Bernie Sanders by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Original

A common refrain is starting to build on the left as the realization that a geriatric communist is likely to be their nominee sets in. ‘

Suddenly, it’s really in vogue to pretend that Bernie Sanders is just a harmless old kook who would never get his wacky plans passed if he were to be elected president. I guess this is some kind of self-therapy to soften the blow for a lot of formerly “principled” people who are now willing to vote for anyone to get rid of Trump. It’s the Democrat version of “take him seriously, not literally.”

Here are some examples.

Jonathan Last echoes Yglesias: Take Bernie Sanders seriously, not literally pic.twitter.com/h9mwyZpJjt

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 12, 2020

Krugman again: Take Bernie Sanders seriously, not literally
https://t.co/jJrcbDrAAM

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 14, 2020

This ridiculous assertion presupposes that a Nancy Pelosi led House majority, perhaps the most liberal in American history, will stand strong against their own leader demanding free healthcare and student loan forgiveness. It also relies on the idea that a non-compliant Senate, likely in Democratic hands if Bernie wins, will block everything he tries to do that falls outside the mainstream of sanity.

A new report says that’s a bad bet.

According to @axios, Bernie Sanders plans to use the Senate reconciliation process to push through Medicare for All, Green New Deal, free college, etc., and have his VP overrule the parliamentarian if needed to get it done: https://t.co/jkIpfCyCNl

— Avik Roy (@Avik) February 14, 2020

In other words, Bernie plans to take a dump on parliamentary procedures and use reconciliation in a way that it’s never been used before, i.e. to push through every single one of his bat crazy, economy destroying plans. Does anyone really think Nancy Pelosi, who just got bullied into one of the dumbest political moves of the new century with impeachment, is going to suddenly grow a backbone and say no when most of her caucus and the new president want something? Anyone think a new Democratic Senate majority (again, very probable if Bernie wins) won’t be able to muster 50 votes to pass anything the House sends him? Heck, does anyone think certain Senators like Collins, Murkowski, and Romney won’t be susceptible to “compromises” in that process?

The fact is, if Bernie becomes president, his combination of the bully pulpit, a compliant media, and Democrat party subservience will be an extremely powerful weapon to wield. The chances something like Medicare for All gets passed are extremely high in that case. Anyone saying otherwise is gaslighting in order to justify a vote that is unjustifiable.

Here’s what everyone gets to do on November 3rd, 2020. They get to make a choice. They can vote for Trump and stop this madness, they can abstain and not be part of the process, or they can vote for Bernie and endorse all this madness. What no one gets to do is vote for Bernie and pretend it won’t have dire consequences.