Dear Journalism: Please Stop Ignoring Bernie Sanders. Sincerely, Everyone.

In 1992, the United States Presidential Election was contested by a person named Clinton and a person named Bush. Lest we forget, also featured in a guest-starring role was a fun little sidekick, Ross Perot, who sported one show-stealing physical feature (in his case, giant ears), a funny, easily-imitable accent, a veracious claim to being "outside the system", and the ability to fund his own campaign.

Here we are, 23 years later faced with yet another Bush/Clinton Presidential Election. For a country that was founded in large part on a distrust of and revulsion to royalties and monopolies, we sure do seem to love our Bushes and our Clintons. When is the last time neither of those families have had at least one individual in a position of power during any political cycle. I guarantee you, it hasn't happened as long as I've been alive. Really. Which, of course, leads to a question: how has it worked out for us? 

Of course, it hasn't all been the faults of the Clintons and Bushes. There have been other people with different last names elected to high offices, and recently a new breed of "people" have sprung up. They are called corporations, and they aren't actually people, except when they are, but they sure have had an inordinate amount of influence on how the country is run. That is a conversation for another time, but the point is that while the Bushes, Clintons, and the new "people" have run the country, things seem to have taken a staggering downturn. 

The American "journalism" machine, however, hasn't seemed to notice. Or worse yet, perhaps they have noticed (as I suspect), and are perfectly happy to have history repeat itself. They gleefully dedicate reams of paper and gallons of ink to every scrap of empty nothing said by our most recently- anointed Bush/Clintons, Hilary and Jeb. The Power of the Press is impressive and dutiful in this country, and they have used their power to endow the Clintons and Bushes with an advantage that money can buy, but those with the money are getting for free. Not only is American "journalism" lazy, it's also unoriginal and stupid. In this landscape where we admire troglodytes like Kim Kardashian and Phil Robertson, even going so far as to anoint them "geniuses" (Kim is a genius at promotion, Robertson a biblical scholar of some sort), the media has lapped up Donald Trump's candidacy announcement with fervor. Even the talking heads who claim to oppose Donald Trump (as they, and you, should) shower him with airtime. He's the new funny sidekick. While I do admit that it is important to dedicate some space to Trump and how ridiculous he is, his time has long reached maximum necessary, legitimate exposure. 

The only thing the American Press has done well in every election cycle since 1980, is discredit, either by ridiculing or ignoring, certain candidates while elevating others. There has been a Bush or Clinton family member in every single national primary from that year forward.  The Bush family have long been white-collar Washington insiders. While the Clintons are a decade behind the Bushes as far as length of influence, they have made up for lost time with reigns as governor, president, senator, and cabinet member. In some way, the Clintons are creepier than the Bushes, as they have accomplished those feats within a single generation. All the while, the American press has fawned, or at least granted airtime, to anyone with either of those last names, simultaneously using the above-mentioned techniques of mockery and silence to crush candidates like Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader, Jill Stein, and Gary Johnson. Of course, they always have room for a clown show, which is why Sarah Palin still gets airtime, and why Donald Trump will be given a platform this time around. You will read 100 articles between now and November 2016 about how the two-party system is best for democracy, how it's what the Founders intended, and how too many candidates leaves no one in the majority. 

Which leads us to Bernie Sanders. He is seeking the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States in 2016. He is not running as a third party candidate at all, but based on the amount of press his legitimate (read: not a clown show) campaign has received, you may suspect that he is running as a member of the Balloon Animal Party. It's clear that this is because the establishment press understands the threat he poses to their beloved Hilary and Jeb. I have taken it upon myself to attempt to shine a light on Bernie Sander's policy positions on the things that matter to me, and hopefully persuade you to look into it a bit more, yourself. And more hopefully still, support Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Presidential Election.

Campaign Finance/PACs: Bernie Sanders has stated, according to Politico, that he will not nominate any Supreme Court Justices that do not vow to vote to overturn the abhorrent Citizen's United decision: "If elected president, I will have a litmus test in terms of my nominee to be a supreme court justice and that nominee will say they are going to overturn this disastrous Supreme Court decision". Sanders has literally put his money where his mouth is, and is not using a Super PAC to fund his campaign. In contrast, Clinton has conveniently found that she "doesn't like them, but needs them to compete." This is especially enlightening given her recent admissions on how much she gets paid to give speeches. 

Marijuana/Drugs: Bernie Sanders co-sponsored the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act, which states that no provision of the Controlled Substances Act shall prohibit:

- the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use;

-  an individual from obtaining and using marijuana from a physician's prescription or recommendation for medical use;

-  a pharmacy from obtaining and holding marijuana for the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use under applicable State Law.
-  any provision of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act from prohibiting or restricting a State entity from producing or distributing marijuana for the purpose of its distribution for prescription or recommendation by a physician in a State in which marijuana may be prescribed by a physician for medical use.
Additionally, Sanders has voted against establishing military border patrols to combat the importation of drugs (source: Bill HR 2586, vote 2001-356; House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR2592). Speaking of the military...

Military/Israel/Iraq/Afghanistan: In March, Sanders expressed opposition to a budget provision proposed by Republicans in the Senate to expand the Pentagon's war budget to $96 BILLION(!!). Sanders has long boasted about his opposition, backed up by his voting record,  to the authorization of military force in Iraq (the only current candidate who can make such a claim). In July of 2014, he stated that "planes and tanks are a cost of war. So is taking care of the men and women who use those to fight our battles." Sanders again displayed the courage of his convictions when he co-sponsored the Veteran's Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014. The bill allocated $16.3 billion to improve VA hospital services for returning veterans. He has also voiced support for continued negotiations with Iran, and has opposed pre-emptive military action in every case I can find. (source:http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Bernie_Sanders_War_+_Peace.htm; http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-passes-veterans-health-care-bill)

Social Security: A quote by Sanders, taken from CNS News: “Before the creation of Social Security, about half of our nation’s seniors lived in poverty,” he said. “In other words, Social Security has had a profound impact on lower income benefits for seniors. Yet despite this enormous success, the Republicans in the House made a rules change that will make it easy for them to make huge cuts to this enormously important and successful program.

“We’ve got to send a very clear and loud message. That’s what your petitions have done,” Sanders said. “To the Republican leadership in the Senate and the House: stop manufacturing a crisis that does not exist in the Social Security Disability Insurance Program.

“Stop trying to pit senior citizens on fixed incomes against the disabled. Stop rigging the rules for making it easier to cut Social Security - benefits for the most vulnerable people in this country, while providing even more tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires and the most profitable corporations in this country,” he added.

“Does anybody in America support that?” the senator asked. “Not really, but they get away with that, because many Americans don’t know what's going on. The skyrocketing increase in wealth and income inequality over the past three decades has not only hurt millions of Americans, it caused the middle class to shrink, but it is also hurting Social Security.

“One thing I do know damn well is that you don't cut those benefits. You expand those benefits,” said Sanders.

Please consider Bernie Sander for President in 2016.