November 25, 2015

The New Movement for Civil and Human Rights in America

is being driven by #BlackLivesMatter and Social Media, but we can't forget that there are individuals behind this movement and I salute them. People like Deray McKesson, Shaun King, and I know there are many others.

If you have a moment, check out this site: http://www.wetheprotesters.org/

We, the protesters of Ferguson and beyond, in order to fulfill the democratic promise of our union, establish true and lasting justice, accord dignity and standing to everyone, center the humanity of oppressed people, promote the brightest future for our children, and secure the blessings of freedom for all black lives, do ordain and dedicate ourselves to this movement of radical liberation.

We should remember too that the Freedom Riders were composed of 7 African Americans and 6 White Activists.
http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/civilrightsstruggle1/a/timeline1960.htm

Brave people stood together then, and we must stand together NOW regardless of the color of our skin.

When time moves on, will you be able to say that you stood up for both civil and human rights in the US? Bernie Sander's can say that. Bernie was an active Civil Rights organizer for CoRE and the SNCC. He participated in the March on Washington where MLK gave his I have a Dream speech. Bernie was committed to this cause as a young man and the fight continues today.

When I get asked who my personal hero is in this country, it is simply the easiest question ever. It is Martin Luther King, Jr. (With all due respect to Sen. Sanders, I think he would understand this and perhaps agree with me)

We are in an epic fight this election and we actually have open racists running for President of the US. It is disgusting to me, it is simply unacceptable that men like Trump can spew this vile and hatred today, or that we see videos and hear constant stories of young men being gunned down in cold blood by police officers that have no business even holding a gun, much less wearing a uniform.

This movement is important. It is absolutely vital and if you support Bernie, you know that collectively we have to stand with our brothers and sisters of color and now sadly religious persuasion that live such different lives than many of us do in this country.

It is shameful, but even more shameful if we do not stand and act in support.

November 24, 2015

Despite Media Blackouts...

http://www.inquisitr.com/2584220/bernie-sanders-gains-supporters-despite-media-blackouts/

Nice article.

November 24, 2015

Bracing Myself for Thanksgiving

http://www.vox.com/a/thanksgiving-family-debates-2015/bernie-sanders

It always comes up...politics. Because I am a curiosity in the family. A Democrat and a liberal. Proud of it. My wife would prefer to just catch up, but somebody always brings up a 'topic' like "We shouldn't accept any Syrians!" or "We should put our army at the border!"

God

Help

Me.....

I'm used to it. My family is filled with Republicans, many religious, some even racist. sighs

I truly do not want to go to this family function anymore. I really don't. I tried to weasel out of it.

Now, I just have to brace myself and prepare....

Why do I always feel like I have to step on eggshells and explain why my candidate best represents some of the very real values of Jesus. Jesus....I guess it is because I am outnumbered. Friday will be my real Thanksgiving...not because of the shopping, simply because I can enjoy my own family. My lefty wife. My tolerant son. My alternative daughter. Even though I am thankful to have such a large set of family on my wife's side, I am just going to be soooo thankful when Friday gets here.

November 22, 2015

Went to lunch with my conservative sister in law

I took her to this wonderful Mediterranean place I mean it has truly the most awesome food. We chatted a bit and talked about Syrian refugees. I told her, "ya know, god bless John McCain for what he said about these people and his religious beliefs, while I am on the other side supporting Bernie, it's good to see someone from her side speak out in favor of these folks"

I know she may never vote for Bernie, but I had to do it, I had to show her how we can all enhance the quality of our lives simply by embracing and appreciating our differences in food and culture. Oh and this place was HOPPING busy. The food was amazeballs too.

November 15, 2015

A message to those who formerly supported HRC

welcome to your new safe haven. Yes, it's the Bernie Group. Oh and where can I get an Eisenhower in a Che hat T?

November 15, 2015

Want to know why Wall Street Loves HRC?

