Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Sorry, but "Bernie Bros" is the relatively BENIGN term for the vile scum-buckets to whom [View all]Rilgin
(787 posts)Absolutely, there are bad actors in the world. Unfortunately, there are many who are not really capable of being controlled by civil norms. I live in the Bay Area, some demonstrations have ended up violent unfortunately despite efforts of the organizers. Bad actors are not controllable and an attack saying they can be is by itself somewhat inauthentic.
On the internet, I truly wish there was a way emotional people would refrain from attacking others they do not know and it is probably exaggerated by the anonymous nature of the internet. However I do not actually think its possible to stop these particular people. And they are a small group who go over the top.
Now to DU and please forgive me for adding specifics. I will try not to refight the battle but use it to illustrate that reactions are understandable.
On DU, someone posted an article by Martin OMailly calling Bernie a con man who is conning his supporters. That was the language used. Yesterday, a video was misrepresented that claimed that Bernie had claimed to prefer communist Russia to our system. It was only necessary to listen to the whole video rather than a clip pulled out of context to understand it was a misrepresentation. Both posts were followed by multiple DUers with many posts attacking Bernie including the usual attacks plus others. Is this not the same thing as a group of Bernie followers booing the name of another candidate.
One attack on Bernie is talking about John Lewis and an allegation that people booed him at the convention. I don't approve of booing anyone in fact my current policy is don't attack any of our candidates. However, the John Lewis anger did not come in a vacuum. Before the South Carolina primary in 2016 he gave a press conference solely for the purpose of denying Bernie's actual history followed by the actions of Jonathon Capehart to deny that a picture of Bernie leading a civil rights sit-in was actually Bernie despite the response of the reasonably famous photographer that took the picture. There were campaign attacks and not fair. Should John Lewis be booed. No. No. No. But it did not come in a vacuum.
I am a 62 year old democrat (my birthday is in 2 hours). I have a wife, 2 daughters, 2 women senators, 1 woman representative (Nancy Pelosi) and have worked for my local female representative. Yet I have been called misogynist, sexist, just a Bernie bros in the last primary because I discussed specific problems I had with one candidate. 2016 put a tear in the Democratic Party which is mostly the reason I support Elizabeth this year rather than Bernie although will support Bernie if Elizabeth fails. I think the constant hatred against Bernie for actually running in 2016 and doing well persists in the Democratic Party among one group that now constantly bashes him for breathing. The hatred is undeserved but its there. I find it similar to the undeserved hatred for Hillary in parts of the Democratic and Republican Parties. It does not matter that in New Hampshire the first thing he does is congratulate his opponents. It does not matter that he campaigned for Hillary after the Primary and made a speech at the convention saying what any other candidate says when endorsing a candidate they ran against.
The attacks on Bernie have affects on people who like him because they are not policy discussions nor even civil and ignore any responsibility for the fact that attacks on a group usually create negative feelings and emotions and counter attacks. It does not matter what is first. There is a both sides problem going on in DU. Again, all you have to do is look at the threads. Few attacks on other candidates or supporters, mostly defense against pretty bad attacks and bringing up single incidents involving people who probably are not on DU and insisting that Bernie and Bernie Supporters are in the wrong because they don't stop these other people they don't know or have any power to stop.
It really would be better if the circular firing squad Stopped Now. Bernie is a fine candidate. He has his weaknesses like every other candidate but has strengths as well. Since he may in fact be our candidate against Trump it might be good to refrain from attacking his supporters especially with good arguments but specious points that just serve to inflame peoples emotions. In particular, pretending that the establishment of the Democratic Party has not actually tried to work against him for years while also claiming that Bernie Bros are instigating divisions is problematic. Both are true, the establishment clearly wants another candidate and does political hits through politicos and the media on Bernie and Bernie's followers attack the establishment for attacking them and want them out. I hope that it ends when the primary season is over but claiming that the problem is solely in the Bernie camp solely creates more divisions.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided