2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHere is why I think that Bernie's time has come.
Here is why I think that Bernie's time has come.
The following is an e-mail chain that was sent around by my parents and their group of very conservative friends and associates who are usually sending around anti-liberal, anti-Obama, anti-democratic political missives whenever they get the chance. I received this in my e-mail box a few day ago and was shocked. I was shocked because it wasn't partisan. They are finally getting it that it is the very privileged against the rest of us. This is why I think that Bernie has a great chance. If you only knew how unlikely it is for something like this to go viral amongst people like this you would be shocked too.
"
Read, heed and
forward...
This will only take 1 minute to
read !
28th Amendment, 35 States and
Counting
It will take you less than a
minute to read this. If you agree, please pass it on. It's an idea
whose time has come to deal with this self serving
situation:
Children of Congress members do
not have to pay back their college student loans.
Staffers of Congress family
members are also exempt from having to payback student
loans.
Members of Congress can retire
at full pay after only one term.
Members of Congress have
exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed, under
which ordinary citizens must live.
For example, they are exempt
from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment.
And as the latest example, they
have exempted themselves from Healthcare Reform, in all of its
aspects.
We must not tolerate an elite
class of such people, elected as public servants and then putting
themselves above the law.
I truly don't care if they are
Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever. The self-serving must
stop.
Governors of 35 states have
filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful
burdens upon their states. It only
takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional
Convention.
IF???
Each person that receives this
will forward it on to 20 people, in three days most people in The
United States of America will have the message.
Proposed 28th Amendment to the
United States
Constitution:
"Congress
shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States
that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives;
and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or
Representatives that does not apply equally to the Citizens of the
United States ..."
You are one of my
20.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Too many nutjobs out there would get to doink around with the entire Constitution at once.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)always so outraged at liberals, democrats, Obama - blah, blah, blah - are NOW suddenly angry about the fact that there is a privileged class that is above THE REST OF US! That is what outrages them. The narrative has suddenly changed for them. If you only knew what a sea change that was in their focus as far as politics are concerned. That is what gives me hope.
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)Yes, Congress members, staffer and kids do have to pay back student loans. This horse shit is right from fox noise and Dick Morris. Yes, ALL federal works do receive some exemptions but it is capped and they have to be on the job for several years.
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/01/congress-not-exempt-from-student-loans/
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)They are always going to believe bullshit. The point is, this time they are not outraged about anti-democrat, anti-Obama bullshit but non-partisan bullshit against a privileged group. That is the change here that is important that I am seeing in their focus.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)that factcheck.org and Snopes are important tools in separating fact from fiction.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)See above. The substance of this email isn't the point. It is the focus of their outrage that is the point.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)a common theme with the Tea Party crowd.The Government is filled with elitists that spend our tax money on frivolous stuff,the bottom line with them is always to show that the government exists to give away " free stuff" and welfare,if they have to lie to "prove" that,they will.
72DejaVu
(1,545 posts)I just think it's more of the same old right wing anti-government schtick.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)DemocratSinceBirth
(99,708 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)It is not about the veracity or substance of the actual e-mail!!!
The point is that FINALLY an email is going viral among this group that is not bashing dems, liberals, Obama. They are finally angry at feeling like the privileged few "an elite class" are taking advantage of their privilege and putting themselves above the rest of us. FWIW, these are all middle to upper middle class well educated white people. They are no longer blaming the masses for their problems, but the privileged - the politicians, the 1%!
THAT IS THE POINT. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE!
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)If you want your OP to be credible, then use correct facts and resources and not something put out by the tea party.
TM99
(8,352 posts)and the replies thus far reinforce what the status quo is.
We treat political realities today like a high school team sport. OMFG, he used a 'right wing' source. OMFG, she is such a 'liberal' with her PC behavior. It is us versus them. We, the blue team, MUST beat the red team or everything bad will occur. We, the red team, MUST beat the blue team or everything bad will occur.
But the real enemy is not the red or blue team member, not anymore. The real enemies are the oligarchs. It is the Wallstreet/DC revolving door members with cushy jobs that benefit their 'friends' more than it benefits 'us'.
Some Democrats are seeing this, and your 'right wing email' no matter how factually incorrect about the 'blue team' is recognizing that maybe, just maybe, someone is running for all of us.
That is who Sanders speaks to - not just a red team member or a blue team member - but all of us who have lost our jobs, can't afford our student loan debt, can't afford the massive credit debt we carry, can't afford to send our kids to college, are imprisoned for the smallest of offenses while bankers who trashed the economy get golden parachutes, and are worried about healthcare costs (even with the damned ACA), social security, and whether we will live out the last years of our life in poverty or not.
That cuts across the red team/blue team adolescent reality. That cuts across gender, race, and religion (or not!).
So I agree. Sanders run is a wake up call if we are willing to take it for all of us beyond the games that they lock us into. It serves the oligarch quite well while we argue over identity politics, right wing or left wing sources, etc.
emulatorloo
(44,057 posts)for political expediency?
That's not how Bernie rolls.
I can't say that I blindly believe in karma, but I do believe getting in bed with the likes of Newsmax, Murdoch, The Weekly Standard, Chain emails etc will end badly.
TM99
(8,352 posts)That's fine.
I am an adult. I have critical thinking skill. I might be limited on DU to what is 'approved' reading material. Elsewhere I follow numerous sites and get numerous newsletters across the spectrum of political thought in the US.
emulatorloo
(44,057 posts)As an adult with critical thinking skill, I am sure in real life you recognize that sources are not equal in their veracity. And I'm sure you know how the right-wing lie machine operates and what the goals are.
Where I'm coming from because it will show my biases: I come from a communications/rhetorical studies/media analysis background, with a healthy dose of Marx on ideology and Gramci's writings on hegemony.
That is why it is difficult for me to see progressives advocating supporting the use of lies, or saying things like it doesn't matter if it is a lie as long as people believe it and we can exploit it.
I understand the strategy, it may be valid, it just isn't for me.
Hope your having a great day and I look forward to reading more of your posts, always enjoy them.
TM99
(8,352 posts)there is a left-wing lie machine that matches in different ways the right-wing ones.
I know. How can anyone say that? I see it daily on display here on topics such as guns and 'the racism of the right'. The right may have Briebart and Drudge, but the left has Brock and Froma Harrup.
My background is clinical psychology and social psychology, and I am not advocating 'lies'. In fact that is one of the things I most dislike about the Clinton campaign and her apologists.
What I and the OP are recognizing from that email is that perhaps after years of red team/blue team bullshit, many on both sides are starting to wake up to a different reality. If we and Sanders can reach those on the right who are starting to become open to this reality, then we all benefit. Educate them so that lies and distortions are transformed into the truth.
To me that is exciting and worth looking past the bullshit on the surface. My perspective is always to look deeper not just at what is being communicated obviously.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)emulatorloo
(44,057 posts)Your point is that it doesn't matter if it is a lie, the politically expedient thing to do is pretend the lie is true to advance Bernie's campaign.
I have never heard Bernie advocate that or seen him do that.
One of his many strengths is integrity and truth telling.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)that THEY are. Everything they have always sent around has been lies. This is no different.
What IS DIFFERENT is the content of the lie. The focus of the lie. For once, they are not blaming the left, the poor, the minorities, the gays. They are blaming the privileged. That is the take-away here.