Back to Basics on #BernieOrBust
Creationism aside, we grew from photosensitive cells to primate bipeds which send computers into space. That is a mammoth scale of observation to cross. To do so, we've had to become very complex creatures, utterly dependent on an inherited social structure. Depending on where we live, those can be pretty nasty. Not just personally dangerous, but dangerous to all of us.
One downside to our generational indoctrination as life survival skills is that eventually information is outdated or corrupt, thus needs to be updated. In a complicated social ecosystem, it can often mean fighting against genuinely good people defending their outdated programming. Once unaware- or uncaring- that it no longer serves the majority, they then threaten the whole.
We are in that exact situation right now. Climate change requires immediate action. Perpetual wars are getting waged in our names for profit and power. The driving need for representative tokens of value kills many every year in what we claim is a "civilized democracy," yet those who make all the rules have every available luxury. Our news system's now part of that game.
This isn't okay. This isn't sustainable. The channels we're told to go through to fix it are ineffective by design, and continually adapt to resist doing what they were originally intended to do- carry out the will of the people (not an insulated royalty). That meaning has gotten lost behind rhetoric. For all our pomp and circumstance, all our historic pride, we are merely hypocrites.
Politics has become a battleground between people who see it as one more team sport (or religion) vs people trying to use it to genuinely avoid disaster. The young generations- those fresh eyes on old problems- are pushing for change. The thoroughly indoctrinated, insulated and ignorant push back. Both think they are doing the right thing. But a speedy transition is essential.
If one steps back and looks at policies instead of personalities, preferences over polls, and documented history more than media hyperbole- we realize that most candidates running will not address today's worsening issues. Not because they're bad people, but because they've been shaped to believe in things that no longer serves the majority. They live within echo chambers.
They have a job, they do it well, and they get paid well. But that job isn't actual representation, and their civil service position salary is a pittance compared to what they make from their real bosses. "It's been this way for a while, and worked out great so far; why rock the boat?" They are indoctrinated to defend an unsustainable system that most of us no longer see as working.
I don't think it is crazy to put political faith in a guy who has been fighting for these issues to be addressed for decades. I don't think it's irrational to have serious reservations about candidates that offer little substance yet make millions from profit-driven corporate donors. I can't take the media seriously since they've voluntarily abandoned fact-based reporting for narrative wars.
Bernie or Bust isn't radical fandom. It's standing firm behind overdue corrections that a legion of sponsored mediocrity is intent on tamping down. It's recognizing where we have come from, where we're going and that there is a bit more to elections than fundraising games and color creeds. It's saying, enough is enough, and refusing to make one more bad choice for our futures.
This social structure we've created and depend on can either doom us, or serve us. Just because we were born into someone else's legacy doesn't mean we can't cast off the unhealthy parts. The founding fathers were slave owners; we saw fit to end that. Surely we can see fit, as a collective, to band together and reject all billionaire-class warmongering non-representation too?
I choose to believe we can. Which is why I am still- both defiantly and responsibly- #BernieOrBust. Any Blue (literally) won't do.
Comments
My participation depends on the right candidate
...one who leads with a clear, fierce vision of the future. If there is an opportunity to push such a leader to the top, I will be there pushing. But as you say, just any blue won't do. Right now, Bernie works for me. I'm not looking for a candidate to run against Donald Trump, I want a candidate who has a plan to deliver a better life and economic security to the People. And, if taking bold action and standing up to climate change is not the key issue in the 2020 campaign — then it really doesn't matter who ends up in the White House.
I don't think we're alone in this. For the past week I've been reading a flurry of articles warning the Democrats not to choose the "safe" candidate; not to base their choice on perceived "electability." Joe Biden is a good example. At the end of the day, can "more of the same" win the White House? Are voters going to rally en masse for Biden? Is he going to embody the fierce spirit of a successful campaign? Do voters believe that he has a vision and a plan for America?
