I kept reading about how offended Bernie supporters were at being called ill-informed and naive. I read assertion after assertion about how they know what they are doing, and there are legitimate reasons for their support of this guy that I have no respect for and think is dangerous to progressives and the country.
So I tried to ask a few questions. I tried to discuss their reasons. I tried to get to the facts and understand their rationales. This has been taking place for about a week now, and I will tell you what I experienced:
Recrimination. Accusations. Insults. Dismissals. Redirection. And flat out simply disappearing from the conversation.
The thing is, some of this coming from some of the smarter people I know. Forget about history. I have not in this entire primary received a straight answer from a Bernie supporter about anything that happened in the past, even if it was only last week.
Forget about the political process. Bernie has them all believing that electoral politics, the structure of government, and ideological divisions about the role of government don’t matter a whit.
Forget about wisdom. It doesn’t matter that older, wiser, and more experienced players in the process don’t agree with them or Sanders. They are simply corrupt members of the ‘establishment’.
Yes, they are members of the establishment. That’s why they know what they are talking about. But forget logic. The system is rigged! And the guy wants to take the system down and has been telegraphing his punches for 40 years is going to do it.
All I can say is, if you were born after 1980, then we have failed you. And we have failed some born before then.
What I would really like to see is a series of citizen debates. I would really like to shine some light on this so-called pragmatist vs idealist divide. I think it might be far more productive than stacking up candidate debates.
We have got to do something. As it stands now, far too many of the electorate have gone around the bend.