Feel The Bern
By
Leonard Zwelling
Larry David’s hysterical imitation of Bernie Sanders is so
funny because it is so spot-on. It takes almost no imagination to hear the real
Sanders saying to a reporter that he has only one pair of underwear. After all
he has skewered Wall Street, blasted the health care system and the health care
industrial complex, and rightly called Bill Clinton’s behavior as President a
disgrace while the ex-President’s wife was standing five feet away on national
TV. You gotta love the Bern on chutzpah alone.
When you add to that the way he calls out The Donald and the
rest of the Republican Seven (or more) Dwarfs for their anti-American,
anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim rhetoric, you have to shake your head in disbelief
that a 74-year old Jewish, by heritage, socialist without official party
affiliation is doing so well in the polls.
What can explain this?
It is really quite simple. Both party’s faithful and
virtually all Americans are fed up with the culprits that both Donald Trump and
Bernie Sanders are identifying as undermining the country. Whether it is the
untoward influence of money on political campaigns (The Bern takes no Wall
Street money and The Donald doesn’t need anyone else’s money), the threat from
abroad to American’s sense of security, or the basic ineptness of government,
The Donald and The Bern appear to be on the outside of the people causing the
trouble and thus have the potential to be the solution. They are attracting
potential voters for what they say as candidates, what they are, and for what
they are not. They are not the same old same old and Americans are still
looking for another shiny penny like the one they got in 2008 in President
Obama. I guess we haven’t learned enough about choosing the less familiar simply
because it is less familiar.
The Democratic debate on Sunday was substantive and all
three contenders sounded logical to me although I thought Mrs. Clinton was a
bit over the top and shrill in her characterization of the positions taken by
Mr. Sanders in the past. The Bern is still like your older next door neighbor
who won’t throw you back your ball that rolled onto his lawn, BUT he makes
sense, particularly on the issue of health care which I believe is a right and
we ought to be moving in that direction to help the nation be stronger.
I am keeping my powder dry when it comes to voting in the
Texas primary. I don’t even know which primary I will vote in as crossing over
is permitted and the last time I did that I declared the party of my choice that
day at the polls. I will do that again if I can as I am not a registered
anything. (Did you really think I could support either of these parties? Nah!)
Texas will matter in the Republican primary for sure and the
Democratic one probably so get ready to vote. Are you a Donald Duck (on the
issues)? Do you feel the Bern? Are you with Hillary as she struggles toward the
ever vanishing, previously inevitable finish line? Or do you like the Fat Man
from NJ who was Born to Run, but cannot actually RUN. No matter. Make a choice
and vote and if you haven’t decided keep listening and interacting with people
about your decision. This one may really matter!
