STANDING UP FOR BERNIE (BECAUSE SEATING IS LIMITED)
Bernie came to my area. And there was much rejoicing. I got some work done early and decided to go. I'm glad I did.
The bad news is, I only was able to leave about half an hour before the appearance was to begin, and so most of the population of my county and the surrounding counties was there ahead of me. I think they underestimated how large the turnout would be.
They had the appearance in a small park surrounded on three sides by water. It was packed to the edge of the water, with a line going around several blocks of people still waiting to get in. I ended up positioned at a barrier along the perimeter where I had a good view of the corner of the stage, and of several serious men with wires in their ears and dark glasses doing the Gandalf thing. But i could hear everything.
Once in a blue moon, my emotions work the way they're supposed to. I made a decision to not feel grumpy about being on the outer edge, and to instead feel grateful that such a large number of nice people who vote wanted to see Sanders as much as I did. And it just worked. I'm going to have to practice that trick.
I've heard a lot of political speeches in my day, in person and on TV, and they evoke a wide variety of emotions: Cynicism. Rage. Depression. Fear. Nausea. Weariness... I'm trying to remember the last time I heard one that actually made me feel good, made me feel hopeful for America. Probably Obama in 2008. This one made me feel good.
Sanders is in good shape. He had a strong pair of lungs and the stamina to stand and deliver for a long time.
He spoke about vast wealth inequality, and how the Walton family of Wal-Mart has seized possession of more wealth than 40% of Americans combined, and how they pay their employees so little that we have to pay taxes for the Food Stamps that Wal Mart employees need to survive. The Waltons are the biggest beneficiaries of welfare in America.
He spoke about the need for a higher minimum wage.
He spoke about gender pay equity, and called on men, in particular, to stand with their sisters in support of fairness.
He spoke about criminal justice reform, and prisons for profit, and the need to put fewer people in prison, not more, and how we need to demilitarize the police, and how black lives matter.
He spoke about the threat of climate change. He spoke about the value and respect that the original inhabitants of this continent had for the land, before people from Europe came and stole that land and tore it apart.
He spoke about how, if someone had come to him in 2006 and predicted that marriage equality would be the law in all 50 states within a decade, the people nearby would have said, "That's crazy, what are you smoking?", but that that important victory is not enough. He spoke about what North Carolina and Mississippi are doing right now, and how all people must fight for the right of all people to be who they are, because as long as some of us are not free, none of us are free.
He spoke about the need to make higher education affordable for all.
He spoke about the need to make health care affordable for all.
He spoke about how everyone asks how he intends to pay for nice things, and he pointed out how eight years ago, when Wall Street was wrecking the economy and went crying to the government to bail them out, how few people then joined him in asking how to pay for that, and how, now that Wall Street is doing just fine once again, it is time for them to pay America back. He spoke about how, before that, when a previous President wanted to simultaneously cut rich people's taxes and start an unnecessary and expensive war, no one--except him--asked how to pay for that either, and that that war should never have happened.
He pretty much spoke about all the same things I've been ranting about for years. And the crowd roared in agreement. These things are popular with the people of America. We want these things. Listening to Sanders, it's hard to imagine how anyone could be against them.
What DIDN'T he speak about? Well, he had very little to say about Clinton, other than mentioning many polls that show Sanders crushing Trump in a national election by far greater margins than Clinton does, and declaring himself thereby to be the far stronger candidate for Democrats to choose in order to win. He did, however, have plenty to say about Trump, and what we could expect if such a corporate tool managed to get into the White House and tamper with America.
Oh, yes--and he pronounced the name of our State and the river flowing by the park correctly. Whole lot of visitors from back east fail to do that. When Jeb! was in the northwest last year, he went to eastern Washington and said, "Gee, it's good to be here in Spo-kayne"
Oregon is an overwhelmingly white state, and so I was struck by how racially diverse the crowd was. I saw many who I took to be Native Americans.
I also saw several who looked like mill workers, or like students, or like retired ornery cusses who were maybe smiling for the first time in years.
There was a guy selling "Bernie sandwiches". He was a little far from me, or I might have gone up to him and said "Colbert fan, eh?" or "No baloney here, eh?" or "Bernie is my hero", or something.
Except he's not quite a hero. Team Sanders is sometimes accused of "worshipping" him, like we're some kind of cult. Admiration is not hero-worship. Sanders is different from other politicians, and is admirable, because he does NOT make it a cult all about himself. Sanders is in politics because he believes his principles are the right thing to do, and that someone must speak for them. His speech showed less ego than maybe any politician I've known above the state legislature level.
And maybe people we meet in person are different from who we meet on line, but the people I saw at that event were MY PEOPLE too. Especially the younger ones. Happy, enthusiastic Sanders supporters talking and having a good time before going back to work.
The University is between that park and my office, and so I planned to stop and return a book to the University library on the way. The bus to the U was packed like the Tokyo subway. I found myself squashed cheek to shoulder with a blonde amazon with arm muscles like rocks. And that kept me distracted for a while.
And then i got off at the university and began to walk across the quad to the library, and....there was Bernie again! His bus had beaten the transit bus and he was going down the sidewalk shaking hands with students. And so, karma being what it is, I got to see him up close, just for a moment, after all.
And he was in the zone. Had a kind twinkle in his eye for everyone, and looked like it felt great just to be in Oregon seeing us.
Which may be the biggest reason I'm for Sanders. He's a fundamentally good person. Nothing phony about him.
