Pay Attention Please:This Is Serious! (Democracy at Risk)

Pay Attention Please--This is Serious!

How Humor Helps Us Deal With the Stress of Living in Trump's America

by Cindy A. Matthews

I sympathize with you, my fellow progressives. It's hard keeping up the enthusiasm, the concentration and the stamina necessary to slay the evil foe which is the Trump Administration. Throw in your personal life struggles and challenges and it seems an insurmountable task. Can we dare to expect any let up from the stress?

To be truthful, no, the stress isn't going away magically anytime soon. But, in the meantime, there is a way to cope with it. This is the coping mechanism Freud didn't write as much about as denial, but it's certainly much more fun. I'm talking about humor as a coping mechanism, if the above meme hasn't given it away yet.

I've been a fan of political humor for a long time. I remember my teenage brother bringing home a comedy album called The Watergate Comedy Hour. We all sat around laughing our socks off as it played on an ancient device called a stereo record player. Sure, we had our whole summer wasted with the Watergate hearings preempting all the good TV shows, and then we had to endure the international embarrassment of our president resigning, but at least we got a few good chuckles out of it. (Rich Little made a killing out of doing Richard Nixon impersonations, too, as do rubber mask makers of Nixon masks to this very day.) 

The idea of the "court jester" of medieval Europe or the "holy fool" or heyoka in the Lakota spiritual tradition is almost a universal paradigm. Comedians have bravely ridiculed and scolded the powers-that-be in order to bring about an ounce of sanity and possibly evoke some compassion from our benevolent dictators--that is, our elected officials--since time immemorial. Two of my favorite court jesters currently are Lee Camp of Redacted Tonight and Moment of Clarity fame and Jimmy Dore of TYT Politics' The Jimmy Dore Show. If you haven't check out their wit and wisdom before, watch the videos posted here and you'll see why they've become respected independent journalists and political commentators in their own right. (Warning: adult language used.)


 
What I like most about Jimmy Dore is that he's not afraid to point out the bleeding obvious (to use my British husband's words). Jimmy will not let anyone off the hook for screwing with our so-called democracy and impoverishing our fellow Americans. No one gets a pass by pretending to be a progressive. Every public figure is put in his or her place and held responsible for his or her actions. No exceptions. Jimmy's humor is at once biting and refreshing. There's no tolerance of mindless bull-chips on The Jimmy Dore Show. You said it, you did it--you own it.

Lee Camp's Redacted Tonight is a comedy news program like no other. Not only will you laugh until you cry, you will actually learn something significant in the process. What can I say? For intellectuals who take our society's ills and foibles to heart, Lee Camp is our patron saint. He's assembled a first rate cast of fellow comedian-correspondents to work with him as well--John F. O'Donnell, Naomi Karavani and Natalie McGill. While worshiping at the feet of Lee and company, we come to see the surrealness and absurdity of life on this planet in the modern age. With his comedic guidance, we find the courage to poke fun at the stress and put it in perspective, learning to deal with it without resorting to jumping off the nearest overpass.

Lee has a companion show, Redacted Tonight VIP, where he interviews movers and shakers in the progressive political world and alternative media/journalism scene. In addition to his TV and YouTube shows, Lee writes and records the podcast Moment of Clarity which offers instant insights into our human condition, just so you know you're not the only one who feels the same way about how screwed up things are. 

Court jesters are smart folks, and we'd do well to heed their wise words and cutting comedy. So, the next time the Political Revolution is overwhelming you with its seriousness (because it is serious--it's our lives and planet at stake after all), turn on Jimmy Dore or Lee Camp and company and laugh along with them. The Political Revolution can wait a half hour or so, but your funny bone needs all the humor it can get now.

***

Democracy at Risk

by Sean Nestor

A popular viewpoint in conservative circles is that democracy is actually a really bad thing, because it is "mob rule, allowing 51% of the people to vote away the livelihood of the other 49%."

This ignores the historic importance of democracy -- "rule by the people" -- as an antidote to aristocracy -- "rule by an elite." It does not occur to opponents of democracy that aristocratic elements in society have a vested self-interest in leveraging their wealth and power to suppress democracy through misinformation and misdirection.

