Whether or not you’re feeling the full-bern, the partial-bern, or perhaps the no-bern, the language coming out of Bernie Sanders’ campaign is some of the most refreshing of the current political landscape.
Does that make him the right man for the job? Well, there’s room to go round and round on that.
But one is point clear — until we tip over some of the artificial walls that divide us, we’re playing right into the hands of those who clutch at power for the wrong reasons.
That’s the general message of a new ad created by Sanders supporters, using a rallying speech set against images of torn faces to drive home the idea of “togetherness.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“If we do not let them divide us up by race, by sexual orientation, by gender — by not allowing them to divide us up by whether or not we were born in America, or whether we’re immigrants — when we stand together, as white and black and hispanic and gay and straight and woman and man — when we stand together, and demand that this country works for all of us, rather than the few, we will transform America.”
Watch the ad, which was produced by New York ad agency Human, below:
jonathanc621
This bullshit between Bernie and Hillary about who made the right votes when, who has been an ally longer, and who is the biggest fighter for equality is just that: bullshit. This sounds like children in a playground fighting over who was on the monkey bars first. No one cares! Talk about real issues! Instead of fighting over who was right in the past, talk about what can be done in the future.
Spike
Bernie is unelectable and making promises that he cannot keep, much like the tea party did 8 years back. HRC the most qualified candidate and our best and only chance at continuing and building on President Obama’s legacy. The next President will nominate 2-4 Supreme Court justices, if the next President is a republican we can say good bye to every progressive civil right we have gained and it will last for generations.
billeetee
Oh Really? BernieBot has finally noticed us? Since when? When Hillary began to acquire our votes? Sorry, Bernie…but quit patronizing us!
MrEguy
Bernie Sanders will be the next president of the United States. #Bernie2016 #FeelTheBERN
craigbrew2
I’m not feeling the Bern. HRC all the way!
itzallan
@jonathanc621: I agree that it’s the real issues that matter, but notice how they weren’t getting a whole lot of attention from the media until they began the drama? So there are people who care about that kind of talk. They do talk about real issues, but there’s also the petty issues that get mixed into the lot, which seems to get more attention than even the important issues. Now if you really want to see adults acting like children, check out one of the GOP debates.
jlicks
Bernie Sanders and his supporters will destroy all that the Democratic party has accomplished in the last 8 years. He says that if elected he will bridge the gap between parties. News flash…He is not very liked on either side of the aisle. If you think that it was a do nothing Congress other Obama, you “ain’t seen nothing yet”. The Republicans blocked every thing Obama tried to do. What do you think they will do with a Socialist in office?
captainburrito
@jonathanc621:
Their record is important. It is a good guide for us. Bernie has been consistent just like Ron Paul was with his principles. Clinton follows majority opinion like Merkel. Those are considerations.
John Malin
N O P E ! ! !
1EqualityUSA
The Secretary smoked him in the PBS debate, Feb 11, 2016….turning point. His weaknesses were showing, the feeble, non-productive cough didn’t help his case. Superficial glossing over Middle East won’t get him elected. Watch that debate. She served him slices of his brain and he didn’t even know it.
Clay Miller
Maybe….
AxelDC
The only thing that matters is keeping Republicans out of the White House.
AxelDC
1020609″>1EqualityUSA: He gets a zero on foreign policy. Saying you don’t like Kissinger is not a policy; it’s just a snide retort.
Deb Equality Della Piana
@Spike: You’re right. If all you’re going to do is sit there and wait for whomever you elect to do it alone…NONE of it will happen. Just as none of it has happened for the last 8 years. It wasn’t Obama that got it done. From the very beginning, Sanders has said it’s up to the people to help him make it happen. That is the basis of government “Of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Remember that? If all you’re going to do is act like a naysayer and do no work to help him shape government, then don’t bitch.
James St James
I do love Drag Queens supporting Bernie – you know exact same people who complains about companies not paying tax, but these basic b#tches are also not paying their own taxes – there is no difference between you and these companies.
