Why I NEVER want to hear another word about BERNIE BROS on DU again

[JonLeibowitz]

It is an insulting slur meant to cast Bernie supporters as a monolith of privileged Americans who are caught in the fad of celebrity rather than thinking critically about the issues and moving the country forward. But I think D. Raja Sandor can explain it best so I'll let him do the talking (and the phonebanking!) for me:

D. Raja Sandor is a volunteer phone banking for Bernie Sanders in Columbus, Ohio on March 15. Sandor said of his support: "Bernie Sanders seeks to be for all of the people. At this point in history, the country needs to embrace diversity. As a minority with a disability, I'm doing my part to have a seat at the table and Sanders works to move [this] forward."

Source: Time Magazine, http://time.com/4260441/super-tuesday-2-primary-voting-election-2016-photos-ohio-florida/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. He is setting the best example possible.

Wow.

K&R

[kgnu_fan]

209. wow...

[JonLeibowitz]

218. Fun thread, right? I am shocked what I started. And I thought this was a positive thread, at first.

[stevenleser]

2. And this person has what to do with the term Berniebros again?

Berniebros refers to people who are behaving like jerks in their support of Sanders. Are you saying this person is behaving like a jerk but shouldn't be called a Berniebro or are you saying he isn't behaving like a jerk and shouldn't be called a Berniebro. I would agree with that second scenario.

I've been attacked by Berniebros. Howard Dean has been attacked by Berniebros and written about it. Elizabeth Warren has been attacked by Berniebros. Any journalist who criticized Sanders has been attacked by Berniebros. Many have written about it. You can just check their Facebook pages to see it.

Here is my proof, Elizabeth Warren's facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethWarren/ Scroll down to her February 22nd post about her joining "Fisk University President Frank L. Simms and Berklee College of Music faculty members for a celebration of the Fisk Jubilee Singers at Boston's Symphony Hall." and read through the comments of Bernie supporters attacking her for not endorsing Sanders in advance of the Massachusetts primary.

Edited to add, here are some choice Berniebros comments aimed at Senator Warren:

Ian W "What a phony! Letting Bernie Sanders lose by 1% without even lifting a finger to help the real progressive movement! Apologize and endorse #BernieSanders2016"

---
Last nite in your home state we progressives watched the former president break the law to swing voters an you one of our very short list of heros . said nothing did nothing ......... Im literally sick to my stomach to think that the same week clintons surrogates start attacking your consumer protection group YOU LET BERNIE GO WITHOUT YOUR ENDORSEMENT .
---
Where were you Elizabeth? Bernie is out there fighting for what you used to talk about. You'll not have our votes. Neither will Hillary.
---
Your silence today will not be forgotten. There is a real Progressive Champion trying to rally this country to manifest our values. It could've been you. When you decided not to, Bernie Sanders stepped up to the plate to fight for the people.
---
It's politically coy to "play it savvy", but this is a moment where you could've been more. You could've given your support. Your words might've made a difference in your home state and lit a fire in others. You've let those who believe in you down with your reticence.
------------------------------------------
And there are hundreds more like those.

[jfern]

3. For fucks sake

[JonLeibowitz]

5. ***Note to Bernie supporters: I urge you not to engage this one,some intentionally miss the point***

[stevenleser]

9. ***Note to Hillary supporters: I urge you to push back on the idea that Berniebros do not exist.

We should not allow Sanders supporters to pretend that the things that many Sanders supporters did never happened.

[whatchamacallit]

13. Are Berniebros the kind of nasty people who would say this...

"The only things Hillary's experience seems to be good for is perfecting how to talk out of both sides of her mouth, engaging in the politics of personal destruction and other aspects of her ruthless pursuit of power that remind one of what a Karl Rove might do. That kind of person ought not to be the Democratic nominee."

[Electric Monk]

30. Linkhere . Quoting someone's own words back at them is not an "attack by BernieBros".

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=658816

Reality has a well known liberal bias. - Colbert

[riversedge]

61. You need to grow up. Steve .. is someone who

has changed his opinion of someone. It is wrong of you to throw that in his face. You act as if no one has ever changed his mind. Shame on you for doing that.

[aikoaiko]

175. The point is his double standard

Critiquing his change of opinion is also perfectly acceptable but that's hit the point here.

Steve the pundit is fine with using harsh, character assassination language when he wants to make a point, but he doesn't like it when the average person does so when it involves his (now) preferred candidate.

[merrily]

179. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251658816

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1277&pid=10074

[Bluenorthwest]

187. It's not the change of opinion, it is his wallowing in volitile and extreme rhetoric no matter what

the opinion of the moment might be. 'She is the worst' becomes 'she is the best and he is the worst' without any hint of reason. Of course anyone is free to carry on like that, but readers are also free to respond to the contradictory and self indulgent nature of the verbiage.

It's also hard to miss the fact that DU is full of people who berated and attacked Hillary full steam for months in 08 who now do that same thing to Bernie while praising Hillary to the skies. That's all great until they start in on other people for criticizing Hillary. That's just hypocrisy which is always naff. It is a special brand of irony that the Hillary Clinton Group is made up of some of the DUers who have over the years written the very worst things about her. When folks who have utterly castigated her stand up to complain that others are mildly critical of her, that's self serving and ugly behavior. The candidate really has nothing to do with it.

[whatchamacallit]

193. Yep

Spot on as usual.

[farleftlib]

288. Right. It's not the change of heart

It's the vitriol they spew at anybody who feels the same exact way they did once. They take their frustration at being forced to face their own hypocrisy out on all Bernie supporters. It's ugly and they project their ugliness on us.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

298. Everyone is free to change their minds. But sometimes it beggars belief when the

positions taken are polar opposites of one another. Which Steve should we listen to, and why?

[NanceGreggs]

21. This Hillary supporter ...

... is more than happy to push back.

It's all been documented - written about, blogged about, tweeted about. The comments left on the FB pages of Gabby Giffords, John Lewis, Al Franken, Sybrina Taylor, etc. have now been seen by millions of people.

Elizabeth Warren - an absolute icon of the True Progressives (TM) - was, as you've pointed out, swarmed by BS supporters and raked over the coals.

Every prominent individual, every group, every organization that has endorsed Hillary has been thrown under the bus by the BSers. Their FB pages and their websites have been filled with vitriol-laden, often racist remarks.

But there are NO Bernie supporters doing this, all evidence to the contrary.

[stevenleser]

28. Thank you Nance. We will not forget or allow some to assert it doesn't exist and never did.

If Sanders supporters don't like the term and don't like this discussion, they should have pushed back harder on fellow supporters who were doing this and Bernie should have too.

[shadowandblossom]

122. Berniebros. They engaged in censorship in every way they could.

Abusing jury systems on this site for just one example. I know of another but don't want to give ideas. They called black people ignorant and worse things, for not voting the way they wanted and were very painful to deal with. The man in the pic in the post above has nothing to do with the bros. But the bros were abundant and Everybody has dealt with them by now I have even seen Bernie supporters comment on it, and, NO. It wasn't proportionate.

[Kentonio]

146. Oh give it a rest. It's anonymous people posting on the internet.

Your attempt to lift your own choice of nominee by pretending the online rantings of some idiots is actually significant is so transparent as to be nonsensical. Should we also take the rantings of some supposed Clinton supporters calling Sanders an insane communist who hates America seriously? How about the supposed Clinton supporters who take to social media talking about how they'll never vote for a Jew?

We will not forget? What a pile of self important crap. The only people who define the campaign are the candidates and the people the candidates hire to work on or with their campaigns. I realize that raises uncomfortable feelings for someone who has the likes of David Brock in their corner, but you'll just have to own that. Don't worry, we on the Bernie side certainly will not forget.

[stevenleser]

182. You give it a rest when you are the target of hundreds of nasty comments.

Until then, I'm speaking out.

[Electric Monk]

195. You continue to miss the point. You earned every single 'nasty comment' for your hypocritical flip

flop.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=658816

[KittyWampus]

309. Perfect example of Berniebro behavior which is BULLYING. Blame the victim.

Thanks for being an exemplar of the topic at hand.

Guess what, I support Clinton now too.

And I have PLENTY of old posts you could dig up where I rip in to her.

So f*cking what? I've made no bones I have problems with Clinton.

It's called being an adult and changing with the circumstances if necessary.

It's called weighing options while choosing a candidate. It's not a marriage.

If there was a viable alternative, I'd vote for them in the Primary. There was, and it was O'Malley.

Now that's he's out there is only one viable option and it's Clinton.

Even with the issues I don't agree with her on.

Besides, without O'Malley there's no other Democrat running.

I won't vote for a primary candidate who:

-pretends to be holier than thou but ends up having his own hypocrisy exhibited time and again
-trashed the entirety of the Democratic Party with no qualifiers throughout his career. That would include Wellstone & Kucinich and a long list of Progressive, liberal Democrats who are in it for the long, hard slog.
-equates the Democrats with Republicans
-storms out of interviews
-can't speak on any topic in depth and that includes Wall Street
-can't come up with plans that make economic sense and then lies about how ridiculous his plans really are
-harasses an opponent with a bogus non-issue like "speech transcripts"
-whose support excludes several important demographics within the Democratic base
-whose political background as an adult is of a SOCIALIST. Not a "democratic socialist" but an actual socialist who wanted to seize the Rockefeller property. Berniebros can try and scrub Sanders Socialist history. But it's there.

[Electric Monk]

325. Noting what people have themselves said on any given topic is bullying? Then you must hate Obama.

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23whichhillary

[Silver_Witch]

190. Exactly

So tired of Hillary supporters who are rude pointing the finger at Bernie supporters who are rude.

[bravenak]

45. Absolutely!!

[Warren DeMontague]

71. There are assholes on the interent of all stripes.

"Berniebros" are a label designed to convey a specifc image, a messaging meme.

They "exist" in the same way products are "new and improved".

[NanceGreggs]

103. I'm not terribly concerned ...

... with what brand they're marketed under.

[Warren DeMontague]

113. Sure. If I really want to waste my time, I'll debate theology with religious people

"My unicorn has a bigger invisible **** than your leprechaun"

[NanceGreggs]

126. What ev. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

132. Totally. THIS. amirite? Like ohmigod

Well, I guess we can't always be shakespeare.

[George II]

192. Stuff like that has even been written about in the British press.

[workinclasszero]

197. Elizabeth Warren - an absolute icon of the True Progressives (TM) - was, as you've pointed out,

swarmed by BS supporters and raked over the coals.

As was John Lewis and Dolores Huerta.

The bros are infamous for the glee they display in their online swarm attacks especially if the victim is female.

[stevenleser]

319. Can't help but notice you got crickets in response.

The evidence is all over the web. Anyone at any spectrum of the left who endorsed Hillary or criticized Bernie or in Warrens case, did none of the above but decided not to endorse Bernie got the Bernie Bros treatment.

