Bernie Sanders, JFK, and the Hearts of America

Bernie Sanders, JFK, and the hearts of America

I watched, as some of you might have, last night when Bernie came out on the stage for his highly anticipated Democrat National Convention speech….The magic and power happened before he ever uttered one word of his speech. All he could do was say “Thank You” over and over….and smile that smile of being overwhelmed with joy….the audience wouldn’t let him speak…they cheered and cheered…and many in the crowd were crying, some sobbing. You don’t get that kind of appreciation from a speech….you don’t get that from looking like a rock star in a blue dress and being the First Lady, or giving an impassioned speech like the one given by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker….Not even close!

You get that when you have come back from the battlefield…battle scarred….with hard fought victories. You get that from people who know, without a doubt, that you fought for them….not for yourself, not for anything but them……

Bernie Sanders didn’t get that kind of standing ovation when he was arrested and manhandled for protesting segregated housing while a 21 year old college student…he didn’t get it when he traveled to Washington for MLK’s "I Have a Dream" speech….or to Selma for MLK’s march. In fact, he was told by Dem civil rights icon, John Lewis, that “he never saw him there”. He got “swift boated" by Lewis and the whole DNC. Bernie showed no bitterness….he just kept talking about the working class….about the importance of confronting the spiral of income inequality that is choking to death so many families in this country….

His reception overshadowed the speech…oh, the speech was powerful, but just his normal stump speech, the one that got him here. The crowd was saying "Thank You" …for proving to the American electorate that you can indeed run a campaign that is not built on the backs of corporate America….you can build a campaign without being “bought and sold”. This was a “Thank You” for coming up with the courage to take on issues that were getting no voice…$15/hr. minimum wage, free college tuition. It wasn't "pie in the sky" after all. This was a "Thank You" for confronting the biggest political machine in this country, the most formidable steamroller that the DNC ever assembled. It was a "Thank You" for never being political, for restoring their faith in what a leader can be. The most trusted politician in America, maybe ever, Bernie Sanders miraculously ended up dragging Hillary Clinton to the altar…..the altar of reform, the altar of possibility….the altar of revolution. Time will tell if Hillary will carry out Bernie’s vision for America as she claims she will…I remain cynical though hopeful….

The standing ovation, cheering, tears, sobbing, et al….went on for over 4 minutes….it was something you NEVER see in politics….politicians just aren’t that revered or respected …the last time a political speech at a Convention had this kind of ovation was in 1964…that ovation last just over 10 minutes when Robert Kennedy was introduced in Atlantic City a mere 10 months after his brother was laid to rest in Arlington. It was the first time since JFK’s death that anyone had a chance to say “Thank You”, collectively, for what JFK meant to them….and to show his brother and the rest of the country that he will never be forgotten. It was overwhelmingly powerful…Robert Kennedy had tears in his eyes for much of his pause at the podium….the crowd then, did what it did for Bernie yesterday…it poured out it’s harbored appreciation.

And, just like in 64', when LBJ was the recipient of JFK's spoils, Hillary will try and ride the wave that Bernie launched.

The "experts" and paid operatives and media told Bernie to drop out months ago…after he clearly didn’t have the delegates to beat Hillary they told him to drop out, after he endorsed Hillary they told him to drop out…but Bernie kept his independence and continued fighting, not for himself, but for the ideals that get him out of bed every morning, every morning. He wrangled an amazing list of concessions from Hillary Clinton…he played his cards (your cards) like a high stakes casino hustler. He knew he had a “full house” and last night proved it….Hillary folded.

“Thank You” Bernie Sanders…for Hillary’s bartered acquiescence to free college tuition for any family making less than $125k. “Thanks” for Hillary’s new commitment to a $15/hr. minimum wage…and the list goes on…

It’s been 53 years since that moment in Atlantic City….it might be another 53 before we see a reception like we saw for Bernie last night…..

The startling thing is that Bernie Sanders didn’t do anything that difficult…he didn’t jump higher than anyone else, or run faster, or assemble the iphone, or map the human genome, or develop a vaccine for polio….

Bernie Sanders got a reception like no one else in this country could.…. a “Thank You”, not for anything impossible, but for something almost unheard of....for being a basic human being with huge vision and leadership, for being compassionate, courageous, honest, independent, thoughtful, selfless, and fearless. Bernie Sanders is a 75 year old white haired, bald, Jew with glasses and a slight humpback when he walks. He is very unlike JFK in this way…he doesn’t have Italian suits, and a perfect smile, or a Jackie O for a wife, or family fortunes, or movie star charm, or a heroic war record. He doesn’t hob nob with Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., nor will he ever be serenaded by someone like Marilyn Monroe coming out of a cake on his birthday…No, don't judge this book by it's cover....

Bernie probably owns 2 suits and drives a utility car, and as Bill Maher recently said,"combs his hair with a balloon".

If Jesus came back as a politician…he would probably come back as Bernie Sanders…who, besides Jesus, would not exploit the fact that Hillary was an eyelash away from indictment after a thorough and humiliating FBI probe for high crimes and misdemeanors…Instead, Bernie stuck to the issues, the ones that affect the 99% of America…he thought emails were a distraction. No one else would have done that…I'm quite sure his campaign managers were begging him to use the email scandal as just another example of Hillary’s bad judgment and corrupt cover up…but, Bernie has character that you don’t see in politicians……

As Bernie walked off stage after his epic appearance….he gave a big and barely discernible sigh, an exhale as if to say …..”It was all worth it”.

Robert Kennedy closed his speech with a quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, “When I think of President Kennedy I think of what Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet {“When he shall die, take him and cut him out into little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine, that all the world will be in love with night, and pay no worship to the garish sun”. When he was finished speaking, he left the hall, sat on the fire escape, and wept.

Thank You Bernie Sanders.....last night in that Convention Hall they cut you"out into little stars"....and made you "the face of heaven", and " paid no worship to the garish Sun."