Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: All of the Bernie Bashing is a form of cyberbullying which has no place on this website. [View all]Hav
(5,969 posts)I'd say sometimes the snark against Bernie is definitely too much. I'm 100% guilty of that myself and I'll by guilty of that in the future as long as BS is in the race and directs his attacks mostly against Democrats. We should also acknowledge that there are certain factors that contribute to this behavior against BS and his supporters:
What I have noticed about my behavior, I come to DU and one thread will eventually be about a Tweet, probably in most cases something positive. And then you see the most deranged shit in the Twitter replies from Bernie supporters. Besides pushing conspiracy theories, they also make it a point to persuade others not to vote for Democrats and that Trump isn't worse. So then I'm pissed off about it and let that influence the tone of my posts here. I know it's not right but that's how it is.
Regarding direct replies to BS supporters, I'm usually not aggressive unless it's something I strongly disagree about or if it's something that is demonstrably wrong. I think that is a normal element of a discussion forum. Say shit, get hit. This isn't an echo chamber. Your opinions get questioned by others who disagree with you.
Secondly, why don't we see this behavior against Warren, Beto, Amy, Harris, etc. and their supporters? It's not that there weren't differences and lively discussions between these groups and Biden supporters. But there is still a definite difference in how they interact. For lack of a better expression, it just feels they live in the same world while BS supporters are too often in their bubble. That makes discussions with BS supporters hard.
Before Biden started winning, his supporters were certainly on the receiving end of ridicule and attacks as well. Many positive Biden posts got pummeled, too. The loudest BS supporters and anti-Biden posters are somehow gone now the moment Biden turned it around. There is a reason for that. They dished it out hard to a level of ridiculous performance art and they didn't want to be here to see the favor returned. It's unfair that the reasonable Bernie supporters have to suffer because of the bad behavior of a few here. I'm not saying it's the best behavior and it's not fair but I'd also say, sometimes it's kind of healthy to vent and return the ridicule that you endured for long.
For my last point, you cannot look at the behavior against Bernie on this board without taking into account Bernie's action and those of his surrogates. No other candidate campaigns against the Democratic party, just Bernie. He hired some really deplorable people to be the faces of his campaign. He made the Democratic party, their leadership and with that some of their best politicians his enemies who conspire against him. It has a toxic and erosive effect. He deliberately plays that dangerous game and is fully aware that campaigning like this will turn his supporters away from the Democratic Party if he doesn't win the nomination. No other Democrat behaves like this and it creates frustration and anger among Democrats because we've been through this before. It contributed to getting Trump elected and despite all that, BS doesn't care about it and still plays the same game.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden