GET CONTROL, SENATOR SANDERS, OR GET OUT - Newsweek

[otohara]

Violence. Death threats. Vile, misogynistic names screamed at women. Rage. Hatred. Menacing, anonymous phone calls to homes and offices. Public officials whisked offstage by security agents frightened of the growing mob. None of this has any place in a political campaign. And the candidate who has been tolerating this obscene behavior among his supporters is showing himself to be unfit for office.

So, Senator Sanders, either get control of what is becoming your increasingly unhinged cult or get out of the race. Whatever respect sane liberals had for you is rapidly dwindling, and the damage being inflicted on your reputation may be unfixable. If you can’t even manage the vicious thugs who act in your name, you can’t be trusted to run a convenience store, much less the country.

When Bernie Sanders launched his presidential campaign, he seemed to be the kind of candidate who would inspire voters from the liberal blocs of the Democratic Party, push the party leftward and influence the future direction of politics—either as the nominee or as a force for change. But Sanders has increasingly signaled that he is in this race for Sanders, and day after day shows himself to be a whining crybaby with little interest in a broader movement. His vicious—and often ridiculous—attacks on the party whenever he doesn’t win a contest have inspired a level of ignorant fanaticism among a large swath of his supporters that is becoming more akin to what might be seen at an out-of-control rally for Donald Trump. Signs are emerging that the Sanders campaign is transmogrifying into the type of movement through which tyrants are born.

The ugly was on display at the recent state convention of the Nevada Democratic Party, where Hillary Clinton won more delegates than Sanders. Now, this should hardly have been a surprise to anyone except the Sandernistas, whose certainty in their righteousness has overwhelmed any commitment they may have ever had to democracy. Sanders lost the Nevada caucuses in February by more than 5%. A rational person who cared about the will of the people would presume that Clinton would emerge from the state with the most delegates. But Sanders supporters were outraged—outraged!—that the person with the largest number of votes ended up with the largest share of delegates.http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-get-control-get-out-race-461195

[Iliyah]

1. East Los Angeles also comes to mind

[savalez]

2. This

But Sanders has increasingly signaled that he is in this race for Sanders, and day after day shows himself to be a whining crybaby with little interest in a broader movement.

[puffy socks]

3. Darn right!

"Whatever respect sane liberals had for you is rapidly dwindling, and the damage being inflicted on your reputation may be unfixable. If you can’t even manage the vicious thugs who act in your name, you can’t be trusted to run a convenience store, much less the country. "

[workinclasszero]

4. "Senator Sanders, either get control of what is becoming your increasingly unhinged cult or get out"

Bernie is riding the tiger now. He sold them all a pack of lies since day one.

If he tries to get off now the faithful will eat him alive!

[George II]

5. Interesting little fact from that article - "corrupt" Roberta Lange was a SANDERS SUPPORTER!!!!

[otohara]

6. Felt The Bern

then got Berned.

[mcar]

19. I did not know that

They are eating their own.

[liberal N proud]

7. It makes no sense for him to continue

He has less than a zero chance of winning the nomination. He has lost all credibility. Time to just go back to the lonely place in the corner where he came from.

At one time, I would have wished him well, and left it with no harm done, but there has been much harm done. Harm to Democratic brand, harm to his supporters and harm to the electorate system. He is far passed his expiration date. No respect remains.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. My fear is that if he continues to the convention, there will

be such division that it will hurt Hillary and other Democrats in the GE this fall. We will need a united front to beat Republicans and he needs to start leading his supporters in that direction.

[maybelline jombi]

9. there will be NO united anything

[Her Sister]

14. Are you a BS supporter? This is the HRC GROUP!

BS Newbies can go to the BS GROUP!

[maybelline jombi]

20. I'm a war vet ...Stop me from speaking !

[Her Sister]

21. HAHA I am a VET too! PLEASE GO SPEAK IN THE BS GP!

Thanks for your service though! BYE!

[hamsterjill]

10. I agree.

The fact that there is such division (caused by Sanders) at this point will be viewed by some GE voters are the inability to unite.

Bernie needs to face the music, and recover some of the grace and dignity that he exhibited at the beginning of this campaign, which grace and dignity have now been totally lost. Then he needs to endorse Hillary and stop this stupidity.

