Was it only yesterday that
They pursed their lips. They hemmed. They hawed. Their eyes got big and watery, with much blinking, like startled birds in some cartoon.
It wasn't that they didn't know. They knew all right. They just didn't have the guts to say it. There really is no difference.
But to say it out loud, to name it, or worse, to respond with something stupid like, "Democrat, socialist, what difference, at this point, does it make?" might have called forth the demons.
So they hushed and waited for American journalism to hit the gas and drive quickly away from that Democratic establishment roadkill to focus on something more accessible:
But war has come to the Democrats anyway, inevitable since
Bernie being Bernie, with his olive oil voice and his crazy-commie-uncle-from-
And people in their position cannot afford to look ridiculous.
So as the summer begins, where are we?
Sanders refuses to give in to Clinton and bend his knee, though he's been taking a beating lately from pro-Clinton pundits hoping to shame him out of the race.
Months ago, they appealed to his wisdom and decency. Now, they're clawing at him in desperation to protect Clinton's control of the party.
All Sanders has to do is bow his head and herd his voters into her loving arms, and he'll be pronounced wise and thoughtful by her media biscuit eaters. But he won't quit.
The longer this goes on, the more Democratic operatives fear that even though he won't get the nomination, many Sanders voters will have been lost beyond the horizon. Will they return?
Why should they? I suppose Hillary's super PACs will come up with lists and bang the Trump drum. But for that to work in this election you need a candidate who inspires something other than fear and regret.
People rally to Sanders, even with his nutty "Big Rock Candy Mountain" economic plan. Clinton has tacked to the political left, too, but when she does it, she sounds like some angry suburban grandma in the back of the van on a family road trip, forcing the kids to sing
It happened to conservatives and others when they broke with the
Many thinking liberals suffer similar disillusionment. The political hacks see a meal ticket, but thoughtful progressives can't deny Hillary the corporatist, the establishment
Add the multibillion-dollar
The center collapses because there is no there, there. A reformation begins. We don't know how it ends.
And now Clinton surrogate and
He told reporters the investigation "has nothing to do with the
Of course it doesn't, Terry.
And still, Sanders pushes on toward the
And he complains about Clinton skipping out of a debate.
Is it getting personal? Of course it is.
"I gotta tell you this," Sanders was quoted as saying. "I think it is a little bit insulting to the people of
For Clinton to skip the debate with Sanders is to offer contempt to his voters, while showing fear. She's been doing a remarkable job reinforcing that for months now.
By not debating Sanders, she shows herself to be weak when strength is required. And this makes it more difficult to bring her party together.
On the tactical side, Sanders is running candidates against the establishment, which is always a declaration of war. He's endorsed
For Sanders, riding the liberal end of the American insurgency, going up against
"Clearly, I favor her opponent," Sanders said the other day to
What is at the heart of Sanders' appeal should have been clear back a few months ago when
He's not negotiating. He won't be bought off. And Trump watches.
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John Kass is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune who also hosts a radio show on WLS-AM.