I’m never surprised by the vile filth spewed by the pro-Israel far right: sometimes here in the comment threads, but more often on social media platforms.
On the other hand, I react with skepticism to similar criticism of the supposed vitriol spewed by so-called Bernie Bros online. It’s always seemed to me to be manufactured, feigned outrage seeking justification. But today, after Pete Buttigieg “suspended” his candidacy, even I noticed some outrageous abuse heaped on him by those calling themselves “socialists” and #bernie2020 activists.
Look, we’re all delighted that Mayor Pete dropped out of the race. We all hated his politics. But what I don’t understand is the level of hatred directed at him now that he’s gone. I read a tweet by a self-described “socialist” calling him a “rat-faced fuck.” She even boasted she hadn’t voted for a Democrat “since 2008” as a badge of honor. I read a tweet saying he was “dickless.” Actually, the tweet was much more graphic and I’ll spare you the details. That’s probably only the half of it. I couldn’t bear doing further research to find worse examples. I purposely did not offer screenshots of any of this because it’s just too depressing to replicate.
Yesterday, a woman tweeted that a Bernie supporter on Twitter wished that she and her daughter would be raped. At the time, I thought this was either invented or the product of GOP or Russian dirty tricksters impersonating Bernie Bros. Though I still find such a claim hard to stomach, I have to admit it becomes a little more believable after my own experience.
When I responded on Twitter that this was cruel and self-destructive, I got a torrent of personal abuse directed at me which was profoundly ageist. Keep in mind that I’ve been a proud leftist for over 50 years. Further, I come out of a Jewish tradition that respects elders for their wisdom, and doesn’t attempt to discredit them due to age. Not to mention that Bernie himself is almost half a generation older than I.
I raise this to say that we all want to win this thing. And we have a chance. The best chance for a genuine left candidate in more than a generation, perhaps even 100 years. But as leftists we must believe that all human beings deserve a minimal amount of respect. I’m not saying we have to love Pete or shed fake tears over his demise. But if we want to win, we shouldn’t do so on the corpses of our opponents. This shouldn’t be hand to hand combat in the trenches, taking no prisoners. Those “prisoners” are the very ones Bernie wants to govern after he wins. How will he be able to if we do this to our opponents? Can’t we be gracious and decent?
And yes, there are probably a thousand deceitful things Pete did or said that raised our ire. But he’s gone. So why dance on his grave? It breaks my heart to read such rage from the left. It does a disservice to Bernie and the cause we dream of.
I think that Sanders and Warren both make a big mistake when they attempt to tear each other down. Though he has not directly attacked her, he did just hold a major rally on Boston Common in her own backyard. Some may view that simply as Bernie being competitive and others may view it as a warning shot across her bow. Warren, for her part, has attacked Sanders. That’s unfortunate, because I don’t see them as cannibalizing each other’s constituencies. I see them as complementing each other. She is certainly not as radical as he is, and some of her proposals fall short of the sweeping change embodied in his. But if you support Bernie and want him to win, the energy and voters she represents will be critical to winning the nomination and the general election. She will likely withdraw from the race in due time. It is important that she be allowed to run her race and end it with the dignity she deserves.
The MSM, eager to fuel the Stop Bernie juggernaut has tentatively described both the South Carolina primary and Buttigieg’s withdrawal as a Democratic firebreak against his steamrolling to the convention. There is an element of hope you can almost hear on the page or screen as you read these articles. 538 has downgraded Bernie’s chances of entering the convention with a delegate plurality, which would make it more likely the superdelegates could steal it from him in the second round.
It is true the end of Buttigieg’s campaign does offer hope to Biden. After all, they are both centrists with only their respective ages separating them. By rights, BIden should expect many of Mayor Pete’s voters to flock to him. But that’s not necessarily what will happen. Pete’s voters were largely young people hoping for a moderate voice of their generation. Biden is certainly not that. Then there’s Amy Klobuchar, who is much closer to Buttigieg in age, with not dissimilar politics. Though she’s polling poorly, she could pick up a decent percentage of his voters.
