Bernie Sanders and the revolution of rising expectations.

[Uncle Joe]

So why not seek Obama II -- instead of revolutionary change? I believe the answer can be found in a political theory -- "the revolution of rising expectations." To look at a classic example, why didn't African-Americans rise up in the inner cities in the depths of the Jim Crow era but rather wait until the mid-1960s, when incomes were rising and a sympathetic president (LBJ) was in the White House? The answer, according to some academics, is that people don't rise up at the low point; they rise up when things are starting to get better -- but not fast enough for their own liking.

Look at Obama's seven years in office through this prism. While some government policies -- most notably the 2009-10 economic stimulus program -- helped turn the tide in the job market, no force seemed powerful enough to convince corporate CEOs to share more of their record profits with their laborforce, instead of awarding themselves and their cronies massive pay raises. On the record sums of money being dumped into politics (typically from these self-enriching CEOs), Obama ultimately decided that he couldn't beat the system for now, so he joined it. That's simply not good enough. On pressing issues like climate change or gun sanity, the president has done what he can through executive orders -- but these actions are not nearly enough to overcome a reactionary system.

Indeed, the first revolt over the shortcoming of the Obama presidency -- the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement -- was the result of dashed expectations, as one-time enthusiastic supporters found themselves dismayed at a one-sided budget compromise with congressional right-wingers that summer. The Sanders campaign arises from this general sentiment -- that Obama has been a good, and quite possibly a very good, president, but that America in 2016 needs much, much more than one successful leader.

(snip)

None of this answers the question of what happens if Sanders wins the Democratic nomination (he's still the underdog, but it's thinkable), wins the White House (polls show him beating the GOP contenders, and outperforming Clinton) -- and faces the most hostile Congress that a president has ever faced. Sanders himself has said that real change won't happen until everyday people flood the zone of American politiics -- badgering Congress and maybe the Supreme Court to do the right thing in a neverending surge. He's probably right -- but such a mass movement is also unprecedented, at least in this country. The revolution won't just need rising expectations -- but a heck of a lot of endurance.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Bernie-Sanders-and-the-revolution-of-rising-expectations.html#l6mBjb6kdDrojYpl.99

Keep in mind even should Bernie be elected, the movement must be a marathon, the new President will need all the help he can get from the people.

We must be relentless, that's precisely what Bernie is asking for.

[tk2kewl]

1. if bernie gets the nomination the game is really afoot

i would expect some pretty significant turnover in the house. and if bernie can deliver on some of his promises while exercising the bully pulpit, i believe the people and the millennials in particular (which i'm not), will keep things moving into 2018 when we could really help bernie put our agenda over the top

[Uncle Joe]

3. I agree, Bernie's stature will be magnified, his mandate and message will be

be crystal clear to any opposition, if they don't have the wherewithal to read the writing on the wall, they will pay a heavy penalty in 2018.

[Uncle Joe]

2. If people think that great income disparity, economic injustice and campaign finance reform are

peripheral issues, keep in mind this is what the less than 1% own, it's their product.

[Downwinder]

4. Obama had the support and tools to flood the Capitol,

but he never called on it.

[Uncle Joe]

5. One of the great things about President Obama's historic election was in being

the nation's first black President.

Having said that I also believe it was an anchor of sorts around his decision making, I believe that he believed that he could only push the envelope so far in a white dominated society and government.

President Obama was like the Jackie Robinson of Presidential Politics, he always had to contain his passion for fear of causing major racial backlash.

I believe with future African American Presidents that will be less of an emotional factor or weight as our society matures but Obama was first and he had to set the mold.

[Downwinder]

6. That being said,

nevertheless the support to make changes was here for him if he had called on it.

[Uncle Joe]

7. I agree with that.

[Downwinder]

16. He has fulfilled my expectations.

When I noted that he was supported by both Crown and Pritzker interests (names you don't often see together, as Hillary being from Chicago should have noted) I expected competency not revolution, also establishment.

[JDPriestly]

10. I think that the Obama critics, the racists, the righties were very loud, but that Obama

could have done much more than he did and would have drawn on a large reservoir of support from frustrated and angry people of all races and backgrounds.

I think Obama underestimated how willing the American people were to go the course with him. That error on his part is probably due to the establishment types around him. He surrounded himself with people like Rahm Emmanuel and Hillary Clinton. Big mistake.

But he still has accomplished a lot of wonderful things -- the ACA (Obamacare) and opening diplomatic relations with Cuba, plus many other great things.

It's just that he could have done so much more especially with regard to the economy.

[Matariki]

8. "Voting is not a one time act and a Wizard saves everything"

WE are going to vote out republicans...

https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/688947078656036864

[Uncle Joe]

9. And what is a Wizard's strongest trait? Wisdom.

"Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it"

Ecclesiastes 7:12

Peace to you, Matariki.

[draa]

11. That article points out one of the issues I have

with the way this Sanders campaign, and what it means as a whole, is being portrayed.

This isn't a short term deal. This isn't being built to work for a couple of years and give it back to the crooks. That would be stupid. This is being done as a long term change. Many decades of change. It will take that long to get it back. If we ever do. But many article are written, and many comments posted, that make it seem like a season of American Idol or Survivor. That's our culture and it's shortsighted as hell. We don't want this effort to ever end. It can't if we want that change.

[Uncle Joe]

13. I thought the author's summation paragraph captured the long term thinking required for

Bernie and the movement to be successful.

He also cites Bernie's call that he can't do it alone and will need the people with him to bring about these long overdue progressive reforms.

None of this answers the question of what happens if Sanders wins the Democratic nomination (he's still the underdog, but it's thinkable), wins the White House (polls show him beating the GOP contenders, and outperforming Clinton) -- and faces the most hostile Congress that a president has ever faced. Sanders himself has said that real change won't happen until everyday people flood the zone of American politiics -- badgering Congress and maybe the Supreme Court to do the right thing in a neverending surge. He's probably right -- but such a mass movement is also unprecedented, at least in this country. The revolution won't just need rising expectations -- but a heck of a lot of endurance.

Having said that I do believe the author misses a major political dynamic, should Bernie be elected, that would accompany major shock waves altering the Congress as well.

[draa]

17. Yeah, I caught that.

What I'm describing happens in quite a few article though but maybe I'm getting a little too defensive in my old age. Or it's putting up with the weathervanes that's doing it. Either way thanks for the read.

[merrily]

12. Great Uncle Joe, but we must be relentless no matter what. Because

was never actually about Bernie. It's about us and our country. One way or another, we have to take it.

(I won't even say "take it back" because I question if we've ever had it.)

[Uncle Joe]

14. I love that logo.

Peace to you merrily.

[merrily]

15. Thank you. And also to you!

[Duppers]

18. Perfect!