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/11/why-wall-street-loves-hillary-112782

This is an article from 2014. Very well written and I doubt you will find 9-11 mentioned anywhere in this article.

November 12, 2015

I had seen this done before so...

I tried it tonight. I am out of town traveling on business and after a long day, decided just to take a short walk over to a well known coffee shop. The dinner was okay, typical american type fare, nothing to write home about, but pretty cheap.

What did happen though, is the service was great and I could tell the staff was working hard...not that it would have mattered for this...

I got my bill and walked up the the cashier. I did not fill out a tip, waiting to be given the receipt back to add it. Instead, looking a little disappointed, the cashier asked me if I would like to leave a tip? Yes, I said, make it for $15. She said..."$15???" I said yes, $15 because tonight I am feeling the Bern. I am making this tip $15 in support of a $15 minimum wage which Bernie Sanders supports, if I was feeling the Hill, it would have only been a $12 tip. She smiled, said ok and gave me the receipt to sign.

I signed it, wrote down "Feel The Bern" smiled and thanked both the cahsier and my waiter.

That was a great feeling and if it resulted in 2 more votes for Bernie, I do not know, but if they are votes for Bernie, they will be Latino votes for Bernie. (Added bonus) Regardless, that was a much more satisfying $32 spent on dinner than going out to a nicer place and just leaving a standard tip.
I am lucky to be able to do such a thing, way too many are not.

FEEL THE BERN!

Encouraging posts tonight too. During dinner, I was catching up and saw that great post about traffic to Bernie's site vs all others. Saw how Bernie blows away GOP candidates in the General WHICH is the main reason people not paying attention tell me they support HRC...now I get to tell them hoooooolllld on nelly! Also, totally dug the post about denmark being named the friendliest country for BUSINESS despite being a socialist country...tempered capitalism is GOOD for Business, NOT bad for it!

Oh and I don't just want a sig line (although I will take that too!) I want that actual T-SHIRT! Although I guess it would have to be a T of Che wearing a T, not just my mug because nobody would get it.

Go forth and conquer Bernistas! have a great evening.

November 9, 2015

The Bernie Sanders Brand

Note: To my horror, I posted this as a reply in GDP. Encouraged to make it an OP. So here it is. This has to do with the article about not underestimating Bernie Sanders based on his "brand"

(edited the title, formerly Marketing is my Profession)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


A little more food for thought.

Why do new brands emerge? Well for starters, in business if you are not willing or looking to constantly change and redefine yourself, eventually you are going to die. Why? Because as we learn more and people change, if we fail to tap into that not only through authentic and real change to products and/or services somebody else will.

After the fact it becomes obvious, but there are indicators along the way. In addition, other changes get harnessed and incorporated into messaging and product development. Think the Internet of Things and Social Media, changes that are having profound impacts not only on products but on services. Why wouldn't these have an impact on politics as usual too?

Today, we have more resources as individuals to do our homework on candidates and share that information quickly. Attacks can rapidly be debunked and lies exposed before a single vote is cast, almost up to the last minutes before polling opens. Records are broken wide open and examined by thousands, then tens of thousands and finally the tipping point is reached and the adoption of new ideas take hold.

We have evidence based on previous elections that third way thinking is failing...and failing rapidly. If we as a Political Party ignore this and continue to embrace this school of thought, we not only lose our Party's soul, but we risk breaking it in two. The opportunity to develop a new brand and philosophy emerges and as it does, we put ourselves in danger if we don't react and adopt NEW Thinking.

So what are the positives about Bernie Sanders Brand? First, it is striking how consistent he has been on the issues over the years, with a very real record demonstrating that honest brand of political philosophy whatever you wish to call it. That record is there, unlike many other candidates who have "evolved" over the years. It's great that they are evolving, but isn't a brand better when it is consistently good over time? The answer to that is yes, of course because quality matters. That is how brand trust is earned, not with the marketing, the marketing there is to supplement that because while in the short term it is very easy to put lipstick on a pig, over time people are just going to recognize a pig wearing lipstick.

