Bernie 2020 – It’s Just Not the Same

Edited by Misty Esparza

After licking my wounds from the great injustice of the 2016 “Democratic” election and watching my country be dealt a possibly fatal blow, as a White Supremacist manipulated social media, the electoral college and “the poorly educated” into putting him in charge of the country, I said repeatedly, to anyone who would listen

“I really hope Bernie Sanders runs again in 2020.”

I was pretty active in the 2016 election. I literally contacted his campaign the week he announced his candidacy and was actually in a meeting later that evening. I learned what grassroots truly meant. There were only 12 of us at the first meeting and we all left with multiple jobs. My 13 year old daughter was in charge of social media.

Chloe went all over the country with me. Here we met an usher at a Bernie speaking event in Columbus, Ohio. We called this guy mini-Bernie.

It was an exciting time. I would listen to Bernie’s speeches around the clock and then find ways that I could immerse myself into large groups of people where I could pass out fliers and pamphlets (printed on my home computer, because the campaign was so new they did not have official materials yet) that educated others about the exciting policies of this great man. My excitement was so great that I actually began driving to other states to canvass for Bernie. My partner Carrie and our two kids went to Iowa, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Alabama, North and South Carolina and several other states, visiting 57 cities in total, spreading the gospel of Bernie Sanders. Everywhere we went we met new friends who were making great sacrifices to spread the word about this exciting campaign. We killed two cars and collected lots of speeding tickets and in the end a lot of people asked me to write a book about our experiences volunteering, and I did. It was an incredibly exciting time.

So when Bernie announced that he was running again in 2020, I expected to be ecstatic. After all, our country needs Bernie’s message and policies now more than ever, as we find ourselves under tyrannical rule of a Nazi who threatens to completely piss on The Constitution and become emperor for life.

So why do I feel so empty?

For me the answer is obvious, I simply have untreated election PTSD from the atrocities that occurred in 2016, where the “Democratic” party lied, stole and cheated to elevate both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton into position so that Clinton would be the next president, only to have the whole thing blow up in their face with an explosion so huge that our entire country continues to pay the price to this day and will continue to pay for many more decades.

As much as I desire to put this behind me and move on, something has been taken from me, from my family – and I know that there are millions of hardworking Americans who made similar and even greater sacrifices who are feeling the same way. Collectively Bernie’s supporters are feeling this. We know that we must go out and volunteer and donate our money and make this happen again, just like we did in 2016. But how can we, now that we know what we know?

We know that there is no room for democracy in the “Democratic” party.

“A house divided cannot stand.” they say, and ours is split right down the middle. While Sanders supporters see themselves as victims of the party, party loyalists point their fingers at us, blaming us for the rise of fascism in America and the fallout of the 2016 election. And while both sides blame each other, The Right remains united as always, rallying around antiquated notions, believing they can actually turn back the clock and Make America White Again.

As much as I know that I MUST achieve an even higher level of political activism this time around, I struggle. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that it’s a lot easier to get excited about a message of hope and prosperity than it is to get excited about fighting evil.

Of course there are those who have fallen victim to the “Democratic” party’s propaganda and believe that Sanders is a sellout because he refused to call out the party for it’s rampant cheating in the 2016 election. These people don’t just lack excitement about Sanders’ candidacy, they are downright furious at him, feeling betrayed by his refusal to break off from the party. Their ignorance and vitriol contaminates the movement and further splinters it into factions. This very loud and extremely vocal minority is The Left’s equivalent of the alt-right. They are the kind of people who vote for Jill Stein and then think of themselves as revolutionaries, instead of seeing themselves for what they truly are, a distraction to a once-great movement. If you look closely at a Jill Stein supporter and a Donald Trump supporter, you will see there are far more similarities than differences. Both are convinced of their superiority. They think everyone who disagrees with them is stupid. And they are incredibly misinformed about how our government works and what their candidates true motivations are. Even though I struggle to find my motivation this time around, I am, at least, grateful that I have not disappeared into complete obscurity and self-defeating rage engulfing those who have completely turned against Sanders.

So it’s not the same this time. We already know that the “Democratic” party will not give us a fair chance to play the game. We already know that we can donate every last penny we have and knock on every last door in America and they will cheat us out of the presidency. This time around, sadly, we know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the game is rigged.

