Bernie Bros Discussion

[Ultimate Paragon]

Are they a legitimate problem?  Or is the media making a mountain of a molehill again?  I'm personally leaning towards the latter.

[ironbite]

You honestly have no fucking clue how to post topics do you?

[Eiki-mun]

...who?

[Ironchew]

He's "just asking questions".

[Askold]

UP, that one sentence doesn't really work as a starter for a thread. You are supposed to give some explanation on what you are talking about and not everyone here knows about this particular story.

Here: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/users/2016/02/bernie_bros_are_bad_the_conversation_around_them_is_worse.html

I already linked that in another thread but as it explains what the hell you are talking about it might as well be here as well.

Also, a short quote from the article to give a TL;DR version:

ver the past few weeks, the political press has been following an elusive campaign animal. Known as the “Bernie Bro,” he typically presents as a white, male Bernie Sanders supporter who haunts Internet comment sections. He has been spotted orchestrating pile-ons on Hillary Clinton’s Facebook page and firing off tweets reducing Clinton and her supporters to their vaginas. BuzzFeed News reporter Evan McMorris-Santoro recently observed these “unruly online men” and determined that even “the Sanders campaign and the Sanders digital army are aware that the Bros are a real issue, a dangerous and unruly crowd that can shock even the closest Sanders supporters.” The BBC reports that the Bro has earned Sanders supporters a “bad reputation online.” Time’s Charlotte Alter claims that he has recently been spotted in—dun dun dun—“real life.” 

Or maybe the Bernie Bro is just a fantasy. On Sunday, the Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald diagnosed the Bro talk as a “cheap,” “false,” “handy, all-purpose pro-Clinton smear” meant to "inherently delegitimize all critics of Hillary Clinton by accusing them of, or at least associating them with, sexism.”

My own Bro research has revealed that both viewpoints are correct, depending on how you choose to filter your Twitter feed. The divide in how Clinton and Sanders supporters view Bernie Bros—or whether they see them at all—is emblematic of how social media has accomplished the impressive feat of making American political discourse even more annoying.

See, that didn't take much more work than what UP posted but now people have a way of knowing what this is about.

And now it's Ultimate Paragon's turn: How do YOU feel about this matter, do you think these people exist, are they a problem if they exist or if they don't exist why do people claim otherwise?

[Ultimate Paragon]

Sorry, I assumed you knew what I was talking about.  Well, when you assume...

Anyway, I think it's blown out of proportion.

[ironbite]

See this is the problem thinking you're in a hive mind when you're not.  You post these types of topics, look around like everybody knows what the fuck it is you're on about then get all flabbergasted when you find out nobody has a clue what it is you're talking about because you give no context!

That being said, here's one of the "Bernie Bros".



Ironbite-that's just adorable.

[mellenORL]

Now that I see a full size version of that pic...that dude is my age, not quite typical of an alleged Bernie Bro. Look at the wrinkly neck and grey beard. Why...goddammit! It's Dennis Miller! Traitor and Double agent provocateur! Or, as the sane part of the world describes him, a has-been barely clinging to the outskirts of the Hollywood E-list. FOX lets him rant neocon BS now and then for peanuts and malt liquor.

[Sigmaleph]

Every candidate has asshole supporters*. It's easy to build a narrative around the particular demographics of Sanders supporters, so people talk about 'Bernie bros', but I suspect we'd find roughly the same attitudes if we looked at the support base of any major candidate (Except Trump. Trump supporters are a breed of their own)


*Except, of course, for Lawrence Lessig, who doesn't have supporters at all.

[davedan]

Who in the everloving fuck is Dennis Miller? Is he like a poor man's PJ O'Rourke?

I think the narrative is easy to build around Sanders because he has enthusiastic supporters who are more likely to be on the internet.

And Sigma's right about Trump supporters, I haven't seen any other supporters beating people up at rallies while they are encouraged by the candidate.

[niam2023]

^ The last time people like Trump Supporters came around, it was 1930s/40s and they were lead by an irate, shrieking Austrian with funny facial hair and an ugly combover.

[The_Queen]

Every candidate has asshole supporters*. It's easy to build a narrative around the particular demographics of Sanders supporters, so people talk about 'Bernie bros', but I suspect we'd find roughly the same attitudes if we looked at the support base of any major candidate (Except Trump. Trump supporters are a breed of their own)


*Except, of course, for Lawrence Lessig, who doesn't have supporters at all.

No, I think that there is a difference. There has long been this cult like support for Bernie because, in many ways, a lot of his supporters believe that not only is he perfect, but he is objectively better in every facet than Hillary. This notion is absurd as (1) no one is perfect nor is anyone a liberal messiah, (2) Bernie cannot be better in EVERY category than Hillary, (3) a lot of this is subjective and not objective.

I've been aware of the BernieBro for months now. In fact, I had an awkward situation in which one yelled (literally) at me for saying "eh, I support Hillary." Clinton certainly has idiot supporters, every politician does. However, I have not seen anywhere near the same level of hostility from Clinton supporters that I have seen from Bernie supporters over which candidate one endorses. Personally, I think a lot of it has to do with the "enthusiasm gap" combined with Bernie drawing younger, and at least in my insignificant opinion, more naive crowds (a naivety which grows into a belief that Bernie will change the political system for the better).

While a lot of this speaks only to my personal experiences, that really is all we have going either way (that is, this is blown out of proportion I have not seen Berniebros vs. I have seen them and they're real and obnoxious). There isn't going to be a scientifically conducted poll on this phenomenon.

So, in closing, Sigma, you're an asshole. So now that we've established that, 100% of Lawrence Lessig supporters are assholes [/sarcasm]

Edit to clarify: and when I say "for the better" I mean similar to Obama. Obama made grandiose promises of change during the election, and ran to the center immediately after election. Nevertheless, I think he has been a great president. So, at least in my opinion, grandiose promises of change don't materialize, but a centrist democrat is better than a republican. And this is what I am talking to about the naivety, largely my own experiences 8 years ago with Obama.

[Ironchew]

^ The last time people like Trump Supporters came around, it was 1930s/40s and they were lead by an irate, shrieking Austrian with funny facial hair and an ugly combover.

The last time? Off the top of my head I can think of David Duke nearly becoming the Democratic candidate for governor of Louisiana in 1991, only minimally hindered, perhaps even helped along, by his openly white supremacist platform and then-public-knowledge that he was a Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan.

He won 32% of the primary votes, more than the incumbent governor.

[rookie]

Mrs. Rookie postulates that Sanders has the supporters he does based on the fact that he reminds everyone of that one college professor they had. All disheveled and rumpled,  spouting ideological nonsenses.

Anyways, having never heard of these Bernie Bros before, I looked into it. I've had people get sad or disappointed with me when I say I'm not supporting him. Once even had confused. But I haven't seen angry or abusive. Are we sure they aren't really Clinton supporters making Sanders' camp seem a little more nuts?

[Svata]

More likely they're legit than a false flag. Remember, every group has its assholes.