[workinclasszero]

324. Yeah no surprise

They can't defend the swarm attacks against Sen. Warren and other democrats.

There is no defense or excuse for it. They should be ashamed of it.

[giftedgirl77]

235. I just got a stupid hide for referring to the righteousness

of BernieBros. I don't think Bernie supporters realize that not all supporters are considered BernieBros. Just the obvious ones that insist on posting blatantly racist shit & proclaim they will either vote for Trump, Green party or not at all simply bc Wall Street is evil & nobody is as wonderful as Bernie.

[kcr]

289. They don't.

Or that some who disdain the Bernie Bros are themselves Bernie supporters. I'm not surprised you got a hide for something like that.

[jfern]

51. Someone needs to run a year long campaign demonizing people like you

[riversedge]

59. I will push back. They exist and do harm to many good Democrats

[stevenleser]

64. Thank you. I find the attempt at gaslighting pretty offensive.

[riversedge]

86. What is

gaslighting??

[stevenleser]

88. Its a type of psychological warfare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

Gaslighting or gas-lighting is a form of mental abuse in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity. Instances may range simply from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.

The term owes its origin to the 1938 play Gas Light and its film adaptations. The term has been used in clinical and research literature.

[riversedge]

105. well I think folks that toss your old words when you have changed are gaslighting

you. I see it happen every time you post--It is abusive.

[Kentonio]

148. The same way that people quoting Hillary's own words back are being 'abusive' right?

If you're a public figure then you have to own the positions you've taken. You don't get to just wipe them away with a simple 'I've evolved!'.

[polly7]

203. You can maybe wipe them with a cloth though.

[Loudestlib]

307. Psychological projection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

Psychological projection is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against their own unpleasant impulses by denying their existence while attributing them to others.[1] For example, a person who is rude may constantly accuse other people of being rude. It can take the form of blame shifting.

[stevenleser]

312. Yes, that may be another thing attributable to folks doing this. nt

[Loudestlib]

314. There it is again. That projection.

[stevenleser]

316. Nope, we have proof, that's the difference. How many links would you want?

We have dozens of OPs proving our point. You don't.

[shadowandblossom]

124. Agreed. But invalidation and gaslighting

have been standard bro strategies from day one. (congitive dissonance too)

[artislife]

115. Third way has done way more damage

With people's lives.

not feelings, poor hill supporters....oooh.

[fun n serious]

90. I took screen shots

When I have time I may post them to a blog. They were really bad.

[stevenleser]

118. I look forward to seeing them. I want to post them in that 1000+ comment OP too. nt

[artislife]

114. You can't hide from your initial reaction to Hills either

[Art_from_Ark]

119. He certainly does try, though

[Marr]

242. You've got to have the correct positions if you want to eek out some tv time.

I think it's like selling shoes for that crowd. Whatever's fashionable this season.

[Freedom Bill]

152. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for President and Vice-president 2016

Nuff said...

[Jitter65]

165. Not to worry. It's all helping them to lose.

And Bernie's recalcitrant attitude of never apologizing or taking responsibility for anything...including his voting record...is just about sealing his fate as a fake Democrat candidate.

[noiretextatique]

310. ironic that you are gaslighting sanders

in a subthread complaining about bernie supporters gaslighting...everyone. this lack of self-awareness is astouding!

[stevenleser]

313. Nope, we have kicked several old threads proving our point, then you guys get mad.

You can get mad, but the facts are there.

[merrily]

176. .

[timmymoff]

255. They need a narrative like bernie bros

They need to be the victim. They need to be the victim because it is hard to explain how someone running for president the last 12 years is having trouble with someone nobody knew about. At least only the hardcore followers of politics knew, but the majority did not. They need to be the victim to explain how they will nominate the first woman president for the democrats, but will lose in the general. They need someone to blame for the loss they know is coming and be damned if it will be her. She sets such a high standard of trust that we all must fall in line. If there is a things such as the Bernie bros, there is also a thing such as the Hillary hags. You can't have it both ways on every issue, just because your candidate does. Hillary hags are a silent group who never examine any of their candidate's shortcomings, they believe that "no we can't" should be the new democratic slogan, while supporting corporate wars. They are silent, for they are obedient to their corporate masters. They are prone to outbursts of poutrage, but they get over that once she adopts yet another position from the Sanders platform.

[Freedom Bill]

274. not Angery are the Trumpers. Just Mean

It is true that the Trumpers aren't really Angry. It is true they just like Bulling. They need someone to Blame because the Trumpers are to Slow, to go to train for one of the high paying jobs they so Envy
. They have their trucks and such but little of anything else.. IE No Education, No Money, and o FutureThe largest thing the Trumpers lack is tolerance, and Higher Education. AND trump Knows this.. Trump is Hitler and P.t.barnum all rolled Together.. His followers Should Go Back to trade School if thay need Trained.. But Alas They would rather sucker punch nonlooking protesters. As Trumps reamed Hit Him In The Face.. Hillary and Bernie For President and Vice-president 2016

[mac56]

315. +1

[morningfog]

268. It's a deragatory term Steve.

Yes, assholes exist on the internet. Some support HIllary, some support Bernie. Others are just assholes.

Should we start calling the HIllary assholes by some name?

[cui bono]

287. Can you imagine the uproar if people started calling them HillHags?

.

[morningfog]

290. Exactly.

[KittyWampus]

311. There are no Hillary assholes swarming the internet to trash anyone who breathes a word

not glowing with praise for Sanders.

Sorry, those Clinton supporters don't exist in appreciable numbers.

And it's not just about being an "asshole". It's about being an ABUSIVE asshole. And then blaming your victims for the abuse.

Two options:

Maybe if a Sanders supporter don't see Berniebros, they might be one.

OR- maybe it's not being able to see the trees from the forest because you are inside the forest. Maybe some Sanders supporters are so heavily invested and wrapped up in being a part of that group they just can't grasp the abusive behavior their cohorts engage in.

Group Behavior is a whole different thing. Groups do things an individual wouldn't normally do.

[Marr]

18. Yep. +1

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Got it

I try not to

[JonLeibowitz]

54. Yup.

By the way, my request for Hetherington came back -- we only have access to the book review, not the book. Time to spend some $$ on Amazon I guess. Spoiled by having generally adequate libraries, I suppose

[nadinbrzezinski]

57. It is a good read

[shadowandblossom]

127. And some perpetuate and protect abuse by pretending it doesn't happen.

.

[DemocraticWing]

31. How about I call you a Clintonbro? You attack Sanders supporters at every turn.

I wouldn't characterize all the wonderful Clinton supporters I know into a category like that, but if we're going to sink to name-calling into this campaign, be careful about the implications.

[stevenleser]

37. Sure, you could try. And I would ask for examples where I and other folks ganged up on people

who were only stating a preference for Bernie, and bullied them with hundreds of nasty comments.

This is a behavior repeated against hundreds of people as I said, any reporter who mentioned support of Hillary or offered a criticism of Bernie, Howard Dean, Elizabeth Warren whose only sin was not endorsing Bernie, a nearly 1000 post thread attacking me personally in GD-P. It goes on.

So sure, you could write the words accusing me or other supporters of being Berniebros or Hillarybros, but the behavior isnt there.

[Warren DeMontague]

68. Yeah, that sure seems to be the anecdotal assertion. And when people ask for actual examples

They turn out to be things like "someone started a hashtag #missisispiberning " - maybe offensive or tone deaf, but hardly "bullying". or it turns out the "berniebro" was actually a woman, or a trump supporter.

Its a fucking meme. Are there people who disagree on the internet? About politics? Are some of them obnoxious? Well, duh.

But the whole "berniebro" nonsense is a deliberately crafted piece of messaging from the same people who wanted to make the 2008 contest about "obama boys", and people arent falling for it.

[stevenleser]

73. I provided several examples upthread. Elizabeth Warren, Howard Dean

and how about the nearly 1000 post thread attacking me? Are those not Sanders supporters? I recognize the names. I see them in different threads here supporting Sanders. Is this all an elaborate subterfuge to fool me? Is the OP of that post a Trump supporter? By all means, call them out. I would love to see that.

[Warren DeMontague]

77. Liz warren and howard dean had people criticize them.

I saw the examples of "bullying" that were floated, and to the one they qere generally strongly worded criticisms of a position, and nothing more.

"i disagree with this position you've taken" isnt "bullying"

Nor does it mean "berniebros are soooooo real!"

Its a fucking label that someone came up with, probably after testing several different messaging options in a focus group.

[stevenleser]

79. Yeah, you know, the recipient of the behavior is probably a much better judge of whether its

bullying.

Usually its bullies who say "Aw, we were just having a good time with so and so, they shouldn't have taken it so hard. Who us, bullying? Nah, so and so was just too sensitive".

In general? Hundreds of posts of criticism in a short period of time is probably bullying.

[Warren DeMontague]

82. I know what actual bullying is, steve.

A politician having hundreds of people in a short period of time tell them they disagree with a decisiom they made, is not bullying, its an occupational hazard and part of the job.

[stevenleser]

84. So do I. And I am sure Howard Dean and Elizabeth Warren and all the countless others have had

criticism before. They all know its an occupational hazard, as do I. And we all recognized this as something different and more nasty.

https://twitter.com/GovHowardDean/status/708814927352504324

Howard Dean:
Sorry to disappoint. Fed up with Bernie supporting cyber bullies and negative campaign tactics against HRC who I like and respect

[Warren DeMontague]

92. Oh, the drama.

The "cyber bullies" he's referring to there were people who criticized HRC's nancy reagan statement. And she apologized. So maybe the "cyber bullies" had a point after all?

Also, i think for someone as steeped in the media as you are, you really ought to take a crash course in general semantics or at least ponder the way our information outlets craft what too many people confuse with "reality". Just because a bunch of people use a word like "bernie bros", that doesnt mean "berniebros are real". Its a fucking label.

Whether it is an accurate descriptor of actually out of the ordinary behavior performed by people who more or less resemble whatever the "bernie bro" is supposed to look like (presumably male, presumably a sanders supporter, probably a baseball cap or soul patch or purple shirt or some shitty signifier like that) it's still a LABEL and a subjective judgment or observation of mass behavior.

[stevenleser]

98. Oh it IS drama. Insults and bullying are definitely part of the definition of drama.

And you can deny it all you want it won't make all of these instances go away.

I know it must suck that the campaign you have been supporting has had this as a part of it. I guess I might be in denial too if it had happened on my side. I would never want to be on the side of bullies.

You're going to keep running up against a brick wall called reality. We can go back and forth all night, it won't change reality.

[Warren DeMontague]

100. What instances, steve?

Someone pulled a thread of yours from 2008 about Hillary clinton? Thats the danger of having words in the public record.

Its not "bullying".

Its funny that downthread you're on about "why not advocate for your candidate instead of doing this behavior" .. And making up lame monikers for the other candidate's supporters is "positive advocacy"?

Reality is that "bernie bros" is a deliberately crafted messaging meme from the same people who brought you "obama boys". Speaking of 2008.

http://www.salon.com/2008/04/14/obama_supporters/

[stevenleser]

104. It's definitely bullying. It's ad-hominem, unrelated to the issues and nasty bullying. But you knew

that.

And its typical of Berniebros behavior. Someone in the press writes something critical of Bernie, and instead of addressing that criticism, Sanders supporters data-mine all their previous work and use something as an ad-hominem attack completely unrelated to their points about Sanders, along with a miscellaneous other several hundred nasty comments.

If that isn't bullying and over the top behavior, you need a refresher course in the meaning of those terms.

[Warren DeMontague]

109. Well like I said i dont think I was a party to that thread.

There has been plenty of abhorrent behavior from both sides, here, if you ask me.

[stevenleser]

112. I didn't say you were. But it is an example of Berniebros behavior.

And sure, public figures expect some of it. I've gotten more nasty attacks on Twitter from a single appearance than I received on that post.

But those are still examples of negative and nasty behavior. And yes, I hold that against a candidate if its done in their name as I am sure do other folks in media and politics and I certainly do not expect that to happen in support of a Democratic Presidential candidate. That does not belong on our side.

[Warren DeMontague]

117. You mean like when Harriet Christian did her PUMA rant in 2008?

You should vote for the candidate, not the supporters.

With determination, people can cobble together data to support just about any narrative or assertion. You think there is some trend here endemic to sanders backers, I dont. Sorry.

[stevenleser]

121. I have no idea who that is. She obviously didn't get a lot of support as Obama had a landslide

victory.

For HER part, Hillary repudiated the PUMA effort and endorsed Obama.

I have seen very little pushback from Bernie or his supporters against Berniebros behavior.

[Warren DeMontague]

123. Oh come on. You dont remember (the now late) harriet christian?

She was a piece of work, a fixture of the 08 landscape like "b" girl or joe the plumber whose name wasnt joe and wasnt a plumber.

There are assholes who support ALL candidates. Probably more, statistically, for trump than any other. But the "berniebro" meme is a made up piece of messaging, nothing more. Doesnt mean there arent asshole sanders suppprters.

[stevenleser]

129. Nope. Neither she nor any other Clinton supporter tried to bully me in 2008.

No Romney supporter tried to bully me in 2012 even though by then I had a lot of appearances on Fox.

This behavior by Sanders supporters is unique in Presidential politics.

[Warren DeMontague]

135. This seems as though it is a personal matter, for you, and I get that.

So not much point in me continuing to repeat myself, except to say I do disagree but i accept that im not coming at it from where you are.

'Nite.

[stevenleser]

137. If it were only me, I would say, OK, its something I did wrong. I'm honest with myself.

Sure, there is a personal element to it.

But the experience is repeated hundreds of times by other politicos and journalists, and you can tell by THEIR reactions that it is surprising and new to them too.

[polly7]

102. You would certainly know all about that! nt.

[mcar]

184. Gabby Giffords had people suggesting

she get her head examined. Sybrina Fulton and John Lewis were subjected to similar internet bullying - and yes it is bullying. What I will never understand is what that crop of Sanders supporters hopes to gain by their attacks and why those attackers are defended at all costs.

[Shadowflash]

172. Right.

[aikoaiko]

173. You're OK with calling HRC a liar, but not ok with those comments?

Damn, the double standard is strong with pundits.

[merrily]

178. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251658816

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=104497

http://jackpineradicals.org/showthread.php?3326-IGNORANT-Bernie-Bros-must-END-their-name-calling!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1277&pid=10074

[The Second Stone]

215. Exactly. An example of a Sanders supporter who happens to

be a clueless Bernie Bro.

[rusty quoin]

4. Bernie Bros have nothing to do with Bernie Sanders.

The KKK have everything to do with Donald Trump.

[stevenleser]

69. Harry Truman would disagree

Shouldn't Sanders take his supporters to task if they are repeatedly behaving badly?

Shouldn't anyone vying for the Democratic nomination do at least what McCain was willing to do?

[rusty quoin]

247. Bernie did that. You know it. It was on tv. Oh forgetaboutit.

You know what you know. I guess it's like that. BTW, most Bernie voters will back Hillary. Me...I'm not pissed if she wins. She has done so already, and I am not pissed. My mission has been to not be pissed. Now we all work for Hillary.

[stevenleser]

321. It was far too little, far too late. But it is instructive that Bernie finally felt the need

To call it out and disavow the behavior that many here are trying to assert doesn't exist.

[bravenak]

224. Bull

They damn sure sent hate mail to my damn house. For him. In his name.

[jillan]

6. Well we could always start calling Hillary supporters what they are called on twitter, fb and other

sites....

Hillary's H-s (rhymes with Bros).

Sexist? Calling me a Bro is also sexist.

But none of us have gone there, have we?
Nope. Out of respect for her, we haven't. Is it really too much to ask that we get the same amount of respect?

[shadowandblossom]

134. I don't call Bernie supporters Bernie Bros. I call Bernie Bros, Bernie Bros.

And have seen a whole lot of them this primary season and the denial of their presence isn't something I'll agree to. Moving on now for me.

[kgnu_fan]

221. ...

[JonLeibowitz]

8. .Un. .Fucking. .Believable.

Star Member cosmicone (9,367 posts)
7. I feel sorry for the guy

He has an agenda to get free healthcare -- I don't blame him. May he find happiness.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

10. yep!

something smells

[Electric Monk]

196. That account is now "flagged for review"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=143870
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=143870&sub=trans

[QC]

29. Jury Results

On Thu Mar 17, 2016, 01:20 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

I feel sorry for the guy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1511957

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

This man is handicapped but still a contributing member of society - he does not have an agenda for free health care. Look at the video jurors and tell me this post isn't disgusting.

JURY RESULTS

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu Mar 17, 2016, 01:32 AM, and the Jury voted 7-0 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: One has to wonder how many times this right wing asshole's posts have to get hidden until there are some real consequences. I guess some are more 'equal' than others.
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Initially I voted to leave it, but then looked at the OP. None of us will have "free" HC, we are striving for a better world for the next generation. To say 'he just wants free HC is disgusting, imagine if this was your brother or son, have some empathy.

Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: This is a totally disgusting post, but not surprising.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Nasty.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: What a thoroughly dispicable comment made by a poster who has no class and, apparently, no empathy. I don't often vote to hide, but thus is plain offensive.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[JonLeibowitz]

32. What is sad is there are no longer any consequences for assholes posting these screeds.

[QC]

36. Very true. There are now no consequences for disruption. n/t

[JTFrog]

208. As noted in post #196, there are still consequences.

If a poster gets two or more hides in a short period of time they are flagged for review. I'm not positive, but I think the only way a poster can be unflagged is by the admin checking them out.

That hidden post was absolutely vile so I hope the admin are on it.

[Waiting For Everyman]

34. Edit: I had jury results too, already posted I see.

You don't see 7-0 HIDE IT every day.

[JonLeibowitz]

47. No you do not. It was vile, and that post will not soon be forgotten by me at least.

But it will become more common; Some of the more vitriolic Hillary supporters are going off the deep end now that there are no consequences for their behavior.

[Kalidurga]

80. And more than two comments I never see that many comments from a jury

[Waiting For Everyman]

116. Yes,

mine was short, I was #5.

You know, thinking about this... why is it that people who are this mean, are so upset about Trump who is also mean? That doesn't ring very true to me.

[Kalidurga]

138. Most the time I see the claim but can't make heads or tails on what the claim was about.

If I do get the complaint I will say something and I have I tend to be direct like that at times.

[polly7]

52. There's a real sickness here ....... it's become a lot more obvious today. nt.

[bbgrunt]

101. Opening the jail doors certainly has made this place very classy and less contentious!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

185. Since when are we the party of mass incarceration, figuratively or literally?

And it is ironic that members of a certain group, and it had everything to do with immutable characteristics and not mutable ones, bore the brunt of the policy you seem to applaud.





No intended.


P.S. The comment by cosmicone was beyond messed up. It was mean and gratuitous.

[rhett o rick]

12. Why am I not surprised that you have no empathy.

[cosmicone]

15. I said I feel sorry for the guy

That is a textbook definition of empathy. Perhaps you should look it up.

What is manifestly unempathetic is using a disabled guy to score political points on the internet.

[JonLeibowitz]

17. "Using a disabled guy"? Take your beef up with Time.

I am quoting him because he makes the point better than I could.

[riversedge]

65. It is not Time who linked the BerniBRos with the disabled guy- but YOU did in

your OP.

The Time story is about---"TIME LightBox commissioned photographers Christopher Morris and Andrew Spear to take over our Instagram feed as they respectively crisscrossed South Florida and Ohio. They shared scenes from the campaigns of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Kasish and Rubio, following supporters in their last-ditch efforts to get their candidates over the almighty threshold that will determine their future and that of the entire country.
'
Here is a selection of their best photographs. See more on @timelightbo." I do not see them mention the BerniBros. If I am wrong correct me. It was you that used the pic in your OP to illustrate the diversity of Bernie supporters. Fine. But do not blame the link of the BernieBros on Time.

[JonLeibowitz]

67. Mr. Sandor's words are the link to bernie bros.

His statement is a forceful deconstruction of that smear. So I posted it.

Are you defending cosmicone's postings?

[riversedge]

83. I am not defending these BernieBro hashtags #BernTheWitch #MississippiBerning

The Bernibros exist and are all over.

[JonLeibowitz]

87. Deflect deflect.

[riversedge]

93. Mr. Sandor did not say anything about BernieBros did he??

[JonLeibowitz]

94. No but his comments are a forceful statement on Bernie Bros when put in that context

Which, yes, I chose to frame in this manner. I think it is an important frame. You are free to disagree, and I am free to disregard that.

[riversedge]

96. thank you. so we are clear that YOU made the link and not Time.

[grossproffit]

130. +1 Yep.

[Docreed2003]

66. You're confusing empathy with sympathy...

Sympathy would cover feeling sorry for someone. Empathy involves trying to understand what it's like to walk in another's shoes. For a great example, if suggest reading "To Kill a Mockingbird". That's where I first learned the power of the word empathy as a 9th grader.

[kcr]

25. Wow that's gross.

Even Hillary's agenda would get him some healthcare. Did you forget? I don't think he gives a shit you feel sorry for him.

[NuclearDem]

11. "BernieBro" refers to a very specific subset of people.

A person engaged and volunteering in political campaigns and doing their goddamn American civic duty the way any responsible American citizen should be damned proud of is not one of them.

BernieBros tell Clinton to "go fuck yourself with a brick", tell Sanders to "hit her with a 2x4", talk about getting the "Vagina Club" their first president, tell LGBT Clinton supporters they "wouldn't fuck you with another dog's dick", and generally act like repulsive, nasty schoolyard bullies the likes of which any responsible American citizen should be utterly disgusted with and shamed of.

Just to be clear: Doing your civic duty and being politically conscious does not make one a Bernie Bro. Being a completely detestable, vile jackass does.

[stevenleser]

14. Well said. And we won't allow Sanders supporters to pretend that behavior never existed.

Nor will we let them pretend that there wasn't way, way, waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much of it with far too little pushback by other Sanders supporters and Bernie himself.

[shadowandblossom]

136. Nor should we.

Ridiculous.

[John Poet]

19. So, I guess a lot of Hillary supporters must be "BernieBros"

"Just to be clear: Doing your civic duty and being politically conscious does not make one a Bernie Bro. Being a completely detestable, vile jackass does."

[stevenleser]

24. Nope. Hillary supporters did not engage in that combination of nasty, swarming and bullying

behavior. I provided an example upthread. There are hundreds of examples from different people who experienced this behavior by Sanders supporters.

The largest thread in GD-P history this go around is a Berniebro nasty swarming attack on me.

[John Poet]

48. And using your own words against you.

That must suck.

We could create a hashtag, #whichstevenleser
but you aren't nearly big enough to trend, so that would be pointless.

[stevenleser]

49. And see, there you go proving my point. Instead of advocating for your candidate and trying

to reach people, this is how you guys behaved anytime someone didn't show adequate obsequiousness toward Bernie. Then you wondered why people in the media seemed to be against Sanders.

You all attributed it to some kind of conspiracy. I'll bet that among the several thousand folks who were the recipient of this kind of behavior, at least a third of us were reachable/convince-able, maybe more.

But I can tell you from experience, none of us who were on the receiving end of this wanted to hear anything else about him. This behavior is/was a reflection on his campaign.

You guys were much more effective in turning people off to Bernie than in extolling his virtues.

[AgingAmerican]

53. Yes, they do

You yourself engage in the very things you claim 'Bernie Bro's' engage in.

[stevenleser]

56. Nope, and it would be impossible for me to do. It requires hundreds of people at a minimum. nt

[pinebox]

120. Steve, Hillary supporters certainly have engaged in that and here are the screen caps

And this is but a small sample of the 100s I have collected.

[polly7]

205. Of course they did. Against people right here.

What more proof do you need? By MIRT and other members here. Deliberately targeting people because of so much hate - on a message board - it makes you wonder how they function in real life.









[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]



(Nadin not colourful enough!)











[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]



[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]



[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]







[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]



[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]



[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]






http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251616648

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251461135

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251549982

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=442874

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=629880



Anti-Semitism, racism - every filthy thing they could come up with was applied here to his supporters from day one. A whole crew whose single purpose was to spread filth -if it wasn't about Sanders himself, it was his supporters. And not a single * was given.

[JonLeibowitz]

219. **cricket** -- Thanks so much for posting these.

[polly7]

220. No worries.

You might want one of these now, though. [URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[JonLeibowitz]

20. The "hit her with a 2x4" was a reference to Chuckie Schumer

“Chuck Schumer was up in arms, telling fellow senators that Obama needed to take a two-by-four to Hillary.”

http://nypost.com/2010/01/10/chuck-schumer-hatched-secret-plan-to-get-obama-to-run/

I roundly criticized the "go fuck yourself with a brick" post. I said it was vulgar, because it was and it was disgraceful.

The point of this OP is that the Bernie Bro meme is meant to broad brush all passionate supporters, when they are sticking to the issues.

[Surya Gayatri]

22. ^^^This!^^^

[Scootaloo]

23. Specifically, "Whoever we could get away with smearing with it"

[NuclearDem]

27. The only people making that equivalence in any significance

has been the offensive contingent I was describing.

Usually, to use the honorable ones as human shields and continue to make themselves appear the victim.

[Starry Messenger]

33. +1

The gaslighting on this is predictable.

[hopemountain]

141. "gaslighting" as defined and described

by anti democrats and republicans.

[DemocraticWing]

35. A small subset. That's a good start. Now can wecall out the jackass subset in Hillary's camp too?

[NuclearDem]

38. Of course. I've never denied that assholes and generally awful people support Hillary as well.

But the plain fact is Sanders supporters have been by far the most prolific across the Internet, for both honorable and dishonorable reasons.

[JonLeibowitz]

40. They have been the most prolific because they vastly outnumber Hillary supporters.

Naturally, there are a few bad actors (and some tRump supporters). It is a misunderstanding of how the internet works to read any more into things than that. I remember 15 years ago on the internet and it was well known that trolls were to be ignored. It is a mistake (or part of a larger agenda) to start smearing passionate Bernie supporters as Bernie Bros, as many "concerned" op-ed pieces have done.

[stevenleser]

42. Nope, its not a misunderstanding. There are too many examples and not enough pushback.

There has been some pushback, sure. There are honorable Sanders supporters on DU. JI7 is one of them. When nasty stuff like Berniebro behavior happened I noticed JI7 pushing back and a few other folks. But again, far too little. The same on the wider internet. And Bernie himself did far too little far too late.

[stevenleser]

41. Agreed. And it is something many times worse when it is hundreds of comments bullying someone with

nastiness.

[DemocraticWing]

43. He dominates the internet because it skews younger and more liberal.

That's not to say he doesn't have elderly supporters or that elderly people on both sides aren't on the internet, etc. It's just that internet participation is very high among the liberal under-30 crowd that makes up his base, ergo having more people magnifies the number of bad actors that are going to be in a group. And once a large enough number of people manifest, the kind of behavior we're talking about can multiply.

I think the propensity for being an asshole probably isn't helped by the fact that large parts of the internet are bubbles where nobody but Bernie supporters talk to one another. And so when dissenting opinions enter their orbit, they lash out because they're confused as to why people believe different things than all their friends.

[stevenleser]

44. All of which is fine the first 3-7 days it happened back in the May-June timeframe. After that...

... decent Sanders supporters should have stepped in and started pushing back, both grassroots and in the campaign.

That never happened or happened in such miniscule numbers it was inconsequential. The behavior was allowed to continue.

And that's being generous. The nearly 1000 post thread attacking me was gleefully joined in by hundreds of Sanders supporters with very little pushback from Sanders supporters. That is what happened in most cases throughout the internet.

[DemocraticWing]

50. It's been a back and forth for months. Hard to put a lid on all-out war waged by people I don't know

There's been plenty of vitriol from my side, and I've called out as much of it as I could. On social media, on DU, in real life, etc.

What I don't see is an equal effort on the other side, including a post I just read from a Hillary supporter that basically called all young people stupid conservative children who don't what's good for us. You guys just deny it exists, or says it's not really prevalent, or whatever. The shit's been flinging both ways for a long time, and perhaps both sides should be a bit ashamed.

But there's nothing we can do that's ever good enough. I supported the wrong candidate and forever will be guilty by association. You guys think everybody that voted Bernie is a racist/sexist/conservative/communist/idiot/pedant/etc. now. That's a whole bunch of us and we're getting to the point we're just sad. I've fought all of my adult life for progressive causes, consider myself a feminist, and will be pushing for a Democrat to be elected in November. None of that matters to Hillary supporters, because I didn't sign on in May 2015 for 18 months of unflinching loyalty.

[stevenleser]

55. It really wasn't back and forth early on. When it became clear for me was August black lives matter

in Seattle.

The reaction to the protesters and the movement showed how completely over the top many Sanders supporters were. That's when I realized there was something different about many of the folks supporting Sanders that was really ugly.

And no, I don't deny nastiness exists on the Hillary side. Cosmicone, who I generally like, posted something on the ugly side under this OP that I wish he hadn't said. But see it's a one off. It's not a swarming effort. And I'm not picking on him. I've said stuff that in hindsight I shouldn't have said. Again, a one off.

I think too many Sanders supporters believed that their ticket to the nomination was to attack Hillary and to attack anyone who supported Hillary or criticized Sanders and bully them. The evidence is everywhere and it does not exist on the other side.

There may not have been anything you personally could have done because there were just far too many Sanders supporters doing it. Something should have been done though and it should have come from the campaign no later than early September.

[Docreed2003]

62. Interesting anecdote...

I posted a reply regarding the current difficulty with students acheiving a college education. A very kind DU'er made that reply into an OP. I was attacked nearly instantaneously by a SHC supporter who suggested that pushing for free college was asking for a handout, that in their experience they were able to work part time, raise a family and still afford college, and yet they couldn't understand that the world has changed drastically since they were in school. I was accused as being a grifter to the system, because I HAD to take out student loans for medical school. And even when faced with the reality that many Gen X'ers and millennials like myself face, the comment was dismissed and I was personally chastised for a lack of financial acumen. Since that time, I've never responded to that persons posts. Yet that experience gave me great insight into the mindset of the Clinton supporters

[stevenleser]

63. OK, and how many other Clinton supporters joined in the attack? Do you have a link.

my guess is at most a handful. Perhaps even just that one person.

[Docreed2003]

70. It was an uncalled for attack...

By a Clinton supporter. If you wish to see the link, look back at my history and you will find it. Sadly, that line of attack has been used more than once in more than one post and it's disgusting on its face and a slap in the face of democratic principles at its core. Dismiss my post if you wish, but it's the truth, and I've seen similar attacks to other posters.

[stevenleser]

74. That may be, but it does not fit the profile of what we are talking about.

Berniebros aren't merely nasty, they gang up in bullying attacks of several hundred posts.

[unapatriciated]

157. The better question would have been

how many Clinton supporters denounced the attack.

Since that is exactly what you are saying we are not doing enough of as Sander supporters.

[stevenleser]

181. If it's not a bullying and swarming attack, its not the same thing. nt

[mac56]

318. ^ THIS ^

[Warren DeMontague]

75. Because Hillary people have more trouble getting their cable modem to work if that nice boy from

Geek squad isnt available to come reset it?

I kid, I kid. i guess I'm a "berniebro"!

[hopemountain]

140. they are not bernie sanders supporters

they are anti bernie "bros" or whatever. they intentionally discredit bernie and his campaign with every slur they write or post. totally and completely not what bernie sanders represents nor what he would do. those people are trolls out to destroy and disrupt. i don't know whether they are paid - but they definitely belong to an elite club of assholes.

[NuclearDem]

189. No True Scotsman is a fallacy for a reason.

[DrDan]

159. spot on

[mariawr]

183. Sounds like the type of false flag mess that Brock would pay to have done..

.....part of the "kitchen sink "offense Clinton engages in over there. Bernie keeps it clean, so they demean his followers by putting hostile messages out and then blame Sanders' supporters. Done all the time. ET tu, Brutus?

