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For The Mythical Maybe Trumpers Out There

October 14, 2024

There is an alleged mythical creature out there. We can call this mythical creature a "Maybe Trumper." So though I don't think this mythical creature exists, I'm writing this to them. "Never Trumpers" and "Trumpers" are welcome to read along, if only for shits and giggles.

Casting your November 2024 vote for Donald Trump is like letting out a silent fart in a crowded room. You may not mind it, but it's going to make it really bad for everyone else.

For those who are absolutely not voting for Trump, my bad news is that as crazy as it seems, Trumpers I somewhat know - actual people with functioning brains - are still going to vote for him. They are busy posting stupid misinformation memes on social media, or maybe simply making brief comments that indicate they are still in the Trump camp. Sure, lots of high ranking Republicans and generals are loudly proclaiming they won't vote for Trump, including many who worked for and with him. But people I know and am aware of? He hasn't lost any of them!

So… Vote! Uh, that is, if you're going to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

I would be curious to hear exactly what it is that Trumpers or Maybe Trumpers hear when he's on a stage at a podium. Broadcasting live on tv or the internet or if you're there in person, do you just turn your brain off and let him ramble on, saying stuff that makes no sense? Or so many things that are just outright lies? You'd vote for a guy like that?

Basically, if you remember back to when you were in school, you probably didn't like the spoiled rich kid in your class. That's who Trump is. Do you like bullies? That too is what Trump is? Braggarts? Again, Trump is.

He puts himself on a pedestal, repeats repeats repeats all these claims (genius, physical and mental fitness, that he alone can fix this or that), and it's like some dumb-ass tv commercial - brand name repeated over and over and that it is the best… And so it must permeate into many people's heads.

If you would even consider voting for Trump, then chances are you're a Republican. But have you noticed how many prominent Republicans are supporting Harris, some just to not be supporting Trump? Likewise many who were a part of his White House, including some who didn't turn away from him until the very day he turned away from the truth, as it was presented to him from within his own team, that he indeed did lose the 2020 election.

Do you think the 2020 election was stolen and the populace (and the electoral college) actually voted Trump in? Well the first and foremost reason Don The Con started that was because he is a narcissist and would never admit that he lost. He set up the 2016 election to do the same thing, saying it would be rigged, etc. The 2020 election, the same. 2024? He's doing it again. His starting the denial that he lost in 2020 turned into a huge, ongoing moneymaker and incited an insurrection attempt on January 6th, 2021. But just his narcissism alone would be enough to keep him promoting the stolen election lie.

Now that lie and all the new ones aimed to get him elected again are still first about his ego and narcissism, and keeping him from facing punishment for crimes of which he's already been convicted, and those still being adjudicated, is either second or third. The other second or third reason he's continuing the lie is to get back into office and turn it into an authoritarian position so he can be like Putin, Kim Jong Un and other political strongmen he so admires.

Are you a Christian? Well then what the hell? Your guy Jesus ministered to poor slaves of the Roman Empire. He was about helping the poor and unfortunate. Trump doesn't have a Christian bone in his entire obese body. He'll hug the flag. He'll hold up the Bible. But he doesn't love this country or believe anything in the Bible. He's a narcissist who is only out for himself. And he plays that by saying anything he needs to whether it's an absolute lie or not. Every word out of his mouth adds up to "Trump is great."

I would really like people who know me and are considering voting for Donald Trump (or are absolutely going to) to read this and follow what I'm saying. Agree with or not, but just understand what I'm trying to say.

You may be a kind of reconnected friend from Facebook who I haven't been close to for many years, and then you probably already know that I'm fairly liberal, or in the vernacular of those who would possibly vote for Trump, a "Libtard." (I think that slang is kind of funny because it boldly bucks current thoughts on decency around words we shouldn't use, such as "retard," and at the same time seems to want to say liberals are stupid.)

My main point here does address the very thing that term underscores, and that is the division in our country today into the two distinct camps. Of course there are varying shades of either, but it sure seems one is either completely on one side, or completely on the other. And each side has its particular news stations, internet sites, radio and tv commentators who supply super positive feedback for their side. Idealogical Biofeedback, if you will.

From the liberal side we get a stereotype of the Trump voter as a barely middle-class man who will loudly exclaim that he hates Obamacare but loves his ACA (Affordable Care Act) insurance coverage. Or similarly, a woman wearing a t-shirt that states "He can grab my pussy anytime."

