The Fighting Spirit

The Fighting Spirit

by Anthony Lewis

I absolutely love the fighting spirit I see on Facebook that is highly focused on supporting Bernie Sanders. You guys have got the right idea! At the same time there is something else that I see that gives me pause.

We can't entirely blame the DNC for the obvious, corrupt game they playing right now They are what we made them.

Don't blame the Republican party. We helped make them what they are, too. Don't blame any of politicians serving in office now. We put them there. Don't blame the media. We've always held control of the remote for the TV. We've also had the power of the purse and the ability to buy from or boycott any of the sponsors.

Feel pity for the evil, money grubbing, greedy corporate a**holes that are so short sighted and think they stand to gain something by grilling up the goose that lays the golden egg! They can profit so much more by expanding opportunity instead of cutting costs. They have that kind of attitude because of the polices promoted by politicians we elected.

Don't blame the military. You may not believe it, but there are actually people twisted enough to blame the military for much of the trouble we see in our country today. This is a sure sign of the absolute ignorance that commonly exist about exactly what our own military is and what it's about. You can't even think about blaming the military for anything in this. They only exist to follow the orders of our leadership and to protect our nation.

Don't blame any of our churches. They are our houses of faith. If you can find any fault in anything they have ever done, then you know exactly who to blame.

It's you.

It's me.

It's all of us.

And, that's the way it’s always been.

Don't be too hard on yourself, though. Today we have a rare moment before us. Right now there is a revolution brewing and you are a part of it. Right now, in spite of a long series of collective bad decisions, we can start making better, smarter, wiser and correct choices that will serve us all very well now and on into the future.

It’s such a tragedy that so many of us seem blissfully unaware of how we have such a great opportunity right now to do something so very right and so very necessary. I think that the thing that is so profoundly fantastic about this very moment is the fact that right now we can see signs of one of our greatest strengths: Our ability to change!

Bernie Sanders has an idea about how we can change in order to become more like the country we've always said we've wanted to be. The fact that it has always been within our power to make the desired changes was never in question. What is still debatable is whether or not we have the resolve required to pursue the vision presented by a noble and loyal leader.

If we work together, we can get Bernie Sanders elected President of the United States. And that would be the most clear sign of our ability as a nation to take full responsibility of our destiny and fate. This is the last time in this lifetime any of us are going to be fortune enough to be able to say that we knew that we had an urgent choice to make and made the right choice. No excuses. No apologies.

‪#‎FeeltheBern
  

Bio: Anthony Lewis lives in Indiana and is great at rallying his fellow Bernie supporters on Facebook.  http://beknown.com/anthony-edward-lewis   Go Bernie!


Wednesday, July 29 at 7 PM: Find a Bernie Sanders event near you and find out how you can help bring about the revolution! http://www.bernie2016events.org/    

In Search of an Honest Man

In Search of an Honest Man 

by Barb McMillen

Yet another condescending and disparaging article in the New York Times, this time assessing the DNC’s attitude toward their amusing but irritating step son. Why on earth, members asked, was Bernie visiting Martha’s Vineyard. After all, that’s where the wealthy Democrats were donating $37,000 to the DSCC.

I never gave Bernie’s choice to run as a Democrat much thought. After all, third party would be a spoiler; Republican would be unconscionable.  So, this thought caught me a bit off-guard:  How would the DNC feel about Bernie running against their daughter, the presumed golden girl herself? They called him a hypocrite. 

At the same time, the thought came to me that what the DNC must really think is Bernie’s an interloper. They must think, "He’s ruining everything". They must think, "He’s the reason we can’t have nice things."

Then, sans segue, I am reminded of that photo of young Bernie some thirty years ago head turned left feeding his restless baby. I thought: Why is he looking over his shoulder? What had Bernie heard at that moment? What was he waiting for?

This is where imagination steps in and I thought: Was it the future--did he hear the future while holding his baby, giving him his bottle? Did Bernie hear its whisper for the first time, the thing that would haunt all of us years later? 

And, at that moment, my realization: For the DNC, the campaign is about the DNC and their candidate.  But Bernie has said it over and over, his campaign is not about him. It is not about party loyalties. It is about his message. And it’s about getting that message to us, the people of the United States, that our economic system is broken and has its claws about our necks, choking us to death.

