With Malice Aforethought [View all]

It is now beyond obvious that Bernie Sanders will not be the Democratic nominee. (And if he has failed to recognize that fact, he is far too delusional to have been a viable candidate for the presidency in the first place.)

What Bernie is doing now – through his own words, actions, and the conduct of his campaign – is a deliberate attempt to undermine the man who IS the presumptive Democratic nominee. And one can only wonder what he hopes to gain by doing so.

The party’s coalescence behind Biden was Bernie’s golden opportunity to be true to his word that defeating Trump in November was his ultimate goal. This was Bernie’s chance to shine – by getting behind Joe, and encouraging his own supporters to do the same, in order to accomplish exactly that. He could have been the hero who ensured that the Democratic candidate had everyone behind him, including those disappointed that their candidate-of-choice didn’t make the final cut.

Instead, Bernie has chosen to spew the most outrageous lies about our chosen nominee – and is doing so knowing that he is discouraging voters from getting behind that nominee.

“Feel the Bern” has now become “burn it all to the ground if I’m not the nominee”. The only role Bernie is playing right now is that of the woman who encouraged Solomon to cut a live baby in half to settle a dispute between herself and another woman who claimed to be the child’s mother – in other words, “if I can’t have the nomination, no one should have it.”

I do not question for a moment the good intentions of most Bernie supporters. They are passionate about the ideas that Bernie has promoted.

But there comes a time when defeating Trump in November is far more important than massaging Bernie Sanders’ ego. There comes a time when those who support him have to ask themselves whether standing behind their candidate-of-choice is detrimental to the goal of trouncing Trump in the GE. And NOW is that time.

Excusing Bernie’s current behaviour is no different than excusing Trump’s behaviour. The lies, the spread of self-serving misinformation and the anti-Democratic rhetoric is nothing more than ego-driven bullshit meant to drive voters away from supporting the Democratic nominee.

The truth is that Bernie Sanders would rather see Trump re-elected than see anyone other than himself defeat him. And his continuing bashing of Biden – all the while knowing that Joe IS the Democratic nominee – is the proof thereof.