No We Can’t, Without a Revolution: Why Bernie Sanders Is More of a Realist Than Barack Obama

[eridani]

http://inthesetimes.com/article/18931/no-we-cant-bernie-sanders-is-more-of-a-realist-than-obama

Obama believed in us, as we are. He was a young candidate. His tenure in politics had been relatively short. He had a revitalizing naïveté about him. “Yes, we can” stood for: Yes, we can make our politics work. Yes, we can work inside this box to make them happen together.

It was a powerful message, and it was necessary to pave the way for Bernie Sanders’ message, which is, “No, we can’t. Unless we transform the system.”

Sanders, unlike Obama, is bluntly calling for a political revolution. He is not working around the faults in our system, but laying them bare. The type of change Sanders is using to woo voters doesn’t stay inside our current political box. It is appealing because it tosses that box in the dumpster. And it would not have resonated without Obama’s “Yes, we can” going first and showing us the limits of what is possible within our current constraints.

We look back at that refrain and think, “Well, we tried.” We tried, and we’ve been in gridlock financially and politically for seven years. But we tried. The voter base that leans progressive now has viable proof that we have done everything we can within our system. Congress is in such gridlock that Republican leaders are refusing to hear nominations for a Supreme Court Justice. Because of this, voters are ready for the bold statement, “No, we can’t.”

Bernie Sanders has surprised the country and the mainstream media with his persistent popularity, shooting up from “protest candidate” (as rival Martin O’Malley initially dismissed him) to Hillary Clinton’s only threat.

[sorechasm]

1. "Don't 'try'....'do'." or so said Yoda. Bernie seems to agree. Because while Hillary 'tried' to

'reign in Wall Street', and will 'try' to protect the middle class, and will 'try' to protect the planet, we learned from PBO's heroic 8 years of battling the static establishment, 'trying' will not be 'doing' anything that will impact the course correction we desperately need.

Obama believed we could do all of these things within the system we gave him. He thought he could create change by working inside the establishment, changing the policy that sits atop the current structure of our democracy.

Obama believed in us, as we are. He was a young candidate. His tenure in politics had been relatively short. He had a revitalizing naïveté about him. “Yes, we can” stood for: Yes, we can make our politics work. Yes, we can work inside this box to make them happen together.

It was a powerful message, and it was necessary to pave the way for Bernie Sanders’ message, which is, “No, we can’t. Unless we transform the system.”

I love PBO, and he accomplished so much under impossible circumstances, but we need so much more.

Bernie is about 'doing' not trying. Such 'doing' requires a lot of rebuilding from the ashes of failed and corrupt policies. Our failing infrastructure, and our boiling planet are but a metaphors for failings in our social construct. Like the infrastructure and record heat waves, the failings in the social construct cannot be reconstructed without integrity of the process.Whether you're writing code or designing buildings (like me), you know that lack of structural integrity are weak links that can bring any construction down into the ash heap.

Bernie knows this. His 40-year career has been dedicated to building a vision of solid integrity, and he's welcoming us to join him in this vision.

If voters heed this call, if we elect Bernie Sanders as our next president, we know it must also go beyond “the Bern.” A president cannot overthrow core tenets of rotten policy without the political muscle of Congress. As we gear up to vote, we must remember that we’re voting not for one day, or for one year. We tried to let a president do it by himself. This time, we need to give the president not only the White House but a Congress to work with. Because no, we can’t. Not right now.