01.16.17 Bernie and Hillary supporters go for the jugular
I endorsed and contributed to Bernie Sanders’s campaign (twice). When it was apparent (after the New York primary) that he had no path to victory in the primaries, I endorsed and contributed to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. I have Facebook friends on both sides who apparently believe that trashing the other candidate and their supporters is more important than stopping the GOP/Trump agenda.
From a Bernie supporter on Christmas day:
All right, Planned Parenthood, you gave us Hillary Clinton, and that gave us Donald Trump. And now you want our help? Why shouldn’t we put our efforts into starting a truly progressive health care organization?
He and his respective bitter losers have been screaming for weeks about how Bernie would have been a “certain” winner against Trump. There are some smart, highly logical people in this group, who are so blinded by their ideology that they can’t see the error in conflating hindsight with prediction. (And who thinks it would be a good idea for some disgruntled boys to found a service in place of PP? Is it ok to throw women under the bus while they try to grow their little fantasy into an international movement?)
Oh yeah, this same person denounced Bernie himself, when Bernie got behind Clinton at the convention.
Today, a gang of Hillary freaks used a Slate article in praise of John Lewis (who recently called Trump’s presidency illegitimate) to launch more than 80 comments attacking not Donald Trump, but (you guessed it): Bernie Sanders. (The person who posted – a friend of my friend — did so with the comment “Don’t get me started on that asshole Sanders.”) In the face of James Comey, Russian hacking, Clinton campaign mistakes, Clinton’s horrific mishandling of the email scandal, they blame (you guessed it again) Bernie Sanders for delivering Trump to the White House.
My friend commented on that post by declaring that Bernie Sanders didn’t mention Hillary’s name often enough as he campaigned hard for her in the fall. Geez, if only Bernie had said, “Hillary, Hillary, Hillary,” she’d be president, right? I wrote back to him, denouncing this destructive movement and calling for unity.
In both cases, these individual “friends” of mine took the 5-10% of the national agenda I disagreed with them on to denounce me in harsh, personal and political terms. The Bernie supporter called me a “right-winger” who was “trying to destroy [his] world” when I switched my loyalty to Hillary last spring. The Hillary supporter has accused me of “being enamored of [my] own intellect.” Both leveled these insults publicly.
It’s awful political news for all of us that these people won’t stop fighting with each other and that both consider me (and Planned Parenthood and John Lewis) the enemy. Fighting the last battle assures a loss in the next war!
It’s horrific personal news, when these fanatics are so rigid that they throw a friend overboard over a partial disagreement.
A pox on both their houses. Democrats will have to build a big tent and win without them. As for me, my life will be happier with friends who don’t insult me when I disagree with them.
©2017 Keith Berner
Explore posts in the same categories: Presidential Campaign 2016Tags: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, John Lewis, Planned Parenthood
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Left-Hand View 
January 16, 2017 at 2:24 pm
Well said Keith.
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January 16, 2017 at 2:36 pm
Thanks, Kevin. I’m sick about this, politically and personally.
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January 16, 2017 at 3:10 pm
I have found the folks who get most riled up fall into one of three spots: 1) they don’t know you (friend of a friend, or share the same large group) & therefore you get the brunt of their fears and anger; 2) know you but are more social media friends (IOW people who without social media they would have dropped off your radar years ago); 3) friends in real life who can’t deal with confrontation very well. Most of the recent spats between Sanders and Clinton supporters are on social media groups where you don’t know the person. I think SNL’s skit called “the bubble”, which aired right after the election was spot on. Search for it.
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January 16, 2017 at 2:36 pm
I absolutely agree with you, Keith! We need to spend time and energy uniting the left if we have any chance at all of counteracting the results of this abysmal election.
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January 16, 2017 at 2:37 pm
Thanks, Anne.
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January 16, 2017 at 3:04 pm
The left, in a well-meaning effort to hear a variety of points of view, but too sure of our own opinions, does a much better job of organizing circular firing squads than we’ve done lately of organizing a progressive movement. If we spend the next few years attacking each other, we’ll make Trump, Bannon, Ryan, and McConnell very happy.
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January 16, 2017 at 3:20 pm
Rep John LEWIS is right….fair and square….and should be thanked for his honesty! Dirk Holger
On Mon, Jan 16, 2017 at 1:21 PM, Left-Hand View wrote:
> Keith Berner posted: “I endorsed and contributed to Bernie Sanders’s > campaign (twice). When it was apparent (after the New York primary) that he > had no path to victory in the primaries, I endorsed and contributed to > Hillary Clinton’s campaign. I have Facebook friends on both s” >
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January 16, 2017 at 8:35 pm
Well said. I am getting sick of this bullshit when there is much work to be done in the next two/four years.
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January 19, 2017 at 8:15 pm
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