From the "extreme right" view (I say "extreme right" to distinguish what is now considered conservative from what old-school fiscal conservatives used to be) liberals are being portrayed as super sensitive, easily offended and caring too much what other people think. Perhaps that is what is intended when the word "woke" is used, rather than its real meaning according to Merriam Webster: aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).

So of course either stereotype does not allow either side to see each other clearly. People are individuals, each with particular views on this or that, and too many times I've found on social networking pages people telling me what I think and how wrong I am. Not because I said that was what I think, but because the stereotype of a liberal thinks such.

I know people who think quite the opposite of me in terms of Donald Trump, and no, they are not stupid and unthinking. I think they are wrong and they think I am wrong, but if you are one such friend, I'm hoping you can fill in some missing pieces for me.

First, I'll honestly tell you that I think there is some real propaganda that has gone on for many years now that led you to a world-view (maybe nation-view is more appropriate) where a "celebrity" like Trump can come along, check all the boxes for that nation-view, and seem like the perfect candidate. And when I say "check all the boxes" I don't mean to imply that you agree with all those boxes - everyone is unique - but still you see that nation-view as close enough to yours to consider voting for Trump.

Example: You may be someone who is very open and in favor of diversity and not at all prejudiced against other races or nationalities. But to support Trump don't you have to ignore it when he shows and says how he won't reject the support of a David Duke (KKK guy) or risk insulting white supremacists at the Charlottesville rally by concluding (after the violence tore the event apart) that there were good people on both sides?

So white supremacist racism might be a box Trump checks for some, but that's not a box you need to, or want to, have checked. More than likely, you don't see Trump as having a check in that racism box. But is it not true that people who would want that box checked would see it as checked, and those are votes he will most likely get? If you ignore that box, you're voting with them.

It's possible you take Trump at his word that he's not racist at all, or as he puts it, the most un-racist person who ever lived. (Or something like that. PS: His history and things that he says do check that (yes, racist) box for him.)

I cannot imagine people I know who might vote for Trump to blindly believe everything he says. If you like him you probably listen to him, and if you listen to him much at all you know that he says lots and lots of things, and in that much of what he says - especially at rallies - is said to get cheering reactions from the crowd. So yes, some things he says contradict other things he says (sometimes in nearly the same sentence) or things he has done. (PS: I'm sure those cheering crowds are his biggest reward from all of this.)

I get that if you don't listen to him speak for lengths of time and only hear sound-bites used by right-wing supportive media, the spoon-feeding of Trump can miss his less-than-logical statements. Or sometimes non-sensical. (What is it with his using the Hannibal Lector references? Is that a right-wing dog whistle of some kind? Code for something to Proud Boys or QAnon faithfuls?) Those various "news" presenters are editing along and often must say, "Oops, no not that one. Cognitive decline totally showing."

I do realize there's probably nothing I can write that will change anybody's mind. I think in 2016 Trump got a lot of people to vote for him because he was running against government, and many people who barely paid attention to politics got very interested.

My dislike of Trump goes back to the '70s, mainly because one of our housemates was from the east coast and paid lots of attention to the news and we were all such California surf-happy tree-huggers that this real estate developer in New York who played the celebrity card as "The Donald" who would be such a catch for women and kind of strutted like some kind of mogul was simply disgusting. Celebrity for celebrity's sake? Like Paris Hilton or something?

But when the unthinkable happened and he won the presidency in 2016, though I very much voted against him, I had an inkling of hope that he'd stop and say "Whoa" and realize how much he'd need to gather smart people (policy analyst professors?) because he now had a job very much not in his wheelhouse. To my mind, however, he just immediately did the opposite and jumped in with choices for the transition team that included those very much from deep in the "swamp" he so promised to drain. So I lost that tiny dribble of hope right away. And further and further along, he simply became the open door for the most extreme right wing policies.

Now remember, the main intended audience for what I'm writing here are people who have followed along as "conservative" beliefs and policies became more and more extreme. For instance, guns. I doubt any old conservatives where so fired-up (pun intended) about gun rights to the point of insisting the 2nd amendment meant that weapons of war such as assault rifles (i.e. AK47) could and should be owned by the citizenry.

Ironies? Commies. Pinkos. The people really buying into the extreme right wing rhetoric somehow equate liberals with communism. And yet Trump admires Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping. True, what he admires are autocracies and not really "communism."

