I am a conundrum — I do not easily fit into one box politically although I consider myself to be a realistic and empathetic progressive. I also am of the 1% in terms of my income — I’m a physician, an epileptologist who cares for children and adults with epilepsy — the 4th most common neurological disorder in the country. While my colleagues are, for the most part, misguided Republicans who only think about what is best for their own bank account, I believe that we, as humans, must live in harmony with each other. As a Zoroastrian who believes that living a life of good thoughts, good words and good deeds allows me to live with a health conscience; I believe that it is imperative to support politicians who most identify with my beliefs, my humanity and my empathy.
I entered this election thinking that Hillary Clinton, while very flawed, was the best and most practical choice for president this year despite knowing that Bernie Sanders has always been authentic with his empathy, his compassion and has fought for the same issues since his college days. Like the status quo, I originally thought that he was too far away from the mainstream to be a viable general election candidate. This belief was only brief, however, because as he started campaigning and after I researched his prior campaigns; I came to the conclusion that Bernie Sanders is a very gifted politician in the sense that he can say exactly what he believes without any pandering whatsoever to gain votes. He won his mayorship in Burlington against an entrenched establishment democratic party solely by having the courage of his convictions and not being afraid to say what he believes in.
And so, here we are in 2016 and Bernie Sanders has caught on fire — much more than I expected he ever would. But you know what, his message resonates. He has a history of emphatically vocalizing his yearn for living in a more compassionate society where government has a role to ensure the safety of the population. He stridently works to assure that we live in a society where all can get an equal shot at advancement — where the poverty stricken could be given the same tools that the more economically privileged are given for advancement in our great country. He understands that one cannot speak about “change” unless that person is authentic in form and practice; how can one influence progressive change in regards to taking corporate influence out of the political system if that one person is being paid in the form of donations from the same corporations that he/she is railing against.
So here we are, in a position where the powerful corporate and lobbyist owned (figuratively considering who her main donors are) HRC is trying to peddle that she is the best at bringing back “fairness” to our society while she continues to receive the backing of the MSM and her deep pocketed “super PACs”. She conveniently shifted her positions after ignoring Bernie and his message throughout the summer last year caused her disapprovals to go way up while her lead went way down. She and her backers than started laughing, stating that Bernie has “no chance” at winning and that he was silly for even trying to think that he could beat HRC and then the GOP. When that didn’t work — the attacks from her, from her backers in the MSM started and continue today. Here we are now where Bernie Sanders and his supporters are mocked by the all mighty corporate HRC and the Clintonistas for daring to stand in the way of her supposed “turn”, her “destiny.”
It is upon witnessing the past 6 months that I know am convinced that Bernie Sanders has already won. Just like Gandhi, when faced with a seemingly immovable yet unethical status quo as he had in India during the 1930s-1940s, Bernie is in a similar situation now. First, he was ignored, then he was laughed out, now he is being attacked and next, he will win!
I will be leaving DailyKos on 3/15/2016 after being here since 9/2006 — I enjoyed this community until this year and kos’ ridiculous diary yesterday sealed the deal for me — kos is now part of the democratic establishment and in cahoots with HRC and her backers. While I will support HRC should she be the nominee, I do not support the mistreatment, the lack of fairness and the stifling of non-conformist views (i.e. support of Bernie and his movement) here on this website. So, caucus99percent — I look forward to the next decade of a progressive community — what DK was prior to this year.
Kos — I hope you change your stance considering the way things are playing out with this primary season. Bernie will win — it is HIS destiny, not his turn — he is we and HRC is she/them. This will likely be the only time in my life where a true authentic progressive will get a chance to lead our nation from the doldrums of the past 30+ years of Reagan conservatism.
Go Bernie! So proud of being a part of this movement!