Bernie is running under the Democratic ticket, but he is not a Democrat. He is a man who rose up from among us, the carrier of a message.  He’s an honest man, self-deprecating and humble. He is not an inheritor. If he dares to enter Martha’s Vineyard, it’s not in search a buck. It’s to spread his message, raise his lantern of truth in search of an honest man.

Bio: Barb McMillen is one of the co-creators of The Bernie Blog. She's passionate about getting the word out to others about Bernie Sanders.

There are many, many Bernie meet-ups planned for July 29th and new ones being posted everyday. Have you checked out one in your area yet? https://secure.berniesanders.com/page/event/search_simple

A Shout Out for LISA!

A Shout Out for LISA!

by A.J. Matthews

The people who need solar power most are those least likely to be able to afford it - at the moment. The Low Income Solar Act (LISA) will be good for the environment, good for the economy, good for creating and sustaining new jobs, and will be far cheaper than yet another war for oil. Why kill thousands of people in pursuit of oil? Why dig up 200 million-year-old sunlight when we can have the fresh stuff every day? Why continue to pollute the air with carbon emissions? 

With the Low Income Solar Act, this puts affordable solar power within reach of ordinary people. This will save money, help the world, and save the Earth for future generations. 

Bio: A.J. Matthews is a multi-published novelist who sees great things happening with Bernie Sanders in the White House. He asks you to speak up and share your thoughts with your friends and family, as well as with The Bernie Blog.

Thanks, A.J., for sharing your thoughts with us. Please feel free to submit your blog posting to our email (located on the how to submit page and the sidebar).

Meet-up events are being scheduled around the country on July 29th where you can see a live message from Bernie and have a chance to meet other supporters in your area. Sign up to host an event yourself or find one near you: https://secure.berniesanders.com/page/event/search_simple

As Long As We're “Thinking Big”...

The Bernie Blog would like to welcome our first contributor who asks us to "think big" about Bernie Sanders.

As Long As We're “Thinking Big”...

by Philip Morrison 

Bernie Sanders has published more bold proposals for America's problems than any presidential candidate in my memory.  By doing so and by telling us, his supporters, to “think big”, he has supplied a wonderful scaffolding on which to create fantastic dreamscapes.  Here is my creation which builds on some of the great man's ideas.

Election reform:  

    -- Overturn Citizen's United (Bernie's idea).

    -- Make federal elections exclusively publicly funded (Bernie's idea).

    -- Have a national holiday for voting (Bernie's idea).

   --  Destroy the revolving door by banning candidates who have worked for lobbying organizations in the last ten years, (Sorry to see you go, John Kasich—not!) Banning office-holders from joining lobbying organizations for ten years after they hold office. 

    -- Abolish the Electoral College. The President should be elected by popular vote.  (Expansion on Bernie's idea.)

     -- All House of Representative district lines for all states should be drawn by an independent federal commission. (California and Arizona have their district lines drawn by an independent commission.)

     -- Take the execution of federal elections out of state governments' hands.  (Just an idea: The U.S. Postal Service's post offices could serve as our polling places.)  How much state government-inflicted corruption of the voting process for federal elections would be eliminated by this idea?

     -- Standardize voting machines, periods where candidates could campaign, and voting days.

Financial Reform:

     -- Break up the Big Banks (Bernie's idea).

     -- Have the USPS provide banking services (Bernie's idea).

     -- Pass a new version of the Glass–Steagall Act. (Bernie is co-sponsor of Elizabeth Warren's bill.)  

     -- Use the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to break up monopolies/oligopolies in every economic sector.  Let's see what happens when we trade our current laissez-faire capitalism for the real deal.

     -- Cap the pay of CEOs/CFOs/Management.

Trade:

     -- Reverse our trade policies which favor corporations over American labor: NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO, China's favored status (Bernie's idea).

     -- Can you say tariff?  Tariff the heck out of countries that manipulate their currencies, use forced labor, or ban/terrorize labor unions.

     -- Start a campaign to see how close America can come to creating everything we consume.  Start by bringing the steel and textile factories back. 

There's more where that came from, but I have a feeling I've exceeded my limit of words!  Also, I can't be the only idea person around here.  Why don't some of you try to expand on Bernie's already grand vision in these areas or others?

Bio: Web programmer Philip Morrison hails from Canton, North Carolina. His hobby is songwriting: “I've got one called GOP Hypocrisy which Bernie supporters might like. I think Bernie would see it as negative campaigning, however.” :)