Aromaeus
Hillary Clinton is a chameleon who changes to fit the political climate and whoever she’s pandering to. I’ll vote for the candidate whose been consistently right on the issues versus the one who changes once it’s already been decided it was a bad idea. I also have forgotten how she fed into the birther BS when running against Obama and “super-predator” talk against black youth during her husband’s administration. I’d love a woman president, I’ll vote for Elizabeth Warren when she runs. At least she’s a real progressive.
Aromaeus
haven’t forgotten*
Doughosier
@Spike: How is he unelectable? If he gets more votes (like in Nre Hampshire and Iowa, some say) he will win the nomination. If all Democrats vote for him, he’ll win. Unless the Hillary people don’t vote, which would be stupid. Republicans are going to vote Republican and slander whoever the Democrats run.
jonathanc621
@captainburrito: No one, not even the most liberal politician of either party, has been for same-sex marriage or gay rights since birth. This race to see who was there first is trite and pointless.
Spike
@Deb Equality Della Piana: And you realize that when he reminds us that the basis of government “Of the people, by the people, and for the people”, those people also include GOP moderates, tea baggerz, evangelicals, white supremacists, racists, homophobes and billionaires that have no interests in any of what he is guaranteeing. This notion that if all Democrats and progressives rise up and elect him President, then the Govt. will again be ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’ is delusional.
Bauhaus
@1EqualityUSA:
That was a low blow! LOL!
Spike
@Doughosier: His age, he is Jewish, he has referred to himself as a Democrat Socialist, his complete disconnect to foreign policy, among other things make him unelectable. Moderates from both parties elect the President, GOP moderates will not give him a second look.
Jim Philbrick
Dude is a big gas bag whose ideas will NEVER happen,, if he wins the nomination he’ll get destroyed in November
jonathanc621
@Doughosier: He got more votes in New Hampshire, not Iowa (all say). Congrats on winning a state that has picked the loser in every Democratic primary for the last 40 years without an incumbent.
Hillary won in ’08, loses primary.
Kerry won in ’04, loses general.
Gore in ’00, loses general.
Tsongas in ’92, loses primary.
Dukakis in ’88, loses general.
Hart in ’84, loses primary.
Carter in ’76
1EqualityUSA
She was so in control of that debate. His arms were bouncing around, as though pulled by strings. He really needs to take stock. This performance was very telling. We need cool and calm, not a revolution.
mz.sam
Bernie now playing catch-up with LGBT, Blacks, Latinos and gun-control advocates. I can’t see a red faced, fingers waving Bernie of no international experience at a world summit with power leaders of the western world…pretty scary. Hillary has already developed the relationship with these people and can negotiate with them from day one. HRC all the way!
Hussain-TheCanadian
Mark my words – if Hillary Clinton becomes President, she will be a war mongering Hawk – God knows who else she will launch a war against, and it won’t be pretty.
OUTnABOUT
We all know how Hillary has always been for the people. WHEN IT’S MOST CONVENIENT FOR HER! She’s not kidding people! Give her your f**king dollars!!
Stached1
I do not like either HRC or Bernie as they are both hypocrites and both are typical politicians making false promises. I will vote for the Green party instead.
1EqualityUSA
May the green party deliver fair, unbiased Supreme Court justices to you, Stached1.
Realitycheck
Grand grand grandPa Sanders is pretty much a commie and doesn’t have a chance in hell to be elected.
If you vote for Sanders you will elect Trump it is that simple.
He got lucky so far and still got less delegates then Clinton, and all the upcoming states are in Hillary hands.
Realitycheck
@Stached1: Translation you are wasting a democratic vote and giving the upper hand to the republicans, rolling my eyes!!!
Realitycheck
@OUTnABOUT: Grow up and go sell crazy some where else.
I am a New Yorker and Hillary was a fantastic Senator, she was able to cross the isle and make deal, good luck with NO SUPPORT Bernie to do that, LOL
Realitycheck
@Deb Equality Della Piana: What did Sanders say???? He doesn’t have the political capital to do NOT one of things he promised, and you think people will rise and do it with him?
This is not Mexico! In the USA doesn’t work that way, and you know why? Because we have the best life style in the world bar none.
