The Heartbreaking Tragedy of Bernie Sanders

By Scott Stephens

The outcome was nearly inevitable, but it was still painful, nonetheless. On Tuesday, March 10th, Bernie Sanders made his last stand. If the United States is ever to become a democracy again, a younger version of Bernie Sanders will have to lead the way. But at this point, with the majority of wealth held by so few individuals, it’s conceivable that Bernie may be the last of his kind.

Just like the last election, the establishment wasn’t about to risk letting Bernie go any further. This wasn’t just the DNC putting on the brakes; it involved almost all the major media outlets. Even MSNBC gave Sanders almost no support. Ironically it comes back to the same thing that Bernie has been preaching all these years, the ultra-rich having a disproportionate say in the electoral process.

Bernie was too old to run. If inaugurated, at 79, he would’ve been eight years older than the next oldest president to take the throne, Donald Trump who was 70 at the time he was inaugurated. A democracy needs a young, vibrant leader. Obama, Clinton and Kennedy were all in their 40s when they took office. Jimmy Carter was in his young 50s. Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan, the two oldest presidents at the inauguration, were both about 70 years old. Bernie was nearly a full decade older than that. But Sanders was the real deal. He was authentic and because of that, he was loved by so many. Most progressives knew he was past his prime even during the last election. We wished and hoped for another charismatic candidate like Barack Obama, but more progressive. But as unbelievable as it seems, there was no one to match the appeal of the principled man from Vermont.

Do you feel the politics of this self-proclaimed democratic socialist so radical? Sanders platform contained four main ideals:

1. Higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy

2. Medicare for all

3. Free college for all

4. Green new deal to combat global warming

None of these programs could be considered radical in any way. In the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, the top federal income tax rate never dipped below 70%. Most Americans would agree, that period was the best of times for this country. This period was a time in which we built our schools, our roads and had ample leisure time. No one called the United States of America socialist at that time.

Every other developed nation in the world offers universal healthcare. The United States is the only first-world country that has yet to implement free or near-free healthcare. Is this a radical idea? The obvious answer is certainly not!

Currently, 24 countries offer free education to their citizens. These include France, Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Panama, Egypt, Malaysia and many more. It always baffles me how so many pro-American nationalists don’t feel we can do what so much of the world is doing. Is health care a radical idea? Are all of those countries above socialist? Of course not!

With all of the compelling scientific evidence on global warming, is protecting the environment a radical idea? Only to the companies that stand to lose some of their enormous profits. To the rest of us, it’s certainly not a radical idea.

Overall it’s a pretty tough case to make that Bernie Sanders is radical. His progressive politics are extremely fair to everyone and bring about important changes that are so necessary right now.

So what else did Bernie propose? A new tax on individuals with a net worth of over 32 million. High-speed Internet for all. Gun safety. Legalization of marijuana. Fairtrade. Wall Street reform, and so on. If you go down the line issue by issue, most Americans agree with Bernie.

The media and the DNC have never given Bernie a fair shot. Democrats are very lucky that Sanders isn’t driven by his ego the way many politicians are. He has a strong moral compass and an abundance of common sense. Therefore he has never ventured out to lead a third-party run. He realizes this would be a disaster and guarantee another Trump victory. Self-control and modesty may well be his best asset. It takes great inner strength to pass up the opportunity of a third-party run. That’s the kind of person Sanders is.

Whoever the next great progressive leader might be, they will need to promote policies very similar to what Bernie has been advocating all his life. The progressive agenda is not radical at all. It’s right in the center of where we need to be. To the left of democratic socialism is communism. That is not something Bernie or progressive Democrats advocate. To the right of this center should be the politics of those like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Biden has been handed the baton. Like Sanders, his better days are behind him. It is hard to fathom that the Democratic Party cannot put forth a younger, more vibrant candidate than Joe, who is now 78 years of age. That’s just flat out too old. The establishment now has the two candidates they wanted. They will win with either of them. Joe Biden is anything but progressive and he won’t rock the boat. The oil and financial sectors would love to see Trump reelected, but their second choice now doesn’t look too bad to them. Once Sanders and Warren exited their nightmares subsided. Life is never fair.

So what to do now? I would hope the answer is obvious to every Democrat or independent. Vote for sleepy Joe, of course! The alternative is an absolute disaster. It’s a tough time for those of us that believe in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and folks like Warren and Sanders. The big change we are all looking for isn’t going to happen in this next election. But we need to vote blue up and down the ballot, locally and nationally. Progress usually happens in small increments. Electing a Democratic president is a big step in the right direction. We need to turn the Senate blue and expand that beautiful blue in the House of Representatives. Until we have a strong majority in both places, we are not going to see a true progressive in the White House.

Bernie Sanders is truly a great American hero. You have every right to shed some tears in regards to what happened on March 10th. It was a very sad and tragic day for America. These are not good times. By now, let’s wipe those tears and carry the torch that he has ignited. He gave it everything he had. Let’s do the same!