While we are on the Bern: the worst of the op wasn't libs versus less libs, it was WOMEN VERSUS MEN. A quick lunchtime thread.
As a semi-thoughtful male supporter of Bern in 2016, I was on the receiving end of lots of VERY negative comments from women (and accounts representing as women, no doubt). At first I was clueless about the source of the anger.
Eventually I realized that I was getting blasted by anger caused "Bernie Bros" (mostly fake accounts). Defensive "I didn't say that" or "Bernie didn't say that" didn't work. Dialogue was impossible.
The hurt lingers. I'm still mad about being dismissed as a "Bernie Bro" or as an old white man. Women are still upset by the awful on line attacks in Bernie's name, and by the fact that so many seem to support those attacks by supporting Bern.
And the attacks continue. My worst troll experience of my life was by accounts claiming to be women - in 2019. I have no doubt that the "BernieBro" bots and trolls are still out there with their red roses making life miserable.
And those attacks work. After hearing the kind of shit I heard, I did not want to vote HRC. If Bern had been the nominee, many, many liberal women would have stayed home. This same pattern will play out in 2020 IF WE LET IT.
So beating Trump is the 1st order of business. But not falling prey to the bot wars and wedge ops is EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, because that is something we can control.
I still like many Bernie policies, but he is a wedge op, driving differences between liberal factions and especially between men and women. If he doesn't know that yet, that fact is itself disqualifying.
Tulsi is the same: specifically designed to peel off centrist independents; younger people and military vets. It doesn't matter what her "policy" positions are -- they are generated in a lab to create divisions.
My favorite candidate - Sen. Harris - is out of the race for now. C'est le vie, I am now considering the remaining non-wedge-op candidates, and I kind of hope Biden pulls her in as VP.
Biden has encouraged me greatly by ACKNOWLEDGING AND FIGHTING BACK AGAINST THE TROLL WARS. That has to be front and center in all candidates minds now.
Bottom Line: people of good cheer must put stop biting on the men versus women; black versus white; LGBT v. straight troll bait and focus on what matters. Democracy, the Rule of Law, and Trump out office. We can use our vote to deal with the rest in good time.
EVEN AS I WRITE the men versus women op cranks up. Whether the premise of this story is true or not IT IS NOT NEWS, IT IS AN ATTACK ON OUR MINDS. @mj_lee if you care the slightest for the future of democracy, don't highlight wedge ops. 
