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The concoction of the "Bernie Bro" narrative by pro-Clinton journalists has been a potent political tactic -- and a journalistic disgrace. It's intended to imply two equally false claims: (1) a refusal to march enthusiastically behind the Wall Street-enriched, multiple-war-advocating, despot-embracing Hillary Clinton is explainable not by ideology or political conviction, but largely if not exclusively by sexism: demonstrated by the fact that men, not women, support Sanders (his supporters are "bros"); and (2) Sanders supporters are uniquely abusive and misogynistic in their online behavior. Needless to say, a crucial tactical prong of this innuendo is that any attempt to refute it is itself proof of insensitivity to sexism if not sexism itself (as the accusatory reactions to this article will instantly illustrate).
It's become such an all-purpose, handy pro-Clinton smear that even consummate, actual "bros" for whom the term was originally coined -- straight guys who act with entitlement and aggression, such as Paul Krugman -- are now reflexively (and unironically) applying it to anyone who speaks ill of Hillary Clinton, even when they know nothing else about the people they're smearing, including their gender, age, or sexual orientation. Thus, a male policy analyst who criticized Sanders' health care plan "is getting the Bernie Bro treatment," sneered Krugman. Unfortunately for the New York Times Bro, that analyst, Charles Gaba, said in response that he's "really not comfortable with [Krugman's] referring to die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters as 'Bernie Bros'" because it "implies that only college-age men support Sen. Sanders, which obviously isn't the case."
It is indeed "obviously not the case." There are literally millions of women who support Sanders over Clinton. A new Iowa poll yesterday shows Sanders with a 15-point lead over Clinton among women under 45, while one-third of Iowa women over 45 support him. A USA Today/Rock the Vote poll from two weeks ago found Sanders nationally "with a 19-point lead over front-runner Hillary Clinton, 50 percent to 31 percent, among Democratic and independent women ages 18 to 34." One has to be willing to belittle the views and erase the existence of a huge number of American women to wield this "Bernie Bro" smear.
But truth doesn't matter here -- at all. Instead, the goal is to inherently delegitimize all critics of Hillary Clinton by accusing them of, or at least associating them with, sexism, thus distracting attention away from Clinton's policy views, funding, and political history and directing it toward the online behavior of anonymous, random, isolated people on the internet claiming to be Sanders supporters. It's an effective weapon when wielded by Clinton operatives. But, given its blatant falsity, it has zero place in anything purporting to be "journalism."
Read the full article at The Intercept.
© 2023 The Intercept
The concoction of the "Bernie Bro" narrative by pro-Clinton journalists has been a potent political tactic -- and a journalistic disgrace. It's intended to imply two equally false claims: (1) a refusal to march enthusiastically behind the Wall Street-enriched, multiple-war-advocating, despot-embracing Hillary Clinton is explainable not by ideology or political conviction, but largely if not exclusively by sexism: demonstrated by the fact that men, not women, support Sanders (his supporters are "bros"); and (2) Sanders supporters are uniquely abusive and misogynistic in their online behavior. Needless to say, a crucial tactical prong of this innuendo is that any attempt to refute it is itself proof of insensitivity to sexism if not sexism itself (as the accusatory reactions to this article will instantly illustrate).
It's become such an all-purpose, handy pro-Clinton smear that even consummate, actual "bros" for whom the term was originally coined -- straight guys who act with entitlement and aggression, such as Paul Krugman -- are now reflexively (and unironically) applying it to anyone who speaks ill of Hillary Clinton, even when they know nothing else about the people they're smearing, including their gender, age, or sexual orientation. Thus, a male policy analyst who criticized Sanders' health care plan "is getting the Bernie Bro treatment," sneered Krugman. Unfortunately for the New York Times Bro, that analyst, Charles Gaba, said in response that he's "really not comfortable with [Krugman's] referring to die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters as 'Bernie Bros'" because it "implies that only college-age men support Sen. Sanders, which obviously isn't the case."
It is indeed "obviously not the case." There are literally millions of women who support Sanders over Clinton. A new Iowa poll yesterday shows Sanders with a 15-point lead over Clinton among women under 45, while one-third of Iowa women over 45 support him. A USA Today/Rock the Vote poll from two weeks ago found Sanders nationally "with a 19-point lead over front-runner Hillary Clinton, 50 percent to 31 percent, among Democratic and independent women ages 18 to 34." One has to be willing to belittle the views and erase the existence of a huge number of American women to wield this "Bernie Bro" smear.
But truth doesn't matter here -- at all. Instead, the goal is to inherently delegitimize all critics of Hillary Clinton by accusing them of, or at least associating them with, sexism, thus distracting attention away from Clinton's policy views, funding, and political history and directing it toward the online behavior of anonymous, random, isolated people on the internet claiming to be Sanders supporters. It's an effective weapon when wielded by Clinton operatives. But, given its blatant falsity, it has zero place in anything purporting to be "journalism."
Read the full article at The Intercept.
The concoction of the "Bernie Bro" narrative by pro-Clinton journalists has been a potent political tactic -- and a journalistic disgrace. It's intended to imply two equally false claims: (1) a refusal to march enthusiastically behind the Wall Street-enriched, multiple-war-advocating, despot-embracing Hillary Clinton is explainable not by ideology or political conviction, but largely if not exclusively by sexism: demonstrated by the fact that men, not women, support Sanders (his supporters are "bros"); and (2) Sanders supporters are uniquely abusive and misogynistic in their online behavior. Needless to say, a crucial tactical prong of this innuendo is that any attempt to refute it is itself proof of insensitivity to sexism if not sexism itself (as the accusatory reactions to this article will instantly illustrate).
It's become such an all-purpose, handy pro-Clinton smear that even consummate, actual "bros" for whom the term was originally coined -- straight guys who act with entitlement and aggression, such as Paul Krugman -- are now reflexively (and unironically) applying it to anyone who speaks ill of Hillary Clinton, even when they know nothing else about the people they're smearing, including their gender, age, or sexual orientation. Thus, a male policy analyst who criticized Sanders' health care plan "is getting the Bernie Bro treatment," sneered Krugman. Unfortunately for the New York Times Bro, that analyst, Charles Gaba, said in response that he's "really not comfortable with [Krugman's] referring to die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters as 'Bernie Bros'" because it "implies that only college-age men support Sen. Sanders, which obviously isn't the case."
It is indeed "obviously not the case." There are literally millions of women who support Sanders over Clinton. A new Iowa poll yesterday shows Sanders with a 15-point lead over Clinton among women under 45, while one-third of Iowa women over 45 support him. A USA Today/Rock the Vote poll from two weeks ago found Sanders nationally "with a 19-point lead over front-runner Hillary Clinton, 50 percent to 31 percent, among Democratic and independent women ages 18 to 34." One has to be willing to belittle the views and erase the existence of a huge number of American women to wield this "Bernie Bro" smear.
But truth doesn't matter here -- at all. Instead, the goal is to inherently delegitimize all critics of Hillary Clinton by accusing them of, or at least associating them with, sexism, thus distracting attention away from Clinton's policy views, funding, and political history and directing it toward the online behavior of anonymous, random, isolated people on the internet claiming to be Sanders supporters. It's an effective weapon when wielded by Clinton operatives. But, given its blatant falsity, it has zero place in anything purporting to be "journalism."
Read the full article at The Intercept.