Bring It!

I agreed with Joe Rogan when he stated that Bernie Sanders, if nothing else, has been consistent and uncompromising in his ideology for over four decades. I completely disagree with his assessment of Sander's plan for the country, but that's another matter.

Bernie is a hard-core socialist, and to his credit, he's honest about it. No Democrat socialism-lite for Bernie. He believes that everything should be centrally controlled; that capitalism is a scourge that must be blunted (or eliminated) by the state; that profit is distasteful (or evil); that billionaires shouldn't exist but socialist dictators like Venezuela's Nicholas Maduro (and Hugo Chavez before him) have every right to, that lots and lots of free stuff should be distributed to those who want it and paid for by "the rich" who never, ever pay their "fair share," and that the United States requires a revolutionary transformation.

Roger Simon comments on Bernie's ascendency and suggests that it's about time we have a face-off between capitalism (championed by Donald Trump) and socialism (the utopian vision of Bernie Sanders):

The Democratic Party presidential race these days appears to be tilting toward Sen. Bernie Sanders.

It could turn into a runaway if Bernie wins by solid margins in the rapidly approaching Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. His chances in the Feb. 22 Nevada Democratic caucuses, which are traditionally dominated by the unions, aren’t bad either.

A lot of people are alarmed, not the least of whom is Hillary Clinton, who branded Bernie as “disliked” in a new documentary and is reported as having the “urge” to run herself. (When has she not?) More substantively, mainstream Democrats, even those who lean pretty far left, such as New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait, are concerned they could be headed for “McGovern II”—in other words, a blowout.

I am pleased, not just because of the potential for an electoral college Armageddon that may or may not take place, or even because such an election would quickly put the bogus impeachment trial in the rearview mirror, but because, for the first time in decades, we would have a true election of opposites.

The hard-left base of the Democratic party believes that the Dems lose elections because they're not left-wing enough. They argue that Bernie's brand of hard-core socialism will prevail. I dunno ... something tells me that the socialist ideology sells well in the salons of the Northeast and far West, but just might struggle everywhere else. Particularly when people who aren't consumed with Trump Derangement Syndrome recognize that we are currently experiencing a very strong economy, rising wages and prospects for minorities and the Middle Class, the highest level of employment for women in history, yadda, yadda, yadda.

And there's one other thing. As Bernie stays true to form and suggests that we should cozy up to Iran and demonize Israel, transform healthcare as we know it, ask people to pay for the college education of children that aren't their own, provide "guaranteed income" to folks who don't work, ban fracking that has made the United States energy independent, shut down entire industries that don't meet the dictate of woke culture ... I suspect that even a few moderate Democrats just might #Walkaway.

So, I say, "Bring it!"

Let's see once and for all what the American people really want—a country and culture based on personal freedom and individual responsibility or a socialist utopia in which the state controls just about everything.