My philosophy degree has to show a bit here. Though the U.S.S.R. had a "Communist Party," it was not really communism as a political system. Authoritarian, Autocracy… A severely split class society where people were either in the party and well off, or not in the party and standing in lines… But I digress.

Huge ironies can be found when it comes to Christianity. I do love the old bumper sticker that says "The Christian Right is Neither." There is a Christian Nationalist movement now that wants to tear down the constitutional barrier between religion and government. Perhaps the goal is to make our "Freedom of Religion" to be "Freedom to be whatever Christian Religion you want to be."

I was raised Lutheran and understand the tenants of Christianity as I learned them, and embrace the overall teachings about how to be a good person and be good to others. But around the time of Reagan when the right wing first started sidling up to the Christian Religion faction in general to gain their votes, the hypocrisy kind of turned "Christian" into a label it never was. "Reagan's Right" attacked welfare and helping those who either started at the bottom and could never climb up, or those who lost at the game of Musical Chairs that Capitalism kind of sets up.

Conservatism at that point was much more about fiscal conservatism, and helping the less fortunate in society was an expenditure. So while Reagan pointed at the man dropped off downtown wearing worn clothes by his wife in a fancy car, and then picked up later for them to count their booty, the huge majority of the down-and-out were turned against. And if you can't see that what I described isn't the exact opposite of what Jesus taught, then you (imho) are missing the basic premise of your own stated "religion."

Irony that is likely not exactly "irony" is how those who follow, like, and support Trump, are very likely the people I would think would hate him. People who hated the spoiled rich kid in school. People who respect someone making it on their own. People who are proud of real work. And yet there he is, the silver spooner who received $413 million from his dad over time that got him started and continually helped him along when he didn't immediately find success.

You Trumpers somehow are hypnotized by his gift of gab (always packaged in very angry and insulting tones, or pitifully rude attempts at satire) that you no doubt believe him in a debate when he boldly says he did not get that much money, but the research and gathered evidence is out there, even showing that much of it was from from his father via dubious companies set up to avoid inheritance tax, etc.

It is okay, right, that I call Trump supporters "Trumpers?" And I'm happy to label myself a "Never Trumper." Just for convenience's sake.

So if you are super rich, then it would make sense for you to vote for Trump. He'll lower your taxes. Yes, to the detriment of the more average income earners and lower income workers in terms of depriving all the country's social needs. (Yes, we are a Social Democracy, and if we aren't, then why/how do we have all the public services and infrastructure we depend on. Fire departments, law enforcement, justice infrastructure and physical infrastructure of our nation? This many people living together has to be a society.)

************

So yes, I am fairly liberal. But conservatives ("Conservatives Classic" and "Conservatives Trump Era") please don't ignore this. Especially if you know me from somewhere (distant past, social media), I hope you have read this. And to add just a spot of humor, I do think all these words can save our country.

Though I've of course failed at being succinct, here are a few targeted attempts to get through to particular groups. Like a fun little game, see if you relate to any!

Memo to working or retired, not-so-wealthy Conservatives planning on voting for Trump: You're being conned. There are so many of us who "the right" paint all the same, mostly as socialists or super sensitive wimps, but in reality there are many sensible honest people who, like me, really really scratch our heads and wonder how anybody can like Trump. He sure seems like a babbling fool who lies with just about every sentence he utters. And the anger and being a mean bully? How do you not see that?

Memo to Super Rich Conservatives planning on voting for Trump: I get it. It's money and you'll get to keep more of yours and policies will likely help you make even more. If you can vote for Trump and not feel an inkling of guilt, well then either you buy into everything else about Trump - mostly stated by him about himself - or you don't really care about the vast majority of Americans who are not super rich. Or the environment. (Extra note to Conservative Classics who don't buy into all the angry and cray-cray aspects of the rhetoric, policies and beliefs: yes you've lost your party. The GOP has abandoned all you thought they stood for, and they are embracing Trump because fear, anger and cray-cray works on most of their voters.)

Memo to "Christians" planning on voting for Trump: I put "Christians" in quotes because of the many flavors of religions purporting to be based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, it's almost a special subcategory - likely pulling together recruits from many denominations. What used to be "The Christian Right," mostly coming about in the Reagan era, now seems to be "Christian Nationalism." For "The Christian Right" there was a great bumper sticker. "The Christian Right Is Neither." Anyway, while we need a new bumper sticker, I can tell any "Christians" that by voting for Trump you are voting for someone who doesn't at all follow any of the teachings of Jesus Christ. So you are being conned, too. And if you belong to a church or group where anyone says that our country should abandon its separation of church and state principles, then you're hearing from those who are against a founding principle of our nation. So maybe a bumper sticker saying "Christian Nationalism Is Neither" would work too.

