📚 Summer school. Bernie Sanders holds 5 of seven stars — but fails a critical Article (Free & Fair Elections). Assignment: summer school for Civics, watch every Schoolhouse Rock episode five times, and submit a one-page report — due before the end of the year. Report to summer school →
“…the property of the people.” — Cicero, De Re Publica
0.0% of receipts from PACs — clean under the 15% corporate-money cap. (FEC 2026)
60
2Free & Fair Electionscritical
45%☆ not yet
“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” — Abraham Lincoln
No 2020 election denial — but a listed Prop 50 supporter, and his Our Revolution mobilized voters for California’s counter-gerrymander (2025). The map counts too.
60
3The Dignity of the Opponent
40%☆ not yet
“Treat humanity … always as an end and never as a means only.” — Kant
The defining “billionaire class / oligarchy” frame is the clearest debit — opponents as an enemy class. The forgiven star.
60
4Fear Is Not Fuel
70%★ earned
“…the better angels of our nature.” — Lincoln, First Inaugural
An affirmative economic vision, delivered with populist alarm.
60
5Truth & a Kept Word
75%★ earned
“…living within the truth.” A representative owes “his judgment.” — Havel · Burke
Broadly accurate; some tour claims fact-checked. Decades of a consistent, public record.
60
6Against the Spirit of Party
74%★ earned
“The baneful effects of the spirit of party.” — Washington, Farewell Address
Independent by definition; real cross-aisle deals (Hawley now; historically Isakson, Jeffords).
60
7Morality
85%★ earned
“The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Decades in public life with no corruption or personal scandal; famously modest in personal style.
60
Engage Sanders
Every public channel, one click. Hold them to it — warmly, in the register of right speech.
This review is offered freely and openly to correction. A challenge is considered only when it states a specific reason and links to sources that substantiate it — an assertion without evidence is not reviewed.
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Scores are Independent 2026’s own editorial read against the Seven Articles — ≥60% earns the star. The first two Articles are critical: fail Open Books or Free & Fair Elections and there is no seal, whatever else holds. Each Article carries its founding quote as the yardstick. On bias →