“Berned” by Bernie Sanders

[SecularMotion]

Last fall, a fellow disability activist and close friend of mine introduced me to Bernie Sanders. From the moment I first heard his platform, I was hooked. After living abroad several years in a country with socialized medicine and heavily subsidized education, I was thrilled an American politician was proposing these policies here. Due to my own disabilities, the cost of healthcare has become exorbitant and becoming chronically ill forced me to leave my career in public service litigation to collect meager social security benefits. So, Bernie’s message resonated strongly with my own personal experience of being in the 99%.

I was so moved by his message that I began volunteering for the campaign, be it through phonebanking, texting or simply bringing his message to everyone I knew. I believed so strongly in the change he could effect that I even donated more money than I could otherwise afford to help his campaign succeed. And I quickly became part of the Bernie or Bust movement, believing his campaign’s message that Clinton didn’t care about anyone other than her special interest donors.

But I often struggled with his rhetoric on and lack of inclusion for people with disabilities in his stump speeches, acceptance speeches, debate performances, advertisements and campaign literature. Despite discussing issues that affect our daily lives like healthcare, income inequality, social security and criminal justice, he almost never mentioned the disabled population, which makes up 20% of the American electorate. He harped daily on how the Donald Trumps of the world try to divide us up based on our minority status but never even included disability as one of those dividing factors.

Meanwhile, I became more frustrated because Hillary Clinton was including us in every speech, ad campaign, debate performance and even intersectionality graphics of disabled people of color in her literature. She issued press releases supporting the Disability Integration Act, which requires Obamacare plans to cover long-term care for people with disabilities, and talked about sub-minimum wage, a construct by which employers can legally pay the disabled less than minimum wage. Bernie either never did this or lagged behind, as if he was only doing it because Hillary was. I sincerely felt as though Hillary was just paying lip service to us and that Bernie was simply uninformed.

https://shiksappeal.wordpress.com/2016/05/18/berned-by-bernie-sanders/

[cantbeserious]

1. Reliably Spreading Establishment FUD - Meme 77

eom

[Jester Messiah]

2. Quality fiction. n/t

[JaneyVee]

3. Are you, in an attempt to protect your messiah, disparaging a disabled blogger?

[forjusticethunders]

4. They don't give a shit and HE doesn't give a shit.

It's all about shouting slogans to make themselves feel good about themselves. That's easy. Anyone can fucking shout slogans. But it takes actual caring to learn about these issues and build a political platform based on it.

I want The Wannabe out of politics forever.

[Jester Messiah]

16. Are you saying that disabled people can't lie just as well as non-handicapped?

NOW who's being a bigot. Honestly Janey, I thought better of you.

[Blue_Adept]

5. The truth is simple - HRC learned a lot from going up against Obama

And that's shown in how she's gotten the word out and the way she interacts with people.

I love the big rallies - I was hella impressed by Obama's and what he pulled off during the GE.

I love the rallies Bernie has had and the enthusiasm and passion he gets out there.

At the same time, I hated the way people completely dismissed HRC for what she did early on in the "listening tour" because THAT is the retail politics side that Obama did as well early on pre-GE.

They connected. Their aides took copious notes. Those notes translate into the literature and ads that get out there.

And it CONNECTS. Not with a lot of the hardcore types we get here, they just see it as pandering.

But to your rank and file voters, those that aren't as invested as we are, it made a HUGE impact. Just like you see here in the OP article.

[pdsimdars]

6. Hillary has not learned a thing.

[Blue_Adept]

10. Obviously she has; she's winning

[cwydro]

15. Yep.

Exactly.

[pdsimdars]

18. Not really. . . . . but Hillary and others seem too oblivious to know it yet.

.

[ucrdem]

7. Really good essay. Captures both campaigns perfectly in just a few words.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

8. More Astroturfing

Bernie doesn't pander and Hillary does. If you only support a candidate cause they pander then please let the door hit you on the way out.

[Blue_Adept]

11. If you think that's astroturfing, you didn't actually read it

Or you did and you're pretty much blinded at this point.

[yardwork]

9. Well worth reading the entire article at the link.

The comments from readers at the link were also interesting.

[Blue_Adept]

12. Definitely

a good mix of back and forth, problems with both sides of the primary, but the utter lack of venom and name-calling was hugely refreshing. An actual democratic dialogue.

[yardwork]

13. I saw some name calling.

[Blue_Adept]

14. Nowhere near the level of what we get here though.

[SidDithers]

17. DU rec...nt

Sid