Breaking: Democratic Base Awakens After Decades on Life Support, and the Ensuing Earthquake Exposes Deep Fault Line Within Democratic Party

In the past few weeks, I have lost two long-time friends who are also fellow Democrats, over the fact that I am an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter and they keep relentlessly commenting on Facebook, smearing Bernie and his platform, and they also keep making outrageously smearing statements about Bernie's supporters.  Since I am a many-decades-long and ardent Bernie supporter, when people I thought of as friends insist upon attacking us, I take that very personally:  they are attacking me.

I didn't end my friendships with them because they disagree with me on policies or on a candidate.  I don't mind if people hold different views from my own (they have a right to be wrong *lol*), or support a different candidate.  I do take profound issue with them personally attacking all Bernie supporters by making shockingly offensive and inaccurate, generalized statements about us, or about Bernie himself, or about his platform.  And the fact that I've personally lost two long-time friends in the span of a few weeks, two fellow members of the Democratic party--the fact that it got to a point at which the friendships of many years are actually over, when we are supposedly the party of tolerance and respect for diversity--I think warrants a blog entry, so here goes:

I think the Democratic party is actually experiencing an earthquake right now that is exposing a fault line, an ideological divide.

Everyone is talking about the GOP coming apart at the seams. Perhaps being overlooked is what is going on over here on the Democratic side. Bernie is the heart, soul and mind of the party, and he's breathed life into its body, which has been on life support for decades. We have air in our lungs now, we're awake. He's given us breath and voice!

Hillary and her followers who keep relentlessly smearing Bernie's supporters like me don't seem to be celebrating our awakening.  They don't even seem to respect that, or us. They want us to go back to sleep, back into a deep coma, and stop all our crazy talk about "pie-in-the-sky" dreams. They are comfortable with the status quo. What's more, if the newly revived and awakened Democratic base keeps trying to speak, let alone rip off the life support and get up, they will keep trying to shut us up. 

Well, hear this across the increasingly wide fault line being exposed by this ideological earthquake, fellow Democrats who are trying to smear and dismiss us Bernie supporters:  I will not be silenced.  We will not be silenced.  Bernie has helped us find our voice.  And we are going to raise it.