“Politicians are a strange breed of bird. They sing about their noble intentions and charitable hearts, and they roost with the most contemptible and corrupt of creatures“. Quote by Anthony P. Mauro, Sr.

Are Politicians to be Trusted?

In today’s political era, we must (unfortunately) realize that many of our elected men and women cannot be trusted. That is true for almost an entire political party in the United States (The Republican Party), including their leader-in-lies President Trump. Nowadays, I guess a lot of democrats also feel betrayed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as many spineless politicians within the Democratic Party that doesn’t seem to know what to do next. Instead of following their gut feeling which now should scream “FIGHT for the People!”, it sure looks like their weighing their options, always having that next election in mind.

Even though many politicians turn out more or less useless when it comes to show, there are exceptions. Some men and women have indeed the integrity, the intelligence, the energy, the empathy and the high standard of ethics that we so desperately need in our leaders. Two such extraordinary people in America, in my mind, are the legendary Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, and the U.S. representative for New York’s 114th congressional district, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Senator Bernie Sanders

For decades, Sanders has been ridiculed by many, in particular right-wing media like e.g. Fox News, who seems to think that the Senator is a socialist. That label may explain why he never fully succeeded in the Presidential nominations prior to the elections in 2016 (lost against Hillary Clinton) and 2020 (lost against Joe Biden). But, as pointed out many times by Sanders himself, he believes the U.S. should look more like Scandinavia. See e.g. the interview below on ABC News:

To be clear, none of the Nordic countries are socialist countries. Just like in America, the societies in Norway, Sweden Denmark, Finland and Iceland are all driven by capitalism. However, what makes us different from the US is the many welfare benefits for all, when it comes to e.g. healthcare, education, paid maternity leave and so on. So maybe “welfare capitalist” is a more suitable characterization of the “Nordic model”, as expressed by Prof. Susanna Fellmann in this article entitled “The Nordic model of capitalism“.

As a Norwegian, I believe the many welfare benefits I take for granted are what you should fight for in todays America. Some of these welfare benefits are highlighted in this conversation from 2022 between Bernie Sanders and Norway’s Ambassador to the U.S., Anniken Krutnes:

Note: Click here to watch the full 47-min interview.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC)

I still remember how impressed I was when I first saw Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) entering the political stage in late Fall of 2018. Being only 29 years old at that time, she became the youngest congressmember in the US ever, and almost immediately the media was all over her. In particular Fox News, who mocked her in every way possible for many months, probably fearing her obvious talent for politics. Anyone remembering the clips below?

Since elected in 2018, AOC has shown her qualities on several occasions. Two examples are listed below:

On the 28th of February 2019, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before the House Oversight Committee. While many of the congress members, as usual, spent their 5 minutes to either harass Cohen or President Trump himself, AOC turned out to be most efficient: Her line of detailed and smart questions resulted in revelations that later was used by the authorities to investigate Donald Trump:

In 2020, AOC was confronted by Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla), that called her a “fucking bitch”. In the aftermath of the incident, AOC gave a most powerful and memorable House floor speech:

The way I see it, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represent the best of America: They are both hard-working people with a most generous heart for their fellow human beings. They are real and genuine, without any corrupt bone in their bodies. They are willing to stand up for the people and lead the resistance, precisely which they have started this week.

The “Fighting Oligarchy” Tour

Two days ago, they kicked of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with rallies in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tempe, Arizona. The words of Senator Sanders were both chilling as well as inspirational to the many attendees:

“We will not allow you (“Trump”) to move this country into an oligarchy. (…) We’re not going to allow you and your friend Mr. Musk and the other billionaires to wreak havoc on the working families of this country. No, you’re not going to destroy Social Security. You’re not going to destroy Medicaid. You’re not going to destroy the Veterans administration.”
(the phrases copied from this NPR-article).

Then yesterday, Friday March 21, more than 30,000 people showed up in Denver, Colorado! Such a crowd size is larger than any event Bernie Sanders experienced during his two Presidential runs. Below are some videos from the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour so far:

I hope this “Fighting Oligarchy” tour by Sanders and AOC is just the beginning of a movement to not only strike back on the horrible acts by Trump and Musk in recent months, but also to start demanding what should be universal welfare benefits in America, like free healthcare, free education, fully paid maternity leave and so on.

Best of luck to your fight against oligarchy and for democracy, America!

Thoughts and prayers from the rest of the world.