And by the way nice touch with “I will raise taxes” that is the biggest election killers of them all.
So vote for Sanders and you are helping Trump to get elected……
Ummmm Yeah
No I’m not feeling it. He can’t pay for what he wants to do and he’s weak. He ran from two Black Live Matter big mouths. He can’t handle Putin, North Korea and the Middle East. I’m not crazy about Hillary and her connections to big business but she’s better than him.
kayakriver
TRUMP all the way.
Wilberforce
He can’t be elected. If he were the nominee, corporate media would go scorched earth to defeat him. And if he were elected, he couldn’t govern. Remember, democrats have sat out so many elections, that republicans control both houses.
The stakes are too high. No matter how much we might like his policy positions, we can’t afford to take the risk with Bernie. We have to vote, but also do our best to convince his people to support Hillary.
emperor28_1
Glad to see so much support for Secretary Clinton here. She HAS been with us more firmly than Sen. Sanders has been, but we still have to thank the Senator for all his help throughout the years, too. Just a fact that Sect. Clinton can win in November, and Bernie cannot.
Too many Sandernistas learned nothing from history, and as we all know, they who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. They don’t seem to understand that any time a Party nominates a candidate from either extreme, they lose. Badly. Just ask Presidents William Jennings Bryant, Adali Stevenson, Barry Goldwater, and George McGovern.
Howefver, whether it’s Hilary or Bernie in November, we in the LGBT community MUST stand with them. Could you ever imagine the nightmare of a President Cruz, Trump, or any of the other Republican bigots?!?!
kel777
So dismaying to see all the conservatives here praising Hillary.
By the way, I’d written a long comment, which the website promptly ate after pressing “Post Comment”. You’ve got a bad bug.
kel777
@AxelDC: Hillary’s glowing remarks regarding Kissinger, if her supporters had any sense or semblance of sanity at all, would have sent her straight to 10 points nationally. Associating yourself with someone who would make Dick Cheney blush is not something anyone should admire.
kel777
One of the best political ads I’ve ever seen. Go Bernie! You will be our next president!
Patrick
Just feeling the bernout. Hillary – our next POTUS!
bicurious
I’m most definitely not “feeling the bern.” All is does is make pie in the sky promises that he will never be able to deliver and that is pandering of the worst sort.
I am increasingly excited about the prospect of Hillary Clinton being president. She is so on top of the issues and inspires a great deal of confidence.
tricky ricky
the ONLY thing that sanders has managed to accomplish in the 15 years he’s been in congress is go on msnbc and b*tch. he has done nothing but get a post office named. he’s pathetic.
1EqualityUSA
kel777, we didn’t watch the same debate if you feel she was glowing over Kissinger. What she said is that she takes the entire picture into account and, though she may not agree with everything that person has done, she will consider their area of expertise and put it all on the table before coming up with a decision that best protects the country. Bernie, out of small-minded spite, would not even consider one he has banished from the Situation Room. I want a global thinker, not a one-hit-wonder. He was in Washington for 20 years, so why didn’t he fix these issues then? Bern thinks like a Senator, not a leader of a world power.
kel777
@1EqualityUSA:
They are good friends and spend vacations together.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/hillary-clinton-kissinger-vacation-dominican-republic-de-la-renta
1EqualityUSA
Hillary’s a natural. For every arm waving, hand flipping, finder wagging shallow answer the Bern coughed up, Hillary answered with 10-fold-nuanced, global perspective, informed leadership. This debate is a turning point. Bern let his weakness show and it was clear he was out of his league in this debate. I loved how overtime he waved his hands and talked about Wall Street, she would put a pen nick on her pad of paper. Subtle, genteel, record keeping, rather than being vulgar and interrupting him the way Chris Christie interrupted Marco Rubio when he kept repeating his one-hit-wonder line. She is polished. Having been involved with so many on the world stage, she is so much more prepared to govern. This Feb 11, 2016 PBS debate was really something to behold. Body language spoke volumes too. She kept her cool. He…didn’t.
kel777
@tricky ricky:
That is a bald faced lie.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-gets-it-done-sanders-record-pushing-through-major-reforms-will-surprise-you
Eldred
@billeetee: “BernieBot has finally noticed us?”
