“No army can stop an idea whose time has come” ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérable
These are some thoughts from a friend of a friend on Facebook.
I have lived in Vermont for the past 25 years, longer than I have every live anywhere, and know Bernie very well (not personally, though I have spoken to many times when I see him on the street. I meant that I know him politically). I would like to have a civlil discussion and explain how I feel without getting into a one on one attack on any of the people posting here. Because if Lori is friends with you, than I am sure you are all good people, but I would like to have this moment to explain a few things.
As you all know, Bernie has been saying the same message for years. He has been saying these things for years before it was popular in the common thinking. He was written off as just that, "crazy socialist from Vermont". But, in Vermont, we knew that Bernie was way more than that. I should tell you that for a lot of us, it was really hard to see Bernie enter the national stage. He has been ours for such a long time. Vermont is a very small state and we all have talked to Bernie as some time or another. And while i think it is legit to question him on the issues, many of us get very upset when we see personal attacks that are not true about him. We are very protective about him. So, keeping that in mind, I would like to answer some of the concerns and comments that were brought up in the post. And I thank you all for being part of the process and for caring about what happens, no matter who you plan to vote for.
Ok, first of all, Bernie is a Democratic Socialist, that is not the same thing as a socialist. And defintintly not a "communist" as some in the media are trying to portray him as. Anyone who knows anything about Communism and socialism and democratic socialism understands that they are not the same thing. Bernie does not want to see the power in the hands of the government. He wants to see the power in the hands of the people, ALL the people, not just those who have the most influence with the politicians. He does not believe that govt. should control business's or anything that belongs in the public sector. He believes that the role of the govt. is to make sure the playing field is even, that everyone has the same advantages, not just those who have the most money. More to come, i am breaking this up into several posts because it is easier for people to read a shorter post, than a longer one. Please forgive me.
Here is what I believe is happening, and why I believe that what Lori posted is correct, but perhaps not worded (not her, but the things she was quoting) correctly. For months many of us have felt that the DNC and the establishment Dems (for the sake of not having to post the same names over and over, if I say the DNC I am also including the establishment Dems in congress and governors, etc..)We have felt that the DNC was doing their best to suppress the opportunity to let the voters hear what Bernie has to say, because they pretty much wanted to just give the nomination to Hillary. They scheduled debates at times when the fewest people would be watching. They scheduled a debate on the Sat. before Christmas, at the same time of a popular college football game. Most of the debates and forums thus far, have been in that type of time slot. Many of us knew what was happening , but the DNC denied it. Wasserman-Schultz actually said that the Repubs got all of the good time slots and that there were no more time slots in prime time. Keep that in mind as I write my next post. Thank you again.
Lately the trend has been that Bernie is rising, and Hillary is going down. At least in NH and Iowa. Because of this, Wasserman-Schultz (from here on referred to as DWS) somehow managed to find time, on the spur of the moment, for a forum tomorrow (Mon) night at prime time on CNN. After she said there were no prime time slots left. Ok, let that sink in a minute while I write my next post. And again forgive the lengthy and the number of posts, but I have a lot to say and I appreciate the opportunity to do so.
The message Bernie is saying is resonating with many people who have felt that there was no point in voting because the system was stacked against them. And from what I see happening, I believe they are correct. It is not coincidence that Bernie and Trump are doing well. Don't get me wrong, I despise Trump. I think he is a racist and a narcissist. I think he is dangerous and I think he will, and is, doing harm to this country. I do know that many of his supporters are white supremacists type of people. But many of his supporters are not. They do not like the other things he is saying, but he is reaching many of the same types of people that Bernie is. More to come......
Now that the people who have felt the odds have been stacked against them for years, and gave up trying to change things, have someone (Bernie, and to a lesser extent, Trump) who has been saying these things for years. Please remember, Bernie has been saying these things for 30 years, and certainly for the 25 have lived in Vermont. No one in the establishment gave him any thought, he was just that weird guy from Vermont. The actions of the DNC and establishment these past to weeks have proved that everything Bernie has said is true. Bernie has broken the record for more individual donations than any other candidate ever. The average donation to Bernie is 27.00. People like myself who said 20 or so ever few weeks when we can. If you translate the numbers of people who send Bernie money into votes, Bernie far outpaces Hillary. Hillary has more money but she gets large donations from a smaller amount of people. The DNC and establishment see this, they see what is going on. They are scared because they know that Bernie will work as hard as he can to change things, and that will affect the people that both the DNC and RNC have relied on for years. Take out the social issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc...) and the DNC and RNC are not that different. They both thrive on making sure that those who give them the most money, are taken care of. Ok, I will try to end this soon, give me one or two more posts and then you dont ever have to hear from me again, unless you want to.