It assumes the worst of human beings, cynically equating power with abuse. The logic here is that all power (that is, ability to influence) will result primarily in abuse, so the best way to minimize abuse is to minimize the number of people with power. But this ignores the best way to limit abusive power is to ensure that it is distributed rather than concentrated. The greatest crimes against humanity have been committed by elites who have concentrated power into their own hands, denying the self-balancing nature of distributed power, which is the hallmark of democracy.

It also assumes that democracy is limited to simple majority voting -- which intentionally excludes the many non-electoral ingredients of a democracy like a free press, strong public debate, quality education, and various forms of protest and direct action. Democracy is far more than merely casting a ballot. (After all, even one-party dictatorships hold elections). Democracy is any system where the institutions of power yield to the will of its constituency by whatever means that requires.

And finally, where elections are concerned, it quietly downplays that

democratic elections are not contingent on simple-majority voting. You can have representative democracy that is balanced through proportional representation, consensus voting, 2/3 majority voting, instant-runoff voting, and many other methods that can be applied depending on the levity of the decision to be made.

Aristocratic elements like to conflate democracy with the highly dysfunctional US electoral system, because they know how bad the current electoral system is at meeting the needs of the many. It actually is much better at meeting the needs of the elite few, but, through well-financed sleight of hand, they have been successful at convincing voters the solution is in reducing democracy, not increasing it -- even though we've been reducing democracy for over forty years with obviously terrible results.

But in a way, their point is made. What good is democracy if the elite few can manipulate the public into maintaining their own oppression by using democratic processes to undermine democratic institutions?

The answer, as always, rests on us. Democracy requires a citizenry that is informed and engaged, and one that refuses to slip back into the dark ages of aristocracy. If we fail, democracy fails. If we succeed, democracy lives to fight another day. As someone wise once said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Bio: Sean Nestor is an educator and activist from Toledo. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Single Payer Action Network of Ohio and Co-Chair of the Lucas County Green Party.

***

Sorry to add to your stress, but the following is a very serious matter of election fraud and needs your immediate attention:

Democracy Is Under Attack in the 
197th District of Philadelphia: 
Cheri Honkala of the PA Green Party Takes on Election Fraud 
http://www.cheri197.com/

If you haven't heard by now, (March 21) Tuesday's election was overflowing with voter intimidation, electioneering, and likely fraud.

This district, the poorest in Pennsylvania, has already suffered through two state legislators resigning on fraud charges, a scheme to put someone on the ballot who doesn't even live in the city, and now are effectively having their voices silenced through a sham election. There are even pictures of a ballot box being at an opponent's "victory" party--a victory party held before the ballots were even counted!

It's a very dangerous situation exposing the machine in Philadelphia, so I've gone under police protection for the time being.

Regardless, alongside some Democrats and the local Republicans, I will be filing in federal court for a new election, a full investigation, and prosecution of those involved. We ask that you contribute $27 to help cover these extensive legal feels. Fighting for election integrity so we can know the real choice of the 197th district is the right thing to do.

Our team had hundreds of volunteers working on election day, and here's some of the things they reported:

• At multiple polling places, Democratic poll workers and committee people are located inside the polling place, handing out the Emilio stamp and literature; not 10 feet from the entrance to the polling location as required by law.
  
• Receiving unrequested "help" inside the polling booth. Realizing after one has already stamped that they stamped the wrong name, which means that the election official must have replaced our stamps with Emilio's stamp during their "demonstration" of how to write-in.
  
• Tables outside and inside setup with literature for my opponent. People being told that these tables have "what they need to vote," and making them appear as if its the voter sign-in tables. People being told to vote for my opponent at the actual  sign-in to table. 
  
• Officials telling my volunteers that they cannot put up posters because this is a "Democratic district." Telling people that if they are registered Democrat, that they must vote for Emilio.
  
• And, sadly, so many more...

The machine Democrats literally used their positions of power to illegally coerce and cheat the voices of the people in this district... not to mention the photographs of what appears to be a ballot box at the opponent's election night party. This is morally unacceptable. 

A trans-partisan coalition is coming together to end this legacy of corruption -- but we need your help. Please chip in $27 or whatever you can afford to help with the legal fees over the coming week or weeks as we challenge these fraudulent election results and their blatantly coercive techniques.

