I’ve driven through almost ten states in the last two months, all on the east coast, and the only bumper sticker I’ve seen on the backs of cars is a “Vote for Bernie” sticker. This is with driving both through cities and rural areas and everywhere in between.
I swear, I haven’t seen a single HRC sticker or Donald Drumpf sticker in all that time. I know their supporters exist amongst the same geographic areas, but as far as I can tell they’re not as excited.
It’s a wild observation.
I mean, even with the road signs in front of people’s yards, the only non-Bernie one I’ve seen was in DC and it was for HRC. At almost every venue I’ve played along these two tours, the exterior of the house had a Bernie Sanders sign or a sticker. I even stayed at a farm in Flemington, NJ where the residents had painted a huge Bernie Sanders sign outside along their gravel farm road. I can’t think of any other candidate who has murals painted by street artists in so many cities, at least not one’s where they happened completely independently from the direct prompting of any campaign official but instead happened solely because of inspired citizens.
I mean, I have to admit the fervor has made me feel safer in my travels. It’s like being surrounded by the warm hearts of family. Just yesterday a woman at a gas station said, “Nice Bernie Sanders sticker!” to me (I’m a part of this vote for peace as well) from across the lot.
I laughed at first, hoping to dodge a political debate, hearing her voice and reacting to the compliment as if it were sarcastic. But then I looked up and saw she was entirely sincere. So I smiled and said, “Thank you. Let’s hope he gets in there.” We waved and then both drove off in our seperate journeys. Then I went to Bernsville, NC (a local joke, actually spelled Burnsville) and saw what felt like the epicenter of what could be possible for us all, if he really were elected. A communal effort full of art and creativity living off the land and worshipping the moon and the stars.
I don’t understand what’s so foul about those ideas to others. For instance, I found a comic zine in the bathroom at a McDonalds in Blacksburg, VA that basically said something like “Beware of all hippies and punks. They collect crystals and don’t beleve in God but worship a goddess named Gaia instead”.
My response to that was, “So fuckin’ what?”
I mean, where the heck does that part of the human condition come from? What in our DNA causes us to judge others and decide what’s the best for them? Why can’t people just let go and let others do what they want? Why can’t they just mellow out some? It’s like the people that created that zine are absolutely insane with hate. They’re deluded by it.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Bernie Sanders fervor is something really interesting. It’s surprising to me the mainstream’s response thus far has been mostly radio silence and scathing reviews of disbelief. It’s surprising they haven’t just co-opted the whole thing yet. Or that seemingly they haven’t been able to.
And now everyone’s saying they’re doing their best in blocking our abilities to vote. The optimist in me doesn’t see this as purposeful manipulation. Instead it registers it as an example of how our civilization or at least our country is truly crumbling into ineffective bureaucracy. Like, wow! We’ve gotten this far and our voting system is still 13 steps in the opposite direction of where it should be. The cynic in me says there’s purpose in this complete incompetence.
But yet, Bernie Sanders is still winning hearts and minds. And I’ve seen him speak. He also sounds sincere. Like so sincere, he’s showing how exhausted he is that he’s 74 and he’s seen how this whole country works (or rather doesn’t) and he’s flabberghasted that he has to work through that entirely broken system to attempt a win in order to fix it.
Obama had fervor. But not this early. And not ever this much. Has any candidate that anyone can remember ever touched this many hearts?
I mean, hot damn. It’s a wonder to watch so much of the world so engaged and enthralled by the intention of Love. Have we made it across the threshold into a new era of heart-centered individuals just in the nick of time? Just before we destroy ourselves and everything around us?
Or is this just another way that the natural cycle of the way things are, continues to laugh at us, all on its own volition?
The Life and Works of Marshall James Kavanaugh 