Bernie's Mud Turtles

Providing news and editorials about the Bernie 2016 campaign for the Houstonians who support it! Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HoustonForSanders Twitter - https://twitter.com/Houston4Sanders Meetup - http://www.meetup.com/Houstonians-For-Bernie-Sanders/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/HoustonForSanders/ Forums - http://forums.houstonforsanders.org/ Email - [email protected] Phone - [phone] or [phone]

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Where does Bernie Sanders stand on gun rights? I am convinced gay marriage could have been legalized years sooner if the Democrats had not gone after lawful gun ownership rather than solving social issues such as women’s rights and the rights of the LGBT community. Frankly, I’m not sure what party I belong to. I’m a gun toting male feminist atheist who believes everyone has the right to marry and smoke weed (I personally do not smoke). I want to vote for someone who will GRANT rights and not strip them away.

/u/pocketdrummer

I see Bernie’s stance on gun rights to be very pragmatic. He acknowledges that his voting record in Vermont seems very anti-gun-control, but points out that he also knows the laws that are there would not work for areas like Chicago or New York.

This is one of my main reasons for supporting Sanders. I also own guns and I have, unfortunately, been in situations where they have been useful. Thankfully, I have never had to actually use one - the threat of one has always been enough.

I also go to the range regularly to maintain my skills, and I make sure I have the right kind of ammunition in the magazine. I do everything I can to make sure that IF I have to use one of my firearms, I will not put an innocent person at risk.

I see no reason why my right to own firearms should be taken away when I do everything I can to be a responsible gun owner. But I also acknowledge that there is a fine line to walk, and I trust Bernie to walk it.

- Toby

[houstonforsanders-blog]

Dear White Progressives,

In the days after Bernie’s successful rally here in Houston, my mind goes back to what happened with the #BlackLivesMatter protesters in Phoenix and the response by #WhiteProgressives.

#BernieSoBlack was started because White Progressives kept motioning back to Bernie’s history as a civil rights activist and his platform of economic reform as if it is proof that he understands the current struggle of Black Americans.

I can’t help but think this is a little bit like an obtuse lover who, instead of listening to your problems and sympathizing, keeps trying to offer solutions to make you feel better. And, when you ask if he loves you, he points to that one time he said so two years ago.

The way I see it, the crux of the problem is communication - Black Americans are asking for our hearts and we White Progressives are giving them their brains.

We should be giving them both.

When we see or hear of an incident involving a PoC being beaten or killed by a LEO, we think “we should pass a law where cops have to wear body cameras.” But we also need to be taking action. Anytime we see a PoC stopped on the side of the road by a cop, we should be stopping with the cameras on our phones at the ready and prepared to defend our fellow Americans - our brothers and sisters - with our lives.

The Era of Black Oppression is not some long forgotten dark chapter in our nation’s history, as we like to pretend. There is still a war going on and there are still slaves. We mistake the exchange of labor for basic necessities as freedom just because the transaction now includes the medium of capital and our owners are many instead of one. But when so many of us are still unable to feed our families and so many of us are still dying at the hands of men in power - where is the freedom in that?

I admit, my support of this movement is somewhat selfish. I am tired of being sick with worry and grief every day. Because, in this country, it is every day that PoC are killed without any consequences - by the police and by other members of our community. Hell, I was somewhat relieved when my nephew Tony was deployed to Afghanistan because I knew he would be safer there.

Do not mistake me. I know this affects poor White Americans as well. It affects everyone who is too poor to pay for a voice - that is what happens when you live in a society that equates money with speech - but it is Black Americans who are disproportionately affected by this pandemic. And I am tired of seeing people killed with the same level of apathy and antipathy as when one crushes a cockroach while we as a country look upon it as some mechanical function of policy.

It is great that we White Progressives want to fix our nation’s policies, but this isn’t just about politics. This is about people. This is about my family.  That is what is at stake here. So, please - keep doing what you’re doing - but also learn when to be quiet and listen.

-Toby

[houstonforsanders-blog]

Texas Progressives Now picked up pictures of Houstonians for Bernie hanging signs on the Graustark Bridge in their video to raise awareness for Bernie’s town hall meetings in Texas this Sunday.

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Bernie Sanders will be here, in Houston, on Sunday. The town hall meeting will be at the University of Houston Hofheinz Pavilion at 7:00PM. Originally, it was at the Cullen Performance Hall, but that venue only holds 1,500 people. The Hofheinz Pavilion holds 10,000.