I believe people still want to elect an outsider, someone who sees more possibilities that the Duopoly offers. There may be times when People might prefer a low-drama centrist in the White House, but in extraordinary times like these, there's nothing "safe" about a moderate. Among the candidates so far, Bernie is the only one who has proposed comprehensive policies to improve lives of the People. While his (far Left) policies merely lift Americans to the civilized level of the other 39 developed countries, Bernie has set the standards. Other candidates have incorporated some of his progressive policies into their own campaigns. Except for Joe Biden, that is. Perhaps over the course of the world's longest election cycle and reality show, another candidate will emerge — a visionary who sees where we need to go and how we get there. Until then, it seems to me that Bernie carries the flame.
Tulsi Gabbard "emerged". Her policies are bascially equal to
Bernie's domestically. On foreign policy she is the best I've seen since 1968. She continues to get my $27/mo. and I want her voice in the debates. At last, someone with credibility to speak out against our wars of aggression.
Since the 2016 convention Bernie has become a different person--ranting about the Russians, defending the FBI/CIA cabal, and now supporting impeachment for unspecified reasons. He has sold out to the DNC but it won't help--they'll screw him again.
I'm guessing ByeDone/Harris lose to Trump and hoping the corrupt Dem party collapses.
chuck utzman
TULSI 2020
Biden's safe all right --
for Donald Trump.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
I was Bernie or Bust 2016 in MI
2018, I voted blue no matter who at the state and local level and Green against Stabenow. It worked because the GOP lost everything but the gerrymandered MI Senate. A successful voter referendum, the courts, and 2020 will destroy what’s left of the red vermin. We have a sweep of female Dems facing off with the GOP Senate as promised.
2020, Bernie makes me angry and can win. Tulsi tells me what I want to hear and can’t win. Warren can’t be trusted not to do an Obama, and she can’t win either imo. The rest are totally useless for anything but undermining the election and Bernie on the first vote. Why Bernie people rallied to put Tulsi on the debate stage is beyond me. It was naive to treat 2020 as an election instead of a war.
Being used to lying, inept and do nothing politicians, I thought Trump could only do limited damage. I did not expect one party GOP rule, which is how they destroyed the universe in 90 minutes. Now I am terrified of giving his regime another four years. They will kill us all.
So, I’m thinking a throw the bum out strategy on the federal level. Whichever crook holds office from whichever party, I vote against them. For any of them to get our message, the people need to unite and revolt with one message. We own them, not the boardroom gangs that feed them yachts, money, 5k suits and prostitutes.
I’m never sure how I will vote until I do it. The one thing I do know is that I, we, my grandkids, the planet can’t stand anymore. If I’m going down, I intend to take as many of them with me as I can.
Good read. Thanks for posting.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
nice comment
obviously, I agree with most of it
Excellent... will be sharing this essay.
And I just got my Bern Baby Bern t-shirt!
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
I guess I see it all in less inflammatory terms
Hyped phrases like "Bernie or Bust" are catchy and go viral. But in real life, I just want to pick someone to represent my interests. The vast majority of the Democratic field consists of oligarchy candidates. That's fine and I think the oligarchs should vote for their candidates. But I think "we the people" should vote for OUR candidates.
In 2016 I voted for Stein simply because she was the only populist running. I expect to do so again in 2020 for the same reasons. For me, it is not "Bernie or Bust". I just want a candidate that sees themselves as my elected representative. It's a pretty uncontroversial voting desire anywhere but places like GOS.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Bernie or Bust was a bust in 2016 and will be worse in 2020,
most likely. Write in Presidential candidates not only do not win elections, but they don't even get reported in the msm. Bernie or Bust did absolutely nothing in 2016. At the very best, it will do nothing in 2020. But, vote your conscience. I KNOW that I will.
I don't care who wins the Green primary, so I will be voting in the Democratic primary for either Bernie or Tulsi. My state's electoral votes will go to the Democratic nominee, come hell or high water, so I have every incentive to vote Green in the general; and I will.
Only 5 percent of the popular vote nationwide would help the Green Party enormously in terms of ballot access and federal funding. Moreover, our two co-conspirator political system is in desperate need of being opened to more political parties. Unfortunately, rightist Libertarians have had the most success in that regard.