But there’s something that we might have missed…

As I listen to the plethora of other “Democratic” candidates in 2020, it’s kind of funny, because they are all saying basically the same things that Bernie was saying in 2016. Bernie’s message was so incredibly powerful that all of the other candidates have adopted it. This is literally the definition of progress and as Progressives this is literally more than we could have dreamed of. THEY are actually speaking OUR views and policies and that is no small victory. That is something WE made happen by screaming our message from every rooftop in America. That is something that Bernie made happen by giving the same damned speech every day for forty years.

So yeah, it’s not the same, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be absolutely phenomenal. People with PTSD have to be ten times as brave just to do simple things that other people take for granted. So those of us with election PTSD must do the same. We must be ten times as brave as we were in 2016 and shout our message ten times as loud.

Maybe this time, facing the very real possibility of four more years of White Supremacist leadership, enough people in power will actually listen and we can get Bernie Sanders elected President of the United States.

I don’t know, but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try.

After all, the fate of the world is hanging in the balance.

My name is Michael E Sparks and I am a volunteer and freelance writer. If my writing has value for you, please consider donating $1 by clicking HERE. Thank you and keep being AWESOME!!

 

 

FREE Copy of My Bernie Journey Book

Hey Progressives!!

I wanted to take a moment and tell you about an exciting new book I wrote that exposes corruption inside the “Democratic” Party in a way that no other book has the guts to tackle. My Bernie Journey – An Inside Look at the 2016 “Democratic” Primary Through the Eyes of a Bernie Sanders Volunteer is the result of two years of intense hard work and hands on research.

The first thing that makes this book special is that I was actually in the trenches, traveling from state to state, knocking on doors, attending meetings and rallies and chronicling the insane corruption that I witnessed first hand.

There is an entire chapter of this amazing book just dedicated to ELECTORAL FRAUD inside the “Democratic” Party.

There is also an entire chapter where I went BACK ON THE ROAD interviewing the people who took Bernie Sanders’ message to heart and actually took steps to take over their local government.

But this book is about SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!!

It’s also a personal story of how Bernie Sanders saved my son’s life and an epic story that talks about how we were labeled as terrorists and teargassed by helicopters in the streets of Philadelphia when we went there to protest the corruption of the DNC.

This book is fire in your hands and I personally guarantee that anyone who picks it up will be absolutely unable to put it down.

In short, I wrote the book that I kept waiting for someone else to write.

I wrote the book that blows the lid off the entire rigged “Democratic” primary, while interweaving a personal story of inspiration that will get you fired up to take your activism to the next level.

Or as my former Hillary supporting friend put it:

“I never realized the depths of the depravity engaged in by the DNC in 2016 and now that I have eyes for it, I see this corruption continuing in every move they make. Michael’s book made me cry, but it also made me angry and it inspired me to take action. I had friends who worked really hard for Bernie. Honestly, at the time, I thought they were kind of crazy. If I knew then what I know now, I would have been out there knocking on doors with them.”

And THAT IS WHY I feel this book is important.

People need to know OUR story.

They need to know exactly what happened from someone who was actually part of it.

Going forward into the 2018 midterms and on into the 2020 presidential election, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!!

The first step to stopping it from ever happening again is to educate EVERYONE on how it went down in the first place.

I sincerely believe that My Bernie Journey does this in a way that is so fun and exciting that you could give it to the Trump or Hillary supporter in your life and they will come away with a new perspective.

Every Sanders supporter will want to read this.

And everyone who is not a Sanders supporter WILL BE by the time they put it down.

I really feel that strongly about it.

Here is a video where I talk about what’s inside the book in greater detail.

If you are in a hurry to order the book, you can skip the video, scroll down right under the video and order your FREE electronic copy (the E-Book can be read on your computer, phone or tablet) or if you want an autographed physical copy delivered to your door you can order that as well.

Thank you for believing in my work.

This book has been the hardest and most rewarding artistic endeavor of my life.

DO I EVEN NEED TO TELL YOU THAT THIS BOOK IS THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS BOOK FOR ANY BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER OR MAYBE AN EVEN BETTER GIFT TO GIVE TO THAT FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER WHO LOVES HILLARY CLINTON??or maybe nothing can wake those people up – I’m not really sure)

Scroll past the video to order or watch the video if you need more details.