So, yeah. I had a good day. Hope you are the same.
The bad news is, I only was able to leave about half an hour before the appearance was to begin, and so most of the population of my county and the surrounding counties was there ahead of me. I think they underestimated how large the turnout would be.
They had the appearance in a small park surrounded on three sides by water. It was packed to the edge of the water, with a line going around several blocks of people still waiting to get in. I ended up positioned at a barrier along the perimeter where I had a good view of the corner of the stage, and of several serious men with wires in their ears and dark glasses doing the Gandalf thing. But i could hear everything.
Once in a blue moon, my emotions work the way they're supposed to. I made a decision to not feel grumpy about being on the outer edge, and to instead feel grateful that such a large number of nice people who vote wanted to see Sanders as much as I did. And it just worked. I'm going to have to practice that trick.
I've heard a lot of political speeches in my day, in person and on TV, and they evoke a wide variety of emotions: Cynicism. Rage. Depression. Fear. Nausea. Weariness... I'm trying to remember the last time I heard one that actually made me feel good, made me feel hopeful for America. Probably Obama in 2008. This one made me feel good.
Sanders is in good shape. He had a strong pair of lungs and the stamina to stand and deliver for a long time.
He spoke about vast wealth inequality, and how the Walton family of Wal-Mart has seized possession of more wealth than 40% of Americans combined, and how they pay their employees so little that we have to pay taxes for the Food Stamps that Wal Mart employees need to survive. The Waltons are the biggest beneficiaries of welfare in America.
He spoke about the need for a higher minimum wage.
He spoke about gender pay equity, and called on men, in particular, to stand with their sisters in support of fairness.
He spoke about criminal justice reform, and prisons for profit, and the need to put fewer people in prison, not more, and how we need to demilitarize the police, and how black lives matter.
He spoke about the threat of climate change. He spoke about the value and respect that the original inhabitants of this continent had for the land, before people from Europe came and stole that land and tore it apart.
He spoke about how, if someone had come to him in 2006 and predicted that marriage equality would be the law in all 50 states within a decade, the people nearby would have said, "That's crazy, what are you smoking?", but that that important victory is not enough. He spoke about what North Carolina and Mississippi are doing right now, and how all people must fight for the right of all people to be who they are, because as long as some of us are not free, none of us are free.
He spoke about the need to make higher education affordable for all.
He spoke about the need to make health care affordable for all.
He spoke about how everyone asks how he intends to pay for nice things, and he pointed out how eight years ago, when Wall Street was wrecking the economy and went crying to the government to bail them out, how few people then joined him in asking how to pay for that, and how, now that Wall Street is doing just fine once again, it is time for them to pay America back. He spoke about how, before that, when a previous President wanted to simultaneously cut rich people's taxes and start an unnecessary and expensive war, no one--except him--asked how to pay for that either, and that that war should never have happened.
He pretty much spoke about all the same things I've been ranting about for years. And the crowd roared in agreement. These things are popular with the people of America. We want these things. Listening to Sanders, it's hard to imagine how anyone could be against them.
What DIDN'T he speak about? Well, he had very little to say about Clinton, other than mentioning many polls that show Sanders crushing Trump in a national election by far greater margins than Clinton does, and declaring himself thereby to be the far stronger candidate for Democrats to choose in order to win. He did, however, have plenty to say about Trump, and what we could expect if such a corporate tool managed to get into the White House and tamper with America.
Oh, yes--and he pronounced the name of our State and the river flowing by the park correctly. Whole lot of visitors from back east fail to do that. When Jeb! was in the northwest last year, he went to eastern Washington and said, "Gee, it's good to be here in Spo-kayne"
Oregon is an overwhelmingly white state, and so I was struck by how racially diverse the crowd was. I saw many who I took to be Native Americans.
I also saw several who looked like mill workers, or like students, or like retired ornery cusses who were maybe smiling for the first time in years.
There was a guy selling "Bernie sandwiches". He was a little far from me, or I might have gone up to him and said "Colbert fan, eh?" or "No baloney here, eh?" or "Bernie is my hero", or something.
Except he's not quite a hero. Team Sanders is sometimes accused of "worshipping" him, like we're some kind of cult. Admiration is not hero-worship. Sanders is different from other politicians, and is admirable, because he does NOT make it a cult all about himself. Sanders is in politics because he believes his principles are the right thing to do, and that someone must speak for them. His speech showed less ego than maybe any politician I've known above the state legislature level.
And maybe people we meet in person are different from who we meet on line, but the people I saw at that event were MY PEOPLE too. Especially the younger ones. Happy, enthusiastic Sanders supporters talking and having a good time before going back to work.
The University is between that park and my office, and so I planned to stop and return a book to the University library on the way. The bus to the U was packed like the Tokyo subway. I found myself squashed cheek to shoulder with a blonde amazon with arm muscles like rocks. And that kept me distracted for a while.
And then i got off at the university and began to walk across the quad to the library, and....there was Bernie again! His bus had beaten the transit bus and he was going down the sidewalk shaking hands with students. And so, karma being what it is, I got to see him up close, just for a moment, after all.
And he was in the zone. Had a kind twinkle in his eye for everyone, and looked like it felt great just to be in Oregon seeing us.
Which may be the biggest reason I'm for Sanders. He's a fundamentally good person. Nothing phony about him.
So, yeah. I had a good day. Hope you are the same.