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.
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Ernie, well said. Bernie Sanders really understands what income inequality is doing to this country. We are losing our middle class. We are becoming a country of haves and have nots.