“Out of all this struggle a good thing is going to grow. That makes it worthwhile.”
― John Steinbeck, In Dubious Battle
If at any point I believe it’s not possible for Bernie Sanders to become President, I will be open, honest and tell you that in both these weekly columns and on my podcast. However, we’re not even close to that point.
Still, like many of you, I’m exhausted by mainstream, corporate media cartels lying to me non-stop about the odds, about violence at the Nevada Convention that never happened, about the flagrant disregard for rules and procedure in Nevada and all things surrounding the Democratic Party, about Hillary’s record, about anything and everything. The barrage of lying is exhausting. Like many of you, I’m exhausted. But we fight on, because we have to.
In just a year we’ve built a beautiful coalition of regular folks. Many from existing movements like Fight for 15, Occupy Wall Street or Black Lives Matter joined in with us. Labor unions like those beautiful nurses have traveled the country in support of Bernie. Black Men for Bernie built a damn tour bus and hit the road to get the message out. The grassroots, independent from the Senator’s rag-tag campaign team, to me are the most beautiful part of what we’ve called “the political revolution.” We started meeting in each other’s homes a year ago, and now have posed a serious threat to the largest political dynasty in modern history. We should be proud.
I joked on Twitter yesterday that I think “the Resistance” would have been better nomenclature than “political revolution.” The entire system has been against us. The establishment has tried to crush our movement and our spirits at every turn. The fact that they’ve declared victory yet have amplified their lies and attacks on us speaks volumes to me, that they are losing. The people are seeing through the false flags, blatant lies and outright theft. As graffiti artists spray paint about how Hillary stole elections and more and more of you start blogs, podcasts and YouTube shows, we’re getting the truth out there.
I have been so very excited by all of the grassroots candidates running for office and backing Bernie’s platform. Outfits like BrandNewCongress.com coming together to take this movement to the next level fills me with an energy that reminds me that there is no time for exhaustion. We fight on, because we have to. The American promise is at stake.
Amid corporate media lies and million dollar trolls attacking us on our social networks, we’ve banded together with strangers to support independent media, support grassroots candidates and spread each other’s messages to any who will listen. It’s exhausting, but we fight on, because we have to. We still have plenty to do.
While it’s about the values of the Bernie Sanders platform, I personally believe it’s equally about ensuring Hillary Clinton and her network of corruption do not gain one inch more of political power. Her dubious connections to the media monopolies, profiteers of war and the banks behind all of that has shown long history of trading government access in exchange for growing her personal wealth. As patriots we must continue to fight to get money out of politics, to demand transparency in government, and to limit the power of corporations and banks over citizens.
I want to see citizens have such safety and security that they get good educations and create their own corporations and banks. The people should be empowered, not the reverse. The Clinton dynasty’s legacy is one that does not coincide with my values of people first.
We don’t have to agree on all of the issues, but I’m hopeful that we agree on an American dream of fair and transparent democracy, of equality for all citizens and the right for our citizenry to enjoy privacy while pursuing prosperity. If we can agree on these core American values, we can work together to restore Democracy and take power back from the oligarchs. Red, blue or purple, we can work together.
We may be tired, but we are not through. Our movement is strong and getting stronger. Offshoots are organizing to see us to the next stages, of taking Congress and local offices and educating our fellow citizens on how the rest of the developed world takes care of its working-class. America used to lead the world in taking care of our working-class. We’ve fallen far behind, but could lead once again, if we overthrow the oligarchs and reclaim the American promise of democracy.
I believe transparency is a core value of that promise. I always say if I ever run for office, I may not ever comprise on my values, but I will be aggressively transparent. If I give a paid speech, it will be on my website’s calendar. The fee will be listed on my website as income. The transcript will be on my website immediately after. I would never accept Super PAC monies, but all regular donations would be listed daily as well. My coffers would be public. Give me a restaurant gift card? I’d list that somewhere too. I challenge anyone running for office in the future to share these ideals. It’s a sure way to secure my vote. I don’t have to agree with you on all of the issues, but I do have to agree with you on transparency and campaign finance.
