Predictably, some of the diehard Bernie folks have denounced Elizabeth Warren for endorsing Hillary. Cenk Uygur and Truthdig, for example, have said that the endorsement has unmasked her as a "phony progressive."
As readers of this blog know, I consider Bernie to be a phony Socialist. That is, I consider the Democratic Party to be socialist, it's just that we have a phobia in the US of the term "socialist" because we don't know what it means: a stronger social safety net, universal health care, labor unions, education, infrastructure, regulation of businesses and financial markets -- in short: Democratic stuff. Bernie isn't to the Left of the Left wing of the Democratic Party. Case in point: Elizabeth Warren.
One big difference between Bernie and Elizabeth is that Elizabeth doesn't just talk about government giving more help to those who need it and less help to those who don't: she gets it done, by working with other Democrats, because the reality is: it's Democrats or Republicans. Endorsing Hillary is a case in point. Bernie talks about wanting to do everything he can to defeat Trump. Elizabeth did something about it, she endorsed Trump's opponent. I hope Bernie endorses Hillary too.
If he does -- I'm not at all sure that he will. I think he might even go third-party. I think he's that much of a self-centered asshole -- if and when he does endorse Hillary, I can't wait to see the reactions of all of these completely useless people who call themselves the true American Left, who refuse to ever accomplish anything by actually participating in the process of government in the US, who run for office in political campaigns which always fail.
So many people are saying so many reassuring things about how Bernie will eventually endorse Hillary and campaign for Hillary. I hope they're right, because that would almost surely mean a huge Democratic landslide in November. It's not all just about Hillary. It's also about Congress and Governors and mayors and city councils and judges and so forth. Obama has been struggling against a Republican Party which, as we now know, has been systematically working to sabotage his each and every move. If there are Democratic majorities in Congress and state and local government, a Democratic President will actually be able to get a lot done.
Bernie can be a big help with that, or he can continue to be a crybaby and a sore loser, and continue to alienate his followers from the Democratic Party, which would be a huge help for the Republican Party and continue this gridlock we're in.
And also, as I said, it would be great fun for me personally to see Bernie's hardcore doofuses failing to be able to process the information that Bernie had endorsed Hillary. Calling him a sellout, claiming that they had seen all along that Bernie was fake, whatever nonsense they come up with. Bernie endorsing Hillary, and campaigning for her like he really means it, would detach the hard core of his followers who believe that Hillary is an evil corporate thug from the political process, as well as uniting the Democratic Party. We don't need the Hillary-hating, low-information hardcore, because there aren't enough of them to matter.
Does Bernie need them, for ego-related reasons, is the question. I'm really worried that he does, and that he might really mess things up instead of "doing everything he can to defeat Trump," as he has constantly been saying for months he wants to do, without mentioning Hillary's name or giving any indication that he acknowledges that she might have some part to play in defeating Trump. Alongside the many reassuring voices saying that Bernie will definitely do the right thing and get behind party unity in a big way (about a year after he finally joined the Democratic Party, in order to use it for this big ego-trip), there are also some people saying that Bernie has never been a gracious loser, which is what he needs to be now. That is to say: it's what the real Left needs from him right now, the Left that actually gets to determine US policy and pass laws. I'd like to believe the reassuring voices telling us that Bernie is about to get on board. But he sure looks and sounds like a bad loser to me, who cares much more about being special, about being adored by crowds who are deluded into thinking that his policies are completely different from those of the Democrats, than about being a team player.
I hope so much that I'm completely wrong about him. Bernie and Hillary are going to meet on Tuesday evening. What on Earth will they have to talk about, if he doesn't concede?
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