Longtime readers may have noticed I
don't say much in the way of political views. To a certain extent
this is a survival technique. Steering conversations away from major
issues helps to keep the work environment friendly, a pretty
important thing when working as a contractor. I generally hold true
to this practice when blogging as well. Though, let's face it,
reviewing energy drinks and old movie novelizations leaves little
room for statements about gay rights and social justice. I do demand
a certain level of human decency so the only way anyone ever draws
out my opinions is by doing or saying something downright despicable.
Then I gotta give em some act right. In simplest terms, I'm a Bernie
Sanders supporter, a role that on Wednesday afternoon landed me in a
stadium for my first ever political rally.
I first head about Bernie's visit from
my brother who wanted to check out the gathering. Usually I would've
avoided the whole scene but lord knows I've been craving some new
experiences lately. The announcement my brother had received told us
to get to the Breslin Center in East Lansing by 4 PM. Earlier that
day some radio hosts talked up how big the lines were and how
interested parties should get there early. Advice like this is
probably why radio is a dying art form. I can't say as arriving saved
us much hassle though it did provide us with the chance for ground
floor viewing. They were right about one thing, the lines were indeed
long.
Seeing as this rally was taking place
right on Michigan State University territory, a large subset of the
gathering was from the student body. Here's the part where my inner
grumpy old man shines through. I didn't much enjoy the company of
colleges students when I counted among their ranks. Nowadays it's
like being surrounded by a whole different species. I just can't
understand someone who talks about duck language vines while wearing
8-bit graphic socks. put on Still; if these kids can help someone
decent get into office I'll have to cut em a little slack. Just not
on the socks, never forgive the socks.
Eventually we entered the Breslin
Center, the first time in my case since I'm not a big public
gathering/concert kind of person. The whole place is a tad outdated
in design. In fact, it feels somewhat like an enormous bathroom.
MSU's working on some renovations so maybe when I visit again in
another thirty years it'll be upgraded to quaint.
Our first seating arrangement proved
troublesome as the traditional fold seats were two small for some
party members necessitating a need to move down to lower bleacher
style seating. This eventually caused trouble for me as I had to keep
my legs in childbirth position so as not to drive my knees into the
spines of two college girls. It was at this time that I asked my
brother a rather important detail. We were told to get there by four,
but when was the actual speech supposed to start? Turns out at that
very moment, Bernie was giving a speech in New England and wasn't
supposed to be on stage for us until seven. No way was my ass gonna
hold out in that spot for two more hours.
Suddenly, inspiration struck the
group. At the very bottom of the stadium was the pit where the actual
event takes place. Contained therein was essentially the woodstock of
this gathering along with the press area. Only so many people were
allowed into that level and gifted with a wrist band that allowed
them free passage. We slunk down just in time to nab enough bands
allowing us to roam the halls freely. This was a life saver not only
for my poor ass but for my body that was screaming for a cup of
coffee. Even at stadium prices, black coffee is haven.
Once we returned to the pit, it became
apparent just how many people had showed up. The place was a madhouse
of chants, woos, waves, and cellphone flashlight shows. I've seen
events described as electric but you could honestly feel a charge in
the room much different from the usual blah feelings you get from
town festivals and the like. The people here were pumped to an extent
that could energize even the sleepiest of cynics. That mood only
continued to grew along with the size of the audience until it
finally came time for some speeches.
Several people came out before the big
guy, the best of which was Ja'Mal Green. I hadn't heard of him before
but he's apparently an activist out of Chicago and I gotta say the
kid knows how to get people revved up. I mean there were some
deafening roars of applause for his speech but nothing matched the
noise when Sanders himself showed up. The experience could best by
described a rampaging herd of elephants funneled through a
loudspeaker straight into your skull.
Bernie's speech was fine as always.
I'll admit the guy repeats some of the same beats a bit too often,
but when it's actual positive ideas about giving people a shot at
making this world even a moderately better place you can't fault him.
It's good, agreeable stuff that I hope catches on. People like to
claim he's some sort of crazed wizard but is there really anything
all that odd about wanting a world where people actually have
opportunities and access to jobs, education, food, clean water (a big
one in Michigan these days), and health care? The message was good
enough that I felt I should at least do something to help spread it
around. That resulted in this post.
There's plenty more primaries coming
our way. Michigan folk have ours next Tuesday, and I think there's
something this weekend as well. Basically I want to encourage folks
to get out there and vote for Sanders. No, I'm not going to try and
convince you he's some golden god who will save us all, but I do
think he's our best chance at fixing some social issues. Given the
state of our culture wouldn't you at least like to try and make
things better? I mean it's worth a shot, right? So get out there and
do something worthwhile. Oh and don't worry about this site, we'll be
right back to superheroes and candy before you know it.
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