingers
during the debates. There are his actual speeches where he often isolates
entire cultures. There are his actual re-runs of The Apprentice. And then there
is what Trump represents. A strong
leader. The total opposite of a pussy. (A dick? A boner? Whatever that flat
patch a Ken doll has?) He represents the first amendment rights closet-racists
have been shamed from using for so long. He is a take no bullshit, does what he
wants, says what he wants, is smart because he says he is, perfect
representation of a freedom loving American boss, which is apparently what many
Americans have been looking for in the political world. And his supporters
respond to his authenticity.
Trump is resonating with the people who love America to be
just that. A symbol. A beacon of freedom and independence. The pinnacle of
democracy. The smartest, bestest, strongest, richest, most dreamy country in
the world. Everything they believe to be true and good, despite
facts and historical perspective, and a basic inability to accept the massive
shortcomings and atrocities in American history. Their America is just like
Trump, great because he says so, despite facts and historical perspective.
Sanders is resonating with the people who see him as a
symbol of the America they want to see. A country with great promise and hope,
but clear about it’s flaws and the fact that it has been built on exploitation,
a country that needs to adjust and address what isn’t working, and start
building a system that will work for all, not just a select few. They love him
as a symbol of rebellion against their long standing understanding that politicians
and corporations are corrupt and need to be held accountable. They also love
the fact that he has policy ideas to back up his beliefs, policies based in his
actual passion for the issues and actual compassion for people, not a flaunted
compassion because it is convenient right now and will win him votes, a
compassion that has been a through-line to his life that can be seen in his
speeches of the past. He represents a hope that our system can work.
These are the two ends of the spectrum in America right now.
Both sides valuing authenticity, which is clearly a reaction to the coached,
trained, adjusted, pandering politicians of our recent history. Both sides are
angry about how America has been governed and influenced. Both sides are hungry
for a leader in this flawed democracy. But that is where the correlation
between Trump and Sanders, and Trump supporters and Sanders supporters, falls
flat.
Because one side is based in reality and facts. It is based on evidence
that certain policies haven’t been working, like deregulation and allowing
corporations to be considered people. It is based on actual needed change and
actual policies to kick-start that change. It is based in compassion for people
and a desire to make the country work for everybody.
And the other side is
based on a made-up notion that our country is so far off track, and that all ofthe many problems facing America, including financial inequality
and Isis, are solely because of the leadership of President Obama during the last
eight years. This side is based in bigotry and nonsense. In separating people
and playing on people’s fear of each other. In proving who has the bigger
balls, the bigger dick, the bigger bank account, the nicer car, the louder
argument, the smallest patience for pussy-liberal shit like “thinking before acting”. When one side is based in reality, and the other side is based in
Trumpland, the scales are not even.
Trump winning the Republican candidacy is terrifying many in
the Republican establishment, and yet it is exactly what they deserve. Time to
reap what has been sown. Over the past 10 years the Republican Party has swung
so far to the right that it has forced moderate conservatives to look like progressive
liberals. There has been pandering to the extremists of the party so as to not
be ostracized by their own. The Republican establishment fueled this diversion
to the far right. It was good for business. Fear mongering. Polarizing race and
religion. Promoting un-intellectualism. Encouraging disinformation and the
muddling of clear facts, and in many cases, ignoring the facts all together, to
protect their big money interests. They funded the Tea-party. They broke
bipartisanship. Obstruction became the name of game. They caused a government
shutdown, and successfully convinced their base that it was the Democrats at
fault. They have been stirring up the underbelly of America and given it a voice, because that was
how power and control were maintained, but now the underbelly is supporting a
candidate who is anything but controllable.
Bernie winning the Democratic candidacy must be equally
terrifying for the Democratic establishment, judging by the lopsided media
coverage favoring Hilary. From an outside viewer, the coverage doesn’t seem to
be treating both sides equally, whether it is the way some debate questions are
phrased, or just the overall media coverage of the Sanders campaign. They keep
saying he doesn’t stand a chance, and yet the delegate count is very close to
even so far, and the national polling is even closer. Yet many news outlets are already showing stats granting Clinton
superdelegate votes that don’t even get cast for a number of months. The
establishment is trying to say it has already been decided, when to the
American people, it is still the early days of a close race. Look at the way he
keeps climbing in the polls. Look at the massive turnout he draws at his
rallies. Look to the internet for his real footprint. His message is resonating
with very close to half of democrats and
independents. And he is crushing
Clinton when it comes to the millennial vote. We all know that when younger
people turn out to vote, democrats win elections. And now it seems, that if
younger people turn out to vote, Bernie is more likely to win the Democratic
nomination.
The young vote can actually make the difference in this
primary. The young vote can be the margin of difference to make or break the
Sanders campaign. And from where I am standing, if you are a millennial and are
not supporting Bernie Sanders, I think you might be missing something. It is
our role as the younger generation to show the older generation where it has
been corrupted, not to fall in line with the accepted shortcomings of the
current system. We are meant to believe that our world can be changed for the
better, not already be jaded by our expected disappointments. We are meant to believe in the power of
compassion, of which the older generation has grown numb. We are meant to stand for hope. We are meant
to stand for change. We are meant to be the political revolution.
We get to be
idealists, it is one of the many perks of being young. And Bernie isn’t just an
idealist, he is a practical idealist,
meaning he can actually implement his ideals with policy. And he is a passionate idealist, meaning he will
fight for what he believes in, and not continue to make concessions to a
Republican party that refuses to behave in a civil, or constitutional manor. And he is a highly intelligent and thoughtful idealist. Look at the way he predicted the dangers of invading Iraq, or the way he predicted the economic crash as a consequence of deregulation.
Bernie Sanders is standing against money in politics, the
very thing which has corrupted every facet of this supposedly democratic
system. He has had the courage to actually run his campaign without the
millions contributed to every other campaign from big donors. He wants to pass healthcare
for all. He wants to address the prison industrial complex, which makes
imprisoning citizens a for-profit business. He wants to address the war on
drugs, which has not lowered drug-use at
all and is proven to disproportionately affect people of color more than
whites. He wants to provide college for all, and get rid of student-debt, which
is crippling a whole generation from participating in the economy. He is
standing for equality and progressive change, like he has been his entire life.
He is standing for America to be known for the way it takes care of its people.
He is standing for America to be known for its education. He is standing for America
to think before it acts. He is standing for America to finally tip the balance
back towards the many rather than the few. He is standing for you and me. And he is hopefully
ushering in a revolution to this bought-and-paid-for political system.
I fully support Senator Bernie Sanders for president.
**Watch him call out the dangerous outcomes of invading Iraq. Think about how valuable it would have been to have this man as commander in chief. There are many other Bernie speeches of the past that demonstrate his consistency, and capability as a leader.
Fantastic and well-written piece by my friend @devonwerkharder, ‘The Spectrum: #Trump to #Sanders, And the Role of the Younger Generation.’
