For the Tweety Birds

                                                                

You can’t tell from the graphic, but the bird in question was noted to be a house finch by an Audubon expert.  Of course I googled “house finch” and learned a few things from this website:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/lifehistory.  Of note, they are vegetarians, which is actually rare for a bird.  They’re not loners, and they tend to perch on high places (not sure how high the podium was).  The males have red heads (the redder the sexier—to female finches) so Bernie’s bird must have been a female.

Did the bird have a message?  From where or whom?  Clearly not the significant sparrow, and finches don’t seem to be popular totems or spiritual guides.  I agree it was cute, though.  The thing is, the Bernie people stop at nothing.  The Bird is clearly now the Word (apologies to the 1963 group The Trashmen, wherever they are).

The finch is a rather common bird, so maybe that’s the point, if there is one.  Representing the 99% of birds, as it were.  What is totally fascinating is how things catch fire and blaze through cyber-space.  My Facebook pages are now completely inundated by posts from Berners/Birdies/Berniecrats.  The innocent little bird has started a third political party with its own symbol. 

So now we have two parallel lines of strangeness running through our country.  He-who-shall-not-be-named representing the right-wing crazy minds blooming like fungus throughout our country and a frizzy white-haired old man representing the left-wing.  Actually, Bernie is representing a lot of folks who didn’t know they needed a wing—and ended up with the whole bird (groan!).  By the same token, the gun-toting bible-thumping racist fascists didn’t know they would fall in love either.  They have found their hero and found their proper place in the political spectrum.

I am going to echo what many others are saying (shout out to Tom Strait and the Strait Line!).  We, the 99%, the ones who understand the danger you-know-who represents (honestly, I can’t stand to see his name in print—it makes him seem too real), must stand firm and do whatever we can do to stop evil from taking root in the very foundation of our nation. 

The idea of Bernie Sanders claiming the nomination, and even the Presidency, is amazing and thrilling to me, truly it is.  However, I can certainly live with the idea of Hillary Clinton taking on that role.  No, she’s not perfect; yes, she has strong links to corporate politics.  Her revolution would be in her gender finally occupying the Oval Office.  Make no mistake peeps (and I use that word in all its meanings), that is a revolution.  Unfortunately, many of you have chosen to tie your support of Sanders with the demonization of Clinton.  In addition, many of you are perfectly happy to trash the Democratic Party.  

But—and it’s a big but—Bernie Sanders is representing the Democratic Party.  He has been a part of Democratic politics for his long and illustrious political career.  He is NOT running as a third party candidate.  Can that happen?  Maybe.  Can a third party candidate in the USA in 2016 win the Presidency?  Probably not.  Can T---- win the Presidency?  Bite your tongue!

A revolution is successful when a large group of people work together to accomplish their mutual goals.  If it would do any good, I would stand on a street corner and beg people not to vote for T-----.  I would also beg all of the tweety birds out there to positively support your candidate but be willing to accept reality if he doesn’t get the nomination.  That’s all I got!

Politics Un Usual

 

I have probably been politically aware from an earlier age than most.  This is because it was always a topic of conversation at home.  My parents were leftists, union activists and under surveillance by the FBI.  I knew about the Rosenbergs’ trial and execution and I felt much empathy for the children they left behind.  There is a group I follow on Facebook called “The Rosenberg Fund” started by one of their sons to help children who are victims of political imprisonment and persecution. 

If things go as bad as they might, this fund may either be busier than usual—or find themselves being persecuted or disappeared.   I, and many others, truly believe that there is a distinct possibility the worst could happen.  Two parallel and equally historic movements are currently in process in our country today.  Donald Trump has come out of the farce of reality TV to being a likely candidate for POTUS.  It feels like saying the name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the Harry Potter series to link his name with that office. 

The other co-existing movement is the grass roots eruption of Bernie Sanders.  As a civil rights and anti-war activist from my generation, he previously seemed to be a mild-mannered, steadfast, liberal legislator without veering from a fairly straight path.  He is now an idol to youth who didn’t know they needed one and a firebrand preaching revolution to the masses. 

I hear a lot of people comparing these two movements as somehow in kinship with each other.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Trump’s campaign is corporate and political, driven by mass media and preying on the worst emotions of the angriest Americans.  Sanders’ campaign is grass roots and appealing to the deepest American hopes and desires for justice, peace and equality.  Yes, they both represent a divergence from mainstream party politics—but that is all they have in common.

Like many people, I want to sit down with “Mr. & Mrs. America” and talk some sense into them.  I want a huge loudspeaker to broadcast the dangers the Republican front-runners propose for our country.  I want to ask them if they value their health and the well-being of their children; the right to be compensated for their labor; financial security when they become old and/or disabled; and last, but not least, if they value their right to be who they are and express how they feel.  Move these questions away from the campaigns, and most will agree.  The dissonance presents when you talk about the real ways to achieve these things, such as guaranteed health insurance, minimum wage, and government assistance.  It is also present when you talk about immigrants, Muslims and LBGT rights.  Like the Harry Potter series it seems like Republicans will issue us all magic wands which will ensure we will all be financially successful and all “undesirables” will be escorted from the United States of America.  With this magic our country will consist of self-sufficient, native-born white Christians (I may have missed the part where they talk about native-born Native Americans who generally are not white and maybe not even Christian).

As usual, I don’t expect my words to change anyone’s thinking.  The most I can hope for that it makes someone angry enough to start a rational discussion and accidentally learn something along the way.  I hope there are a few that will agree with me.  But mostly, I write for myself because it is the only thing I can do.