At first I was intrigued, Senator Sanders was running for president. Cool I thought a very Progressive man who might take the dems from center left to a little more left. Senator Sanders said we needed a revolution, I agreed. At first I didn’t take the Senator seriously, thinking he has some great ideas but will America be ready for this. I was and am a Hillary fan, but thought Senator Sanders will push Hillary’s thinking and may help her become more flexible. Never a problem with a revolution, when the cause is to help ALL the people in a crisis rebound and renew.
I never felt the Bern as so many of my friends had, but I understood the need to fight the battles which for way too long have been attempted but never achieved as victories. New ideas, new perspectives, new choices let it happen I thought. Perhaps I had underestimated the steam by which Senator Sanders was moving. Then a few things happened, and suddenly not only did I not feel the Bern, but instead as a Progressive/Liberal/Democrat I began to feel burned. I watched as Donald Trump was successful in his scorched earth approach within the Republican Party and watched as the biggest fell. There was not much pity on my behalf for this years contingent of wanna be Republican candidates, but what really dismayed me was how well Trump’s revolution took hold and his fans became his foot soldiers. The GOP citizenry and now the supposed leadership are kowtowing to a man and not his ideas.
I now worry about Bernie’s goals and his methods. It seems very much like Trump, Bernie is making the cause about him. Most revolutions begin with the concern of the average person, but when a revolution goes sour it is often times because the goal changes and the momentum is no longer on a cause but a person.Trump is dangerous, too dangerous to pretend he is stupid, he is a moron, he is a jerk, is a narcissist…we are way beyond feigning all of that, Trump is good at one thing and that is marketing, not an idea, but himself. Bernie, for me, seems to be following in a trumps narcissistic demeanor, no longer looking at the big picture as he had when he wanted a revolution, but not acting like the election is all about him. Hillary is not the lesser of the three evils, there is one evil and that is Trump. The evil will encroach on all of our lives unless Bernie begins to see a bigger picture then himself. I want to feel the Bern, but not get burned.