The Clinton campaign and establishment politicians like her are enemies of transparency. Deleting 30,000 emails from an account owned by the citizens of the United States makes Nixon’s erasing of Watergate tapes look like child’s play. Her refusal to release transcripts of quarter million dollar speeches to the industry that brought down our economy looks like bribery to many of us. Her championing the Panama deal that made money laundering possible and legal shows a complete disregard for common people as the top one tenth of one percent hordes away half of the world’s abundance. Throughout their careers, both Clintons have shown preferential treatment by deregulating industry and siding against workers world-wide. Their foundation has laundered money from foreign governments into their personal wealth. The Clintons are enemies of transparency. Their dubious relationships with media, war and finance will always be their motivation, never public servitude, in my humble opinion.
I believe that there is a coup by the media military industrial complex and the banking class to deliver the Presidency to Hillary Clinton by hook or by crook. With the same success of near every war they’ve pushed us into since WWII ended, they also created the monster, Donald Trump, in effort to push this agenda. They miscalculated the anger of the electorate, the massive dislike for the Clinton machine,Trump’s ego and now have a losing campaign. Trump is within the margin of error against Clinton in national polls, and is defeating her in the polls of several electoral college swing states.
Unless we somehow elect Bernie Sanders to the Democratic nomination, Donald Trump will be our next President. Another wealthy person of ego and not compassion will easily defeat scandal ridden Hillary Clinton. Bernie is still possible. If Sanders captures just over 60% of the remaining states’ delegates, Bernie would head to the convention in the lead of both pledged delegates and popular vote. If we march in the streets of Philadelphia, super delegates who hold elected office will have to listen to the will of the people. This is part of the lies the media cartels are behind. The 2016 Democratic Primary is the closest since 1968.
Because I don’t trust the media, I wanted to report on the Democratic National Convention myself. We were unable to obtain press credentials through the DNC, but as I feel the best stuff comes from street level anyhow, and friends at Progressive Army and I started planning. The endeavor was daunting, but as with all things from this movement, our brothers and sisters, strangers but true believers, have been pitching in to make sure I’ve the gear necessary. We’re still looking for affordable housing or hotel, but I believe nothing will stop us on this mission to add truth to the public conversation, in contrast to the propaganda of the corporate media. I feel quite blessed that many of you are encouraging me in this calling. I will never be able to speak or type enough thanks for those of you who have donated time, money, goods services or simple words of encouragement. I feel blessed because of you.
Despite the media marginalizing our movement, we are growing. I beg of you to support BrandNewCongress.com. I beg of you to write letters to the editor, start a blog, podcast or YouTube show. I beg of you to run for office. From the school board to the Senate floor, we need regular Americans to take control of government and power away from those in lock step with the oligarchy. As with all things in this movement, many of us will help you. We are all in this together. I certainly have been trying and will continue to try and pay the generosity shown to me forward to comrades in the movement.
I’ve written previous pieces about how we got here. The reforms of FDR’s New Deal that brought decades of prosperity were undone by the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations. The mainstream press was infiltrated by intelligence agencies years ago and then given ability to monopolize by the Clintons. The Clinton cash machine is powered by media, banking and weapons industries. I’ve written previously about the Sanders campaign platform and how we’re the only industrialized nation that doesn’t provide for our working class on the par he’s speaking to. I’ve also written about how the Democratic National Committee has rigged the primary process to favor Hillary Clinton. Frankly, there not much left to say, other than if you’ve been supporting Hillary Clinton, you’re an enemy to Democracy and peace in our lifetimes. It’s truly that simple.
If you’ve been on the right side of history, and a part of the movement behind Bernie Sanders, I’m proud to stand among you. From our struggle, a good thing is going to grow. Be it in January if Bernie is inaugurated as President, or in the near future as we take our country back, a good thing is going to grow. It will be worthwhile.
