Bernie Sanders, the tip of the iceberg
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Political Obligation, is it real?
O.K., I guess I have been following the media, blogs, and candidates
too closely. I have noticed that there
is a new intimidation tactic that the American voter is facing. It is what I like to call “Choose the lesser of two evils”
tactic. It is being used primarily by
the Secretary Clinton Campaign to attempt to get Senator Sanders supporters to
support her campaign after all of the unfair practices, lies, and character assassination
that the Democrat National Committee and Secretary Clinton has unleashed during
the primary system.
I think that the Clinton campaign underestimates how much
anger, derision, and simple revulsion that these tactics have caused in a lot of
Democrats and Independent voters. The
tipping point for me was when I saw the manufactured outrage by the media, the
Democrat National Convention, and Secretary Clinton’s supporters about a
situation that should have never happened.
This organized and false outrage makes Secretary Clinton appear even
more dishonest than Mr. Trump.
At this point, I could neither support either Secretary
Clinton, or Mr. Trump. But, here is the
new wrinkle, I am being told by my friends and acquaintances who support
Secretary Clinton that I have to vote for her to prevent Mr. Trump from
becoming the President of the United States of America.
They tell me that she is the only choice in a
field of two. Well, I have taken civics
in High school, I know that this is not the case. I know that the Electoral College elects the
President. I also know that the only
parties that will even have a chance for President in this election are the two candidates in the Republican and Democrat
Parties. I don’t care, I won’t vote for
either of these venal people.
I also know that there are three branches of
government. It is about time I start
paying attention to those people who are being elected in the House of
Representative and the Senate. You see,
we have had eight years of obstructionism from the congress. I don’t see any changes in that
obstructionism in the future. Truth be
told, neither party truly loves their choices for the President of the United
States of America. That means that no
matter who is elected, we will have gridlock.
That being said, the urgency to vote for someone I would not allow in my
house, let alone have a beer with is a non-issue. I really don’t believe that you can “waste” a
vote if you vote for something/someone you believe in.
I am a Senator Sanders Supporter. I supported him because he voiced beliefs
that I hold dear to my heart. He
probably will not be the Democrat candidate for this election. That does not bother me. I am happy that there is a whole bunch of
people out there who have their eyes open and now see that the media and the
corporate world are out there colluding against them to be slaves. I think that the DNC may have done a great
service to the people of America by slanting the race for Secretary
Clinton. We now know that the system is
rigged, there is no doubt after this election.
We know that the rich and powerful will do anything to hold on to the
control that they exert over the American people. I will chalk this election up to the learning
curve.
I now know how the game works.
To conclude
this thought, I am going to vote for Senator Sanders in the primary. I am going to cast my vote with a smile on my
face and a light heart because I know that I am not contributing to the
problem. In November, I am going to vote
for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party.
The day after the General Election, I am going to actively start looking
for a place where my effort will be appreciated and make a positive difference
for my fellow Americans. I will do that
because voting for the lesser of two evils is just un-American.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Bernie Sanders, the tip of the iceberg.
I have been thinking that an explanation of where we are and
how we got here is missing from the electoral conversation that is being
communicated in this country. I see
Senator Bernie Sanders sticking out of the pack in this regard. This is good for us, but bad for Senator
Sanders. You see, Senator Sanders is not
liked by the people who are in power behind the Mass Media, Wall Street, Military
Industrial Complex, and the Government/ Law Enforcement/Correctional Service
sectors. They are vehemently against
Bernie Sanders from becoming the President of the United States of America. The reason that they hold this position is
money and power, not political ideals.
It is very simple, Senator Sanders stands against the systematic agenda
of enriching those who are already disgustingly wealthy and powerful.
If Bernie Sanders is elected President, he will call for the
people of the United States to stand up and demand that their elected officials
to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court case. He would guarantee that the bill that
overturns the decision would be signed in to law. The mass media, who are owned by very few
people; who seem to be on the boards of competing media companies, would be the
largest loser if the Citizens United decision is overturned. Even if you put the political considerations
aside, the Citizens United decision is profitable for the media. In the 2012 election, Political Action
Committees paid $653 Million in advertising in mass media. Do you think that this election would be any
less? I would not bet on it. The media was supposed to be the invisible fourth
column of checks and balances designed by our founding fathers. If the media has a financial interest in our government
being owned by a few rich corporations and people, then that protection is
gone.
