(Daily Kos)I won't kid you, I detested Ronald Reagan. The smarmy aww-shucks act set my teeth on edge. The twisting of old Winthrop sermons into explosions of jingoistic please-get-these-poor-people-out-of-my-shiny-city nationalism made me despair for my country. There was the constant blowing of the racism dog whistle, the stream of weapons flowing to wherever death squads were squadding, the mythology that lauded hard work while denigrating workers. The $#!@*ing way he said "well" as a space filler and wandered into nonsense while reporters were lauding him as "the great communicator."

While the moderators were chuckling over "there you go again," I was shaking my 19" B&W set in rage. I did not like the man.

It's not because Reagan was the purest conservative ever to conflate Ayn Rand and Jesus. It’s because he carried them out of the wilderness in his Bonzo-lovin’ arms and set them on the throne. He didn’t just capture the country's leadership, he seized it's imagination. He rewrote the story. Redefined "American."

But can Bernie do the same?

The 2016 primary races on both sides of the aisle are led by two baby-boomer bully buddies. Say that five times fast. Though they’ve tried to distance themselves from each other, we know that the Clintons and Trumps were good enough friends to talk on the phone, golf together and attend events together. It’s no surprise that both candidates talk about “me” more than “we” and claim that they’re the only person in existence who can govern this great land of ours. They are of course both products of the “me generation,” and it certainly shows in their rhetoric.

Both Trump and Hillary are also getting a majority of their support from aging baby boomers as well. This week I took an informal panel from people in this age group that I know who are supporting either of these candidates, or were referred to me by friends or family members who knew I was seeking people in this age group who are supporting Trump or Hillary. My findings were that, at least in my sample group, supporters of both of these baby boomer candidates had a lot in common. At the end of the day, I was left with the impression that baby-boomers who support Trump or Hillary are pro-bullying, and I’m not just phrasing it that way because I’m prone towards the bombastic.

I best disclaim that I am not a psychologist. I’m a regular guy who likes politics and talking to others about politics. The conversations I’m going to report to you are with other regular folks. Some I knew before hand, others not. While I did Google traits of bullies to shape how I presented this story to you, I didn’t cherry-pick my panel’s quotes to support my narrative. I spoke with 10 people, five in favor of each candidate. All of the responses are included, though if responses were similar, I combined them into the clearest response and indicated how many people said this sort of thing.

I’m not such a dolt that I would claim these views represent entire voting blocks. I know baby boomers who think similarly as I do on these issues. I specifically sought out Trump and Hillary supporters in that age demographic. I don’t believe or present my findings as scientific in any manner. However, the human experience, no matter how individualized or intersected, does have commonplaces to be considered. I do not believe in the hive-mind. I believe in individuals. However, individuals often subscribe to a hive-mind in order to feel like part of a community. Supporting political candidates can have that effect. I know because I try to be careful of that trap myself. We’re all human. Some of us care about other humans more than others, though.

The 2016 primary races on both sides of the aisle are led by two baby-boomer bully buddies. Say that five times fast. Though they’ve tried to distance themselves from each other, we know that the Clintons and Trumps were good enough friends to talk on the phone, golf together and attend events together. It’s no surprise that both candidates talk about “me” more than “we” and claim that they’re the only person in existence who can govern this great land of ours. They are of course both products of the “me generation,” and it certainly shows in their rhetoric.

Both Trump and Hillary are also getting a majority of their support from aging baby boomers as well. This week I took an informal panel from people in this age group that I know who are supporting either of these candidates, or were referred to me by friends or family members who knew I was seeking people in this age group who are supporting Trump or Hillary. My findings were that, at least in my sample group, supporters of both of these baby boomer candidates had a lot in common. At the end of the day, I was left with the impression that baby-boomers who support Trump or Hillary are pro-bullying, and I’m not just phrasing it that way because I’m prone towards the bombastic.

I best disclaim that I am not a psychologist. I’m a regular guy who likes politics and talking to others about politics. The conversations I’m going to report to you are with other regular folks. Some I knew before hand, others not. While I did Google traits of bullies to shape how I presented this story to you, I didn’t cherry-pick my panel’s quotes to support my narrative. I spoke with 10 people, five in favor of each candidate. All of the responses are included, though if responses were similar, I combined them into the clearest response and indicated how many people said this sort of thing.

I’m not such a dolt that I would claim these views represent entire voting blocks. I know baby boomers who think similarly as I do on these issues. I specifically sought out Trump and Hillary supporters in that age demographic. I don’t believe or present my findings as scientific in any manner. However, the human experience, no matter how individualized or intersected, does have commonplaces to be considered. I do not believe in the hive-mind. I believe in individuals. However, individuals often subscribe to a hive-mind in order to feel like part of a community. Supporting political candidates can have that effect. I know because I try to be careful of that trap myself. We’re all human. Some of us care about other humans more than others, though.

In a brilliant project that "shines a light on crimes masquerading as commerce," two activists present "Captured," wherein prisoners convicted of "a whole bucket of crimes" draw portraits of corporate bigwigs whose offenses - fraud, theft, conspiracy, manslaughter, public endangerment, trashing the environment - make their puny assaults, armed burglaries and even murders pale.