Memo to those who are angry about government (and yes, our government is inherently crooked - based on legalized bribery, otherwise known as lobbying) and to whom Trump's attitude of disdain for our government and constant expression of anger and hate appeals: Don't go there. Don't say "Yes he's an asshole, but who do you want as president? A nice person or an asshole who will kick other country's butts?" Don't see mean as good, or bullying for anything other than what it is. And please please please don't see any true humor in Trump's snideness or version of insult comedy. How he dismissively insults someone or something he knows the crowd also sees as a bad person or thing with his conceited, flippant style, couched in his overall attitude of egotistical narcissism, just really turns my stomach. You want real sarcasm? Read Mark Twain. You want real insult humor? Watch old Don Rickles bits. Good sarcasm or insult humor comes from love and admiration, not from hate and bitterness.

Memo to everybody: Trump is too fucking old. He is way too thin-skinned. His brain is kaput (cognitively speaking, but also poorly wired), and if he becomes president, Vance will probably take his place soon, and that guy is an ass-licking tool with barely 2 years in congress. Also, if you are someone who can help vote out the total conspiracy theorists who are just an embarrassment to our country, please do. (Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Asshole Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tommy Tuber-vile, Matt Gaetz… and yes, Mitch McConnell too.)

Thank You

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California Vote For Bernie Today!

June 7, 2016 - Vote for Bernie, California!

Today! Vote your hopes not your fears! Vote for Bernie in California!!

The news outlets are wrong to say Hillary has it sewn up because they are counting superdelegates, and superdelegates do not vote until July.

So do get out and vote for Bernie in California and make your voice heard (even if voting after 5 pm and having to further ignore whatever happens in New Jersey). We've got almost 4 times the number of delegates as those wimps in New Jersey. Or - if New Jersey does go for Bernie - "those great people in New Jersey."

And if you are registered No Party Preference, were planning to vote by mail but did not request the Democratic Party ballot by May 31, you can go to your polling place on Tuesday and exchange your mail-in ballot for a new one and request the Democratic Party ballot. That is in the California Voter Bill Of Rights.

Oh, and the Bernie Sanders campaign says, "If you have any problems at the polls, feel free to call our voter hotline at 415-795-8065."

Go Bernie!!

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My Top Tumblr “Blahg” Page

My Top Page (attempting to keep at the top, anyway) for my Tumblr blah blah blahgging...

Just links to my other Tumblr yakety yaks (and yes, all Go Bernie in nature):

Californian? Make sure you can vote for Bernie. Register or check registration by May 23.

California Baby Boomers - Why you should vote for Bernie Sanders

California Trump Supporters - Reregister and vote for Bernie!

Dear Hillary - An open letter that of course she won't read, but I wish she would

GO BERNIE - I'm giving it a shot...

Just a meme thing I put together poking fun at how hypocritical I think it is for the Tea Party "values voter" types to be for Donald Trump...

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Californian? Make Sure You Can Vote For Bernie!

Californians need to vote for Bernie Sanders. Make sure you can!!

To make sure you have a vote in this primary and it counts, to vote for Bernie (or Hillary) you have to be registered with a "Political Party Preference" of "Democratic.” If you are registered with “No Party Preference” you can actually still vote for Bernie by requesting a “Democratic” ballot at your precinct at voting time.

The primary is June 7 and you must be registered "Democratic" or with “No Party Preference” by May 23.

To check the status of your current registration/party affiliation, go to:

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/registration-status/

From there you can find your county and likely be able to check your status online. If not online, then by phone.

For instance, if you are in Santa Cruz County, you can go to:

http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/ElectionSites/

and enter your birthday and last four digits of your drivers license.

If you are not registered or need to change your registration's party affiliation, just go to:

http://registertovote.ca.gov/

and register. If you are already registered you'll simply be changing whatever you need to. In this case, hopefully your party affiliation from "Green" or "Peace and Freedom" or "not-disclosed" to "Democratic" so you can VOTE FOR BERNIE!

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California Baby Boomers - Why You Should Vote For Bernie Sanders

California Baby Boomers - Why You Should Vote For Bernie Sanders

I want to address California Baby Boomers who are not planning on voting for Bernie Sanders in the June 7 Democratic Primary. You should vote for Bernie, and here's why.