The Military Industrial Complex has different reasons for
not wanting a Sanders Presidential administration, loss of both money and
power. The American Defense budget is
$585 Billion. There are approximately 2,118,000
men and women in uniform today. The
defense budget is one of the easiest means that an elected official can reward
rich contributors. I suspect that this
is the reason why there are so many hawks in the race for President this
election. The elected officials ensure
that military contracts are awarded to the companies that are corporately owned
by those contributors. The elected
officials ensure that there are M-1A1 Abram tanks being produced even though
the United States inventory has approximately 10,000 of the main battle tanks
at $8.53 million apiece. During the Gulf
war we lost only one tank in combat with another main battle tank. But we are still churning them out. This situation is benefitting the politicians
and defense contractors who protect this form of waste.
Another example of this wasteful spending is the F-35 joint
fighter. Each F-35 costs $769 million,
the production run is scheduled to be 52 units at approximately $1.5 trillion for
the program. This seems like a lot of
money for a weapons system that requires a human being to pilot it in a hostile
environment. In a Sanders administration this type of spending would be
cut. Senator Sanders understands that combat
missions seem to be less risky with remotely piloted and unmanned aerial vehicles
than a single manned aircraft that risks a human being’s life and costs more
than the annual budget of the NASA programs at Langley.
Then there is the ability to fill those 2,118,000 billets in
the military. If Senator Sanders were
elected to be President, he would use his bully pulpit to enact federally
budgeted college education. If college
was within the reach of the average American high school graduate, then the
post 9/11 GI bill loses some of its appeal to low income and disadvantaged high
school graduates. The military would
have to find new ways to provide an incentive to high school graduates to enter
military service. Budgetary focus would
have to be based on personnel retention and development rather than shiny new
weapon systems that neither save lives nor make our military readiness any more
effective. Our current defense budget is
greater than the other top ten countries combined. Can we afford this kind of spending in a
world that is getting smaller and more connected?
We all know why Wall Street has no interest in a
Sanders Administration. It all comes
down to bottom line and that bottom line belongs to those in the top 1% of the
top 1%. Americans work hard. Americans are generally patriotic and
kind. Americans are not very involved in
the political system. We often depend on
someone else to make these decisions.
This inattention has had some serious and negative consequences to our way
of life. Senator Bernie Sanders has
asked that Americans make a priority out of understanding and participating in our
political process. Since the 1980
election, the American family has seen its bottom line shrink and
disappear. Many more families today are
not in the middle class, but in the lower economic class. Both parents work. No one is home watching the kids. Is this an American value? Should both adult members of 95% of the
families work 35-60 hours a week just to provide a decent living for their
family? Should rent, energy, and food
prices increase as they have since 1980 without wages rising to meet them? Is this an American value?
As goes Wall Street, K Street follows. Our government is corrupt, lopsided, and
completely unrepresentative of the American people. In this primary system the American people have
begun to understand that their influence and power is not what it used to
be. We now understand that two private
organizations make the most important decisions that our country makes. The Democrat and Republican parties are not government
entities, but private organizations that are easily bought and sold. These organizations weaken the people’s
decisions and strengthen the corporate agendas that pay the parties to
play. This is the same model that the lobbyists
use once the elections are over. If a
person would sell their integrity for an election, then selling a vote that
hurts his constituents is far less a stretch.
I know, there are always compromises that must be made to come to consensus. The problem is that when decisions are made
based solely on keeping the status quo, then the connected will win and unconnected will lose every time.
In closing, can the American people afford to have Senator
Bernie Sanders as President of the United States of America? Or, can the powers that be, prevent Senator
Sanders from becoming President of the United States of America? We will see who is really in control of this
country by how this election pans out. Either
way, it really doesn’t matter because the youth seem to understand that we need
a change and are willing to work for it.
Senator Sanders’ greatest supporters are the youth. They are the future and no matter what you
hear or read about them, they are hungry for change. It may take a couple of election cycles, but the
issues that Senator Sanders is voicing in his campaign are not going away after
this election.
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