By Ernie McCray
I’ve read comments somewhere out there in social media land that try to put Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the same bag as the perception that there isn’t much difference between democrats and republicans.
Well, I could take both sides of part of that argument but there’s a galaxy of separation between Bernie and The Donald. I mean one’s a progressive minded human being and the other is a narcissistic buffoon.
As to the clown, according to The Atlantic millions of people feel he is the best choice to lead America. Millions more “are motivated by giddyness at the chaotic spectacle of his success” which should involve, it seems to me, adding giddyness to the list of mental illnesses.
Lead America to what? Our own cartoon show? What should be glaring to any American, who has any awareness of what our society needs, is that Bernie Sanders has a vision for making us better, as a people, as a nation. Donald Trump offers nobody anything anywhere. At anytime. He was good for a laugh for a while, but he has no off switch, when it comes to spraying negativity around like a sprinkler that won’t turn off.
Bernie Sanders is about eradicating our social and political flaws. That Trump has a significant number of supporters points out, hands down, our country’s major flaw: our citizen’s inability to think critically.
Bernie hips us to how our very political system is bought by the greediest of billionaires, how income and wealth inequality is the great moral, economic, and political issue of our time.
Trump, a billionaire, chimes in with windy talk about running the country like he runs his many properties, not to mention that his corporations and casinos and hotels have declared bankruptcy four times.
Bernie wants to get big money out of politics, and Trump, weighs in with: “I give to politicians; and they give back: that’s broken!”
Bernie reminds us that we’re still in the midst of an ongoing unemployment crisis, and pushes us towards addressing it boldly. Regarding such topics as welfare and poverty, Trump can only say: “I don’t like firing people; work makes people better.” Well, that’s true. But somebody we know has made “You’re fired” a modern day saying.
Bernie talks of racial justice, of transforming our country into a nation that affirms the value of its people of color, a nation that won’t stand for the physical, political, legal, and economic violence that is waged against black and brown Americans. And what does Trump have to say about this? Nada.
Bernie leans, when it comes to crime, to demilitarizing and diversifying our police forces and training them to respond responsibly to all communities. Trump, with no apparent sensitivity to “lives mattering,” rallies around tough anti-crime policies while black and brown kids are shot down in the streets for minor crimes and no crimes.
Bernie speaks to how far we still need to go to ensure women’s rights while Trump, in the spirit of women should be barefoot and pregnant, badmouths a moderator who challenged him at a GOP debate with: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
Bernie calls for a fair and humane immigration policy. Trump pretty much claims that those who come here desperate, seeking a better life, are dope dealers and muggers and reasons for our women to pack heat. Truth is: we’re talking about some of the hardest working people on the face of the earth.
Bernie wants living wages for all. Trump thinks food stamps should be temporary.
Bernie’s trying to coax us away from viewing “family values” as opposing contraception and gay rights and denying a woman’s right to choose – when it should be about being real, about being compassionate, about strengthening the bonds of and improving the lives of families.
Trump’s contribution to this particular conversation centers on how he’s an honorable guy who is pro-life as though there are no homeless babies and hungry babies and babies who live on mean streets that our society cares not a thing about.
Bernie sees it as way past time for us to take climate change and the environment seriously so the planet can remain habitable for our children and grandchildren down the line. And he encourages us to reform Wall Street, insisting, based on the great bail-outs of the U.S. financial system of 2008, that if a bank is too big to fall, it is too big to exist.
Trump boasts that “Climate change is a hoax” and when it comes to turning the economy around, well, there’s always, as a last resort, bankruptcy.
Oh, the differences between these two men stands out like the difference between the darkness of midnight and the light of a bright sunny day.
Ernie McCray
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You’re right, Ernie. Trump and Bernie are total opposites. Trump is an Archie Bunker with money, a lot of it. Bernie represents the 99% who have been losing out. Trump represents the 1%, but tells people that they too can become winners if they only look up to and emulate him. Or better yet they can adulate him because he’s so great. A lot of people just want someone to follow, and they’re happy to have Trump as their leader. Bernie wants people to think for themselves and support some logical remedies to our political and economic system. Trump’s followers don’t want to think about anything, just leave it all up to him and other rich people who will look after them from a sense of noblesse oblige.
Yep..Trump sounds more and more like Hitler every day.
I think of Trump as a pied piper who has all these children follow him. The many folks that find him so appealing have very childish minds and as stated in the article lack critical thinking.
We can just hope that he will not be their candidate.
Trump sounds more like Mussolini than like Hitler. In fact, the similarities of Trump and Mussolini are startling. Two fascist peas in a pod.
you tell it like it is, ernie. and Donald had a comment on that deflated football case. all the problems in this country and he has to talk about that. and I blame the media. why is he getting all this coverage. the joke is over. and I hate that 16 months before the election we are being battered by all the coverage of those clowns who also hate women.
Mainstream news now — no matter whether it’s US Today or Fox or even The New York Times — is a waste of time. The fodder we’re being fed is the result of resigned cynicism among reporters who’ve sold their souls to keep their jobs. They’re making available cheap calories, like the gas station quickie marts that pack the checkout counter with cigarets, cheap chocolate and breath mints but make you march to pick up the beer.
The abandonment of their real work is well expressed in this New Yorker review written by Louis Menand of Joan Didion’s political reporting:
“… this is how what she calls ‘the permanent political class’ — the press, the talk show experts, the campaign strategists, the political parties, even the candidates themselves — has rigged the game. Everyone knows that what you see in politics is fake or confected, but everyone’s OK with that because it’s all been focus grouped.'”
Hillary? Bernie?
Here they are side-by-side on the issues in their own words (6 minute video starting to go viral)
It seems my namesake once said, it could have been about The Donald,
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
Or my favorite, and it applies to Trump opening his big mouth,
“I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book.”
Or the San Diego Free Press…
Ernie, thank you for putting your ‘good foot’ forward for Bernie Sanders. Your voice is like a compass–pointing us all in the right direction.
Will feature your essay on FB pages Women for Bernie Sanders 2016 and California for Bernie Sanders because everyone should read this!
Thanks for spreading the word, Pat.
Trump is what Gore Vidal would call a Crypto-Fascist- He has been endorsed by white nationalist racist organizations
sure, while their differences are considerable – the most compelling trait they share is not being the candidates of choice for the NY Banksters & their ilk, & their henchmen (including their mainstream media tools)
the 1%+ are not at all confident they can own them, & there for – support them. that is, unlike proven Bankster tools like the Bush & Clinton gangs, & anyone else willing to sell their eternal soul for dirty dollars, & pander to their excessively pigish agenda (the paper pu$her$/ manipulator$ – modern day-esque robber barrons (the Uber-GREEDY 1%+).
Hey Bernie-What a fine comparison and contrast between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders that you have put together here. It is interesting that these two men are both ahead in polling for the two early primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire. However there are many more primaries to come and the strength of their campaign organization will be much more severely tested over time. It was Trumps former wife, Ivana, in a magazine article, that let us know that the Donald considered Mein Kampf of Adolf Hitler as good bedtime reading. Come to think of it he has adopted the bombastic and scapegoating style of a Mussolini or a Hitler. In contrast, Sanders leans on the work of people like Reich, Stiglits, et al who profess egalitarian views of a similar nature, not unlike those of many of the Democratic Socialist parties of Europe. I believe that a Trump Presidency would be entirely different than a Sanders Presidency, and the sabre rattling views of Donald Trump would more likely lead us into WWIII, than the decidedly more non- violent views of Bernie Sanders would.
Hey Ernie-I liked what you wrote so much that I attributed it to Bernie, himself. Sorry about that! Your friend, John.