How to Get the Book

To get your FREE E-Book copy of My Bernie Journey simply send an email with My Bernie Journey in the title to GoBernieGoBernieGo@gmail.com

If you want an autographed physical copy sent to your door, along with the second book The Independent Thinker Chronicles (included for free) then send $27 through PayPal by clicking HERE (Be sure to put your shipping address in the notes section)

If you don’t like PayPal you can pay through Square or with a check or money order by clicking HERE.

If you don’t like any of those methods you can order through Amazon by clicking HERE (I urge you not to buy through Amazon as they represent the very corporate entities which we are standing up to!!)

I suppose you could even follow me by clicking HERE and pay through Facebook messenger (did you even know that you could send money through Facebook messenger? I didn’t either until recently.)

Also feel free to DONATE a copy of the book to a random person.

What this means is that if you already have a copy and want to get one for someone who can’t afford one right now, just write “Pay it forward” in the notes line and I’ll write Donated by (Your Name) and donate the book to a library, school or individual who has limited funds.

Consider it a nice way to give the gift of Political Revolution to a stranger.

Anyway, I hope you love the book regardless of rather you pay for it or get the free copy.

It’s your book.

I’m just the guy who wrote everything down.

How Liberals Empower the Alt-Right Movement

“When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”

-Ancient Kikuyu proverb

 

Yesterday, I made a post on social media which stated

“The alt-right was born in reaction to hateful, liberal PC police, who degrade anyone who has a belief that does not align with widely accepted cultural norms.”

I did not make this post cavalierly. It was the result of several months of intense study on the alt-right movement, where it stems from and what fuels it. Of course, knee-jerk liberals attacked the post immediately without even attempting to understand its meaning or the irony of their attacks. I had said something different, something nuanced, something that didn’t jibe with their “Donald Trump is the cause of all my problems!!” mantra. So they attacked. That’s what liberals do in 2017. They attack.

I received the typical hate-mail that I usually receive for stepping out of line, along with promises to “block my hateful racist ass.” One man even told me that “racism has always existed.” and that maybe I should go “read a book.” I particularly delighted in the “read a book” insult. Liberals love to find ways to let you know that they are intellectually superior to anyone who doesn’t agree with them. “Do your research.” is another popular liberal taunt. The message is always loud and clear. I’m right. You’re wrong. I’m smarter than you.

While I’d love to believe that these liberals were just being ironic, as they made my point for me, by attacking me and attempting to shame me on a post that was about how liberals attack and shame anyone who challenges them. But subtlety and irony are lost on these types. While missing the irony in their own knee-jerk reactions, the modern liberal is the epitome of irony, using hate and intolerance to silence hate and intolerance.

While it can certainly be said that Conservatives engage in the exact same types of degrading ad-hominem attacks, I’m not sure that liberals can continue to take the moral high-ground if their primary defense is “Hey, Conservatives are just as bad!!” It would be a good start if all people could universally agree that the moment someone uses name-calling or character assassination against someone’s argument, that they have automatically lost said argument. This type of behavior is an indictment on the perpetrator and really has nothing to do with the person on the receiving end.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. As the white-hot rage of the left intensifies, the alt-right becomes more polarized. As is often the case, the outermost extremes have more in common than different. Each side empowers the other, while weakening the middle. In the age of social media, nuance and skepticism are replaced with eye-catching extremes. Attention gravitates towards those desperate enough to literally say or do anything to garner the spotlight. In fact, many alt-right groups exist solely as a reaction to what their members see as extremist liberal culture gone mad. It may be important to understand the mindset of those who think differently than you do if you are to have any hope of changing that mindset. It may be important to understand the disease you are attempting to cure, as degrading and shaming it away have lead us to the point where we have a White Supremacist president who is constantly signaling approval to these groups.

