I am so terribly disappointed in Bernie.

[MirrorAshes]

Last edited Wed May 18, 2016, 06:18 PM - Edit history (1)

I started off this cycle leaning towards Hillary on sheer electability, but excited for how Sanders might be able to carry the mantle of Elizabeth Warren, which is what I expected him to do. For a while, it seemed like he was doing just that. Saying things that needed to be said, nudging the party in the right direction, and providing a valuable voice in a race that would have otherwise have been no real race at all. I wanted him to make Hillary an even better candidate.

After a few debates, it became clear that Sanders had good talking points, but not much else, while Hillary showed an impressive grasp on pretty much anything that you could throw at her. Sanders fumbled on foreign policy, and it was then that I firmly decided he could not win a general election. Still, I thought he was a positive influence on the race.

From there, it started to get ugly. I never imagined it would get this ugly.

I'm a 35 year-old male, and most of my peers became Bernie zealots pretty quickly. What I've seen on my social media has been a descent into madness. People who I thought knew better are now spouting anti-Democratic Party rhetoric, buying into the worst of Bernie and the GOP's narratives, and turning against not just Hillary but the party itself. The same party that gave us Barack Obama, whom I believed they universally loved.

But no, under the bus he went, along with anyone else who dared suggest Hillary might be more qualified or electable. And now they are angry and seeking vengeance against a "rigged" system.

Bernie has tainted the legitimacy of the Democratic Party. He has prayed on people's anger while feeding them fantasies that sound nice but are completely unrealistic. Now, he refuses to flatly condemn their aggressive behavior. He has created a monster and shows no signs of a willingness or desire to reign it in. He has gone from a man I respected to a man I detest for what he has done to my party, and the way he has manipulated people into a mindset for which the republicans will raise toasts in his name for years to come.

I pray we survive Bernie, so that we may survive Trump. I fully expect Hillary to win in November, but her path to victory could have been so much more exciting and hopeful. Had Bernie set his ego aside and done what was actually good for the country we could be headed into the general from a point of strength and unity that would have been impossible to defeat. Moreover, it would have brought new people into the process and the revolution he spoke of could have been a real thing. We could be setting up to secure the court for a generation, take back the House and Senate, and put our boot firmly on the throats of our near-beaten enemy: the Republican Party.

We could have done all of these things, while looking inward to reform the party where it needed real reform and create a newly invigorated Democratic Party that could start to get some real fucking work done.

But no. Instead, we have this.

Goddamnit Bernie, you fucking blew it, and I will never forgive you for it.