We will have to see how polls in Super Tuesday states shake out after this major change in the race. But my guess is that while it will make Biden more competitive, it’s too late to stop the Bernienaught. If, by some chance. he fails to win on the first ballot and the superdelegates steal the nomination from him, then all that vitriol will not only appear more justified to me, but it will be 1,000 times worse. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen for the sake of the Party and the nation. A nomination won in this fashion would not be worth winning. And the victor would limp into the general election with a disastrously divided Party.
Mayor Pete was America’s best hope.
What a shame hate and bigotry helped destroy his chances.
@ Lemontree: Bullshit. And why don’t you worry about your own country turning into a fascist regime before offering us advice. We’ve got a system that, while imperfect, has tended to work–until 2016 that is. Buttigieg was a minor blip on the Democratic radar. He is now consigned to oblivion where he belongs.
Hate and bigotry had no role in destroying his chances. His platform, such as it was, did him in. With your poor grasp of U.S. politics, it’s no wonder your views on Israel are the way they are.
Silverstein: a rare voice of decency. Don’t trample upon corpses. And a serious warning against internecine cannibalism within the Democratic Party.
Where I live, in Europe, that’s the weak spot of the left as well. Focussing on differences instead of common ground, on ideological ‘purity’ instead of trial&error in finding practical solutions to pressing societal problems.
Dear Richard,
I have the advantage of being half a generation older than you are … 😉 I like all the Democratic candidates for their individual merits. The DNC needs all the talent (and money) from a diverse unity.
With pleasure I can state that social media is alien to me because of the vitriol over the years.
I offer a different analysis to the chances of Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday than FiveThirtyEight.
Like you I’m very hopeful for a Sander’s sweep tomorrow and the exit of Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg makes a brokered convention less likely. Simply put, which candidate has the best ground game, volunteers and funds to settle the 3-way race on Super Tuesday?
PS The coronavirus epidemic is handled by the Republican White House as inadequate as Hurricane Katrina by George Bush. Unfortunately due to the Republican policies over the years – no universal healthcare , the outbreak will be quite deadly.
Kind Regards
That level of “Bernie Bros” comments I never run into. I doubt they are real supporters and not rabble or worse as you indicate. But they can do their damage. What I run into are coarse anti-Bernie comments based on the usual thin (ignorant) gruel of red baiting (socialist communist comments from years ago -amazing cold warrior stuff) and “how are we going to pay for this free stuff” “he’s like Trump”. At the same time the anti-Bernie’s point to “Bernie Bros” hypocritically, perhaps those you quote wherever they hang out or nothing that specific. It’s just an accusation. Good enough. Mostly this is buffeted by the MSM’s “we gotta stop Bernie at all costs” Jennifer Rubin’s anti-Sanderism irks me especially..
This may work I fear. The superdelegates are apparently looking for a way (I read) to stop Bernie as if Bernie is a terrible thing about to happen to this country; he will bring losses across the Senate and House for the Democrats, another argument picked up and repeated endlessly. More and more I am re-sorting the sites that I go to for the commiseration factor because this anti Sanders brigade/ MSM business is so irrational, so into scaremongering, that I just can take so much.
At the same time we here at home have changed from considering all the candidates fairly to focussing on Sanders as being the one, the direction we should be going in as a country. I must admit were were with him in 2016 but figured after he was past his ability to have a shot. But we have been impressed this time around. We will vote for him come Tuesday regardless of being in Warren’s home state.
We were very turned off by Buttigieg’s attacks on Sanders, which I think did him in at least in part, and also Warren’s attacks which may be a factor in why she is not doing so well. Those were opportunistic and off-putting. I wish Warren would not have burned her bridge so with Sanders. They would be a great team.
What is interesting is that Sanders’ issues prevail and have done a great deal to move the conversation left and to rebalance this country in favor of the majority. But the work of repair of the damage being done by the GOP/Trump is primary.