Liberals who attack people this way hinder our march towards equality. If your method of dealing with those who have differing viewpoints is to attack them and then block them, then you are nothing more than a tool for all that you claim to be against. These liberal attacks are born out of a desire to gratify one’s ego through downgrading someone else. The liberal knows that they are right and that they will have others who will agree with them, as they have carefully constructed their echo-chamber to eliminate all opposing views. Should someone have a question or viewpoint that is unpopular, this is the liberal’s chance to pounce and denigrate someone for all the anger they have been forced to carry around as a result of the world not conforming to their view. Over time, these constant attacks take someone who was simply racist through easily cured ignorance and hardens them into an alt-right warrior ready to take up arms and die for what they now view as martyrdom against liberals who they perceive to be hostile to their very existence.

Liberals have stopped answering questions. They can no longer be bothered to educate. Their answer to everything is to shout it down and shame it. This is not only born out of a desire to feel superior, but also out of the pathetic laziness that comes from believing wholeheartedly that you are always right. For example, the hypothetical question above regarding “White Lives Matter”, most liberals simply cannot answer it. They know what they believe, but their beliefs are typically fueled by emotion over reason. When someone asks a question that they do not have the answer to, attacking and signaling to their echo-chamber that they are indignant to the idea of racism and thereby less racist than others. Each attack signals to their cohorts that they are actually even less racist than their allies. Liberals, in their constant game of one-upping each other, have created an equal and opposite reaction of white-straight-males who feel so intimidated and marginalized that they actually believe the ridiculous notion that there is a genocide against their people.

I’m not asking you to feel sorry for the poor white man. Nothing is more disgusting and worthy of bile and hatred than the giant toddler engulfed in full white-privilege temper tantrum, while chanting something as seriously out of touch with reality as “The Jews Will Not Replace Us.” Nothing makes me puke a little in my mouth quicker than dudes in camo shorts prancing around with Tiki-torches showing off their weak grasp of monosyllabics by chanting “White Power” ad nauseam.

All I’m saying is that dehumanizing people with language has the effect of making them act inhuman. There has to be a step beyond PC culture where a compassionate dialogue is created, where it is safe to say something that others disagree with, because the intelligent, scientific, logical exchange of ideas is valued above childish name-calling.

Finally, to the white males who ask why it is not okay to say or display White Lives Matter or All Lives Matter, when black people can say Black Lives Matter…

The answer is that it’s totally okay to display something that says that. Because this is America and hundreds of thousands of people have fought and died for your right to say whatever uniformed, insensitive thing that you want to say. Black Lives Matter is not a way of saying that other lives don’t matter. It is a movement to draw attention to the fact that black people are targeted disproportionately by the system. The key word here is “disproportionate.” It means “not in fair measure to.” Yes, the system more than likely discriminates against you as well. But not in the same ways. You enjoy certain privileges that may be invisible to you. It is likely, if you are a poor, white, male who has worked hard to get where he is, that you may have trouble seeing your privilege. Privilege is an odd thing. One can be completely blinded to it, but once one begins to see it, they notice it all the time. We do not say Black Lives Matter to marginalize other races, but to draw attention to the fact that blacks are incarcerated at five times the rate of white Americans. We do not say Black Lives Matter as a way to invalidate anyone else’s struggle, but instead to draw attention to the fact that black people are 2.5 times more likely to be shot by police than white people are. I understand fully that many white people may believe that black people are shot more than white people, because they commit more crimes than white people do and you may be resistant to statistics that I can present that will attempt to show how socioeconomic struggles disproportionately affect black Americans. I understand that to someone, like yourself, who has worked hard their entire life, that these things may come across sounding like excuses. I assure you that they are not, but I am also confident that without a long-term dialogue, where I treat you with respect, than it is unlikely that I will achieve the level of respect from you required to get you to listen to my viewpoints. I can promise you that in the meantime you probably don’t want to display anything that says White Lives Matter or All Lives Matter on it, because once you get the whole purpose behind Black Lives Matter, you will probably be embarrassed that you ever displayed something like that. It’s your prerogative to do as you wish. I’m open to talk about it, but it’s going to take a while.

Wow, this is hard.

I’m starting to think that just insulting everyone’s intelligence and blocking everyone who disagrees with me might be easier.

Michael E Sparks is a political activist, independent writer and head of grassroots media organization Activist Media. If you believe in Michael’s voice please consider donating $1 by clicking HERE. Your donations go to pay for equipment, server space and coffee so Michael can continue to spread his leftist propaganda.