[JoePhilly]

204. + 1

[johnp3907]

206. Well said.

And these are the same people who called me a racist, anti-semite, and fascist. I guess I'm now being told I hate people with disabilities too? Or something?

[MFM008]

16. remember the real enemy.

T R U M P.
That asshat will win because we dems are butt hurt because someone else gets nominated.

[slipslidingaway]

39. Jury results to reply #7

I was juror #3 and had not looked at the OP, but after doing so and reading the comment from respondent #7 ... "I feel sorry for the guy, He has an agenda to get free healthcare -- I don't blame him. May he find happiness."

I decided a hide was in order, nobody wants anything for FREE , people are working to survive, it was a disgusting comment.



AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

Mail Message



On Thu Mar 17, 2016, 01:20 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

I feel sorry for the guy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1511957

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

This man is handicapped but still a contributing member of society - he does not have an agenda for free health care. Look at the video jurors and tell me this post isn't disgusting.

JURY RESULTS

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu Mar 17, 2016, 01:32 AM, and the Jury voted 7-0 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: One has to wonder how many times this right wing asshole's posts have to get hidden until there are some real consequences. I guess some are more 'equal' than others.
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Initially I voted to leave it, but then looked at the OP. None of us will have "free" HC, we are striving for a better world for the next generation. To say 'he just wants free HC is disgusting, imagine if this was your brother or son, have some empathy.

Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: This is a totally disgusting post, but not surprising.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Nasty.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: What a thoroughly dispicable comment made by a poster who has no class and, apparently, no empathy. I don't often vote to hide, but thus is plain offensive.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[arcane1]

58. That poster needs a timeout more than any other right now.

[grossproffit]

46. D. Raja Sandor, I salute you!

[grossproffit]

60. It's sad that this man, D. Raja Sandor, got lost due to pettiness.

He's an example of what many of us do, volunteer for candidates. We come in all shapes, sizes, shades, backgrounds, etc. There's isn't a 1 size fits all mold. He's truly an inspiration and an example for all of us to follow.

With a little research I was able to find out more about Raja.

My name is Raja Sandor, and I am 25 years old. I was adopted at the age of 18 months, from an Indian orphanage, and was raised in central Ohio by my parents who are very special people. They adopted me, knowing that I didn't have arms, was missing part of my right leg, and had the potential of internal abnormalities as well. I had a pretty typical childhood for anyone growing up in rural Ohio, and when I was 18 began to establish who I wanted to be. I attended Florida College where I was a business major, a psychology major and even a Biblical studies major; before deciding to get my A.A. and move on. I decided to pursue graphic/web design, and eventually chose school in Los Angeles.

https://www.youcaring.com/other/keep-raja-in-la/166728

If anyone can find anything more, please share.

[stevenleser]

76. See riveredge's #65 above. I have no idea why the OP linked this person to that term...

...inviting a discussion on one of the more ugly aspects of this primary race.

[Warren DeMontague]

78. whats ugly is that someone made up this stupid fucking term to insult Sanders supporters.

And some people just love it so much, its so wonderful and unifying, that they wail like lost puppies at the suggestion that they stop using the stupid goddamn thing.

Bernie bros in 2016, "Obama boys" in 2008. Same shit, different year.

[stevenleser]

81. I think the behavior is much uglier than the term. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

85. i have not seen one fucking example of supposed "bernie bro" behavior which is any worse than the

Shit that other candidates supporters do just as much. And that is ALL the other candidates.

What is "gaslighting" is the constant attempt to craft this goofy fucking narrative that the sanders camp is some haven of misogynistic racism yargle bargle blarg, and believe me, people figured out a while back already at it is a lame diversionary tactic to avoid addressing actual issues because on a straight up comparison of actual issues hillary's people run out of stuff to say pretty quick.

But it doesnt even fucking matter, since Hillary will probably win. Personally I think it will be despite these sorts of tactics, not because of them.

[stevenleser]

89. We've given you plenty of examples. You are determined not to see it.

I've given you the link to Elizabeth Warren's facebook up thread with over 1500 comments.

I've again told you about the nearly 1000 post OP attacking me. I've now linked you to Howard dean's tweet about Sanders cyber bullies.

The Nile isn't just a river in Egypt.

[Warren DeMontague]

95. No, the examples are always shit like "howard dean says they're real! Sanders says theyre real!"

Those arent 'examples'

Watch TYT. They nail it better than I ever could. Half the time the examples arent even sanders supporters, sometimes theyre women, sometimes, hell, theyre female clinton supporters, sometimes theyre just garden variety twitter trolls.

And sure, i have no doubt that there are some male bernie supporters who are jackasses as well.

[stevenleser]

99. Nope, they're not always like that at all. There is a nearly 1000 post OP here you keep

avoiding addressing.

[Warren DeMontague]

106. You are talking about someone pulling your words from 2008, and I just addressed that.

Fact of the matter is, you are at least somewhat a public figure. You post on DU using your name and you appear on FOX. So there is a public record around your words, and when people in the public eye express opinions it is not uncommon or unexpected for them to have their prior statements scrutinized.

If you wanted to post (relatively) anonymously, you could have picked a username taken from a drunken monkey puppet in a wrestling helmet, and then whenever anyone google searched "warren demontague" they would get this:



But, shit, thats DU, and people being assholes on DU is by no means exclusive to brotastic sanders supporters, shit it happens every 4 Years. I was here in 08 and 04 and they were just as bad.

If someone crossed a line in that thread on you, that would be uncalled for- i dont think i participated in it at all, since i accept that people can and do change their minds, nor would i be particularly interested in confronting you on what you said in 2008- but it still doesnt prove "berniebros are real".

[stevenleser]

107. See my #104. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

72. What are "Bernie Bros"?

[Live and Learn]

153. Got me, most of the Bernie supporters I know are older women. With older men, second and

millennials iof both sexes pretty much equally third.

[Warren DeMontague]

164. If you watch the clip, The Young Turks absolutely eviscerate the meme.

To the point where anyone who is still using that term is making themselves look pretty stupid. Not that I think they care.

[Jenny_92808]

244. I watched it

and you are so right!

[bravenak]

166. People who send hatemail to my home in the name of their liege.

Twice. Snail mail. Who then track down my email addresses, my facebook and my twitter and other social media to harass me. People who swarm john lewis to call him house nwords.

[Warren DeMontague]

168. Whoever did that, it was clearly someone wrapped way too fucking much up in DU drama.

Specifically, causing it and then sitting back and watching the results.

I remember when that shit went down, and it was fucked up. But I also know there are a lot of weirdos who orbit around this place and certainly not all of them are what they pretend to be.

Im sure I could come up with some theories, having observed some of the drama that people with little else to do, emotional/drinking problems, etc have stirred up here over the years, but the fact that it purported to come from a "bernie supporter" ...doesn't mean it did.

Either way, it was fucked up and Im still sorry that happened to you.

[bravenak]

170. Hey. Dont feel sorry.

It's cool. I was more mad about the swarming of John Lewis and BLM. Those were definately supporters of Bernie's. It ain't no meme. They exist. I watch white bernie supporters right here call him a sell out.

[Warren DeMontague]

171. Im not saying there arent supporters of sanders who are assholes, or tone deaf

But there are hillary supporters who are the same.

I do suspect sanders supporters have more of an internet presence because they skew younger, generally. And they're probably more familiar with platforms like twitter.

The point of the video is that the "Bernie bro" label is a deliberate piece of memecrafting, designed to convey a specific message and image. I wouldnt say that there are no sanders supporters who have behaved badly.

It's silly, all the arguing "bernie bros are so real!" i mean, they're a subjective categorization, and i doubt very much anyone self-applies the label. It's like saying "d-bags are real". I would agree, d-bags ARE real, but what constitutes one is a subjective judgment that varies on the part of the person applying the characterization.

For the record, though, ive never second guessed anyone's right to endorse whoever they choose. I didnt have a problem with JL's endorsement, but I thought his "I never saw him" comment was a bit gratuitous, especially when he also phrased his statement in such a way that it implied he had encountererd the Clintons during the civil rights movement in the 60s, which obviously didnt happen.

But making a poorly phrased statement like that isnt a federal crime, nor does it indicate deliberate duplicitousness, and the guy clarified it to boot. I suspect he was just speaking off the cuff. It wasnt a big deal to my mind, nor was I going to attack the guy over it.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

299. Do you have a scan of the alleged letter?

[FlatBaroque]

210. "BernieBros" are a product of the syphilitic mind of smear merchant David Brock. /

[Warren DeMontague]

211. Yes. One thing I would add, though, is the point of that post was to suggest that people actually

watch the video, which is The Young Turks absolutely demolishing the meme once and for all, as far as I'm concerned.

It's quite good.

[FlatBaroque]

212. Off topic: I do not know how TYT puts out as much content as they do. /

[Warren DeMontague]

214. Yeah, I really like those guys.

And I'm not usually much of a Talking Head watcher, at least not that kind of Talking Head.

[BreakfastClub]

91. This is a logical fallacy as it is an appeal to emotion. BernieBros

got their name b/c they are a group of young male supporters of Bernie Sanders who went too far in support of their candidate and used bullying and sexism to shout down supporters of Hillary. Not all Bernie supports are BernieBros, but these people DO indeed exist. Sorry.

[JonLeibowitz]

97. The smear is that many or most DU Bernie supporters (or other online group) are Bernie Bros, or...

that criticism of Hillary is sexist. Or bullying. She's a politician, she can handle it.

Nor are those who criticize her simply falling for RW talking points.

There may be a handful of assholes on the internet (shocking!!, truly the first time this has been noticed!); I see no reason to use that as the basis of a generalization.

[Warren DeMontague]

111. Its like arguing over how many angels can do the macarena on the head of a pin

Its pointless, man.

[hopemountain]

142. nope. i believe you are wrong, breakfastclub

they are not bernie sanders supporters. they slander and attack bernie and his campaign with every nasty post. not even close to the integrity and intelligence held by presidential candidate bernie sanders. they epitomize everything bernie sanders is not. they are anti bernie.

[upaloopa]

108. Sorry but Bernie Bros are now a part of the history of this primary

Their tracks are all over the Internet and can't be erased.

Deny it if you want but you can't hide it.

The problem is that you all thought you could bully your revolution into existance

You will end up with nothing to show for it

[JonLeibowitz]

110. It's a shameful part of this primary, but not shameful for Bernie supporters.

Lest we forget, the tracks are also all over the internet from 2008:

http://www.salon.com/2008/04/14/obama_supporters/

[upaloopa]

128. I vagely remember that.

The lesson I have gotten out of this primary is that being progressive or socialist doesn't mean you are a decent person.

Imagine if Bernie were to win and his supporters continued to bully people on their talk shows or on facebook or twitter or reddit.

Or to bully journalists to intimidate them into writing or not writing something.

We have to keep this story from being buried or the history of this primary from being rewritten. Both Trump and Bernie's supporters need the light shown on them.

