I like Bernie... I think he's a great Senator - not because he's legislative magician like LBJ or Nancy Pelosi... but because when the deals get struck, he's always a voice for the people that tend to get forgotten about. We always need to have that conscience there to remind us what's right. That doesn't necessarily make someone a great President, though. A President has got to be willing to be a prick from time to time as well if they're going to be respected.... and often they have to settle for that half-loaf. The perfect is always going to be the arch-nemesis of the good.
Well, I respectfully disagree. I think he is not a very effective senator. He's been in the Senate for decades and doesn't have a lot to show. I think many of his positions are naive or frankly misleading. Some of the vacuous promises, I see as not very different from saying that the Mexicans will pay for a beautiful wall, as Bernie must know that his more extreme proposals would never get enough support to be voted into bills and become laws. I'd be a lot more comfortable if he talked about ideals but added that we aren't ready for those things yet, but he'd slowly work for them to one day be possible. And some of his ideas are frankly utterly absurd. His latest add-ons to his platform amount to effectively open borders (decriminalizing illegal immigration and freezing deportation is actually, effectively, allowing anyone to come in and stay), and this, added to extending free elective healthcare to illegal aliens, would only result in people with expensive health conditions (cancer, need for transplant, for heart or brain surgery) to flock to the United States for free care, something that is utterly untenable. So, he doesn't think through the unintended consequences of things, and doesn't seem to understand the importance of Wall Street to middle class families (the middle class families themselves don't understand it, but they are a lot more dependent on Wall Street than they imagine). His positions are ultimately destructive and if implemented would plunge the United States into the deepest of crises. The very fabric of society would convulse like a volcano. I think that actually, if made president, and if by some sort of miracle he obtained a complacent Congress with supporting sycophants like Trump has, Bernie would manage to be more destructive to the United States than Trump.
Bernie is pretty much the only Dem (I mean, fake Dem; the opportunism is mind-boggling - anytime the doesn't need the Dems to run, he says he is an independent and deeply criticizes the Democratic Party's rules, but anytime he needs them, he rushes to join, then disrespects the party's rules) I might not vote for, if running against Trump, because I'd have a bit of a hard time establishing for myself, which one I consider to be the lesser evil. I probably would have to sit out, because I wouldn't be able to vote for Trump, but I feel that I wouldn't be able to vote for Bernie either.
Thankfully, I think Bernie is the past, in terms of electoral chances. He still lives in 2016, hasn't changed his views except for the worse (even more extreme, even more out of touch with the silent majority in the middle), is four years older, his health is failing, and he is no longer alone in terms of the progressive vote. I think that Bernie has very poor chances of actually winning the nomination, which will be a relief, because it will spare me the doubt of being torn about the lesser evil. Pretty much anybody else, I'll vote for with no hesitation, against Trump. Even Elizabeth Warren. Not to forget, I won't have to disagree with my wife, in November 2020... and I really love my dear wife and don't want to upset her. So hopefully Bernie will bow out before his candidacy becomes a point of discord between us, hehe.
