For as long as I've been alive, conservatives have tried to own both history and patriotism as their exclusive territory.

You know what I mean.

They often seem to have a heightened affinity for flags, eagles, and

anthems as though those things are Republican symbols rather than symbols of our

republic. I mean, the Donald Trump literally has a

penchant for embracing the US flag like hugging it embracing it like a blankie. Conservative legal commentators cite the founding fathers like they're the voice of God herself,

despite obvious evidence of their ability to make mistakes.

Mistakes like not considering black people as right to having

human beings, for instance.

Even the slogan, Make America Great Again, hearkens back to history, and imagined history to be sure.

The good old days before so-called cultural Marxists, S.J.W.

Antifa, and other phantoms of conservative paranoia, infiltrated America

and ruined everything.

This is part of why we often dig into history here on Hear the Burn,

because the real story is more complex, authentic, fascinating, and ultimately

compelling than the distorted narratives bandied about by the right in service of a very specific, very monied, highly prejudicial agenda.

The real story is a story of struggle and slow transformation from the bottom up of

hard-won victories over opposing forces of setbacks and years spent with little to no movement on the ground only for sweeping

changes to take place seemingly overnight, of pressuring even sympathetic leaders to do what is right.

History is also important to Bernie,

who traces his politics back to key moments and figures

which made an impression on him in his youth.

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