The politics of the Outsider
Another primary cycle is about to end. The Republicans have opted to take their party off the cliff. It is an indication of how disaffected their electorate is regarding the establishment. Trump, a man of little substance, integrity, and intelligence, has captured the hearts and minds of those who generally deny science and subscribe to principles that reflect racism and elitism. Thus, a perfect choice for this party that has made it a practice to stand for those principles that have no value to humanity or the country. Disagree? Fine find you nearest grouping of troglodytes and bemoan the statement. I ain’t changing it, nor do I wish to argue the point. I, like you, am not susceptible to change.
My focus is a comment made by Gregory of CNN who with the air of condescension suggested that the Sanders Campaign needs to own up to and denounce the actions occurring at the Nevada Caucus. This is the irony of the times we live in. A somewhat overbearing and rather superficial bloviator moving from reporting the news to orating on it and assuming the role of a moral arbitrator. Given the fact that the heavy machinery of the established press had short shifted the Sanders campaign to a footnote of the 2016 cycle, one must look beyond the noise and assess the state of affairs.
First and foremost, the Sanders campaign is composed of the young who have been thrown into a system that is clearly inequitable. They have watched the real income of their parents decline. They have been told how important it is to be educated and undertake this challenge with a debt that in previous times would mean a house, a car, and a place in the world. Now, they look into a sea of anxiety as they prepare to navigate an economy that is so weighted to the top that the best they can hope for is a studio apartment near where they work.
Second and equally important are the older crowd of Bernie supporters. Take note of how many sport grey hair. These are the baby boomers who have lived through one of the greatest wealth producing era in human history. Some have done well. Many are now receiving a pension, and many of those worked in public service. Union folks are in those clamoring multitudes shouting, “Bernie.” Many of them have been carrying a sign or wanting to carry a sign that reads, “I can’t believe I’m still protesting this shit!” This is a coalition of the disenfranchised. This is coalition of those who have been wearing their hearts on their sleeve and who came out of the sixties cloud of smoke still believing in change. That some of these folks would get pissed off and express their frustration at a system that was created to keep power where it is, in the hands of those who hold it is understandable.
Let’s face it the apologists for this rigged system only regurgitate talking points that are as arrogant as they are hollow. Gregory again, “This is the system and the Sanders folk need to play by the rules.” Not said, but equally conveyed, “Shut up and get out of here; this is our game not yours.” Democracy, freedom, principles, one person one vote. Please play the game the way it is designed. When translated from ethereal to reality, it comes across best in some line from the Who, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” The truth is this coalition of folks are not going to buy into it. They refuse to be fooled again.
Let’s face facts, no meaningful change has occurred without things getting a little messy. It’s easy for those sitting on the dung heap that this society has become to decry the actions of the youth. Sure the young are angry, they have been forced fed on anger all their lives. They have watched as children were mowed down and slick lawyers talk about importance of the 2nd Amendment before the blood has dried. They elected a black man to the White House, holding signs that said “Hope and Change” only to see racists do little to help bring change. They watched their monthly statements of student loans marginally reduced as the interest added years to indebtedness. They watch swindlers bankrupt the banking system made whole in the name of the economy, while their loans received no considerations and were set at rates that surely made the holding companies profitable. They were forced to buy health insurance from companies that did nothing for health care yet reaped rewards for being a middle man. Let’s not even talk about the ignorant and arrogant governors who preferred to adhere to some bullshit principle then to see their citizens get decent coverage.
What is amazing is these bloviators puff themselves up and decry expressions of anger. Really? Wow, what a pleasant world it must be to stand so far away from reality and live in a cloistered place where civility reigns, a place where opposing folks both get a paycheck and sleep in luxurious homes. How utterly out of touch must you be to not understand why a Mexican Flag is being waved outside a Trump rally. How extremely dull must you be to not comprehend why a rock would be thrown or a young lady shoot the bird and yell “Fuck Trump!.” The exasperation of the entrenched at the disenfranchised is a reflection of how far the two are apart from each other. Sanders arrival on the 2016 cycle is the culmination of decades of watching a nation careen out of control while the drivers of the madness claimed all is well. That Trump emerged on the Right showed the disaffection with the status quo. That there is a Sanders speaks to the resilience of a movement born out the honest desire to bring positive change to a country that was founded on principles far superior than the people who formulated them. From Thomas Paine to Abraham Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt to FDR, the spark of freedom has finally caught hold again. Outsiders are winning because insiders have ruined everything they controlled. That things get a little messy, well, hell the American Revolution wasn’t a tea party. The civil war was not so peaceful. The only hold out in this scenario of change is Clinton who has no credibility no skin in the game. The rest of us realize that nothing changes if nothing changes. We don’t need another four years of a Democratic Presidency. We need a new system, one not beholding to anything or anyone save to the people, all of the people.
