Bern Sours Democrats! The Extreme Left/Right are Just Extremes

“No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don’t knock your friends. Don’t knock your enemies”. Don’t knock yourself. — Alfred Lord Tennyson
“When Debate is lost, Slander becomes the tool of the loser” -attributed to Socrates

When Bernie Sanders formally launched his candidacy last May 26, we were thrilled. He promised:

“As someone who has never run a negative political ad in his life, my campaign will be driven by issues and serious debate; not political gossip, not reckless personal attacks or character assassination.”

Here was an outspoken, self-described Democratic Socialist who espoused political views and values that we hold dear.   As his grassroots campaign grew exponentially we began to become concerned that all of his speeches sounded very similar with very little concrete specifics as to How?  How is this possible without a logic-friendly/Democratic Congress?

Then came the so-called “BernieBros,” who attacked anyone not 100% fully committed to Sanders. Not only were the personal attacks against Hillary Clinton ugly, but they sounded very much like a Karl Rove GOP Dirty Tricks campaign. That knee-jerk hostility has turned into very personal attacks against anyone who dares to support or defend Mrs. Clinton and Sanders’ silence and seeming complicity has turned us against his candidacy.

Most importantly, Bernie has been in Congress since 1991 and his record has not been formally or fully vetted. Truth and critical analysis can be painful things, but it’s important to keep in mind that Karl Rove and his American Crossroads SuperPAC and the Koch Brothers will invest more than a half-billion dollars to destroy Democrats. Of course, they can save their money if voters fail to give Bernie Sanders an honest appraisal:

These are the reasons he has lost our support: 

Reason 1: The intellectual dishonesty of Bernie Sanders:
He has been attacking Hillary Clinton for supporting the 1994 crime bill that her husband signed when she was First Lady. She did not vote for the bill, since she did not hold any elected position at the time. She was First Lady. However, Sanders voted Yea!

Reason 2: He lacks the temperament and shows a nasty, petty side when he feels slighted:
View the following clip as Bernie enters to speak at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.  While Sanders may have been totally justified to be angry with the political drama, the President of the United States must show a certain level of respect and decorum when he is a guest in an official venue and is representing our great country: He displayed zero. The entire trip to the Vatican really should be examined much more closely, and has been analyzed thoroughly here, in case you missed it.

Reason 3: He is seemingly not in control.

In just the past weeks from Dr. Paul Song’s horrible name-calling, to the throwing of dollar bills at HRC’s motorcade to the last minute replacement of a rabbi on this panel, this bullying is completely unacceptable.

In addition to that, his supporters have been harassing some Super Delegates with his Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver emphasizing this strategy last night after Sander’s brutal loss in the NY Primary.  (By the way, Senator Sanders is himself one of those ) and others, and the buck stops with him.

Reason 4: He is not a Democrat:

In 1989 he said the Democrats and Republicans were “in reality, one party—the party of the ruling class.” That year he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times describing the two parties as “tweedle-dee” and “tweedle-dum” since both subscribed to what he called an “ideology of greed and vulgarity.”  –The Atlantic 

While Hillary has been raising millions for down-ticket Democrats since she began this campaign, it was only last week when hard questions were asked that he found 3 candidates he put some actual financial backing behind.  It was a calculated move to deflect criticism of the over 150 million dollars his campaign has raised thus far.

Tad Devine, his chief strategist,  continues to push the idea that the Super Delegates will all magically go to the side of the same man who has openly expressed disdain for the Democratic Party.

“The one place where people may want to reconsider is states where Bernie had really huge victories,” Tad Devine, chief strategist for the Sanders campaign said, citing Washington, Minnesota, and Alaska among other states. “If we can really succeed heavily on the back end of this process, particularly in California,” that would allow the campaign to make a strong case to the superdelegates that Sanders can win the general election.

Reason 5: He is just another politician and must be judged on the entirety of his 35+ years of government experience.

While he has introduced and co-sponsored much over the years, we find his lack of success to pass bills and failure not only to reach across the aisle but also among the Democrats with whom he has caucused deeply disheartening.

Reason 6: In 1990, he made that Faustian bargain with the NRA to finally win his Congressional seat.  He lost forever any claim to the moral high ground. As posted separately in much greater detail, more Americans have been KILLED in gun-related deaths since 1968 than every war the USA has ever fought. Senator Sanders must take responsibility–especially as his supporters continually taunt HRC about her culpability for Iraq.

Chris Matthews rightly criticized this ad on Tuesday night, as it has clearly embraced ‘going negative’ all the way.

When Sally Kohn declares her support for him and speaks at a New York rally but is booed every time she mentions that Hillary Clinton is certainly qualified, the Puritopians of the left show they are no better than the Tea Party of the Right.

Sanders has the money and support to remain in the race until July.  We hope he will return to his promises of one year ago and remember the GOP is the enemy and stop dividing Democrats.

Never help the GOP and NEVER FEED the TROLLS.

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