This campaign has been a microcosm of dysfunctional and corrupt corporate politics. We have seen the local, establishment media try to shut me out despite prominent endorsements and the best ground operation of all the candidates. We have seen political mob bosses call me up and threaten me after I refused to instead just run as a Democrat. I've had my tired slashed. Our volunteers have been frisked and had unexplainable car damage. And, yesterday, I took the advice to receive police protection through the remainder of the legal action. 
 
Democracy is under attack in the 197th district of Philadelphia. 

Even in face of the risks, my team and I are fighting back. Please stand with us, and please support us by helping to cover both the legal fees and continued wages for my key staff so they can continue to afford to keep eating and paying rent during this unanticipated but necessary legal action. 
 
Now is not the time to abandon the 197th. We are all the 197th.

Warm Regards,
Cheri Honkala

Candidate for State Representative
197th District, Pennsylvania

***

 Now is the time to pay attention--this is serious. We need your mind functioning at its highest level so it can cope with all the propaganda and outright lies that the mainstream media and the establishment will throw at it. Brainwashing and believing everything the propagandists tell you are one and the same. Throw away the newspapers owned by the alt-right and neo-liberal elitists. Turn off the corporate media outlets today. Rachel Madcow, er, Maddow, is not your friend as this video from The Humanist Report shows.

Promise yourself you will watch Lee Camp and Jimmy Dore on a regular basis from now on. Promise yourself that you will keep things in perspective and not allow the distractions of made-up diversions (such as "Russia, Russia, Russia!") to steal your time and energy away from what really matters--fighting for our democracy. Until Medicare for All is enacted, Citizens United is repealed, and the New Glass-Steagall Act becomes law (and our EPA and other environmental protections are safe), we can't let our guard down. The fate of our country and our world depends upon us.
 
To quote Lee: "Keep fighting!" (A little laughter helps, too.)

 

A Woman's Place is in the Revolution

This week we share two young women's stories of how they're taking an active part in Bernie 

Sanders' "Political Revolution." Their enthusiasm and energy is contagious!

Small Town Iowa Mom Volunteering for Bernie

By Emma Schmidt

I live in small town Iowa. It is a lot like you would expect it to be... Quaint, pastoral, and incredibly boring. Every election cycle, however, things amp up in excitement. Many Iowans consider our status as the first in the nation caucus to be a source of annoyance -- with political advertisements being spammed throughout every commercial break and pollsters and politicians jamming up the phone lines. However, the moment Bernie Sanders announced his campaign for presidency I knew I wanted to play a role in helping him to win the Iowa caucus.

I have been volunteering for the Bernie Sanders campaign since July. I started off by hosting a live stream party on July 29th. (You remember that, right? Where over 100,000 people turned
  out across the country?) 

I agreed to hold a party expecting it to be myself and a couple of friends I bullied into coming over. Instead, over a dozen people showed up. That's saying something coming from the area that continuously elects Steve King. We started up a grassroots team that night. 

Over the next few weeks, we walked in a couple parades for Bernie and hosted a voter registration drive. In late August, a field organizer set up shop in  the next county over. He taught me the basics of door knocking. I have no idea how many houses I have canvassed at this point, but it has been enough to automatically want to say "Hi, my name is Emma. I'm out here with the Bernie Sanders campaign," every time I knock on a door.

He also urged me to phonebank -- something I never imagined myself doing. I get nervous just ordering a pizza for delivery, so the idea of calling up strangers terrified me. Turns out it isn't so bad. I have been hosting a weekly phone bank at my house since October. We always have a few folks show up and make at least a couple hundred calls to our fellow Iowans over a three hour period.

It isn't all canvassing and phone-banking, though. We have organized a ton of brilliant events as well. We have held debate watch parties, a number of organizational meetings, a couple of screenings of Robert Reich's Inequality for All, a Bonfire for Bernie, a "Bernberry" Pie Bake Sale, and we're in the process of organizing a grassroots concert to amp people up before the caucus among other things. 

Bernie spoke at the grand opening of another field office in my area. We expected between 20 and 30 people to attend. Instead, we had around 100 people crammed in to a little room. If the people that are attending these events show up to the caucus, I firmly believe we can win this.

