Bernie Sanders Releases First Campaign Ad

It's been fun watching Bernie's presidential campaign ever since he was a rank outsider until now where he is very much a factor. It's great to watch how he is gaining momentum even though Hillary seemed to get a boost from the first debate, the Benghazi hearing, and that withdrawal of Joe Biden from the presidential race.

I say 'seemed' because you can't believe a damn thing the mainstream media says. That said, it was annoying to see things go Hillary's way especially with the republicans making a mess of the Benghazi hearing. But if you open your eyes and read between the lines you will find that Bernie is still very much gaining momentum.

He is doing very well on the Internet which can't be sabotaged by the corporate owned media which is funding Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. At least not completely. I do a lot of posting and reading around the Internet and the feeling I get is that Americans are becoming more and more informed of the true situation as opposed to being brainwashed by the mainstream media. 

Bernie is still some way behind Hillary in the polls and there is still a long way to go to inform people, but there is time left too. The Democratic primaries begin in February and carry on all the way through until at least mid-June. 

There is, of course, no guarantee that Bernie will win the democratic nomination. Many people still give him no chance whatsoever, the same way they did when he was still a rank outsider. But if you look at the trend of the polls then Bernie will overtake Hillary in the near future and be the nominee. 

From an article in Huffpost called Polling trajectory shows Bernie Sanders defeating Hillary Clinton:

In the poll, conducted among Democratic primary voters Sept. 20-24, Clinton led Sanders 42 percent to 35 percent. While the new poll isn't necessarily an indicator of who will win the contest, the 7-point difference shows a big change from just two months ago. In July, Clinton led Sanders by 34 percentage points, with 59 percent to his 25 percent.

As you can see the gap is closing fast. The new Bernie ad I posted above will help close that gap some more. From a Time article:

“This ad marks the next phase of this campaign. We’re bringing that message directly to the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement.

The ad cost $2 million just to be aired in Iowa and New Hampshire and talks about his history as well as his political views. It's great to see him spending some of that money donated by real people who want real change and it will surely help him to gain more momentum in the democratic race.

The next democratic debate is on Friday. Can't wait!

What is a Democratic Socialist?

Bernie Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist. And if there is one word Americans are terrified of it is socialism. The funny thing is, a democratic socialist and a socialist are two entirely different things. Because Americans have been indoctrinated to fear the word socialism that is all they hear when they hear about a democratic socialist.

But far more telling is the democratic part of democratic socialist. Democratic socialism could also be called a mixed economy, where capitalism and socialism are mixed together. The best of both worlds if you will. Something that many Americans don't realize is that some of their favorite public programs are socialist institutions.

Programs like the military, infrastructure, public libraries, police, fire department, medicare, social security, and many more are socialist institutions. In a mixed economy well-regulated capitalism or private enterprise is combined with these socialist programs. Taxes tend to be high, but it benefits the whole. Currently what you have in the US is an oligarchy which is an extreme form of capitalism where there is very little regulation.

It is capitalism gone mad where the top 0.1% owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90% combined, where the 0.1% buy politicians and elections, and where the 0.1% stash their cash tax-free in the Cayman Islands at the great cost of the American economy and middle class who has all but disappeared. And let me not forget to add to that the fact that the middle class' tax is used to bail out Wall Street whenever they fail.

Look, I'm all for capitalism and free markets when it is regulated, but the current situation in the US is a disgrace. I believe being rich and prosperous is good when you use it to help others, but that is not what the rich elite of the US is doing. In their greed, they are exploiting the have-nots and the playing field is extremely uneven. They not only control the economy, but they also want to control the government now with their super PACs.

This is why it so important that Hillary is not the nominee because she is one of the elite. She takes money from super PACs and owes political favors all over the place. These are indisputable facts. How will she help the exploited when she has the interests of the exploiters at heart? The only person who can do that is Bernie Sanders takes no money whatsoever from super PAC's and lobbyists.

He doesn't only talk the talk like Clinton, but he actually walks the walk. Hillary Clinton's political career is littered with controversy and flip-flopping on her policies. Sanders is the exact opposite of that. He has been extremely consistent and free of controversy.

To get back to economic systems, you need a certain amount of capitalism and free markets to encourage innovation and technological progress, but what is currently going on in the US is absurd. See the videos below for clarification and support Sanders if you want to see that change. I am all for wealth and prosperity, but too much of anything is bad.

There is more to life than money. Greed doesn't make people happy. If anything it makes them miserable because for happiness there must be balance between many things of which financial wealth is only one. The only presidential candidate who can fix the enormous inequality in the current US is Bernie Sanders.