There was a lot of idealism and expectation of big changes when we were growing up. Peace & Love and all that. The '60s had a lot of growing pains, but as far as I can tell, how our society changed after all that was more about "recovery mode" for the status quo. After the Kennedy and MLK assassinations stomped a lot of the idealism, society turned back towards corporate back-slapping and with the movie "Top Gun," war almost seemed to be making a comeback. Huh?

But before you read on and get entirely convinced to vote for Bernie, it's crucial to make sure that you can: http://rich-apple.tumblr.com/post/143829839709/californian-make-sure-you-can-vote-for-bernie

Anyway, years later so many baby boomers did get on with it, made a living, and have been successful enough to not be hurting financially now. But people who have done okay would be incredibly better off if the last 50 years of the income disparity increase and weakening of the middle class hadn't been going on. Bernie's tax on Wall Street speculation isn't just a sound bite, it is a very real thing. http://robertreich.org/post/143047841420

I do not want to overly dis Hillary here, but she is fairly outspoken about how she will lead the country along the existing Democratic party lines. She's an insider and knows how it works and will work from that perspective. But with the giant Financial Sector and other big business monied interests supporting both parties, the "Democrats" and "Republicans" have really just been two separate clown cars driving down the same highway. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

So let's say you want to be liberal and idealistic (and feel true to your baby boomer roots) and it simply feels less risky to hop onto that barely left-of-center clown car that the Democratic Party machine owns. Well think again. The risk comes from continuing the direction we're going. Simple as that. Growing income disparity only yields a less safe society (crime, desperation, insecurity). Jobs have left this country because it is in the financial interest of the big business monied interests for them to leave this country, and those monied interests write our laws for the congressional lap dogs to clench in their teeth and trot through legislation.

So I'm talking to the "liberal" Baby Boomers in California to say we can help to finally bring about real change. If you think Universal Health Care and free public tuition is about lazy people wanting something for free, then you're most likely a Republican. (I think you should vote for Bernie in California too, and I'll tell you why here: http://rich-apple.tumblr.com/post/144316889764/california-trump-supporters-reregister-and-vote) If you don't think that Bernie's methods of getting the money to fund his ideas are real, read about them. If you worry that you may pay some more in taxes and that will hurt your bottom line, it probably won't. If you are super well-off, then yes, perhaps your tax bracket will have to go some distance back towards where the "progressive" income taxes were for most of this country's history. (Bernie is not saying that, but seriously, the Bush tax cuts? How did they help the economy other than the personal "economies" of the very rich? No jobs came back.... No trickle down...)

We boomers popularized tie-dye. We helped bring so much great music into the world. We protested the Vietnam war. So can't we do this? Bernie Sanders as stormed the country with a populous movement for political revolution. He's one of us and he's already got so many younger people on board. Can't we muster the memory of our younger, idealistic days and help him do this?

A big vote in California is the only way. You can even think of it as a vote against "Undemocracy". Democracy sure isn't Superdelegates who are insiders having an entire vote to make on their own while the rest of us just get our one little old vote to direct a limited number of pledged delegates. Power to the people. Make the people's votes be heard!

A big vote in California is also a blow against the empire of Big Media. You think CNN is impartial? You think newspapers (mostly owned by larger corporations even when they seem local) are impartial? The only reason we heard about Obama's groundswell of excitement that derailed Hillary in 2008 is because he too had the backing of the Financial Sector and Big Media. Bernie has had to roll his groundswell along truly by word-of-mouth and the citizenry's ability to read past the "Interesting, But Doomed To Fail" so-called coverage of this groundswell. Just imagine how far ahead Bernie would be if the media hadn't been telling all how impossible it is for him to win from the very start.

The numbers today (May 18, 2016):

Pledged delegates from votes Clinton 1,768 to Sanders 1,494

Superdelegates (people deemed more important than you or me) Clinton 525 to Sanders 39

California has 475 Pledged Delegates that we the voters get to instruct how to vote. Those are who we vote for in the Primary. Of the 73 Superdelegates in California (yes, California actually has 548 delegates total), some will have to change their commitment to Hillary if there is a super strong win for Bernie. And if some of those Superdelegates change their vote, others from other states most likely will too.

