A weird thing I always encounter in left circles: good people generally seem to think all criticism is genuine. There's a bizarre mental block into looking into motive, and how indeed some criticism is just a cynical ploy.
It's not a coincidence that Bernie is the only candidate who is regularly asked to apologize for his supporters. Either:
1) his supporters are uniquely bad (lol), or
2) there's a dearth of material to criticize about him, so portraying his supporters as uniquely bad is strategic
1) his supporters are uniquely bad (lol), or
2) there's a dearth of material to criticize about him, so portraying his supporters as uniquely bad is strategic
Obviously the answer here is #2, but Bernie feeding into the narrative by acting like the concern is sincere gives the impression he thinks #1 is true! Thereby exacerbating the bogus narrative. Thinking every criticism is by definition legitimate is both silly & counterfactual.
Is there a *single* critic of Bernie who actually believes he's in favor of harassment? or doxing? or anything even 1% unethical? Of course not. But Bernie comments as if they're sincere lmao.
Bernie thinks his statement is savvy but it's the functional equivalent of: 'No, I did not beat my wife. Beating your wife is bad!' - it makes people go wait what? Why did he have to say that? Did he beat his wife? Exact opposite impact of what he wanted.
