Thread by @SamHaft

Hey here's #MyBernieStory going into tomorrow's big day, and why I switched from #WarrenToBernie, and I think you should join #NotMeUs too.

(TW: baby health issues)

This is a picture of my gorgeous massive baby boy. 👇 1/?

My wife is a lawyer. Through her we have *excellent* health insurance - if anyone should be the family who wants to "keep our plan" it's us.

Then, boom, baby pops out. The next week was the worst week of our lives. 2/?

When we were in the hospital, he kept making this cute little sighing sound. All through the night. They said he was clearing amniotic fluid from his lungs. Well, a day later and it isn't getting better- it's getting worse. And his blood oxygen is dropping. Something's wrong. 3/?

So, they scan his lungs and they're cloudy. Maybe he has pneumonia. Worse, he has a pneumothorax - an air pocket, collapsing his lung. After 23 blissful hours together, they take our baby to the NICU.

We're terrified and devastated. We're in shock. We don't know what to do. 4/?

I'm not going to show you gratuitous pics of him hooked up to wires. Or with air going through his nose and food going in through his belly button. Or intubated with machines breathing for him. I can't look at them. I took them because I was scared these were his last days. 5/?

After two days, we had to leave the hospital. That walk, twelve blocks home, leaving our baby in the hospital is no contest the lowest emotional point in my life. We didn't get him back for a week. Every day we would be at the hospital for hours, just watching him, talking to 6/?

nurses about his condition, hearing doctors estimate his chances and tell us they were trying to slowly teach him how to breathe on his own. We internalized the beep beep of his machines to the point we heard it in our sleep. Days later we could hold him again still connected 7/?

to all the machines. After a week, he could breathe, and we took him home. Returning home with our baby boy alive and well cost us - out of pocket, with phenomenal insurance - fifteen THOUSAND dollars. For the privilege of him getting to grow up.

This is him leaving w us 👇

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Without insurance, it would have cost well over $200,000 for them to keep him alive. And I realized that in our sick system fifteen thousand made us LUCKY. Most of the babies in the NICU weren't there for 7 days. They were premature. Parents going through our hell for MONTHS. 9/?

Most of them with insurance much worse than ours, forced to bankrupt themselves padding some CEOs' pockets so their baby could come home one day. To smile at them at one month old.

M4A is a moral imperative, which I had believed before, and then experienced myself.

Now...

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At the time, I was leaning Warren. I called myself a Warren supporter online and to friends and when Bernie ppl texted me I evasively said I hadn't made up my mind about which progressive I would donate and volunteer for. What changed?

(Don't worry more baby pics incoming)

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Well, the race changed. Warren had a very strong start, but like with Bernie in 2016 (who I canvassed for) the groundswell I was sure would arrive simply did not. She had Bernie 2016's Whiteness Problem. The marginalized support didn't materialize. But although I thought...

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she seemed like the smartest and most well prepared and competent, that is NOT why I was voting for her. I was voting for her because I spent 7 Days In Hell (HBO, 2015 🙃) and I consider it my obligation as a human being to stop anyone else from going through that.

So when

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it became clear that there was a progressive frontrunner, who enthused the youth and ESPECIALLY the marginalized folks most affected by progressive politics - it took absolutely NO hesitation to swap. Because as much as I liked Warren, it wasn't about her. It was about

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giving this country the best chance to be the best country it can be. So I poured one out for the Warren campaign and have passionately and vigorously supported Bernie since. And when I see her insult him and his plans, it hurts! Because my priority for who gets to hold the

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pen in the oval office is a significant order of magnitude less important than the legislation that pen in signing. And yeah, I know there's 98% of the primary to go. Technically. But that's really not true. The two progressives have been making their case, and the one that

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I preferred at the outset hasn't created a movement popular enough to win. And certainly isn't going to do so literally OVERNIGHT for tomorrow. And after this week's assembly of Moderate Democrat Voltron, those two progressives are competing for one lane in a 2 person race.

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If we have any hope of getting that legislation on that desk, it is clear that it will be Sanders holding the pen. Or nobody. It is what it is.

And tomorrow when you vote, I'm asking you to care about the legislation more than the executive. The action more than the actor.
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Voting tactically during a primary shouldn't need to happen, but we are witnessing moderate dems put their class interests above politics in an attempt to stop the future of this party - which includes BOTH Warren & Bernie voters - from radically redefining what is possible.
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I hope you'll consider voting to stop the moderate wing from suffocating the progressive wing of this party. The name of the game is solidarity, and united we win. It's not about Bernie holding the pen. It's about voters like you and me holding the power. Thanks.

#NotMeUs

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IT'S THE DAY. VOTE FOR HIM. TELL YOUR FRIENDS. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

also, wow!!! thanks @briebriejoy!