Why Bernie Sanders Is Winning the Hearts and Minds of America

[99th_Monkey]

Last edited Fri Jan 29, 2016, 12:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Why Bernie Sanders Is Winning the Hearts and Minds of America
by Tom Weis * Thursday, January 28, 2016 * Common Dreams

If you’re lucky, once in your lifetime, maybe twice if you’re really lucky, you’ll get an opportunity to support a presidential candidate who speaks to your values on a very deep personal level. For me, that chance came the day Bernie Sanders announced his presidential campaign. My reason for supporting Bernie Sanders for president can be summed up in one word: authenticity.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is the real deal and people feel it in their guts. We know he’s on our side. A profile in political courage and integrity, Bernie Sanders is a patriot who has been fighting for economic and social justice all his life. Finally, we have a candidate who is not only willing, but eager, to take on Wall Street, the media elites and the corrupt political establishment. This is why I joined the political revolution on Day 1 and why millions of Americans from all political stripes are Feeling the Bern.

In a remarkable November speech at Georgetown University, Bernie Sanders passionately articulated the rationale for his candidacy by saying, “We need to develop a political movement which, once again, is prepared to take on and defeat a ruling class whose greed is destroying our nation." Sign me up.

If you’ve watched the Democratic debates (I feel your pain if you’ve suffered through the rancor of the Republican ones), you’ve probably noticed something else about Bernie Sanders: he’s tough, but he’s not a gutter fighter. He’s got class. Senator Sanders is a gentleman and a statesman who shares the public’s appetite for mature political discourse.

He also has his priorities straight: never did I think I would see a presidential candidate in their first nationally televised debate use their opening statement to talk not about themselves, but about the challenges facing our nation. That was a watershed moment in American political history and speaks volumes about the man’s character. He knows this campaign is not about him. It’s about us.

Whole Article Here: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/28/why-bernie-sanders-winning-hearts-and-minds-america

[grasswire]

1. well said. friend nt

[99th_Monkey]

3. I like it very much too. Have you seen this one yet?

by Marianne Williamson ** I've always really liked her, from way back .. but wow, she's really evolved in a big way from woo-woo to revolutionary. It knocked my socks off.

"The second American Revolution has begun. This one didn't start with bullets, thank God. There was and is no Lexington and Concord. This is a revolution of the mind. It has been stirring within the consciousness of Americans for years, as we've slowly awakened to the chronic and systematic dismantling of the democratic foundations without which we are no longer anything even approaching who we say we are.

Revolutions are not easy. Old systems do not fold willingly, particularly when they control gargantuan amounts of wealth and power. But like empires of old -- from the Romans to the Hapsburgs to the colonial British -- even the largest do fall. And there is no question but that these are revolutionary times in America; the empire is already lumbering under the weight of its own false power. The question before us now is whether or not this shall be a peaceful revolution. For many people around the world and even to some extent at home, the empire is already a deliverer of much internal and external violence --- from unwarranted invasions internationally to income inequality and mass incarceration at home.

No further evidence need be gathered. The decisive moment is here, and the future is ours to decide. In the words of John F Kennedy: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." Now, in our day, his line is best updated: those who do not commit fully to peaceful revolution make violent revolution inevitable, by surrendering our power to the forces of chaos and acquiescing to the demands of a cushy though now legally corrupt political establishment.

The run-up to the revolution is over; there is no further grace period during which we can afford the luxury of standing on the sidelines. This year -- not next year or the year after that -- each and every one of us is called upon to put aside the unimportant and get about the work at hand. We will save American democracy now, or it will fall into the dustbin of history. Empires always have the hubris to think they are indestructible, when in fact they are always unsustainable.

Politically, Bernie Sanders is the only Presidential candidate who articulates the foundational principles of the new revolution. We are at a point in our history where such a voice as his would arise, and where a voice such as his could gain the kind of momentum it has. It remains to be seen, however, whether we have arrived at a point where Americans are willing to do what it takes -- repudiating the institutional forces that will oppose him with all its might -- to send Sanders to the White House. Whether or not we do so will indicate whether or not we are prepared to wage the political revolution in the absence of which the most beautiful aspects of who we are as a nation will whither away and die."

MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marianne-williamson/the-american-revolution-2_b_8201272.html

[grasswire]

4. nice, thanks. nt

[Peace Patriot]

5. Wow, that is a stunning statement by Marianne Williamson!

Thank you for posting it!

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, 99th_Monkey.

[longship]

6. I endorse this message.

Thanks. Like Bernie, a positive message.

[Betty Karlson]

7. Candidates can win this country by the numbers, or lead it by the hearts.

I endorse the latter approach. It's so much more inclusive.

[silverweb]

8. Full article here:

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/28/why-bernie-sanders-winning-hearts-and-minds-america


[font color="purple"]Go, Bernie!
Feelin' The Bern!

[LWolf]

9. Damned straight.

Winning the hearts and minds of America in the face of the machinations of the establishment political war machine.

[tk2kewl]

10. first time in my 50 yr lifetime that i have an opportunity...

to support a presidential candidate who speaks to my values

[dreamnightwind]

11. Absolutely, same here!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

14. Same here. nt

[amborin]

12. K&R

[awoke_in_2003]

13. I was born in 68

So, "in my lifetime" I can include RFK. It went badly the first time.