Baby Boomers+ for Bernie

B is for Bernie...and Believers...and #BirdieSanders...and Baby Boomers.
 

Yes, Boomers. In spite of what the mainstream media says, we exist in numbers in the Bernie camp, 50+ year old male and female voters. We're loud and proud and we're ready for Bernie.  We'll be voting  in Wisconsin in numbers alongside the Millennials, because we heard a little birdie tell us that we--and our kids and grandkids--have a future to believe in when we put Bernie Sanders in the White House. Our mighty Baby Boomer numbers will make it a landslide, too.  You may have forgotten, but we stopped a war. Watch us as we help stop the oligarchs and take back our country. We've been around the block a few times, so we know what it takes and who is worth fighting for--Bernie Sanders, of course. Power to the people!

(Check out and join some of our Facebook pages: Boomers for Bernie 2016, Baby Boomers 4 Bernie, Seniors for Bernie, Grandparents for Bernie, Retirees for Bernie)

A Baby Boomer Speaks Out for Bernie

by Bill MacKilligan

I  am a retired pharmacist. I graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1971. I was part of the Vietnam protest. The protest was attended by so many students at MCP that the college allowed finals to be optional and actually shut down the second oldest and second largest college of pharmacy in the United States. It was such a conservative college that male students were required to wear shirts and ties to class, women had to wear skirts or dresses and everyone changed classes when the bell rang.

I feel the Baby Boomer generation, which included most of the Vietnam protesters and myself, seemed to be the last generation to really protest a very important issue. We felt we could change the world and stop an unjust war. We were right. We could and did. And, in the process, unseated a U.S. President.

Bernie Sanders' campaign has the quality and hope that the baby boomers had in the 1970's.  I feel that he could, if not change the world, at least change this country to include more people in the success of America.  This could be the last opportunity for the Baby Boomer generation to rise up and change this country for the better. Bernie's campaign harkens back to feelings of hope for real change. You feel that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes, and by doing so, we can grow a better, stronger country. Get on the Bernie bandwagon and support his platform. I truly feel this guy is for real. 

If you do nothing else, understand the way Bernie sees things and communicate those visions to others. We stopped a war -- we can elect Bernie 
 Sanders. 

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Bernie Sanders Palm Sunday 

March 20, 2016

a poem by Barb McMillen

Our voices rose chanting his name. It is he
we came to hear. We lined his path both outside
and in. Our hands reaching to touch him.

He raised both arms and stood an old arch
angel, voice cracking with the ministry of Truth:
the time he said, the time he said, is Now. 

Ask, he said, feel, he said, injustice and ignorance--
Rise. Children, too, with tiny smiles not knowing
why but knowing this: the moment 

We opened our eyes. And then he spoke
of the earth as though it were a living thing
embraced, life not wealth. His arms

swung forward hands dancing about the air like
fronds, his palms measuring a clattering
symphony of love. The time has come he said

for us to ask. The poor, the lost, the sick,
And We, again, chanted his name
-- not him, but Us. Not me, but We.

 Bio: Barb is a co-founder of The Bernie Blog and a delegate from Ohio to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

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Inside Job: A movie review

  by Richard Moore

I just watched the video Inside Job. Everyone should watch it. It gives insight to where we are as a nation financially how we got there and why we need Wall Street reform. It shows how the Clinton’s and my beloved president have been part of the problem and not the solution. Please watch this story of our financial collapse narrated by Matt Damon. (The entire film is available on Vimeo.)

Our Reviewer: "Richard Moore here. Seventy nine year old  and part of the 99%. Hillary is going to attack Bernie more and more as are the one percenters. Keep on keeping on Bernie. Do as you are doing. You are getting more press every day finally."

***

This Woman is Bernie Strong!

a weekly commentary from one of Bernie's female supporters 

What Sanders Has Taught the Democratic Party  

by Shawna Paul

Bernie Sanders, an independent democratic socialist, has helped the Democratic Party more than any other candidate in recent years and all before he won a single delegate. Regardless of who gets the nomination, the Democratic Party will forever be stronger because of the candidacy of Bernie Sanders.

How many times have we heard political pundits proclaim that President Reagan could not get elected today because his politics would not be considered conservative enough for the modern Republican Party? Why is this you ask? It is in part because the Democratic Party has lost its way over the last few decades. Unable to coalesce and fight for a true liberal agenda, it has allowed the Republican Party to pull the center of the country to the right.

Now when I say Democratic Party I'm not talking about the rank and file, I'm talking the leaders, the machine, the message. Think Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

 Instead of furthering a platform that includes such Democratic ideals as economic equality, social and criminal justice reform, and fixing a corrupt campaign finance system, the party's sole focus in recent years became reducing Republican damage. The party of FDR and JFK turned its back on being a party of bold sweeping ideas and has been complacent and satisfied for far too long with running on preserving Social Security and keeping a Republican appointee off the Supreme Court. That is until now.

Bernie Sanders is doing now what so many Democrats before him failed to do; he is dragging the Democratic Party (kicking and screaming) to the left. We have already seen the fruits of his labor, as Clinton has quickly dropped her status quo agenda and adopted some of his progressive rhetoric.

While it would be impossible to list all Bernie Lessons, here are four specific takeaways that would be helpful for the Democratic Party to remember, wash and repeat.

1. Have a vision. It should be big.
2. The vision must be authentic-- from the heart, not polls or lobbyists.
3. The vision should be fair. It cannot keep the guy from the other party out of office.
4. Vigorously defend your vision. There is a reason Republicans call Democrats "flip-floppers."

Bio: Shawna Paul says this about herself: "I am a freelance writer/filmmaker from Portland, Maine, an avid Bernie Sanders supporter who is ready for the revolution!  I also have a Wordpress blog with a Bernie Theme." https://bernieblogs2016.wordpress.com

Here's a song suggestion from Kelly, something to hum along with while you're phonebanking and canvassing for Bernie this week. #FeeltheBern and sing like #BirdieSanders!