So not counting what Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands do between now and California's primary, a 75% Bernie sweep in California would make it:

Pledged delegates from votes: Clinton 1,886 to Sanders 1,850

And figure the same 75% sweep turning that many California Superdelegates to Bernie from Hillary

Superdelegates (and yes, we're starting to like them and cheer them on to do the right thing now)

411 Bernie to 137 for California’s piece of the pie...

And then add to that more good stuff Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and both influencing New Jersey's pretty big pile-o-delegates to Go Bernie, along with further Superdelegates switching...

I'm telling you, this political revolution can happen. And if you are a Californian Baby Boomer, I think it really will come down to us. Oh, and if you have kids or know some other younger people who might be feeling the Bern? Remind them to vote!

Go Bernie!

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California Trump Supporters - Reregister And Vote For Bernie!

California Trump Supporters - Reregister And Vote For Bernie!

If you are a Californian and you were planning on voting in the June 7 primary for Donald Trump, you don't need to. The others have all dropped out and now he is it. He's your nominee.

But you absolutely should be political with your vote and make it count for something. You should reregister to "Democrat," or if that just doesn't feel right to you, reregister to "No Party Preference," and then you can request a "Democratic" ballot and still vote for Bernie.

Yes, that's right. I said "vote for Bernie," and here's why, even with me only second-guessing why you support Donald Trump.

If Trump railing against the the a-hole, do-nothing politicians who are in it just for themselves and lining their own pockets by how politics work (lobbying, campaign "contributions") rings true to you (and that part does to me too), then by helping Bernie get the nomination over Hillary with some huge numbers coming out of California you accomplish two, maybe even three, things.

1. You say "no" to the a-hole politicians that make up the Democratic Party machine in that the vote of actual people will make it all the more obvious how rigged they have the system with their "Superdelegates." The odds of voter pressure to have "Superdelegates" change their pledges in line with that of the ordinary voters will increase, and possibly a contested convention can yield a Nominee Sanders.

It is very undemocratic of the Democratic party to have these individuals (political insiders, influential people in the party) whose votes count for so much more than the votes of ordinary citizens. It is downright "oxymoronic" -- and I'm sure this isn't the first time you, as a Trump supporter, have used the root of that word in referring to Democrats.

2. If we can get Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, then it is he and Donald Trump in the general election. One of them will be president. If Donald Trump doesn't win, then who would be your second choice? Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton?

I probably should have said up front that I am not a Donald Trump supporter, but obviously I am a Bernie Sanders supporter. And when it comes to railing against the a-hole, do-nothing politicians and wanting to completely change the way things get done in Washington, Bernie is a whole lot closer to Donald than is Hillary! Granted his plans and policies are decidedly liberal in nature, but read the details and realize that he's against the same thing Trump says he is against: Politicians bought and paid for by the corporations and their lobbyists. Trump says he doesn't like the laws getting passed that allow our jobs to go out of the country so the fat cats can get richer, and Sanders says the same thing.

Well, and so on. I'm not suggesting you become pro-Bernie, but just that you use your otherwise useless California primary vote to make a statement and possibly get something done.

3. This, of course is a big "maybe" and I don't want or think it to be true, but chances are that your guy, Trump, has a better chance to win the White House running against Bernie Sanders than he does running against Hillary Clinton. I'm actually one of those who believes deep down that Donald Trump has done all that he has done to wrest the Republican nomination for the sole purpose of helping Hillary get elected. I've heard him, and of course with all his vitriol against Hillary that is hard to conceive, but he has the acting chops and experience to be playing the role, and from a pure business perspective, he will be just fine under a Hillary Clinton presidency.

So there it is. This unusual solicitation of mine feels entirely wicked and underhanded (as in "political"), but I do it because I honestly feel that the media bias against Bernie and the Democratic Party bias against Bernie (as well as against individual voters) has unfairly tainted this race, which should have truly gotten its due as the "political revolution" Bernie Sanders has been talking about.

Also, if I were you and supportive of Trump (which I am not), I really would do this for the very reasons I'm suggesting. You only have until May 23rd to reregister.

http://rich-apple.tumblr.com/post/143829839709/californian-make-sure-you-can-vote-for-bernie

Make your vote count!

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Dear Hillary - An Open Letter That Of Course She Won't Read, But I Wish She Would

Dear Hillary,

We all get it that you want to be the president of the United States. Badly. And I'm guessing there aren't that many idiots who don't want to finally have a female president.

In 2008 your efforts got somewhat railroaded as many of us got swept off our feat by the powerful ideals so brilliantly expressed by the intelligent and politically charming Barrack Obama. And just as correct and rewarding it would have felt to elect the first female president, most the country did feel pretty good about electing the first person of color to the office.