Super Tuesday: Trump Lite @AIPAC
I know from experience about trolls who to support a ‘comment’ I’ve given against Israel’s land grabs. They deliberately used such hateful racist language, I know they wanted to have my comments considered part of their ugliness. Those trolls who pretend they’re Bernie supporters are doing the same thing..
Please google: consortium news; ‘the national security mandarins who groomed Pete Buttigieg’. Pete’s regime change friends and activities should discourage a person from voting for Pete.
Thank you, Richard
Why is it “stealing” if Bernie doesn’t win after the first ballot?
@ David: Because the superdelegates have no right to vote since they didn’t win anything to get their position. Yet they will determine who wins on the 2nd or later ballots. That’s “theft.”
@ Linda Furr
Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropped out. Has become a split two-way race for the delegates: progressives vs. the DNC establishment. Bernie is doing fine tomorrow.
False flags?
There were some pretty foul tweets purporting to be from Labour members in the UK, much pounced on by Blairites within the party and by the far right. They also seemed incongruent, but clever. Be very suspicious as to where these things have come from.
@ Bob Bran: No doubt. It’s certainly a possibility. But the woman who tweeted that Buttigieg was a “fat rat fuck” appeared genuine. She has quite a vociferous following which pummeled me for hours with obnoxious insults. I guess it’s possible they’re all bots, who knows?
I just got this flash that I should anoint her #ratfucksforbernie. I won’t of course. But she deserves it!
I am as American as you, and I will support any Democratic candidate who runs against Trump in November.
That said, I hope Biden is the Democratic nominee, and not Sanders, who is the only Democratic candidate who has had to ‘rein in’ vociferous supporters, accused of hate speech, sexism, and probably vandalism.
https://nypost. com/2020/02/21/bloomberg-blames-bernie-bros-for-tennessee-offices-vandalism/?utm_source=PC&utm_medium=Outbrain&utm_campaign=daily1th
https://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/02/07/sanders-calls-bernie-bros-disgusting
@ Lemontree: Actually, no. You’re not as American as me. Your IP address resolves to the Bahamas. So either you live in Nassau or you’re using an IP proxy, a practice I frown upon. If you are using an IP proxy you’re trying to hide your location. So we don’t know where you live and even if you told us we wouldn’t know if you’re telling the truth. Using a fake e mail address is another dead giveaway that you’re hiding something.
So as far as I’m concerned you’re a hasbara clone. And whether you’re American, Israeli or Buddhist you’re a shill for Israel. So no, you’re not as American as I am.
If you decide who to vote for solely on the basis of who has the most obnoxious supporters that is one of the lamest criteria I’ve ever heard. Not to mention that you say that you dislike Bernie because he had to rein in his supporters. Would you prefer that he say nothing or, like Trump, encourages his supporters to run roughshod over the “enemy?”
Oh & BTW, Democratic candidates only wish they had a cadre of supporters as united and passionate as Bernie has. Biden would accept such supporters gladly even with the baggage it might bring. But there’s absolutely no “danger” of that happening considering how somnolent his campaign is.
BTW, don’t use the NY Post as a credible source for anything. It’s not trustworthy and linking it here is acceptable. I don’t promote garbage sites here.
Richard, I wasn’t talking about super delegates. Bernie isn’t on pace to get a majority of pledged delegates. A plurality isn’t enough. After the first ballot, the delegates pledges to the various candidates that have since dropped out are free to support their next-favorite candidate.
@ David: Actually, until the Party hacks worked their magic Sanders was on course to win a majority (or at least plurality) of delegates. Your information is wrong. Now, no one appears likely to have a majority going into the convention, though Biden may win more than Sanders (a plurality, but not majority) if the structure of the race and candidate list remains the same till the convention (which it may not).
Please do not offer your opinion when credible reporting is available. Use credible sources and show links to them to support your claims. Otherwise, everything you say is suspect. I prefer facts over your opinions.