I am so incredibly proud to be a part of this - to be a Bernie supporter and a Houstonian. I knew from the start that Bernie’s message would appeal to that particular mix of ideological and pragmatic that is in the heart of every Houstonian, but this only proves it. To have an event that is so large that we had to change venues - this is going to be a serious blow to the illusion that many Americans are under and that most media outlets have been asserting - the illusion that a corrupt system of lobbying by and tax cuts for large corporations is the only option for a politician.  By going to this event, you are making a statement to the rest of the country - that you will NOT stand idly by while such great injustice exists in our nation. You will NOT stand for a millionaire having the same effective tax rate as his housekeeper who struggles to put food on the table. You will NOT stand by as millions of young Americans go into outrageous debt for an education, which should be a means of getting out of poverty and not something that perpetuates it. You will NOT stand by as we send soldiers - who are our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters - overseas to die and be injured physically and psychologically only to have them return to a system that does not care for them.  We still have a lot of work to do here in Houston, but I am up to the task. At least now I know that we Bernie supporters are not lone loons trying to talk to people who have no interest in what we have to say.  I look forward to the next 8 months leading up to the primary in Texas. I have already met so many wonderful people whom I now call my friends. I look forward to meeting many, many more. And even if Bernie does not win the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency, I would not change this experience for the world. It has given me the hope I needed to move forward and the ability to believe that the future of this country - and my own future - is not as bleak as I once thought. I know now that we can stop viewing one another with suspicion and derision for being a member of the “other” group in order to come together for a common cause - and that is a sublimely beautiful thing.

- Toby

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Freeway Blogging for Bernie on the Graustark Bridge during rush hour!

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#BernBabyBern #FeelTheBern #Bernie2016 #Houston

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This Wednesday 7:30pm at Theo’s near Westheimer & Montrose

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Houstonians for Bernie at the Juneteenthfest Parade! 

Guys, this was a lot of fun! More people showed up than in the photos and we had a lot of people ask questions. Even more people knew who we were talking about though! One chanted "Bernie 2016!" from the sidelines. It was great! If you are in the Houston area, find us on Facebook, Reddit, or Twitter!

[houstonforsanders-blog]

Take Aim

American politics have deteriorated to the extent that the electorate no longer votes for a candidate that most represents their views. Instead, they vote for those that are most likely to defeat the greater threat to their morality. We elect only those who compromise their ideals for the sake of appealing to the greatest spectrum of political ideologies and who have the money to provide the marketing necessary to convince the American public that they are the best bet at shutting down the greater of two evils.

In a society where this Voter’s Wager is so entrenched in the minds of its citizenry, the term that has risen to become the most devastating to a political candidate is exactly what has already been applied to Bernie Sanders:

Long Shot

It has only been a few days since Sanders announced his plan to pursue the presidency and already this epithet threatens to damn the whole endeavour - without making a direct attack. Because this label is so pernicious, it is the hardest thing we will have to fight against. But if anybody knows anything about long shots, it is us Houstonians.

The very founding of this city was a huge gamble by the Allen brothers. Once, Houston was nothing but what lay on the bank of a bayou, but they had big dreams for that swampy patch of land. They began to develop and spread rumors of Houston being a successful port city and the future capital of Texas  -  even when our streets were still so mired that we were given the moniker ‘mud turtles’. Eventually, however, Houston became all the Allen brothers had dreamed of - and more. We became the capital of Texas, for a time. But most importantly, our city is now the fourth largest in the United States and a major international hub for trade and culture.

That foundation of hard work and aspirations has translated into that seemingly contradictory yet sublime attitude of idealistic practicality that every Houstonian has. We are simultaneously cosmopolitan and the salt of the earth. In that sense, Sanders is one of us. He doesn’t advocate the policies he does simply because they are morally correct, but because they work.

Because we are in such a densely populated area full of people who share in this Houstonian spirit, we have a unique opportunity. We could walk out the door and stumble upon someone who is a potential Bernie supporter. All we have to do is get out there and tell people to vote for someone with whom they probably already agree. All we have to do is let people know about him.

And lest we get discouraged by the naysayers, let’s remember: ‘long shot’ isn’t a point of shame. It’s a badge of honor. Long shots are never taken frivolously. Whether by the marksman toward the end of a fruitless hunting season, or by the losing team with one second on the clock, they are always a calculated risk to achieve an important goal - the completion of which is made all the more gratifying by its citcumstamces. This campaign is no different.

- Toby