they have sufficient wisdom to find the Bernies among themselves & elect them to office.

But I have no idea of how to do that.

... but I just don't get how freepers and their ilk can read and hear the words of somebody like Bernie Sanders, who is so passionately on the side of regular people, and not feel as though they belong with progressives instead of the conservative 1%. I mean really, what part of that statement would a Tea Party member disagree with? (Well, maybe they really do think that teachers and especially unions are the cause of all the country's problems.... But the stuff about Wall Street and the gap between the very rich and everyone else?)

I'm disabled and she does the stuff I can't and takes great care of me. I swear, under different circumstances, this woman would be a progressive & would be some kind of engineer making a handsome income.....she's incredibly bright. But she was brought up in a blue-collar Southern family. I've gotten to know her Mom a little and like her immensely -- she's mega-church going (Sundays, prayer meetings during the week, etc) and I'm an agnostic. And she's conservative.....she's also kind and thoughtful and has many other good qualities.

Soooooooo, when my friend Marti was here one day, it just happened to be the day that Bernie did his filibuster! Well, doncha know I turned it on full blast on both TV's (living room & bedroom).....she couldn't get away from it. LOL I explained that he's an Independent and I think he's the best senator we have right now, that he consistently watches out for us......that he consistently fights for Marti and her family (Marti is type 1 diabetic and on Medicaid, Mom has health problems and is on Medicare, etc). I asked her just to listen to him with an open mind. Damned if he didn't win her over! And I told her it's not just talk in his case -- he acts on the things he says and he fights for us nonstop.

So, it's possible. She's still sort of a conservative, though I've told her she thinks about many issues in progressive ways so she's not as conservative as she thinks. She still has her very conservative DH pissing in her ear, but she also has me. And she listens to me now.

Who knows, one person at a time and hopefully that spreads to their friends & family. I have made progress with her Mom on a couple of things, too -- she likes me and I treat her with utmost respect, even when I'm disagreeing with her.

Because I also really believe that we are the ones with compassion, which trumps greed and ignorance in the big picture.

I know some good, kind-hearted Republicans who I think are only Republicans because they simply do not realize that Fox is not a real news channel. I totally sympathize with people who are genuinely socially conservative (even anti-abortion, fundamentalist, etc--who am I to unilaterally declare their heartfelt beliefs inferior to my own?) because those beliefs, when thought-out and honestly held, are just as valid as anyone else's; what I really don't like is when people selfishly close their minds to compassion for those who are less fortunate.

And I think that people who are genuinely religious (any religion) hold compassion in very high regard; if they are only exposed to lies from their news media or from pastors with a political agenda, they just don't know when compassion is called for. I don't blame them. Good for Marti for listening; many people wouldn't.