I wish I were writing this now from the perspective of saying a sincere "too bad" to you because it's another case of bad timing for your presidential aspirations, this time being usurped by an amazing, more powerful populist movement being led by Bernie Sanders. If the right thing happens in this country and by some means the insider shenanigans of the Democratic party and the media bias from our corporate-owned media get overwhelmed by the American people waking up to the truths Bernie is standing for, then I will be sincere about that "too bad".

So two scenarios:

A. The populist movement for the political revolution Bernie Sanders is promoting does rise up and secure the nomination for him. If that happens, don't feel bad. It is again just bad timing that after getting all your experience ducks in a row and learning so well how to work within the horribly corrupt system that our government is, an important corner has been turned in our history and the people are taking back the reins and are hopefully committed to the continuing work we all need to do with Bernie to really change things. He won't be able to do it alone, so I hope you'll come aboard and be supportive.

B. You get the nomination and win the Presidency. Day One - you announce that you will likely only be President for four years because you will be doing any fundraising or accepting any influence peddling, and instead will do everything you can to undo the undemocratic system of bribery that undermines the will of the people in our supposed "of the people, by the people, for the people" democracy. In other words, you "Go Bernie" a bit. You announce that all the campaign donations you got from the financial sector and other big business mean squat to you, and you start in dismantling the immoral control they have over legislation.

I say the Scenario B stuff because I'm certain you truly have good, idealistic values from way back. Think back to the first term Bill had as Governor in Arkansas. He then got voted out and though I of course don't really know much of what went on in your heads, my impression all these years has been that his getting voted out and then running again and coming back in as Governor was where you two learned how to really play the game. Well, for Scenario B you don't have to play ther game. You can change the game, and you should because you know that "fighting the good fight" from within the system will mean slowing the progression of income inequality a tiny bit, but not turning it around. It will mean just continuing to compromise with all the huge monied interests who really control our government. It will mean more of the same. So seriously, you take control. You get radical. You tap the same populist angst and anger that Bernie (and even "The Donald" to some degree) has tapped, and you make this country better. You'll be the first woman President, for goldang sakes!

Also, just a little note about your campaigning that has been going on. Stop yelling at us. When you speak clearly and intelligently answering questions and so forth you're fine. And I admire that you state right up front that you don't have the political charm of your husband. But when you get going at making your strong and adamant points intended to get your audience worked up and cheering along, it simply sounds like you're yelling at us. Since I'm male I can't help but worry that hearing your yelling as "at us" is some sort of ingrained chunk of sexism or something, but I really think it sounds like you're yelling at your audience about stuff they should be worked up about. When Bernie is yelling about his stuff we should be worked up about, he does only sound like he's yelling about that stuff with us and on our behalf.

Good luck to you and us whatever happens in this whacky election cycle. (PS: Your secret that Trump has actually been doing all he's been doing to help you get elected all along. Businessman Trump is a lot smarter than he lets on.)

[rich-apple]

GO BERNIE!

Do you want to know why we should all vote for Bernie Sanders? I'll tell you, but first I want to make clear who "we" includes. All of us. All U.S. citizens who are allowed to vote. All liberals, all conservatives, all workers, all poor people, all middle class people, all rich people, all of us.

We should all vote for Bernie Sanders because our country and government is uniquely designed to allow a very peaceful, law-abiding revolution to happen, and we need it. We need it because over a long period of time our government has been maneuvered into being a government not "for the people," but a government "only for the very richest people." At this point the transition is complete and our government is owned by the very rich and blatantly serves just the very rich.

As for the issues, go to Bernie's website and look at his statements. He is telling it exactly like it is, and in some cases bringing out issues typically only discussed on PBS programs and articles outside the world of high-access commercial media. The erosion over time of the middle class and the ever increasing income inequality... The corruption of our political system by legalized bribery and how that destroys Democracy... Bernie is completely telling it like it is on these and other issues, and the truths behind what he discusses are probably going to ring just as true for conservatives as well as for liberals. Our government is broken.

Convincing someone who has stayed the course with liberalism that Bernie is the best choice should be easy. All the issues and all the problems (with all the corruption) have been building steadily over the last half century or so regardless of whether there is a Democrat or a Republican in the highest office. Our system is ultimately run by monied interests, not the officeholder. So someone truly liberal is going to embrace Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton because at her most liberal, Hillary will only push for progressive steps that can be taken within the confines of the existing corrupt system. "Obamacare" is a great example of such a step. It was simply not going to be passed until it could be molded into something from which the moneyed interests (insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies) were going to profit.