There is no way in hell that Hillary Clinton or any other candidate will do that.

Do watch this video:

Bernie Sanders: In-Depth Explanation of Income Inequality:

Bernie Sanders Nails Jimmy Kimmel Live Interview

Above is an excerpt of Sanders's interview on Kimmel Live from last night. I found this excerpt in an article called Bernie Sanders dodges question on whether he believes in God on Raw Story. I thought he did a great job of answering Kimmel's questions clearly and sincerely, including the 'God' question. 

The fact that he is leading Trump in national polls as opposed to Hillary is telling. Trump would absolutely zone in on Hillary's email scandal and the fact that she accepts money from lobbyists(including himself) if he and Hillary are the Democratic and Republican nominees.  I think he would destroy her in the election.

But since we don't know if Trump will be the Republican nominee it is useless to speculate further. Just today I read an article called The Trump Poll Numbers Lie which explained why Trump won't be the GOP nominee.

Bernie, on the other hand, while still trailing Clinton in the democratic race is cutting down her lead all the time. It's great to see him get media exposure on the likes of Kimmel as well. The more people who hear his message the better is his chances of winning. I can only speak for myself but unless you are in the top 1% of the wealthiest people in America I can't see why you wouldn't vote for him.

But to get back to the 'God' question, I'm glad he didn't answer yes or no. You don't need to believe in God to know that morality and kindness make the world a better place. He nailed the answer.

"I am who I am, and what I believe in and what my spirituality is about is that we're all in this together. I think it is not a good thing to believe as human beings we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people," said Sanders. "And this is not Judaism. This is what Pope Francis is talking about, that we cannot worship just billionaires and the making of more and more money. Life is more than that." 

"Essentially what I think is, we do best as human beings, we fulfill our lives, when we work together rather than say, 'Hey, I want it all, and I don't care about the hungry kid down the street,'" said Sanders. "I don't think that's what America should be about."

If he answered that he believed in God then he would have been tied to Judaism and classified in a certain way. That is not what spirituality is. Spirituality is universal. It is not based on some religion. People insist on classifying, defining, and opposing. That is just not spirituality and why I am not religious myself.

Far as I'm concerned religion only serves to divide and cause conflict. I'm sorry if you are religious, but that is just my view. Sanders himself is not particularly religious although he comes from a Jewish background. I come from a Christian background, but I am not particularly religious.

It's the same with politics. Sanders is an independent politician but is running for president as a Democrat for good reasons. Why identify as a Democrat or a Republican? What is with this need to identify and oppose? Can't we all just be human and realize that we are in this together as opposed to always choosing sides and opposing?

So far humans have opposed and worked against each other. That is why America and the world are in the state it's in. That is why we are destroying each other and the planet. We need more leaders like Sanders if we are going to survive and prosper. Hopefully, he becomes the US president. Not only to save America but to help save the world.

America is the leading country in the world and needs to set an example. With Sanders as president it will.

The Rigged Corporate Media Lies About Democratic Debate Results

The first Democratic debate took place on the 13th of October and it was something I looked forward to with some anticipation since I started following Sanders in the US presidential race. I was particularly looking forward to seeing some debates between Bernie and Hillary Clinton, the Democrat pretty much everyone expected to be the Democratic nominee for the presidential race.

Until The Bern came along that is. I had gotten myself educated about Clinton before the debate and knew about her ties to corporate America. There is nothing special about her the way I see it. Just a status quo politician who takes money from lobbyists and whose claim to fame is that she is a woman and running for president.

The woman can't be trusted

And I don't mean to sound like a misogynist when I say that. I am all for women's rights but if the only reason women are going to vote for her is so she will become the first female president of the US then they will make a huge mistake in my opinion.

But to get back to the debate, online polls unanimously showed that Bernie won the debate. In some polls, Clinton didn't even come second. And here is the shocking part: all the big media outlets reported afterward that Clinton won the debate. I soon learned that one of them, CNN, was owned by Time Warner who is one of Clinton's biggest campaign donors(remember she takes money from super PACs and lobbyists).

CNN was adamant that Clinton won the debate even though their online poll on Facebook showed that their viewers overwhelmingly thought Sanders won the debate. As did every other online poll. Something was off. How could all the online polls say Sanders won the debate overwhelmingly and all the big media outlets say that Clinton won?

Well, that is just the rigged corporate media of the oligarchy in America. The oligarchy controls the media and brainwashes people on an unheard of scale. I don't trust a single thing I read on MSM(Main Stream Media) these days because I know 99% of it is intended to misinform and push the interests of the big corporations who pay or own them.

