2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumStanding With Invisible People
Our world is inhabited by invisible people. I am one of them and so probably are you. Andy Warhol once famously said "In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes" but he was only off by a factor of several billion. Most of us only show up as an occasional blur. Fly a blimp over a football stadium, or a Civil Rights March on Washington, and we can be viewed en masse, individually indiscernible in a crowd. To the establishment we are as faceless as a sea of extras assembled for a film shoot. To them we primarily exist as demographics, grouped together by the tens of thousands when we are noticed at all.
Who is the establishment? For the most part they are the visible ones, known beyond their neighbors, families, friends and coworkers. Even when they move anonymously their reputations precede them. The rich and powerful are in the establishment, but they aren't alone there. Much like a college football dynasty, the cheerleaders are part of it to. At the state and national levels, America's major political parties are in the establishment as well, branches of Phi Beta Dogma irregardless of the ideologies each may express. In a seen and be seen world, membership is determined by the company you keep, who you know and how you know them. There is an in crowd, and then there's the rest of us. Hillary Clinton is imbedded in that in crowd, Bernie Sanders - not so much.
People still talk about a Washington bubble, but that bubble has grown until geography no longer matters. Washington now is a state of mind at the intersection of wealth and power. Always kissing cousins, the two have interbred, and the result is a bastardized democracy. Regardless of where they call their home, politicians spend less time now with people who elect them and more with those who fund elections. Inside of an establishment bubble it's hard to see outside it. Surrounded by its members, their routines define reality. It's less about distinguishing right from wrong, it's more about familiarity and what is viewed as normal, which truths are recognized and which aren't: Who is visible and who isn't. Living in a bubble good people get separated from their roots.
I believe that Hilary Clinton is a very good person, I honestly do. But though that is meaningful it's no longer the point. She is out of touch with the pain of most Americans. How powerful is the bubble she's in? Strong enough that Hillary literally couldn't intuit why earning $21,648,000.00 in speaking fees between 2013 and 2015 would cause political problems for a Democrat running for President in 2016. http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/politics/hillary-clinton-bill-clinton-paid-speeches/
When Bernie Sanders reminds the public that since the great recession 99% percent of all new income is going to the top 1%, he is describing Hillary Clinton literally. How badly did she need that money? Even without those speaking fees the net worth of Bill and Hillary Clinton in 2015 would still have placed them in the top one tenth of one percent for all Americans. The top 0.1% (consisting of 160,000 families worth $73m on average) hold 22% of Americas wealth, just shy of the 1929 peakand almost the same share as the bottom 90% of the population. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-11/fed-won-americas-01-are-now-wealthier-bottom-90
I believe that Hillary Clinton is at her best right now, during the midst of a difficult primary contest for the Democratic nomination for President, when the bubble that surrounds her is at its thinnest, when some of the people standing outside of it become visible to her at Town Hall meetings, where they can personally gain her attention. But Bernie Sanders has stood with invisible people for his entire life in politics. That helps explain why Bernie was so dimly seen by the national establishment before his insurgent run for President. To them he has seemingly come out of nowhere. But that's where most of America lives.
tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)Tom Rinaldo
(22,912 posts)MerryBlooms
(11,761 posts)Great post.
Arazi
(6,829 posts)Bernie Sanders "gets" me because he persistently talks to us. He could have chosen the insulated life of a Congressman - I'm guessing that would have been the easier path but he purposefully steps out of that bubble
His Brunch with Bernie segments on the Thom Hartmann show over many years are the public proof of his effort to remain connected with us, along with testimonials from his VT constituents of his accessibility.
This is an excellent OP! Thanks for this!
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)One of the stories about Bernie that impressed me the most is the one about him taking his lunch breaks at the capital not with other Senators or Representative but with staffers and even the cleaning and cooking staff.
The man has not lost his roots.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,912 posts)Tom Rinaldo
(22,912 posts)Arazi
(6,829 posts)Tom Rinaldo
(22,912 posts)Motherhood might just barely inch it out in approval ratings, but Apple Pie I think falls short. More people should stop and take in the implications of a politician who has held public office for decades having such high approval ratings. The people who know him best love Bernie. If he gets the Democratic nomination the whole country will know Bernie well, and we will win.
maindawg
(1,151 posts)If Hillary knew she was preparing to run for the great offics, Bill knew, hell everyone knew, are they all so blinded so clueless ?She did not need to accept million of dollars from the very people who recently bankrupted our nation. Why didn't she have any respect for the country than that ?
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)...but we ought to be able to examine just what her benefactors thought they were purchasing.
mountain grammy
(26,613 posts)K&R for a great post.
ChiciB1
(15,435 posts)comes a time when REAL CHANGE does happen. When ALL the talk and all the betting looks exactly right UNTIL it's not!
DEWEY WINS??? THIS may very well be THAT TIME! Way back In July I started talking about Bernie and almost EVERYONE, and my family included thought I finally went off the rails with my political activism. NOW, everyone in my family are huge Bernie supporters and BELIEVE he can win!!
I continue to believe that there's "something" out there that's going to make a lot of murky things become VERY CLEAR! I can't find the words to explain what I'm feeling... just know I'm feeling it.
What has been racing forward in the WRONG direction for so very, very long may all of a sudden run smack into a sign that says STOP! WRONG WAY!
rurallib
(62,406 posts)Something I have been thinking of a great deal recently.
For some reason on the Bizarro side of the coin they seem to believe that a billionaire stands by the invisible people. Sure can't figure that one out.
forjusticethunders
(1,151 posts)Response to Tom Rinaldo (Original post)
cp This message was self-deleted by its author.
jillan
(39,451 posts)beltanefauve
(1,784 posts)Thank you.
PonyUp
(1,680 posts)Tom Rinaldo
(22,912 posts)There are a lot of details about policies and process still out there subject to debate, but for me this is the big picture, why I believe in Bernie Sanders: He believes in us.