A Recipe

The results of the Democrat's Super Tuesday primary demonstrate two things—one rather obvious, the other a bit more subtle.

First the obvious: The socialist fantasy that Bernie espoused has now collided with the political reality that his own party finds his positions extreme. Despite the fact that voting occurring only among Democrats (and a few others in open primaries), Sanders got clobbered by an equally old, establishment politician who often struggles with facts, memory, and other mental functions that are essential for any president. The obvious conclusion is that even among Democrats, socialism is a loser in all but a few regions of the country. That's a very good thing, indicating that Democrats no more want to become Venezuela-lite than Republicans do.

Now the (slightly) more subtle. In true class warfare fashion, Sanders has been ranting against "millionaires and billionaires" without let up. He claims that they can buy elections. James Freeman comments:

Adding insult to Bernie Sanders’ Tuesday electoral injury, Michael Bloomberg disproved the central thesis of the Sanders campaign on Wednesday morning ...

Mr. Bloomberg is not just a member of what Mr. Sanders calls “the billionaire class.” The former New York City mayor, with an estimated net worth approaching $60 billion, is currently the 12th richest person in the world according to Forbes magazine. Yet he hasn’t even come close to securing the nomination of a major political party. Despite record campaign spending, on Super Tuesday Mr. Bloomberg collected roughly 2% of the delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.

Mr. Sanders rants endlessly about billionaires rigging our political system and buying control of American society. Now one of the richest of America’s billionaires has just run an experiment and the result is unambiguous ...

No one ever sang, “Money can’t buy me delegates.” But it’s nice to be reminded once again that voters aren’t easily manipulated by political advertising. “We were told Citizens United (2010) meant money to dominate politics. Money keeps getting clobbered,” observes Gregg Easterbrook on Twitter.

Bernie and his band of "Bernie Bros" will soldier on toward the Democrat convention, convinced that socialism will work this time after failing every other time it's been tried. They'll hold the DNC hostage and demand extreme platform positions that will cripple their presidential candidate's ability to win.

The derisive phrase, "useful idiots" seems appropriate when one observes the fervor of Bernie Bros. The phrase, often incorrectly attributed to Lenin has its roots in the cold war and refers to "a naive or unwitting ally of a ruthless political movement especially a communist movement." Bernie's following has been assembled from a set of ingredients that combine naiveté, mixed with a cup of envy, a dollop of resentment, a pinch of irresponsibility, and a large, large pot of moral preening. It's a recipe that will yield a stew with a very bad taste.