Political Pronouns

Have you been paying attention to the 2016 political campaigns, especially for President? I have seen a few of the Sanders/ Clinton show-downs (and for awhile Martin O’Malley was in the race). Bernie has surprised the Democratic movers and shakers who arrogantly presumed Hillary was a shoe-in to get the nomination, especially since the DNC, headed by Debra Wasserman Schultz, attempted to bury all of three originally scheduled debates in time slots meant to result in a minimal number of eyeballs and ears attached to those whom might be interested.

Ms. Schultz was excoriated by more than a few credible political watchdogs whose audible barking about blatantly strategizing for Clinton started to resonate more forcefully as time went by. And in spite of Debbie’s effort to limit debate exposure for Bernie or Martin, the general polling numbers kept showing Senator Sanders gaining momentum and garnering millions of dollars from individual donors. He was not going away. Martin O’Malley did drop out. Bernie’s voice was now all but impossible to ignore, and more debates were scheduled between Hillary and Bernie. The mainstream media, with its pathetic pandering to Donald Trump and his xenophobic, misogynistic blathering, has now had to give candidate Sanders more than a passing acknowledgement and assessment of his ideas. We, the people! seemed to be assuring he’d keep his polling numbers too high to be dissed or dismissed.

As of the here and now, Hillary still appears to benefit from a lot of mainstream media propelled  presumptions that Sanders can’t actually overtake her as the front runner, that she is going to get the nomination, and pay no attention to those who doubt such, a mantra of sorts that could eventually have to resort to a Big Lie strategy if she loses a few more primaries to her only remaining opponent. This “spin” is initially channeled by the status quo elements the national Democratic echo chamber: Hillary is going to win. Hillary is Oval Office ready. Hillary will be the first female President. Hillary knows blah blah, First Lady, Secretary of State, blah blah. Bernie is just a cantankerous, white-haired, one-issue socialist! Gasp!

Hillary the hypocrite.

She insists she not beholden to Wall St. But she has Super Pac money from that financial sector. Bernie takes only donations from regular folks, an average $27 hand-out that has totaled millions of dollars. Hillary’s daughter, Chelsea, is married to a mega wealthy hedge fund mojo. Gee. I’m sure mommy will bust her ass to bust up Wall St. if elected. Sanders asserts he will do just that. In fact, Bernie frames his candidacy on what we need to do to stop the income inequality created by 35 years of Reaganomics; how we all CAN bring about positive change. We can…we can…we can.

Hillary responds to Sander’s proposals with we can’t…we can’t…we can’t asserting that she knows it’ll be difficult to alter the legislative landscape in any expedient manner, and that “I will…I know…I have…”  As such, Mrs. Clinton doesn’t seem to be talking to the people, as much as talking at them. We, the People? Not so much.

Hillary is a dove. Ha! In that last debate she sang the praises of Henry Kissinger, upon whom Sanders heaped nothing but scorn after Hillary invoked Henry the Hawk as a confidant, of sorts. Ever seen the documentary The Trials of Henry Kissinger? Cambodia. Chile. Indonesia. Regime change. Millions of dead civilians. Our historical, creepy CIA modus operandi for getting a user-friendly leader inserted here and there, one who’ll will play political paddy cake and bake up a cake that tastes great to our geo-political interests, and not at all intended for the taste buds of the locals, many of whom get government offerings laced with arsenic. And recall, Hillary voted FOR the invasion of Iraq in 2003, buying into the the fear-mongering prevarication of either we fight them there, or we fight them here!  Bernie voted against it, clearly smelling the bullshit being shoveled by Bush/Cheney et al. Their smell now lingers but it’s the residual funk of a failed foreign policy that helped create the terror-states that didn’t exist in the region prior to that invasion. Can you say ISIS? But only a few brave souls in congress had the conviction to say no to that disastrous invasion. Hillary the dove, huh?

Well, having just bashed Hillary Clinton, I have to admit that she is still better than any of the Republicans running for the Oval Office. Trump, (see above); Cruz (the Messiah!); Rubio (the redundant, robotic, vapid mouthpiece). Yeah, Hillary is better in orders of magnitude than any of those loose cannons. But that says far more about the freak show of Republicans seeking the Oval Office than it does Mrs.Clinton, marinated in corporate money and admirer of the likes of Henry Kissinger.

No, it’s Bernie who resonates with we, the people! And when he says we all whom does that not automatically include? But what about the African-American voters? The Hispanics? They are somehow not part of that first-person plural pronoun, is that it?  The media beats that current drum. Just like that dubious drumbeat for war in 2003. But I, for one, am hearing the beat of a different drummer, one that resonates in its refutation of business-as-usual. Yeah, it’s that democratic socialist! I’m sensing that he’ll get respectable support from across the board, from those who understand that WE automatically includes them, regardless of their skin color.

Bernie is talking to you, and we all can win, if everyone listens and thinks, perhaps for a change, perhaps for once, for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About jharrin4

mass communication/speech instructor at College of DuPage and Triton College in suburban Chicago. Army veteran of the Viet Nam era.
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1 Response to Political Pronouns

  1. catt23 says:

    Add my pronoun to the growing list of Sanders supporters! The U.S. is at a crossroads, as the Republican party seems headed toward anointing a right wing ideologue who makes Reagan look moderate (Cruz or Rubio) or, while holding their nose, a bigoted strongman (if his runaway train continues to speed ahead in the primary race). On the other side are Clinton and Sanders. Sanders is courageously daring to take on the corporate interests with unprecedented independence from them. I vote for supporting his progressive cause, while accepting the “moderate” Clinton as a viable second choice to thwart the insidious ambitions of right wing extremists. Feelin’ the Bern!

    Like

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