Put yourself into the shoes of the everyday, average American. I put myself in that category, but I also know that because I went to one of the best high schools in the country (New Trier West) I was able to get into a good college and grad school, and had a 25 year career as an entomologist. My life with my husband is not bad. We have health insurance (he teaches AP physics at a high school in Vermont). We will never be rich, but we are ok. But put yourselves in the minds of those who work so hard and never get ahead. And even people like myself who see over and over that things never change. Everyone runs their campaign on change, but very little changes. Obama did some really good things, he got the ball rolling on health care, but even Obama still played into the corporate hands by hiring people like Monsanto executives to positions in government (I worked for USDA for 25 years. I was in a position where I attended some fairly high level meetings and Monsanto was always there as well. I know more about Monsanto than the everyday average person. They felt free to talk easily with us because they assumed all of USDA was behind them. Little did they know, that was not true. But, that is a different argument for another day). More......
The people see candidates like and the president like Obama (and i like him, I voted for him twice, but he is still part of the old way of thinking and the establishment). They hear year after year, after year that change will come. We will help those who need it, we will make sure everyone has a chance to succeed. It never happens and people give up voting. I cannot blame them. They see Hillary Clinton who has taken hundreds of millions of dollars from Goldman Sachs and the like and they know nothing will change. Yes, she will appoint pro-choice Supreme Courty justices, etc...) but daily life will not change one bit for any of these people. They dont care if someone is pro-choice or not, they just want to know that their govt. is their for them, and not just the rich. Bernie is the real deal. Agree or disagree with him, he is running for one reason only. He is running because he is passionate about these causes. Hillary is running for her own reasons. Some I am sure, is to help people, she has done some good things. More....
The way the DNC and establishment has been working these past 2 weeks proves everything that a lot of us already knew. They DNC said that they were behind every candidate running, not just Hillary. But that is not true. Not only are they putting in another forum, but they have sent the establishment people out to try to say Bernie is not electable. Heck, if i had a dollar for every time they said that, well, you know what i mean. The polls show something very different the polls show that Bernie does better against all the Repubs than Hillary does. It scares the DNC because they know that Bernie is serious about making change. They are doing everything they can to take him down. They sent out attack people to keep saying he was not electible. And then, they started hinting that he may be a Communist. Claire McCkaskill this week said, " The repubs are waiting for Bernie to win so they can run the sickle and star (the Communist flag) against him. They are dropping little hints of communism. They have lost all pretense that they support each candidate equally. They now have said that they do not want Bernie to win. They are scared because things WILL changed under Bernie. Ok, just one more post and I will leave you all alone.
I would like to address some of those who say Bernie has no foreign policy experience. Bernie has been in congress for over 25 years. He has had to vote on foreign policy and like most others, he has travelled abroad to talk to Heads of State and others. He has foreign policy experience. Just this morning I was watching Meet the Press (or maybe it was Face the Nation, I mix them up) and they had Gates on. Chuck Todd said to him, " i am going to give you several scenarios that the candidates (both Repub and Dem) have said about how to deal with ISIS and you tell me which is best (he did not say which candidate said what). The scenario that Gates picked as best was Bernies. Yes, it truly was. Also, Hillary has said she believes in a no-fly zone. That has been shot down (no pun intended, well, ok maybe a little bit) by every policy expert. Esp. since Russia is now flying planes over Syria. Experience does not equal good judgment. Hillary voted for the war in Iraq, Bernie from the BEGINNING said that it was a bad idea and that there was no plan for what to do after Saddam was toppled. He turned out to be 100 percent correct. He has experience, but he also has good judgment.
In conclusion, I would like to say that Bernie is proving every day that what he believes is true. The DNC and establishment have been trying to suppress him. While they were talking only about Hillary, Bernie was out talking with the people, drawing thousands to his rallies. Getting more INDIVIDUAL donations of money than any candidate ever, including Obama. Not one thing will change if Hillary is president. She gives lip service, but does anyone think she is going to regulate the very people that have given her and her husband millions over the years? Not just in campaign donations, but in their Clinton foundation (which also gets a lot of money from foreign countries, some who we conider not allies.). The DNC and establishment are now going to focus on trying to make Bernie look like a communist. They are questioning his visit to honeymoon in Russia. Bernie was mayor of Burlington then. There is a sister city in Russia to Burlignton. He went their to visit the sister city of the city was mayor in. Lori was correct in her original post. Maybe it is not a vast "right wing conspiracy" to keep Bernie down, but it is definitely a conspiracy by the DNC and establishment to do whatever they can to keep Bernie from winning. They tried to portray him as sexist, it did not work. They are scared. They are sending out their people to say he is unelectable, They are sending out their people to hint that he is a communist. There is no doubt about it, they are conspiring to keep him from getting the nomination because they know he truly will try to change the entire system. Lori was correct. It is not a right wing, but it is definitely a DNC and establishment effort to keep him from getting the nomination. I have a lot more I can write but this is starting to be almost as png as my MS thesis was (on insects by the way, fire ants, and when you think of it, politicians are kinda like insects in that they can be annoying, or they can cause a lot of damage). Thank you for letting me post and if anyone wants to continue it, would be happy after i let my fingers rest from all of these posts.
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