[Staph]

11. I love the conclusion in the final paragraph.

Which brings us back to the original point: Senators Sanders, grow up or get out. Your supporters are now, in true petulant child fashion, proclaiming that they will vote for Trump rather than Clinton because blah blah blah, Wall Street, blah blah blah, corporate contributors, blah blah blah, establishment, blah blah blah. Probably none of them have much of a memory of the Vietnam War and the 1972 campaign. Then, the liberal wing of the Democratic Party won with the nomination of George McGovern and a large segment of the usual party supporters proclaimed they would vote for Richard Nixon instead. And look how well that turned out.

I'm afraid too many of the Sanders supporters don't remember the disastrous 1968 Chicago and the resulting coronation of Richard Nixon. I'm not sure that many of them remember Richard Nixon!

[Lord Magus]

47. Most of them barely remember George W. Bush.

[sheshe2]

12. That whole article is a must read!

Thanks for posting, otohara.

[Her Sister]

15. Totally agree! Am enjoying every word!

It's pretty great!

[Rose Siding]

17. Learned something new in the comments

It was in response to a pro-Clinton woman:

Another Gynosaur for Clinton

We're Gynosaurs but the misogyny is all in our minds

[maybelline jombi]

22. I thought you were Gynocrats .

[Rose Siding]

23. bless your heart

[Tarheel_Dem]

25. Cute. Oh, and welcome back.

[sheshe2]

33. Gaaa!

[otohara]

31. My Pleasure

We've been waiting a long time for their bullying tactics to come to light. Too bad violence has to be the deciding factor when it comes to the media finally noticing what's been going on for months.

[ismnotwasm]

13. Holy shit.

We told them so.

[BlueCaliDem]

16. Wow. A blistering indictment of Sanders and his followers! A must read! K&R! eom

[Little Star]

18. k&r

[livetohike]

24. K&R

[Tarheel_Dem]

26. This entire article is full of gems. Thanks for posting.

"Now, as the old saying goes, politics ain’t beanbag, and it seemed for a while that Sanders’s plan was essentially to launch a revolution inside the Democratic Party. That’s certainly not a controversial goal for someone to shoot for in any political party—conservatives have been transforming the GOP for more than 35 years, pushing it increasingly to the right. But it has become increasingly obvious that this “revolution” is a façade designed to hide what is little more than an arrogant thirst for individual power."

[DrDan]

27. Summed up quite accurately

[procon]

28. Wowser... what a shot to the gut!

I'm taking this one home:

Yeah, these are exactly the kind of people who Americans want to have as the next president’s base—vicious, sociopathic misogynists. And their threats of violence at the convention is just another sign that Sanders could go down as one of the most destructive forces in American history. Riots and flames at the convention—a repeat of the chaos of the 1968 Democratic Convention—would help open the White House doors for Donald Trump when compared to a nose-holding coronation by Republicans at their gathering in Cleveland.

Yeah, that really Berns... ow, make him stop... ouch...

[caquillo]

29. What I don't understand is...

... why are celebs still continuing to support him? I'm not talking about the far left wingnuts, like Susan Sarandon and her ex Tim Robbins, but seemingly reasonable people? Recently, there was an article about Rosario Dawson, Josh Hutcherson, and Frances Fisher ('memba huh?) helping the Sanders campaign in CA registering people. I mean, they must know he has no chance. Aren't they turned off by the violent, misogynistic rhetoric and behavior of his followers and Sanders' own indifference to it? Don't they follow the news? Do they even care?

[Stuckinthebush]

30. Coporate media!

"Conspiracy!"

"Owned by Wallstreet!"

"Hillary running scared!"

"Panic at the Disco!"

Did I miss any predictable Bernie Bot hyperbole to attack this article?

[GusBob]

32. Gimme a pack of 305s and a Quick Pick

Hey wait aren't you.....never mind

[Koinos]

34. K & R

Great article.

[NastyRiffraff]

35. OMG this should be required reading!

I particularly liked this;

The unseemly tirade of Sanders supporters was a marvel, the kind of behavior more likely to be seen among British soccer hooligans than people claiming to be interested in politics. A chair was thrown. People screamed “bitch!” at Senator Barbara Boxer, a staunch liberal from California. Even the Nevada state Democratic chairwoman, Roberta Lange, who had endorsed Sanders, needed a security detail just to go to the bathroom in order to protect her from the hypocritical “humanity lovers” who seem to hate everyone but themselves and their idol.

