Supporters of top-tier presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders see a big-hearted, bird-charming hero. Now their political crush is blinding them to the truth MSNBC’s Chris Matthews raised about the inevitable violence of socialist revolutions.
Matthews is not the sort of guy any socialist or capitalist would want representing their position. What else is true is that plenty of socialists don’t want Sanders as their spokesman either. But after Friday’s Democratic presidential debate, Matthews largely stuck to the history of socialism to explain his unease with a Sanders presidency.
“I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War there would have been executions in Central Park,” Matthews said to a stunned panel and live audience. “I might have been one of the ones getting executed — and certain other people would be there cheering.”
For this, Matthews is being attacked as “bizarre” or “a whiny millionaire,” because on the left side of politics, the conventional or radical camp, there’s simply no appetite for any talk of the horrors of socialism and communism throughout the 20th century.
And there are bad seeds being planted within the Sanders campaign already, where political violence is regarded as an ace up the sleeve, as shown by the intrepid Project Veritas. Matthews is being perfectly reasonable to anticipate something worse down the line following Sanders’ revolution.
Call them unintended consequences, but history does repeat itself in uncanny ways when it comes to socialist central planning.
Matthews also cogently pointed out that Sanders changes his own definition of socialism. In fact, Sanders, who was once kicked off a commune for laziness, has altered many of his positions and views over the decades to maximize his political gains.
From immigration to gun control, Sanders has shown himself to be a shapeshifting fraud. Once a hardcore communist who defended the Soviet Union, even honeymooned there, he’s now a woke intersectional progressive.
Not only does he lack consistency, but his authenticity is also fake too. A millionaire with multiple vacation homes, he’s not part of the 99%. His grassroots support is built on stolen Ron Paul memes like the “It’s Happening” gif or the “rEVOLution” love sign. The latest example is the theft of a Ron Paul-inspired group’s branding. Sanders himself is guilty of stealing what may have been the greatest moment in Congressman Paul’s career, auditing the Federal Reserve.
All Sanders is good for is a laugh, whether he turns out to be Trump’s opponent or a two-time sell-out endorsing Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren at the Democrats’ nominating convention.
No, wait, I take that back.
Sanders does offer us some more important lessons in politics. Similar to how Trump’s 2016 run revealed the hollowness of conventional campaigns, Sanders has disarmed his opponents with his own facade of a persona of lovable grandpa. Sanders is handing out goodies our parents fear will spoil us.
Notice that the overwhelming majority of attacks launched on Sanders from other Democrats is that his policies simply won’t work or can’t pass Congress. Are they afraid to go after his principled happy warrior schtick?
Perhaps they remember how vicious the 2016 Clinton-Sanders primary was, and how Sanders’ supporters didn’t turn out to vote for Clinton, despite his pitiful behavior for her sake.
This time the Democrats know they’re a divided party struggling to piece together the dissolving Obama coalition.
The problem now is obvious. Who used to be called Blue Dog Democrats, the slightly conservative types like Matthews, aren’t going along with democratic socialism or even much of the diversity or intersectionality nonsense.
That’s why things are still looking up for Trump in 2020.
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