“You know, I, for the love of me, I cannot understand why people who have billions of dollars are compulsively driven for more and how many people have got to die because they don’t go to a doctor because you want to avoid paying your taxes?” ~ Bernie Sanders

Oh, how I love this man.

Bernie Sanders, a remarkable Senator from Vermont, is one of the ‘good guys.’ He is one of the politicians who is here for the people. as he makes clear in this overlooked speech from one year ago, which still holds true today. This kind of passion, this kind of blatant honesty, is all too rare in American politics. Not to say we don’t have caring lawmakers. Sure, we have some. But I think many have lost sight of the big picture. They are caught up in the I-me-mine political tug of war.

Bernie Sanders is an Independent. Perhaps that is why his delivery is unique, raw and truthful. He is the real deal. Animated as all get out, I love watching him. It’s almost like watching a great Woody Allen flick. Just hearing him rip apart the Koch Brothers and Citizens United is worth the whole speech (‘Citizens United’ – that name still gets me). But watch/read the whole thing. I’d venture to say this is one of the best American political speeches in the last decade. The transcript is below. (As for me, I liked the book – but the movie is better):

Here is the video:

Here is the link to the speech transcript. Below are some of my favorite excerpts:

Madam President, the American People Are Angry. “Young people who are graduating high school and graduating college, they’re going out into the world, they want to become independent, they want to work, and there are no jobs.

There are workers out there 50, 55 years old who intended to work the remainder of their working lives, suddenly they got a pink slip, their self-esteem is destroyed, they’re never going to have another job again and now they’re worried about their retirement security.”

“What the American people are angry about is they understand that they did not cause this recession. Teachers did not cause this recession. Firefighters and police officers who are being attacked daily by governors all over this country did not cause this recession. Construction workers did not cause this recession. This recession was caused by the greed, the recklessness and illegal behavior of the people on Wall Street. They, the taxpayers of this country, bail out Wall Street, and Wall Street recovers. Wall Street does well, but now we have kids in this country graduating college deeply in debt, can’t find a job. We have older workers losing their jobs and people are saying what is going on in America?”

“In the United States today we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income since the 1920’s. Now, you’re not going to see what I’m talking about on Fox, you’re not going to see it on NBC or CBS, but it’s important that we discuss this issue because it’s one of the most important issues facing America.”

“And as a result of this disastrous Citizens United decision which is now two years old, one of the worst decisions ever brought about by the Supreme Court of this country, a decision that they just reaffirmed a few days ago with regard to Montana, what the Supreme Court has said to the wealthiest people in this country, okay, you own almost all the wealth of this nation — that’s great — now we’re going to give you an opportunity to own the political life of this nation. And if you’re getting bored by just owning coal companies and casinos and manufacturing plants, you now have the opportunity to own the United States government.”

“And I think what the American people are saying is enough is enough. This country, this great country, belongs to all of us. It cannot continue to be controlled by a handful of billionaires who apparently want it all. You know, I, for the love of me, I cannot understand why people who have billions of dollars are compulsively driven for more and how many people have got to die because they don’t go to a doctor because you want to avoid paying your taxes?”

“Well, that’s not what America is about. That’s not what people fought and died to create. With that, we have got a fight on our hands. The job of the United States national is to represent the middle-class families of this country, all of the people, and not just the super-rich. I hope we can begin to do that.”

The author, Leslie Salzillo, is a political commentator, pro-choice activist, diarist, and visual artist. Salzillo writes diaries in Daily Kos and began contributing to AddictingInfo.org in March 2013.