Afterward, the goons kept up their hostile hysterics. Protesters vandalized the offices of the state Democratic Party. Lange’s personal contact information, including her cellphone number, were posted online, and she has since received thousands of death threats, according to state party officials. One of the text messages to Lange said, “Praying to god someone shoots you in the FACE and blows your democracy-stealing head off!” (Only in the delusions of Sanders-land could democracy be stolen when the winner of the popular vote was winning.) Voicemail obtained by Jon Ralston, the dean of Nevada political reporters, contain such delightful statements as, “People like you should be hung in a public execution.... You are a sick, twisted piece of sh*t, and I hope you burn for this!” And, “You f**king stupid bitch! What the hell are you doing? You’re a f**king corrupt bitch!” And, “You’re a c*nt. F**k you!” And, “You probably just guaranteed fire is in Philadelphia.”

Is this what Sanders meant when he said his supporters are "not violent"? His failure to address what has become a pattern of violence and threats tells me all I need to know about Bernie Sanders.

[CajunBlazer]

36. Cross posted on GD-P - I hope you don't mind

I love to see them foaming at the mouth.

[Cha]

37. Give us a link, please.

[CajunBlazer]

39. Link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511998397#post17

Which is it Cha - to you want to participate or just watch the fun?

[Cha]

40. Just a little

drive-by.

Thank you!

[CajunBlazer]

43. LOL

[Cha]

38. GET CONTROL, SENATOR SANDERS, OR GET OUT. I like those blunt terms .. maybe Sen sanders

can Understand that?!

And, forget his f******* stump speech for 5 minutes?!

Look @ all the publicity this is getting that Hillary won more delegates than BS.. Nice.

I wonder if "sanders fans were outraged".. because BS told them they were going to win Nevada? They believed him? He was wrong again, fans.

"the dress rehearsal" that went poorly. ..
Wait a sec.. omg. Robera Lange has endorsed sanders?!!! Is she sorry now?! “.. humanity lovers” who seem to hate everyone but themselves and their idol."

“Praying to god someone shoots you in the FACE and blows your democracy-stealing head off!” (Only in the delusions of Sanders-land could democracy be stolen when the winner of the popular vote was winning.)"

All in the name of burnie sanders.. hope he's proud.

Meanwhile, Sanders reacts with mealy-mouthed mumbles, saying he doesn’t support violence while doing literally nothing about it and claiming that—contrary to the statements of witnesses, reporters and video recordings—his violent supporters aren’t violent. Trump would be proud of the disingenuous delusions vomited up by the candidate.

Yeah, your "mealy mouthness" not going over well, burnie.

"Sanders himself has been willing to stoke the flames. He has said that if Clinton wins the nomination and wants his supporters, she has to court them herself by focusing on his issues while abandoning the “establishment.” After all, the loser always gets to dictate the agenda of the winner. (Usually, the candidate who doesn’t win the nomination vigorously endorses the party’s winner, but this is yet another example of Sanders being in it for himself.)"

Yeah sorry, burnie.. you Don't get to Dictate.

Why is Sanders continuing to bilk his delusional supporters of money, despite the impossibility of his winning the nomination, rather than directing it to candidates who support his ideals? Why do so many of his supporters scream “fraud!” when he loses a state and demand changes to the rules that they proclaim would have led him to victory?

http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-get-control-get-out-race-461195

Wow! Mahalo, otohara.. that was a perfect description by Kurt Eichenwald of what's been going on with Sen sanders and his fans.

[Kath1]

44. Thanks, Cha.

A lot of sick things going on, that is for sure.

Bernie should have called off his dogs a long time ago but didn't. This has been going on for a long time.

I can't imagine myself or any Hillary supporter I know, in person or on line, behaving this way. Unbelievable.

[Cha]

45. Yes, he should have, Kath.. he should have acted like a leader that he's trying to get the

Super Dels to believe he is.. Fat Chance!

Hillary Supporters~ Only the Best!

[TwilightZone]

41. That was positively brutal.

Talk about not pulling any punches.

[SunSeeker]

42. "showing himself to be unfit for office."

Couldn't agree more.

[Cha]

46. Exactly.. no leadership skills. I knew that and now the world is seeing it.