[stevenleser]

131. And scroll down to the comments. There was no bullying of her in the comments. Fail.

Your attempted example fails.

You can try to assert this exists elsewhere, it doesnt.

[stevenleser]

125. So much this: "You all thought you could bully your revolution into existence"

I really think Sanders supporters thought that this kind of behavior would help them.

You see every once in a while posted here photos of LBJ bullying another lawmaker into voting the way he wanted them to vote and the post is holding that up as an example of a good thing.

I think that the segment of the left that supported Bernie is full of people that think bullying and being nasty in support of their issues and candidate is the way to go about making them happen.

And instead they ended up turning off legions of people to their movement.

[upaloopa]

133. And we have spent the last couple of years talking about bullying in schools and elsewhere and that

kids have killed themselves because of it.

Hillary says the way you treat bullies is to stand up to them.

[Kentonio]

149. He went from 3% to almost level with Clinton.

Are you suggesting that he is such an incredibly strong candidate that if it wasn't for some supporters being abusive that he'd actually be winning the nomination? Does this mean you'd also be supporting him if it wasn't for all those mean old Berniebros?

[stevenleser]

198. Yes, I think that hurt him very badly. Are you suggesting Sanders strength is the Berniebros?

That his policies would have no appeal without bullying and nasty behavior?

[Kentonio]

217. Why would I be suggesting that? That would be stupid.

If you think his supporters have hurt him badly though, you must think he'd otherwise be winning given that he's only slightly behind. Considering the advantages Hillary has, that must mean you think she's a pretty weak candidate.

[Surya Gayatri]

139. Shameless exploitation of disability to mark political points.

Why I NEVER want to hear another word about BERNIE BROS on DU again

Tu te prend pour qui ? Who do you take yourself for?

[Live and Learn]

151. Why is it shameful? Does it cause you shame?

I see a real person that deserves to be seen and heard not hidden away.

Lots of people are hurting whether you choose to see and hear from them or not.

[Surya Gayatri]

154. Shameless :

Full Definition of shameless

1
: having no shame : insensible to disgrace <a shameless braggart>

2
: showing lack of shame <the shameless exploitation of the natives>

[Live and Learn]

155. Which would make it shameful to post in your opinion because for some odd reason you

find it obscene to show a real person supporting Bernie. You should be ashamed.

[Surya Gayatri]

156. Whoa...what was that word salad?

Sorting through that hodge-podge, it would seem that you require some sort of auto-flagellation on my part. How's this?

[Live and Learn]

158. Yep, it is often called English. nt

[Surya Gayatri]

160. Some revision classes might be in order. Just a suggestion.

[Live and Learn]

161. Revision classes? I suggest you take of your revision glasses altogether.

[Surya Gayatri]

162. Case in point, and I quote:

"I suggest you take of your revision glasses altogether."

WTH does that even mean? 'Tis a mystery.

[UglyGreed]

191. HMMM those responses

to your posts are pretty "BernieBro" like to me. Wonder how many "BernieBros" are sockpuppet accounts....

[Lizzie Poppet]

259. I think that would be "Hillstapo."

Tit-for-fucking-tat...

[UglyGreed]

260. I bet

it's more like HillaryHeroes since I truly feel they think they are a part of a noble cause. But like many followers in the past they were sucked into something that was not what it appeared to be.

[Lizzie Poppet]

262. Like "BernieBros," it's not the target of the slur that makes it up.

I do believe I have a new title to use on any pinhead that uses "BernieBro" on this site. I wonder how many hides I'll get...?

[UglyGreed]

263. Well all it will cost you now

is jury service privileges

[LanternWaste]

271. i.e., basing your own behavior on that of others

"Tit-for-fucking-tat..."

i.e., basing your own behavior on that of others, rather than on your own convictions-- often due to mere grade-school petulance, yet rationalized after the fact as something else to better maintain a decorative facade of independent thought.

[Lizzie Poppet]

272. Oh, I have a bit of guilty conscience about it, no doubt.

But only a bit.

It's certainly something I'd never even consider in genuine adult discourse, even over politics. What goes on in GD: P ain't adult discourse. These are flame wars, little different from something in 4chan /pol/.

"When in Rome..."

[Surya Gayatri]

273. Well said...

[DisgustipatedinCA]

300. You don't get to attack other people when your bigotry is on full display.

Take your desire to make sure the handicapped are never seen to some other place, please.

[Surya Gayatri]

302. "desire to make sure the handicapped are never seen..."?

Wonder how contorted your thinking processes are to come up with this


Astonishing, the intellectual lacunae one finds on public forums.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

303. You and Roget are impressive, but no sale.

[Surya Gayatri]

304. Not flogging anything, particularly not to you.

NB. Disclaimer: No referrals to any thesaural source were required in the authoring of this exchange.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

305. I was an English major long ago. I am more impressed with your vocabulary than with some of

the ugliness you decided to engage in. Oh, shit...I forgot to work the word perspicacity into my post. It was going to be really impressive too.

[Surya Gayatri]

308. Thanks for the backhanded compliment. I'll take it anyway, backwards or forewards.

I, too, was an English major and am a retired English teacher. My love affair with words (both English and French) is of long date.

[Lizzie Poppet]

222. Please tell me that was an (incompetent) attempt at satire.

Because if not, it's one of the most fucked-up, tone-deaf outbursts of ableist idiocy I've ever seen here, and you should be deeply ashamed of yourself.

[Surya Gayatri]

249. True abelist idiocy is gratuitously pasting the pic of some

Last edited Fri Mar 18, 2016, 02:34 AM - Edit history (2)

random disabled guy into your OP, thus attempting to deny the existence of the bully Bernie Bro. phenomenon.

"Hey, I think I'll just stick this TOKEN DISABLED Bernie supporter in here to PROVE my point about the innocuous and innocent nature of the entire Bernie support base, and the NONEXISTENCE of any Bernie Bro. faction."

Distasteful, disgusting, and detestable. (not to mention "f-ed up and tone deaf")

Not

[Lizzie Poppet]

258. "random disabled guy?" Oh, FFS.

Nice (by which I mean "vacuous&quot strawman about what the OP intended, though. The "BernieBro" pejorative is indeed an ignorant, vaguely racist bit of serial idiocy. Perhaps people should start responding with something like "Hillstapo." Wouldn't that raise the level of discourse?

I have no problem dismissing anyone who uses "BernieBro" as not worth my time. So, um...bye now.

[Surya Gayatri]

264. Au plaisir...à plus.

[NCTraveler]

163. Then you should probably stop logging in.

While I don't recall calling Sanders supports this, your op encourages it. Really pretty offensive what you are doing here.

[Bobbie Jo]

167. It is what it is.

[PeaceNikki]

169. They are a very real very vocal minority. If you want to not hear about them, they need to go away.

Until then, bummer for you.

[DrDan]

174. said it well - they are real and they are vocal

the head-in-the-sand approach will not work once again

[DanTex]

177. "A monolith of privileged Americans who are caught in the fad of celebrity." Well put.

If you haven't seen that, you've been willfully blind. Which isn't surprising, since you and most Bernie fans have been blind to political reality this entire primary, and are somehow shocked that he's gotten thoroughly defeated just like everyone knew was going to happen all along.

If your point is that not every Bernie supporter fits the Bernie Bro mold, you're right. But a huge number of them do -- isolated counterexamples don't change that. It's a phenomenon, and everyone outside the Bernie bubble is aware of it (and even some of the more aware people in the Bernie camp realize it exists).

A great example is the "Bernie or Bust" thing. These are people with enough privilege that they can easily survive a Trump administration and 2-3 right-wing justices, and don't care about the millions of Americans who would suffer terribly under that scenario -- all they care about is spiting Hillary and "the system."

[Tarc]

180. "BernieBros" does not characterize all of his base, but it does characterize some

and they are a serious problem, enough so that Sanders himself had to call them out;

Bernie Sanders Tells Berniebros To Knock It Off — ‘We Don’t Want That Crap’

[Gothmog]

186. I disagree with the premise of the OP

[pdsimdars]

188. Did you see how that started???

There were 2, that's right TWO, tweets. One was a guy who was a TeaParty member. the other was a WOMAN!
Had NOTHING to do with Bernie.
But if you are bent on finding a lie to slur Bernie with, anything will do I guess, if you are that kind of person who just doesn't care about the truth (which is surely the way it seems)

[felix_numinous]

194. Yep the party is split

people believe in their candidates. We are essentially in two parties, Third Way and Social Democrats--and need to agree to disagree. Different planets.

I am not wasting time engaging people whose minds are already made up, there are plenty of other people who haven't decided.

[synergie]

199. See, you're going to keep hearing about Bernie-Bro behavior, as long as you keep on

indulging in it, like you're doing here. Hiding behind a dedicated Bernie supporter who's doing what he can to positively support his candidate is not what the Bernie Bros are doing. Those abusive cowards hide behind Bernie supporters like the one pictured here to excuse some truly nasty behavior, racism, sexism, threats, name calling, etc. etc. The Bernie bro exists and he's sometimes female, and always nasty, in fact hiding behind disabled brown people who are doing things that they don't do, given how busy they are spewing vitriol all over the internet, is a pretty characteristic low act of a Bernie bro.

If you wish to stop hearing about them, when you see one, doing something like this, call them out, stop the behavior, and then you will stop being confronted with the existence of the Bros.

Using this volunteers picture to defend the vile racist terrorism of the Bernie Bro is brotastic and needs to be called out for what it is, a vile, low act beneath contempt.

[JonLeibowitz]

202. I call out unacceptable, low behavior wherever I see it

This thread is not anything of what you say. But thank you for kicking it!

[nichomachus]

200. It's a smear designed by the Clinton high-priced attack dogs nt

[senz]

216. Rings 100% true to me.

I am certain it was thought up by a highly paid think tank that guides her every campaign move and then disseminated across the internet to be used as an attack phrase by her supporters.

It is shameful. It adds to the growing pile of Hill-related behaviors we find unacceptable.

I think they will ultimately regret it. Certainly they should.

[PeaceNikki]

201. Yes, there Is a ‘BernieBro’ Problem. Your denial is fomenting mistrust of harassment victims in a si

sick attempt to absolve the left from any responsibility for its failings and pretends that your ideologies inoculate you from engaging in harm.

The victim-blaming is off the charts. Why is it so hard for Sanders supporters to accept that there are problematic people among you?

“To their credit, Sanders campaign people are finally acknowledging the problem,” she said. “BernieBro ‘truthers’ aren’t helping them, and that’s also a disservice to all the Sanders supporters who are wonderful and thoughtful.”

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2016/02/22/yes-progressives-berniebro-problem/

[riversedge]

269. Thank is a good artical but that call

out by Sanders a long time ago did not seen to much good.