You’re clearly uninformed.
queenrosered
I can’t tell you how glad it makes my heart to see that, by and large, the community here TRULY sees Hillary and Bernie for who and what they are and are ready to support the one who is “ready from day one”! I’m practically bursting with pride in my LGBT friends!
I realize that Hillary wasn’t for same-sex marriage initially but she did come around, just as Obama and so many others have.
I can’t wait till February 20th, to caucus for her here in Las Vegas! #ImWithHer! Goodnight all! \o <3333
Captain Obvious
@billeetee: It’s cute that you think Hilary cares one bit about gay people or anyone else who doesn’t fit her agenda. She’s out to make money off the presidency just like Bush Jr did before her.
You really know nothing about her goals if you think you’re anywhere on her radar.
votedem2016
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/23/hillary-is-no-gay-icon.html
HILLARY IS NO GAY ICON
Hillary was not “comfortable around gay people who were kind of acting out, or pushing her to the limit. She did have general discomfort.” Those are the words of none other than Bill Clinton as related by Taylor Branch, a close friend who recorded dozens of interviews with the former president throughout the 1990s.
Billy Budd
Hillary has my vote. I am more sober and realistic.
David Myers
@kel777: Actually it’s Conservatives here (and elsewhere) that are praising Bernie. Conservatives don’t want to run against Hillary and would love it big time if the Democrats nominate Bernie. Why do you think it is that no republicans have criticized Bernie at all? It’s called keeping your powder dry and hoping your opponents nominate their weakest candidate so you can shoot your wad on him after he’s nominated.
1EqualityUSA
David Meyers, And they are funneling money towards the Bern as well. If Bern performs the way he did on Feb 11, 2016 PBS, he will not be able to win. Ralph Nader special. Presidents come and go, however, the Supreme Court justices these Presidents usher in hang around for decades. Reagan gave us Scalia. Long after Reagan lost his mind and gave up the ghost, Scalia is still there, biased and bigoted and flapping his lips.
mcdfishfilla
HRC supports us only when it benefits her national appeal to score additional voters. Wake up and stop being played like pigs headed to the slaughter house. Don’t ignore real change and progress over the personal rambling of a narcissist. Bernie Sanders is genuine and will fight to restore the value and integrity of our vote and of our nation.#feelthebern !!!
DuMaurier
Of course if Bernie isn’t nominated I’ll vote for Hillary. But he is my choice now. I don’t know what will happen if he is elected or how much he’ll be able to immediately accomplish and neither does anyone else. Can he keep “the people” mobilized to put pressure on Congress (as Reagan did to some extent, as Obama intended to do–we are told–but either didn’t or couldn’t)?
One thing I’m not going to do is make calculations based on future unknowns or hypothetical Supreme Court vacancies. Again, I will vote for Hillary if she is the nominee but I prefer Sanders, simply because he’s the better candidate in terms of policy. That is all I’m going on; others can make their decision however they see fit as well.
martinbakman
@jlicks: Would you rather have Obama get down on all fours for Congress like Bill Clinton did? That’s how Clinton gave us DADT, NAFTA and deregulation of Wall Street shadow investments like credit default swaps that caused Wall Street and the economy to implode.
HRC has shown she follow that path if not worse, like getting rid of Glass-Steagall. She’s the GOP’s and their super rich cronies best friend.
GayEGO
I am glad that Bernie claims to be on our side like Hillary does, that way, whichever one wins the Democratic Primary Election, I will support the winner.
GayEGO
@martinbakman: Well Obama is not a rimma donna! :>)
JessPH
Bernie blames everything on WALL STREET.
Police brutality? Wall Street.
Gender pay gap? Wall Street.
Defunding Planned Parenthood? Wall Street.
If this guy could blame Wall Street for ISIS, he would!
I’m not saying that people behind Wall Street are saints but you could only blame them so many times.
Bernie is a one issue guy.