In all, voting blue in the primary and Green in the general will be the best use of my votes--and, IMO, the votes of any leftist in a bright blue or bright red state, IMO. On the other hand, writing in anyone, including Bernie, will be like one hand clapping where no one can see or hear it. However, if the latter is how your conscience leads you, so be it: I will never ask you or anyone else to vote contrary to personal convictions.
I had to write in Jill Stein because she didn’t appear on
the ballot in my state. Otherwise my choices were Red, Blue or Libertarian. There was no point in writing in Bernie because my state has a “sore loser” law which means that even if Sanders has won the vote by write-in in the general, he still couldn’t have won.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Ouch that's tough.
Couldn't vote for Stein? That's the topic for another political campaign, beyond the scope of this diary.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
You've said so much
so well and so concisely that I want to be supportive of your viewpoint and even of Bernie for being what you think he is.
But I can't ignore what chuckutzman has said upthread.
It's possible for me to think Sanders has enough common sense not to do what Trump or Trump's national security team is doing in the Middle East right now. But the fact that he is even older than I am and yet somehow thinks the CIA has even a particle of credibility, that he rightly sees the need for social justice in the form of common sense benefits, but somehow he doesn't see the pillage of our so-called defense spending and the corruption that fuels it, means I just can't get past that weirdness.
I was all for him until he endorsed the fiend he was running against. I don't think he has read the DNC emails. I don't think he knows the DNC arranged with state officials to close polling places in the 2016 primaries in order to disenfranchise his supporters. I don't think he gets how bad the situation is, and that's important because even if he becomes President, he has to know how bad the situation is in order stand up to the military industrial complex.
I saw him on TV say something to the effect that it was not
even controversial that the 2016 Democratic primary was not fair. And Brazile's book, while far from honest, did say that Brazile called Bernie in 2016 (well after primary voting ended) to let him know that Hillary had, for practical purposes, owned the DNC during the primary. I can't imagine that she would put that in a book if Bernie could deny it. So, I would not be sure that he is unaware.
Although Bernie once urged Jesse Jackson to run for POTUS as an independent, Bernie has since then gone to Congress, campaigned for every Democratic Presidential candidate since Bubba and opposed third party voting, including when Nader ran.
Whether that is a nod to the lesser evil mythology or a reflection of the deals he has made in Congress with Democrats or something else, I can't say. I can say only what is on the record.
I wrote on essay on this when many on the left were saying that Bernie had had to have been threatened with physical violence against him or his family in order to have endorsed Hillary. If you are interested https://caucus99percent.com/content/spoiler-candidates-and-protest-votes... .
How can Bernie not know this?
Unless he has been living under a rock since the primary was stolen from him I think he does know those things. How does he imagine Russia Gate started?
BTW, I'm still waiting for him to speak out against the treatment of Assange. As far as I know he has not said one word about what is happening to him.
What if Bernie is using the Outsider Strategy?
What if he's lying to the Dems and not to you?
The Outsider Strategy — Say anything and do anything you must to live another day and win the Presidency. This was the technique that Trump used to win it.
Both Trump and Bernie represent that thing feared most by the CFR — the bold Populist candidate. Once the populist takes the throne, the masks come off and he reverts to his essential nature and follows his true agenda.
Trump reverted to the know-nothing wheeler-and-dealer who never stops playing the game.
Bernie would revert to a freedom fighter and fairness warrior who seeks domestic tranquility.
Seizing the throne is everything, whatever it takes. I present this side of the story because it is what I would do.
If the CFR fears Trump --
it's a personality situation, not his politics. They already know they can manipulate his politics. The tenor of life in the White House, though, was already revealed by "The Apprentice" -- Trump, whose favorite word was "you're fired," was going to hire incompetents, fire them from time to time, and hire more incompetents to fill their places. Decision-makers at the CFR have no political objection to that sort of rule, though they might not prefer it.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
Insightful points here and below.
"Seizing the throne is everything, whatever it takes."
Yes --
Basically they're a syndicate.
Why the 2016 rigged primary isn't going away
It's a long post but it can be simplified thusly: the rigged primary isn't going away because the syndicate that rigged the primary is still in operation, acting with impunity.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.