Bernie Sanders is Not the Savior

First thing’s first, I am a supporter of Bernie Sanders. I think he has some good points and I agree with a good amount of his positions. That said, no Virginia, Bernie Sanders is not the Savior of the world.

What brought this on was the cult of Sanders that has popped up and is starting to gain more momentum than the boulder from Raiders. For a while it’s been gaining momentum and I’ve been just fine with that, shit I’m THRILLED that anyone my age and younger is that into ANYTHING involving politics right now. What finally got me though was this post that was shared (and directly quoted here, misspellings and all).

“Not a meme, so I’m sure this will be deleted, but do you ever stop and think about what a sacrifice Bernie is making for us? He is 74 years old, he raised a family and enjoys his grandchildren imensly. He has fought his entire life against social injustice. A lesser man would be content with that and enjoy their “golden years”. Bernie is willing to leave behind a home he loves and travel this crazy country. He is willing and ready to move to D.C. and take on the enormously stressful job of fixing our country. He could be using his time to better his own life, or that of his family, but not him. He is fighting for all of us, for our futures and our children’s futures. He is like the protective grandfather we all needed but didn’t know we deserved. His entire campaign is a act of pure selflessness. A vote for Bernie isn’t a vote for a man, but a vote for ourselves, for all of us. I for one could not be more greatful for Bernie and I wish I could give him more than just my vote”

Isn’t that sweet? Bernie Sanders is sacrificing his golden years for us. He’s spent his entire career fighting injustice and is now spreading his love to us all and is taking it to center stage in the cruel world of politics. Here’s the thing though, that’s complete garbage. Bernie Sanders is a career politician. Reagan was about the same age if not older when he took office, think of the sacrifice! He sacrificed his golden years to gift this country with the worst fucking economy in recent history and the AIDS epidemic! Look, Bernie is cool, I like him, but he’s a career politician. He’s spent his life keeping his job. On the world stage, he’s not even that liberal! From Political Compass, here’s the graph of the current US nominees

Look at him! All alone in the left! Here’s the graph for Canada in 2015

Huh, Sanders seems to fit right in with the Leftist parties of Canada. How does the UK look?

Wow, they’re all over the place but look at that, the Green party is getting down into that little corner and Sanders fits in with SDLP and Plaid Cymru. How about on the other side the world in New Zealand in 2014?

Bernie Sanders is right next to the Maori Party.  So it’s not that Sanders is this crazed Leftist, it’s that United States politics are run by and filled with crazed Conservatives.

Look, Sanders is a breathe of fresh air, he really is. I’m happy to see someone who is actually more or less (and very much less) left of center, but to call the man something he isn’t and even worse, put so much hope behind a man who is being held up as some Smiling God who is going to set things right and uphold justice for all is foolish. On top of that, these Bernie Zealots are counter productive to the overall message of the Sanders Campaign and make the, let’s face it, most surreal election we’ve seen in this life time even less accessible. To paraphrase a good friend, Bernie Sanders is just a dude applying for a job.