Ouch! This Review of Bernie's Book Is Brutal

NPR's Annalisa Quinn did not hold back in her review of Bernie Sanders' new book, Where We Go from Here. The whole thing is gonna leave a mark, but this was particularly hilarious to me:

Chapters are structured like diary entries spaced over the last two years, which he has spent visiting 32 states to advance progressive candidates and position. A standard entry will describe his platform and quote a previous speech at length, with some notes about audience size — he has an almost Trumpian interest in crowd sizes — and then finish with a vague injunction to unity or progress.

A vague injunction to unity or progress! LOL! That should be his campaign slogan.

Quinn spends a lot of time criticizing Sanders for his take on the political press, and, while I do think she too carelessly breezes by the obvious effect of corporate ownership on editorial decision-making (if not individual journalists' work), she is absolutely spot-on that Sanders seems completely oblivious to what is actually being reported, in what measure.

Which is kind of a refrain with the senator. It was just yesterday that I observed he is profoundly and intractably mistaken about the ideological composition of the nation. We are so far away from his perception of the country as a collection of leftists and future leftists who just haven't heard his terrific ideas yet that it sounds more like a punchline than the serious contention of a national politician.

There is only one person in U.S. politics who is more wrong than Bernie Sanders and just as certain of his rightness. And I don't guess I need to tell you who that is.

There is a part of me that wants to get a copy of this book and tear every page a new asshole each day, but there is an even bigger part of me that absolutely will not do that because I too ardently value the tiny capacity to find joy in this world I still have left.

Relatedly, this is something:

“This is not a time for despair.”

Bernie was counting on Democrats losing the midterm elections https://t.co/XupmueVPpj

— 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣 ⚡️ (@Patrickesque) November 26, 2018

Welp.

[H/Ts to Fannie for the NPR review and to Scott Madin for the tweet.]