It's a tragic state of affairs. Fortunately, these days there is an Internet and it is harder for the MSM to sell their evil lies. Television used to be the main media through which MSM brainwashed people and that is easier to do than through the Internet. But with the dawn of the information age people have access to more and more information and it's no surprise to hear talks of monitoring the Internet in the US.

Make no mistake about it, media lies and brainwashing is happening on a massive scale in the US. I always knew about it and heard about it, but this is the most direct experience I've had with it in following the presidential race and it's really disturbing. It is just sickening to which lengths the oligarchy go in order to satisfy their monstrous greed. They are so adept at it that they can influence an entire nation to do their bidding.

How else does it happen that one-tenth of 1% owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%? And unfortunately, this is the case the world over. It is due to capitalist greed and the only one who can stop it in America and set and example to the world is Bernie Sanders who is waging a war against the oligarchy. It is 100% certain that Hillary Clinton will not bring down Wall Street and corporate America. She works for them after all.

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog! Starting a blog about politics is something I never imagined doing in a million years. I always stayed as far away from politics as I possibly could because I have an obsession with truth and honesty and politicians always struck me as corrupt liars.

Until Bernie Sanders decided to run for president that is. Now here was a man with true integrity and class. Are you kidding me? An honest politician! To be perfectly honest, the first reason I started following the 2016 US presidential race was because of Donald Trump and his clown show. Although I didn't support him or anything the entertainment value was good. At least he brought something different to politics as usual and was shaking the system up.

I am always for shaking the status quo up and that I viewed as a good thing. So actually I have to credit him for getting me involved in politics, even though I am directly opposed to his policies and the fact that he is the very antithesis of Bernie Sanders in my opinion.

Then after a while I heard about Sanders which were all good things. He sounded very much like the outsider which of course he is. An honest outsider. Now there was someone I could identify with! Since getting to know Sanders and what he stands for he has become an idol of mine. The admiration and respect were almost instant.

It didn't take long to surmise that he was a real person who was truly concerned about the dwindling American middle class and that he had the best interests of the American people at heart. This is an incredibly rare thing in an era of politics where 99% of politicians sell out to corporate America.

You only need to look at the fact that Sanders is the only candidate in the presidential race who does not accept money from super PACs for proof. To those of you who don't know, a super PAC basically allows corporations to contribute unlimited funds to political campaigns and exists due to a disastrous Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This ruling basically allows big corporations to buy politicians and rule the American government. Not only do one tenth of one percent own almost as much wealth in America as the bottom 90%, but they now want to control the government as well. For this reason, America is now all but an oligarchy, a power structure by which a few rich people and corporations call all the shots in a country.

It is a form of dictatorship where a very small percentage of the population have almost absolute power. In short, Bernie Sanders is about taking America back from this greedy and evil elite who live like gods while middle-class Americans are working three jobs at a time and are still struggling to make ends meet. I won't get into the illegal and unethical practices of Wall Street and the 1% elite here, but I will in subsequent posts and it is shocking what they are getting away with.

Bernie Sanders is busy creating a political revolution which is the only way for the American people to take their country back from the unbelievably greedy and corrupt elite. And I wanted to be part of that, even though it doesn't affect me directly as a South African. It's been extremely encouraging to see so many Americans and even people from other countries coming together to support Senator Sanders in his bid to become the next American president and stop the ridiculous exploitation by corporate America.

I have an awful lot more to say, but I just wanted to get a first post out and started educating people. Let me just make it clear that I am not a political expert or pundit by any means. Nor do I much want to be. All too often I read articles by these so-called pundits and it has status quo disastrous politics which got America into the mess it is in to begin with written all over it.

To hell with the status quo. It is time for a political revolution where good, honest, hard-working Americans take the country back from the evil oligarchy. The way I see it it is pretty much Bernie or bust for America. Certainly Hillary Clinton the poster woman for corporate America(yes she has a super PAC and a history of selling out to corporate America) is not gonna affect positive change. She absolutely represents the status quo and in my humble opinion it would be a disaster if she becomes president.

I won't even mention the republican side(although I will in subsequent posts). Sanders is the only candidate who has the political record and integrity to get America out of the mess it is in, and more and more people are realizing that every day. Sanders is exploding on the Internet and after the first democratic debate he has become the most Googled candidate running for POTUS.

I want to contribute to that explosion in my small way simply because I want to see good win and justice prevail for once in the world where there are so much evil and injustice. I want to see Sanders tax the hell out of Wall Street and the 1% and make it impossible for them to stash their money in the Camen Islands where they pay no tax at the expense of good middle-class Americans.

But I will get into all of that later. I hope you enjoy my blog and that it helps to inform and educate you if nothing else.

Ru-an