What happened to O'Malley and Sanders is actually a healthy sign... for both of them

What we witnessed during the Netroots event is hardly the disaster people think it is. It shows just how polarized the nation has become. We've deliberately neglected and ignored the abuse of millions of Black Americans who are trapped in a cycle of poverty and abuse with no means of escape. We witnessed a basic natural response to the failed leadership of our two political parties.

Where exactly are the opportunities for non-rich Americans?

We've sent millions good jobs to Mexico, Asia and anywhere cheap labor can be found around the globe.

We've spent hundreds of billions of dollars on an absurd drug war, used as a pretense to harass and destroy minority communities.

We've passed outrageous criminal penalties for harmless offenses that attach like a Scarlet Letter to the future opportunities of millions of young adults.

We've cut assistance programs and increased college costs 3x to 10x the rate of inflation.

We've made it more difficult for the non-rich to vote.

And perhaps the worst thing we've done - we sat on our hands as a handful of criminally corrupt Wall Street banks robbed trillions of dollars from the US Treasury. These are the same banks that are now stoking the boiler rooms of mainstream media's favorite presidential frontrunners.

I've lost track of the unprovoked police shootings being reported and reviewed in the last few weeks. Cops are shooting indiscriminately at any perceived threat no matter how minor. Minorities are being killed indiscriminately.

Damn it to hell - do you think this shit can go on forever? How long do you think 10s of millions of people will continue to quietly take the abuse without civil protest?

Let's give credit to Sanders and O'Malley for doing the right thing by meeting with real people - no rope lines, no astroturf of paid supporters, no violent arrests, no free speech zones. Just the messy reality of everyday people frustrated by the institutional forces behind their oppression.

It isn't coincidence that the presumed Democratic front runner and media darling was nowhere near the collision of politics and reality. This fact is a simple artifice of a carefully manufactured campaign.

We've been given a lesson in governing style, we cannot ignore it:

One campaign relies on rope lines, carefully vetted supporters, hedge fund cash and a sanitized, meticulously autocratic, corporate front office avoiding any position that might make the rich the slightest bit uncomfortable. All of this is a GIANT clue for understanding how this candidate will govern the non-rich... rope lines and platitudes while quietly paying back the crippling debt of their entitlements.

Sanders and O'Malley meet with real people, take risks with new technology and deliver razor sharp insight, analysis and solutions to the problems facing the nation. Sanders and O'Malley are doing their best to compete against a political monopoly within a political monopoly.

The presumed Democratic Party front runner helped architect the political framework that is crushing the middle class and below. As a result we are facing a nation as polarized, disparate and unjust as almost any time in history. We don't need more of the same.

In contrast, Sanders and O'Malley are innovating and taking risks. They are grappling with the serious problems facing real Americans. They've shown that they understand the challenges facing American families. They deserve our support and thanks for taking on the political elite.