One of the best ways we can get people to turn out to the Iowa caucus is by using ridewithbernie.com. Originally, RideWithBernie was used to match people up to carpool to Bernie Sanders rallies. However, with Iowa caucus less than a month away, a version specifically formatted for linking drivers and passengers together to get to the caucus is being created. Bernie has consistently been able to draw enormous crowds to his rallies. He has brought out over 31,000 Iowans already.

If we continue this momentum, if we speak to our family, neighbors, and co-workers, if we make sure every supporter turns out to caucus, we can have the revolution so many of us are longing for. Like Bernie said, "On election night, if voters turnout is high, you can go to bed early. We can win."

Now is not the time to slack off. If you support Bernie, if you want to see his policy ideas go anywhere, no is the time to get to work. Talk to people about Bernie, find your caucus location, sign up for RideWithBernie, and remind folks to show up to caucus. If we can all come together, we can make a difference. Let's make Bernie's words come true.
 

"We have the people behind us. They have the money. And at the end of the day, the people will be stronger than the money."

Bio: Emma Schmidt says, "For Bernie I am a precinct captain, I post on Calhoun County for Bernie, Webster County for Bernie, and Iowans for Bernie, as well as help coordinate a lot of events. In my personal life, I am a 21 year old mother of a two year old, I attend Iowa State University, and I work overnights with autistic adults."

 Introduction to Bernie2016TV

By Alys Spillman

Whether you’re new to the Bernie-verse or a lifer like myself, you’ll eventually notice something unfortunate about the mainstream media’s coverage of the Sanders campaign. There is a lot of reluctance on the part of major news outlets to treat candidates fairly. This is the result of a cascade of different federal legislation that has led to our news outlets behaving like businesses, who by nature prioritize their bottom line rather than their integrity and role to provide information to the public. This has led to an understated revolution in our media, thanks to an organization called Bernie 2016 TV.

The Backstory: in 1987 the Reagan administration eliminated the Fairness Doctrine, which had previously required that "holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the Commission's view—honest, equitable, and balanced.” Now, stay with me, try to stay awake. In 1996 the Clinton administration passed the Telecommunications Act, which created the media environment we now see playing out in our national presidential debates. That is, one where political events are used to generate profit rather than made easily accessible to all citizens.

Knowing none of this, last summer I found myself on the internet looking for ways to get my Bernie fix. I stumbled upon Bernie 2016 TV, a fully grassroots news network for us, the 99%. They operate via Google Hangouts, and offer what larger news networks no longer do, a platform for our voices and our issues without the priority of money or ratings influencing content. Their vision is “to engage people and move them from being passive consumers of information into being co-creators that actively expand their circles of influence, strengthening our grassroots movements.”

 
Savannah for Bernie has worked with Bernie 2016 TV to bring Bernie events and his message to the people. First in Charleston last summer, where we reported live after Bernie spoke, and again when Bernie visited Savannah last fall. Bernie 2016 TV is an important resource for the public in Savannah and beyond, because it’s a lot of work these days to find honest and ethically presented information in the news. This is a big next step in the evolution of our national media universe, and so, so much for the better!

To learn more about Bernie 2016 TV check out their YouTube page, and find them on every imaginable social media outlet. (You can find social media links on the Bernie2016TV page on our sidebar.) Their content ranges from Bernie rallies to meta-debate coverage and issue-focused shows such as Native Life and We The People. Bernie 2016 TV is also seeking volunteers, for both on-air hosts and behind the scenes roles. To volunteer send an email to info@bernie2016.tv.

Bio: Alys is an ex-archaeologist and equestrian professional now immersed in supporting science innovation and global humanitarian efforts as a grant writer. She comes to Savannah by way of Vermont, the United Kingdom, and South Florida.

* * *

Are you phone-banking for Bernie? We are!

This is a group photo of our Bernie meet-up this past Saturday in Pemberville, Ohio. Bernie supporters are everywhere and we are growing in numbers every day. Check online for a Bernie event or a phone-banking session near you: http://map.berniesanders.com 

#WeAreBernie #FeeltheBern America!  (And watch this great video.)