Refusing to take PAC money. This is a BFD as a significant part of Bernie Sanders Brand. Why? Because voters trust that his decisions are not going to be influenced by large contributors. The ability to do this has only recently happened in the History of this Country. Why? It is a side effect of the development of the internet, the IoT and Social Media. It includes forums like this where intraparty people are challenged by new truths. Not taking PAC money helps cement Bernie's Brand as being Trustworthy.

Hunger. People are hungry for something different. People want to believe in honest politicians, but don't. Why that's because so many simply aren't. Something to consider as well is that people who would not normally vote for someone based on some ideals, may cross over simply because of the brand, the brand being personal and not Party, the brand of honesty and consistency over time. "At least I know what I am getting when I vote for Bernie, I am not sure what I am getting with those others" You can see that in some of Bernie's crossover appeal in some early Republican polling and that gives Bernie an edge going into the General.

Early Adopters. Early adopters are critical to new things emerging. These are the people who are open to trying something new first. They were the first to jump at buying ipods or getting the next best thing in a tablet. They want to know about it first and they are HARSH judges. If Bernie Sander's record did not back up his message, his early adopters would not last. And yet they have, and they (we) are vocal about good things. We have to tell our friends to check him out. We like what he has to say, his Brand has SUBSTANCE and it (he) does exactly what he says it does, consistently. That leads to the next point.

Quality. Long lasting brands do so because their product or service beats all others. If it is affordable, EVEN BETTER! Quality brands are not always first in the market, in fact many times they are much slower to market. Why? because they won't rush out inferior goods or services before they have them functioning at the highest level. Companies that do this traditionally lose market share early, but once their product is right and they release it to the public, the lesser quality brands that captured early share diminish quickly simply due to dissatisfaction and on the advice of those early adopters who tell their friends, Hey look what I got and how neat is this? So up next...

Early Polling. One of the clients I represent has not come to the market quickly with a very popular product. Competitors have been taking share in this segment of their business over the past 2 years. However, my client is just launching an item that will become the industry standard early next year and it is likely to be in every home in the US over the next 5 years. This product is technologically better than anything on the market now and it is cheaper. This company is a top ten worldwide brand. It has been consistent throughout its history of producing quality products and services and it is a top tier trustworthy brand. They have ZERO concern about being behind in share (POLLS) right now. Why? Because they know what they have is better than anything else and it is going to dominate the marketplace for many years to come. They know that there will always be a small segment of competition, competition is good...but nobody can touch them. This is why NO Supporter of Bernie Sanders should have any concern about the polling right now. So what should we be concerned about?

Early Adopters.

Let's go get them!

November 7, 2015

Eggshells

(This is the Bernie sanders Group, please respect that)

I want to say that I enjoy this portion of DU, pretty much exclusively. It is encouraging to talk with other Sander's supporters, share opinions meant for this group and get active with contributions, etc...

That being said, I am feeling more and more like I have to temper my opinions to please people who pop into this group and post replies not understanding where they are. I get the mistakes, I made a few early too. We get read here and I know it pisses off others who read us, but if this is my only real home on DU, please can we stop the home invasions?

In the future, I won't respond to trolling post/replies to my thread. I won't stop posting here, because then it's simply like they won and made another supporter go away...

I honestly have doubts that I should even post this for fear of being shushed or violating some rule somehow. I keep seeing Sander's supporters getting bounced from the site and when I take a look at it, I just don't get it. It is a primary race, there are going to be strong opinions from every side, but weren't these spots made to be a haven?

Anybody else feeling this way?

November 7, 2015

Do not bite on this spin...

"They all did well."

They didn't. OMalley and Sanders did. HRC was not good, not....at...all.

Watch Bernie get a bump in SC. OMalley may also. Expect HRC to remain in the lead, but for the race to tighten a bit.

Smelling spin when it stinks.