#I’mWithHer
kel777
@Clay Miller: Hop on board, Clay, it’s good here. Join us in making this country, finally, a place for everyone! Don’t worry about congress. If we can elect Sanders, we can certainly change congress. I guarrantee when Sanders wins the nom people will come out of the wood work running for Congress on his platform. This country is dying to wake from it’s terrible dream. Let’s do it!
kel777
@David Myers: I’m sorry David but you are being silly. Bernie’s supporters are as genuine as he is. We are not naive, we’ve let go of our cynicism and its profoundly paralytic effects – we let go of it because the country is finally ready to dispense with the bullshit. I’ve waited too long for this to happen to not jump in. And while Hillary is not as nutso as the GOP offerings she is most certainly conservative. You have your choice: Hillary, who will continue the awful and failed policies of Reagan, or Sanders who, with us, can reverse the trend and bring the D party home to it’s New Deal roots where it belongs. We are the richest, most powerful nation in the world by orders of magnitude. That we put up with people claiming Bernie’s platform is unworkable is more a matter for a psychologist than anything.
1EqualityUSA
pipe dreams, don’t be a bern victim. This Ralph Nader revisited.
1EqualityUSA
I implore you to focus and watch the PBS Feb 11 debate. Bern looked spastic and gave nebulous answers that will not win a democratic white house. Watch it on you-tube, especially the part about foreign affairs. She was so amazing. He interrupted, snorted, coughed, wagged his silly finger at the moderator the entire time she was speaking. When it was his turn to speak, she was still, silent, and totally in control. This debate was a beautiful example of grace and confidence. I’m with her. This was the debate that sealed the deal. This debate is a turning point. Bern is out of his league.
GalaxyMan
@Spike: @Realitycheck: Bernie Sanders wants to raise taxes mostly on the Wall Street speculation and the millionaire/billionaire class, and just a little bit on the middle/working class, but with his proposals of universal healthcare, college/university tuition-free, raising the minimum wage, and guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, you will be able to save a lot of money. We live in the richest country of the world, and yet we’re so used to getting screwed over financially by the establishment for far too long. Bernie Sanders’ proposals are not impossible. It’s actually happening in other countries and their doing much better than us. That’s why Wall Street, corporations and billionaires hates him, because they want all the money for themselves, they don’t give a crap about the lower class.?
1EqualityUSA
Bern has been in Washington for decades. Why hasn’t he implemented these whimsical visions then? Gridlock will hound him, big business will not let him breath, Republicans will trip him up, rendering him ineffectual. If this frail bird even lasts the four years, just as in the case of Jimmy Carter, Republicans will swoop in and overstay their welcome. Give me someone who has a plan, knows the landmines, and at least knows the players beyond our borders. The super pacs on the Republican side are funneling money to help bern because they know they have a chance at beating him (if he performs as badly as he did in his debate with Clinton Feb 11th on PBS) google that debate and tell me who is out of his league. The debate was immense. Bern failed. Don’t be bern victims. We cannot let at Republican win 2016. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, bless her tiny bones, cannot stick around forever. The next President will be picking 2-3 justices. Long after their administration comes to an end, these justices will still be on the bench. Bernie Sanders nebulous non-answers, unsubstantiated twaddle, will not win the Casa Blanca in 2016.
1EqualityUSA
Ginsburg, sorry.
GalaxyMan
@1EqualityUSA: What makes his proposals so “whimsical”? See, a lot of Americans have become so cynical because we’ve been trampled on by the establishment so many times that some of us can’t even fathom that we CAN get universal healthcare, we CAN raise the minimum wage, we CAN get college/university tuition-free. You just have to fight for it, which is something that Obama didn’t do. He’s a fine president, but he spent too many times trying to reason with republicans. You can’t reason with republicans! Bernie is the kind of person who demands change, not “ask” for change. He doesn’t have a super pac, he doesn’t represent Wall Street, he’s not afraid to speak against them. I don’t know what debate you watched, but Hillary lost that debate. All she ever said was “I’m a woman! I love Obama! Vote for me!”. I don’t trust her, and she has huge support from corporations, which shows that she wouldn’t make much change for this country. According to polls, Bernie has a better chance of beating the republicans.