And order your great, reasonably priced Bernie 2016 lighted sign made with love by Ben and Jerry and Volunteers:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/261945339/battery-powered-lighted-bernie-sign-for

The Media "Bern-Out" vs. The Media Black-Out

 The Media "Bern-Out" vs. The Media Black-Out

by Cindy A. Matthews

(Editor's note: We are updating these links on this post as we receive new sources for news about Bernie Sanders' campaign. Thanks for sharing! #FeeltheBern)

Much has been said about the media "black-out" of Bernie Sanders' record setting rallies happening across the U.S. this summer. Of course, much of this discussion has taken place between Bernie's supporters and not among the members of the "establishment media" themselves. When talking to persons who aren't particularly active on the Internet, or who receive the majority of their political news through local/national newspapers and television/radio stations, supporters excitedly sharing their admiration of  Bernie Sanders observe friends or family members scratching their heads and asking, "Bernie Who?" It's as if the outspoken independent senator from Vermont simply doesn't exist.

(If you still don't know what I mean, read this excellent article "Two Candidates Surge in 2016 Polling--But Only Trump, Not Sanders, Fascinates Media"  from the Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting web site. The statistics are very telling.  Click on this link to sign a petition to protest NPR's poor coverage of Bernie Sanders' campaign. Their bias is horribly obvious.)

Many feel this media black-out (or blatant ignoring) of Bernie Sanders' polling surge and well-attended events is due to their corporate owners. These print and broadcast media moguls are frightened of how a Sanders presidency might affect their profits. Would they have to pay their fair share of taxes? Would squirreling profits to offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands or Switzerland be outlawed? And, scariest of all, would they actually have to give their employees paid maternity/paternity leave, paid vacation time and promise their workers at least $15 an hour? Oh, the horrors!

While ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, CNN, Fox News, and the like, refuse to give much television/radio time to showing the rapidly growing popularity of Bernie Sanders, all is not lost for those viewers who'd like to hear and see the candidate in action. The Internet has come to the rescue of the wannabe informed voter with a variety of web sites and live-streaming services providing live and recorded coverage of Bernie events. Here are the links to just a few of them.

One of the best, with team coverage and live-streaming of Bernie's rallies:
Bernie2016TV 

The new link to subscribe to their channel: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYZGETbTWW-0wv_csBcMwfw
http://live.bernie2016.tv

BernieSandersVideo.com

Bernie Sanders You Tube Channel

 Vote4Bernie You Tube Channel

Bernie 2016 You Tube Channel


Bernie Sanders for President You Tube Channel

BernieSanders2016 Channel

The Progressive Liberal-- http://egbertowillies.com (Video and articles)

Before you think all is bleak in regard to the mainstream "establishment media", here's a link to an optimistic video that shows you just far we’ve come since April 30, 2015:
https://youtu.be/vlo-qSnuKec

What's even more exciting, there are many talented singers and performers recording music videos extolling the virtues of Bernie's platform. Think of it as "Bernie MTV". You can turn on the videos and sing along at You Tube:
Bernie Sanders Music Videos
 
Web sites that regularly post news articles on Bernie Sanders' activities, in no particular order, include:

BernieSanders.com

Democracy Now 


Op-Ed News

The Huffington Post 

Real Progressive Politics

Blue Nation Review

http://readersupportednews.org

Bernie's not being completely ignored in the foreign media. Check out this excellent story of Bernie's growing popularity in pictures as posted on The Guardian. (Mind-blowing, isn't it?)

While it may not seem fair for the major American newspapers and television/radio networks to blockade decent news coverage of Bernie Sanders' run for the White House, the people will not be denied access to the truth. To quote those zany comedians of TV's Mystery Science Theater 3000 (who had trouble getting viewers for their show in its early days on Comedy Central): "Keep circulating the tapes!"  Lucky for us, we don't need VCRs--we just need a decent computing device and Wi-Fi.

So, Bernie supporters take heart and keep the "Bern-Out" going. Good news has a way of traveling and getting disseminated no matter what. We #FeeltheBern here at The Bernie Blog and want to do whatever we can to keep the information flowing.  

Please share your links to web sites, music videos, online blogs and magazines that regularly post Bernie Sanders-related content. You can post them in the comments below or email them to us and we'll list them on The Bernie Blog. #WeStandTogether #Bernie2016

We'll see you at the Books for Bernie book and garage sale this week in Perrysburg, Ohio. Keep spreading the news to all your friends and neighbors--vote for Bernie Sanders in 2016!