We need to rock the political boat and Bernie is the only candidate who will make that happen.

Now for those of you who flinched at "PBS," recoiled at the word "liberalism," and heard a menacing "Socialized Medicine!" when I wrote "Obamacare,"... It's going to be tough cutting through the powerful propaganda machine of right wing thought as it gets propagated today, but I've got to try. The bottom line is that you are being taken for a ride by what passes for "conservatism." The huge majority of you who are not actually in the top 1% have been manipulated into supporting an overall avenue of thought that works against you. What has been used forever to "excite the base" and get you angry and shaking your fists (or more recently, raising your tea party cups) at government follows a basic premise: Government shouldn't help people; people should help themselves. And the policies, laws, and changes to regulations pushed by the conservatives seem to follow this premise, but in reality they are all finally tuned to help the tiny percentage at the top. Tax breaks to the very rich... Regulation changes that allow large corporations to move profits and jobs away and protect their bottom line... Protections from lawsuits for companies that hurt the health of people directly or via environmental impacts...

If you are not super super rich, anything the conservative movement has done in government has not done anything to help you, and in fact has followed a very hidden premise: Government is an excellent tool to help the small number of very very rich people who ultimately control it.

Bernie is talking about the people finally taking back that control. Democrats in general have only slightly slowed the march to income inequality, but the corrupt machine that government has become has meant that they ultimately do the same puppet dance and placate the same folks actually financing the corruptive element of campaign financing and governmental lobbying.

The fantasy of the Bernie campaign is that his getting elected can change things. By itself, it cannot - and Bernie says exactly this. The full package, and what we supporters of Bernie have to buy into, is that it doesn't stop at the end of this typically grating and horrible election season. If this revolution is to be, then it also has to be a wake-up call to those of us voting for the revolution that it doesn't stop there and it must go on in terms of political involvement. Every elected official is dependent upon political involvement, and with enough people voting, expressing themselves, and paying attention, no longer will the "machine" get away with going against the will of the people. Background checks for gun purchases... Assault weapons bans... GMO labeling... Bringing back the Glass-Steagall Act to protect Americans from the chicanery of the financial sector... (Okay, I doubt that last one has much recognition or polling info, but if it was widely understood, like the others it surely would.)

Hillary. I personally do want to see us have a female president, just as I was thrilled to see this country actually elect a man of African American descent. And yeah, Bernie is a white male. But Elizabeth Warren as the first female vice president would be pretty good!

Democratic Socialism. Oh yeah, that one. The S word doesn't track well with, uh, conservatives, and even some who think they are liberal. But what is it? Well, it's something we already have, and at this point, something we need more of. The very people who as young conservatives railed with Ronald Reagan and others using the S word against the creation of Medicare are often now the very cantankerous old tea partiers "taking" greatly from that system. (I purposely used "taking" because that is such a bit of conservative jingoism about people who receive social benefits - takers! Corporate welfare... Tobacco growers subsidies... "Plum" military-related contracts... Notice that those recipients of government largesse are not so much called "takers.")

Social Security is a socialist solution to assisting people who grow too old to earn much money working, and it is also enjoyed by many who are quite fat and happy and don't need it at all. But you don't see those ones giving it back and saying, "no, that's Socialism." ("We earned it," and "We paid into it," are often rationalizations for benefiting from this part of our Democratic Socialism, but do the math - unless one wants to bless the financial correctness of Ponzi schemes and wild games of chance, both Social Security and Medicare are Socialist in nature with society footing the real bill of an ongoing system...)

Policing, Firefighting, Highway Infrastructure, Parks... We live in a society and a society does need a certain amount of socialism. It's kind of at the root of the definition of "society."

So Bernie is a proponent of Democratic Socialism? Yes, but do go see what he says about it. As our country has drifted further into income inequality and cold heartedness when it comes to helping the less fortunate, I think we do have to look back at the great Social strides by Roosevelt and Eisenhower (well, and yes - Medicare actually went on to become law under Johnson, but its intent did begin under Eisenhower).

In summation, yes, this is just a blah blah blog, and yes, in many ways I am just an idiot with no qualifications to implore you to vote a certain way at all. It's just what I'm thinking and what I want to share, and yes, "freedom of speech." I think we still have that.

GO BERNIE!

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