[PeaceNikki]

270. I know... It's a shame.

[lumberjack_jeff]

207. When your only tool is a hammer, all your problems look like nails.

When your political framework is identity politics, your only tool is a wedge. When you're driving a wedge in the middle of our party, (young white guys are icky) then don't be surprised when we lose.

Some percentage of the people kicked out of our tent will take shelter in the other - and it's not their fault.

[senz]

213. Older female here, been called "Bro" numerous times by Hill supporters.

Always in an insulting way. It is one of the obnoxious, verbally assaultive behaviors that have formed my opinion of them here on DU. Add to that their candidate's less admirable qualities, and you get something entirely too distasteful and unacceptable.

I don't want any part of it. Not now, not in the future. It's not what I believe in, not what I can give even a shred of allegiance to.

D. Raja Sandor is all heart and all soul. He sees and feels the humanity of Bernie Sanders and his realistic, tried-and-true vision for America's future. Mr. Sandor gives everything he can to a just and worthy cause.

Thanks for the OP, Jon.

[Jenny_92808]

243. What poor

character to chose to lie and cause harm to her opponent. I don't suffer them....they go straight to ignore.

[Lizzie Poppet]

265. Pre-GD: P, my Ignore list sat at 5 for ages.

After? 30 and counting...and I only un-Trashed GD: P a few weeks ago.

[Lizzie Poppet]

266. I've decided to refer to anyone who uses that nauseating pejorative as "Hillstapo."

And yes, I know: "an eye for an eye" is bad...don't care!

[bravenak]

223. Stop acting like you have amnesia

I got hate mail to my home because a bro tracked me down to bully me. Invaded my fucking privacy.

They exist. Stop trying to play games and fake the funk and go after the people that caused the DIVISION between Bernie and th rest of us non bernie folks. I am just about done watching people pretend there was nothing the fuck wrong with how the fuck his grassroots treated us black folks.

Rather than go after the bad actors, you wan us to pretend they do not exist.

[JonLeibowitz]

225. I have called out every offensive post I have seen on DU

For those I have not seen I have not done so. Not sure how you expect me to do any more than that. And yet, I am smeared as a Bernie Bro.

Anyway, I will let the OP speak for itself.

[bravenak]

226. You acting like they do not exist is a fucking slap to my face

I have the fucking letters they sent sitting on my desk

[JonLeibowitz]

228. And those people are disgusting and I am sorry you received them.

They also do not understand what Sanders' campaign is about.

I don't act like they don't exist. I say that they do not have anything to do with me or many others, and yet many are smeared by this Bernie Bro insinuation. I would think you know how offensive it is to paint broad swaths of people with a large brush.

[bravenak]

231. But you guys spent months not having our backs

I watch you guys rec their nasty posts (not you in particular), I watch the swarms, I watched the harassment of John Lewis, and watched his fans cheer it all. This is a self selected group. They are no born bernie fans. Had they chosen to alert the racist crap rather than reccing and protecting the bad actors, it would be WAY EASIER to separate the good from the bad. Too much time was spent defending them and pretening that we were stupid for not wanting to wade through that sewage to get to bernie.

I am so pissed at Bernie for IGNORING IT. He would never hav my badk as commander in cheief if he cannot even tell his fans to stop being so fucking nasty to us blacks. We live hard enough lives and the fact that his peeps decided to add to it while he looked the other way is why I left his camp.

[JonLeibowitz]

234. I'm not sure Bernie spends a lot of time on DU or any internet forum.

In any case, I am sorry about what happened to you.

I hope once the primary is over you will focus back on the issues rather than how horrible Bernie supporters are (I know you actually support the policies he espouses, I have seen things...)

[bravenak]

237. If it was just DU I would be fine.

But it is everyfuckingwhere. And,,, how BLACK PEOPLE ARE TREATED IS A REAL FUCKING ISSUE!!! I'm human!!! Why the fuck should I be told how I am treated is not a real issue just because im black? It's not an ISSUE? That's why we call you guys TONE DEAF. You will tell a person who is telling you how bad they are treated that they should get back to 'the issues'. Treatment of blacks has been an issue for hundreds of years nd we are still told that it is not what we should focus on. You know how fucked up that is?

[PeaceNikki]

240. Hey, brave

I know it doesn't mean much, but I got your back.

[bravenak]

241. It means more than you know

[JonLeibowitz]

245. It's a huge fucking issue. I think there were some serious problems with white people generally

understanding where BLM comes from, including, yes, liberals. I think both candidates had severe issues relating to them, and there were conflicts. Because Sanders is a lot more open to the people than Clinton, I think he performed worse. Ultimately though, I think liberals came away having learned some lessons, and BLM's message is one I support. I wasn't entirely clear what it was at first, because at first it appeared (to this white person, fwiw) as if they were protesting politicians rather than politicians to talk about the issues. The antagonism made me think they were doing the former rather than the latter. Some of the protests were not especially productive it seemed, but ultimately some candidates (MOM, SBS) developed strong platforms in response to the BLM supporters. I thought that was positive. Hillary still doesn't have a strong platform (see: telling a black man (and I sure you don't need me to remind you how they are more likely to be sentenced to death) who was falsely put to death row that she still supports the death penalty) on many issues. And she still disappoints and is protested by BLM.

If there were a candidate that I thought would be stronger than Sanders on the issues (not claims of intersectionality or general election language -- actual policy) for minorities (all minorities: blacks, LGBT, native americans, hispanics, women) then I would back that candidate. There simply is not. That is not saying that PoC are "voting wrong" -- it is what it is. Obviously I disagree with them and think 95% of Democratic voter should have chosen between MOM and SBS. They did not.

Yes, white people are tone deaf and I can assure you that I will say something tone deaf in the future. I do mean well, but my privilege is that I haven't lived the life that others have.

bravenak: Here's the real problem I have on DU (I only know hispanics and asians in real life, I am in SoCal so yeah ) -- it isn't about the issues for African Americans anymore. African Americans' preferences on DU are being used as a wedge and used to imply that Sanders himself and his supporters are racist (they are not, arguably tone deaf, but not racist). Or instead the claim is his proposals are not better for the country as a whole and for PoC in general. It is fucking insulting. On DU the constant message is that AAs are voting against our candidate (and that's fine; I still think they are voting against their best interests, but it's their right); that's fine, but the problem is what comes next: the proposed explanation is that Bernie's proposals and his supporters are horrible people. I have a big problem with that.

That's about all I'll say on the subject. I hope that you will not dismiss it. In fact if you respond, I urge you to PM me so you can be candid and don't have to worry about others reading.

[bravenak]

246. Ok. I did read it. But I will do our convos in private.

[JonLeibowitz]

250. You saw the post and read it in a minute or less? Impressive.

[bravenak]

251. Ha! Been reading since I was two and speed reading since third grade.

[JonLeibowitz]

252. Damn, really fast.

[bravenak]

253. Read asoiaf in three days. It was glorious.

[JonLeibowitz]

254. Nicely done. I can only do that with math and science books. LOL. And politics.

kk back to it

[wildeyed]

227. BERNIE BROS BERNIE BROS BERNIE BROS

So neener! If the shoe fits, wear it. If not, then it is not about you. Why so sensitive? And why do you think that you get to dictate what others say?

[Warren DeMontague]

229. No, no one can tell you what to say.

The beauty of that is, the things people say telegraph to the whole world their emotional maturity and intellectual level.

[wildeyed]

236. Yep. There it is.

And Bernie Bros have had PLENTY to say to me over the course of this election. Made my wingnut encounters look tame in comparison. And now the big push to shame people for naming what happened....

Not ALL male Sanders supporters are Bernie Bros. But they exist and they are a problem.

[Warren DeMontague]

248. wargle bargle!

[wildeyed]

256. The word is "argle-bargle", actually.

Another interesting thing, I did an advanced search on this forum from 3/16-3/8 for the term "berniebros". The great majority of the usage was by Sanders supporters outraged that somewhere on the interwebs, someone used that term. There were a few instances of Clinton supporters using the word in reply to BernieBro-gate outrage threads. I can count the number of times that a Clinton supporter used the word spontaneously on one hand.

Interestingly, YOUR posts on the topic were a notable percentage of the total. (note that I was not looking for your posts, specifically)

Then I searched the term "weathervane". Nearly all the usage was by Sanders supporters. A few instances of Clinton supporters using to to point our hypocrisy, etc.

Very interestingly, YOU seem quite comfortable using that smear word against Clinton supporters.

So now you can dial back your outrage about the bro thing, 'k? Pot, meet kettle and all that.....

[Warren DeMontague]

277. I'll say whatever I want, thanks. Remember?

Like many human games, language is one where you have to know the rules before properly and effectively breaking them. Just ask Dr. Seuss, or Lewis Carroll.

Take issue with my opinions (or don't) but If you're really digging through old posts- aside from needing better hobbies- I think you're gonna have a hard time making a case that I don't have a decent handle on the English Language, obscure British Idioms and all.



Camp Weathervane is/was a direct reference to the Clinton logo, which kind of does look like a weathervane, while doubly referencing the Candidate's propensity- in some of our eyes, at least- to change policy positions easily based upon polling data (think Gay marriage). To infer it as some sort of "slur" against Clinton supporters, is, errrr... more than a stretch.

If I've used it, it certainly hasn't been frequent. It's mildly clever- again, the logo- but that's about it.

Conversely, "bernie bros" is a direct and deliberate attempt to paint sanders supporters- specifically, the people- with a certain negative mental image, essentially something like Carson Daly in a Fedora or some shit like that.

[wildeyed]

278. I looked through the old posts to see

if the OP had legitimate claim to his outrage. I was actually giving him the benefit of the doubt. What I found was that the only people who consistently used that term were Sanders supporters, and that you used that term more frequently than any other It is what it is. Y'all are manufacturing the outrage, it is pretty obvious.

Weathervane references are a slur and you know it. Stop. Until you do, no one will take your faux berniebro outrage seriously. You are rude, so don't be surprised when people are rude back. No one cares if they hit you back first, either. Boring. You came to play, then take your hits like a grownup.

You misremembered the word and you know that too. Although I loathed Scalia, I was grateful that he brought "argle-bargle" back into common usage. It really isn't obscure at all anymore. And I have read Dr. Suess. You, sir, are no Dr. Suess

[Warren DeMontague]

279. What hits am I not taking, friend?

your point- and I'm being gracious, here, by calling it that- about frequency of usage is irrelevant. I suspect if you look through GD P and were to do a search on the term "stockholm syndrome", you would find that most of the posts containing the phrase are posts objecting to it. Certainly, they have a point on that, I would agree. Still, context matters.

But, whatever. "faux outrage"? It's a lame meme, and I will point out that it is such. It doesn't have anything like the cleverness of "weathervane", because weathervane has an actual piece of political observation -whether one agrees or not (better check the polls first!) - contained therein. OTOH, "bernie bros" is just about saying "all you sanders supporters are a bunch of doodbro poop-heads, derp!" which was- again, being generous- the intellectual valence of your post upthread that I responded to.

