Bernie's Bros- Where the Wild Things Are

Yes, I did this lowlife a favor and cropped out his name.

One of the great disconnects of our political time has been the rise of the "Bernie Bro" on the internet. You know the type, the person who calls Hillary Clinton a criminal, believes every primary that Bernie loses is fixed, who says both parties are the same, and who thinks that anyone that doesn't support Bernie is some sort of quasi-fascist. Go on Twitter and make a negative statement about Bernie with an accompanying hashtag they can find, and they will try to drag you into an argument that lasts hours (or days). They insist that they will never vote for Clinton in November, or that they may even vote for Trump. The only thing stronger than their obscene language is the aggressive manner by which they insist on telling you why you're wrong. If you've dared have a political discussion online, you have faced the "Bernie Bro" at some point.

The disconnect is that the actual Bernie people I know on the ground, volunteering for Bernie, are not like the "Bernie Bro." The Bernie staff people I know are not like the "Bernie Bro" either. The "Bernie Bro" is a creature of the internet, an agitated warrior for their cause. Now, I will tell you right here and now that they aren't all real, in fact many of them seem to be paid agitators by someone (The Sanders campaign? The RNC? Donald Trump?). They aren't all though, which still leaves me with the mystery of why I don't know any real life Bernie people who are willing to call the DNC Chairwoman a "cunt" on the internet?

One of the things that this election has taught me is that not all passion is good. The anger and determination of some of the most extreme in our society has shown through during this election, and not just from the Trump crowd. The anger level towards those who moderate, or just disagree, on the issues has gone to level eleven in this election, and that has not helped anything. Politics is a world of gray area, and there are many ideas for how to run our society. Not all of those who disagree are corporate shills, criminals, corrupt, or evil. At a time when actual Neo-Nazis are making their political preferences known, the overkill on rhetoric is helping them hide in the political landscape and not be called for the freaks they are. In this case, over-zealous passions are helping true demons hide among us.