David Myers
@captainburrito: I have three words for all Hillary doubters on LGBTQ rights: “WATCH THIS VIDEO” (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Addresses the United Nations on Universal Human Rights as LGBTQ Rights – Dec 6, 2011):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIqynW5EbIQ
I never thought I’d live to see and hear such an awesome speech on LGBTQ rights addressed to the nations of the world and their representatives. Truly historic! It brought tears to my eyes. If you watch this, you will never doubt Hillary Clinton’s commitment to this issue again. Watch it if you dare, Hillary doubters.
David Myers
@GayEGO: He certainly isn’t (“a rimma donna”) but I don’t know anyone who is . . . I think? 😉
David Myers
Is there evidence of increased participation in Democratic primaries because of the Bernie Sander’s candidacy (on a 2008 Obama turnout level)? The appeal of a Bernie candidacy is based on the ASSUMPTION that he can turn out new voter support on an unprecedented level from people who have never voted or have stopped voting. This article examines the actual turnout info now available from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary.
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/lid-how-real-sanders-revolution-n516916?cid=eml_pol_20160211
1EqualityUSA
Bern isn’t new to Washington, so why didn’t he implement this the past two decades? Jimmy Carter was a lovely dove, yet the GOP rode him into the ground and then ushered in three Republican terms, overstaying their welcome.
1EqualityUSA
His answers were superficial in that debate, no substance, no plan. He’ll be swimming with sharks (and one snapping turtle–M McConnell) and not survive the feeding frenzy.
Deviant
Usa gays for Hillary???? First you have internet not only to watch porns and post bitchy comments but to educate yourself. It is easy to find video material when she is against you only 3 yrs ago but if you step back from your self-obsession you can find out how much bad things she done all over the world while she was in office. How much people, men women and children (and gays) are killed or died cause foreign policy she run. Its not only about you… i thought you were better than this
1EqualityUSA
Deviant, Just by your moniker, I suspect you are anti-gay. Your message confirms it. Go F off.
galatians328
With the SCOTUS now in play … why would anyone RISK loss of a Democratic President’s appointments to the Supreme Court on the pandering of Senator Sanders? Yes, pandering. It is UTTERLY a pandering strategy – like pandering belief in a tooth fairy and Santa Claus coming down the chimney – to claim that Mr Sanders can get done what he claims he wants done. The NEXT President will likely appoint the successor to Justice Scalia and also a retiring Justice Ginzburg, and perhaps a third Justice. We think VP Biden would have been the best ‘old guy’ to run for President because he had even more direct experience with the full range of government that Secretary/former Senator Clinton; instead we got a different ‘old guy’ who – trust us who live in the South – will no do well in the South. And like it or not … a Democrat cannot be elected President without at least some Southern states. We know you urban elites and coastal elites don’t like that fact but you are mostly ridiculous impractical snobs. Oh yeah?! yes you are. If you were authentic and practical – rather than telling every else to take action against climate change YOU would voluntarily shut your cities down at midnight to save energy. After all you don’t make your own energy: rather, you rip your energy off from rural and frontier states, not paying for it properly, endangering the energy workers, and polluting the poor states where your energy comes from. Oh yeah? And if you were authentic and practical you would also take care of your own garbage in your own cities. But you don’t you ship it off on barges, and trains, and trucks to rural states!
1EqualityUSA
The GOP debate was so gross last week. These men acted as though they were children in the schoolyard. So, Citizens United, which allows billionaires to buy elections and funnel all kinds of dollars towards the GOP clown car, and this is all they’ve got? Imagine what all of those millions could have done for real people. Imagine how many scholarships these dollars could have provided for real people. TrusTed (Trans Rectal Ultra Sound Ted) is not a real person. Rubio’s so disingenuous and wussy, Jeb is comatose, Trump is brash, conceited, and a National joke, Doc Carson is insane….If I were Adelson and Koch bros, I’d be returning these defective toys for a refund.