News Flash: I don't, actually, give a shit if people on teh interwebs want to call me (or anyone else) a "bernie bro". The case as to why it's exceedingly lame meme that makes the people using it look foolish, is made very effectively in this clip, which I will gladly post again.

Edited to add: the beauty of "wargle bargle", to my mind, is that it combines argle-bargle with "warrrrrghbbbbblllllll"

[wildeyed]

280. Red herring, false premise and hypocrisy.

We are not debating that new topic you introduced. And we ALL know who introduced that term here, doubled down and what the consequences of that were. So stop..... That is not a winning line of argument for your team.

I already proved that the great majority of people using the term you object to is..... well, you. Not Clinton supporters. If you don't care about the word, then why do you post about it incessantly?

And I also proved that you perfectly comfortable using broad brush smears to characterize Clinton supporters. It does not matter how YOU feel about the smear word, either. It's not about your feelings, is it? It is about common courtesy. You do not feel that you must extend that courtesy to supporters of other candidates, but you DEMAND that courtesy be extended to you.

So man up and deal. You don't like BBro? Too bad. You play mean too.

I am not watching the video. It looks like propaganda. Boring. Give me a link, or make your case in words.

[Warren DeMontague]

281. "proved"

LOL. You've proved something to yourself, be proud! Quite the accomplishment.

I'm not demanding, I'm mocking.

Watch the video, or don't. It's the young turks, if you're familiar with them. Cenk Uygur, Anna Kasparian, etc.

[wildeyed]

282. Better than what you did,

which was to blow a bunch of hot air. At least I tried for something quantifiable.

[Warren DeMontague]

283. "these balloons blow up into any funny shapes?"

"not unless round is funny"

[DisgustipatedinCA]

301. It will be really nice when you provide the documentation you've compiled.

That's on its way, along with sampling methodology and all that sort of thing, right? Since you're exhorting people to act on your findings, I assume you actually do have, you know, findings to show us.

[wildeyed]

306. You can do the search yourself.

I posted the parameters I used. Clearly, it is not a scientific poll, but it is a good snapshot of who actually uses the term "berniebro" on this site. The OP is SO MAD that Clinton supporters say that, but it appears that they rarely do. It is mostly Sanders supporters who are flogging that dank meme, and a few Clinton supporters replying to Sanders supporters

Here is a screenshot of part of the search for those too lazy to do their own search. It goes on for pages, so I can't get more than a small percentage. All but one are prolific pro-Sanders posters.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

I did see a very few instances of actual Clinton supporters saying that, unprovoked. But that was a very small percentage of the total.

It is also clear that Sanders supporters throw around plenty of Clinton smear words, even the ones who are whinging about the BBros thing.

You got anything at all justify the OP? Anything? At least I made an effort to find some empirical evidence. I will be happy to count totals and give some ball park percentages of response types, but I don't think any pf you really care about facts, so it seemed like a waste of time. Or you can make a suggestions for different search parameters. I am open to that.

And, of course, I was not "exhorting" anyone to do anything. I was using sarcasm to point out the hypocrisy of the double standard that is being applied. I guess I need to use the tag. Sorry. I assumed that my intent was obvious.

[seabeyond]

230. a particular group of privileged white males came up with the term BernieBros. They created the

Name and the image. I saw no Sanders supporters with issues with this group until there was a nation of contempt for the bros.

[JonLeibowitz]

232. Might I have a source for that claim? I legitimately did not know this.

[dchill]

233. K&R

[Trust Buster]

238. What qualifies Sanders for such special treatment ?

Why is being called a Third Wayer acceptable then ? Or a corporatist ? Or a DINO ? Why is using Right wing websites as sources not frowned upon ? Narcissism has seemingly no limits.

[me b zola]

239. Where as it is true that this granny has done a bit of gender-bending

I have always found the "Bernie Bro" thing insulting to the core.

[wildeyed]

257. Well put your mind to rest now.

I searched the term "berniebros" in this forum from 3/8-3/16. The great majority of the use comes form Sanders supporters outraged that somewhere else on the interwebs, someone used this term and from Clinton supporters replying to the outrage threads. Very few instances of Clinton supporters using the term spontaneously.

The term "weathervane" however..... Wow! So many of the Sanders supporters here ave VERY comfortable with that smear word. Go have a word with your people, 'k? Make a thread about how you NEVER want to hear another word about that one. And yell at them when they use Hillarian or Hillbot or whatever.....

And another reasons this thread bothers me. Your premise is a glaring logical fallacy. Just because you have an example of a male Sanders supporter who is not as privileged as many of you, it does not follow that there are no BBros.

And this guy could be a BBro, too. Does he harass Clinton supporters online? THAT is a BBro.

Not all young, white, male, economically and educationally privileged Sanders supporters are Bros, either. Just the ones who harass Clinton supporters online. Happened to me, too. It was like a scene from The Birds...... Awful. And you should be outraged by that, not the fact that someone used the word and it hurt your feelings.

[riversedge]

261. The BerniBros vile comments may be backfiring.....

Jarred Johnson ?@jarjoh Mar 16 Boston, MA

When #BernTheWitch turns into a #SweeperTuesday broomstick! #ImWithHer #BernOut #PrimaryDay pic.twitter.com/fuOxZHcUDY


:large

[Lizzie Poppet]

267. As will the Hillstapo's in November...

...when you realize that "BernieBro" horseshit (+ your condescension and gloating) drove us away from your candidate.

[wildeyed]

276. No one drove you away.

Two-bit emotional blackmail won't work. You were never going to be there in the first place.

[sibelian]

275. Pfff! It's their game and they're sticking to it.

What else are they gonna do?

[senz]

284. The agressive, insulting, condescending, rude men I've seen are ALL Hill's Bros...

[cui bono]

285. I alert every time I see that slur. It's calling someone racist and misogynist and should be hidden.

People using it should be banned if the admins cared at all about objective standards.

.

[JonLeibowitz]

286. Sometimes I get confused by "Bernie Bro". What confuses me is videos like these:

https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/711273345849946112
https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/711275363398242305

It is so gosh-darn puzzling, it is almost as if the young white male here is the asshole! But he's supporting Hillary, and militantly. How is this possible?

(I'm writing a short OP about this in the BS group, stay tuned)..

[Tarc]

291. Once again, this is a problem within Sanders' support base, identified by the man himself

Bernie Sanders Tells Berniebros To Knock It Off — ‘We Don’t Want That Crap’

[cui bono]

292. Bullshit. It is a meme.

Of course Bernie isn't going to start getting into an argument about it. He's going to disavow anything of that nature and get to the real issues.

Too bad the same can't be said for others.

It's a slur used to call Bernie supporters racist and misogynists and I will alert when I see someone using it. The people using it know exactly what they are doing.

.

[JonLeibowitz]

293. This is how we should respond to the meme now, thanks to Warren DeMontague. >>>

[cui bono]

295. That is it great!

.

[Tarc]

296. The point is whooshing over your head; Sanders identified a misogynist element of his base

He emphatically called them out and said that they were not a part of what he wants his message to be. Unfortunately they persist, as we see day in and day out in this forum.

Doubly unfortunately, for you, the days of alert-stalking being an effective tool to silence your critics ended last week. It doesn't work any more, did you not get that memo?

[JonLeibowitz]

294. Bernie Bros are....

Enjoy!

[Tarc]

297. That's cute, but your candidate called them out by name

It is a problematic element of the Sanders base; he does not want this sort of supporter behind him.

[stevenleser]

322. They always run into that problem when trying to assert "Berniebros" don't exist

The candidate has himself called them out

[mac56]

320. What seems apparent after a couple of months

is that, here on DU, each Sanders supporter is expected to assume responsibility and accept shame for the collective behavior of each and every individual Sanders supporter, no matter how thoughtless or rude ---

while no such expectation has ever been set for Clinton supporters.

[stevenleser]

323. If hundreds of Clinton supporters gang up on someone with rude statements I will

Call them out. Until then, only one side is doing that.

[mac56]

326. I suggest that you haven't looked everywhere on DU.

[stevenleser]

329. I suggest that if you had an example, you would have linked. nt

[mac56]

327. Think I will leave this right here for everyone to use.

[JonLeibowitz]

328. Check this out

[wildeyed]

331. Oh wow, a meme!

Now ya got me! That proves sooooo much

Hey, I got this:

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Sample of who ACTUALLY uses the term "berniebro" on this site, and it isn't Clinton supporters Gawd, y'all are so delicate....

[Gothmog]

330. What about the bernie bros who attacked Joan Walsh's and Cecile Richard's daughters?

This is from Joan Walsh's article http://www.thenation.com/article/why-im-supporting-hillary-clinton-with-joy-and-without-apologies/

When I’ve disclosed that my daughter works for Clinton—in The Nation, on MSNBC, and on social media—we’ve both come in for trolling so vile it’s made me not merely defensive of her. It’s forced me to recognize how little society respects the passion of the many young women—and men—who are putting their souls into electing the first female president. It’s one thing to note that Sanders is winning among millennials; that’s true. It’s another to impugn the competence and dignity of the literally millions of millennials who support Clinton. Social-media trolls have had several fascinating and stunningly sexist reactions to the news of my daughter’s position. Obviously, she can’t be competent; I must have gotten her the job (in fact, she got it through a high-school friend who worked for Clinton and recommended her.) Obviously, she can’t think for herself; I must have indoctrinated her to support Clinton over Sanders. Or the flip side: Obviously, I have no integrity, and I support Clinton over Sanders only because my daughter is on her payroll.

Watching people trash your daughter on social media isn’t fun. It got worse when Hillary Clinton’s Twitter account retweeted her, and worse again when she tweeted about Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards, a woman she admires, in the wake of the group’s controversial decision to endorse Clinton. It turns out Richards’s daughter works for Clinton as well, and that began a new round of insults to both our daughters. Either they were beneficiaries of our nepotism, or they somehow used their influence to corrupt their dimwit mothers into ignoring Sanders’s obviously superior feminist qualifications. It is interesting to me that none of the ladies—not Clinton, not me nor my daughter, not Richards nor her daughter—are credited with competence or integrity when the Berniebot keyboard warriors break it all down.

The bernie bros are real and their attacks on Walsh's and Richard's daughters were sad

[Warren DeMontague]

332. What is the cute name for the Clinton surrogates who trashed Millennial women?

You know, they're going to hell, they're stupid, they don't appreciate their elders, they're chasing boys, etc

[wildeyed]

333. Wrong?

Which is what I said at the time. And also how I know that, whatever the name was, it is not about me

[Warren DeMontague]

334. Thats good.

Because condescending to people you are going to need to vote for you in November is generally not a good strategy.