Veteran journalist perfectly exposes ‘progressives’ who let online trolls determine who they support

Glenn Greenwald and Elizabeth Warren
Ed Sykes


Elizabeth Warren has left the Democratic Party primary contest in the US, meaning it’s now essentially a two-horse race between progressive Bernie Sanders and elitist Joe Biden. But for now, Warren isn’t endorsing either. And one apparent reason for not backing Sanders is the “online nastiness” from some of his alleged supporters.

Award-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald gave a wonderfully sarcastic and poignant response to this kind of logic:

He also said:

Others clearly thought the same:

 

In reality, Sanders himself has long called for civility from his supporters and has been remarkably restrained even when Warren has attacked him:

He has also given strong praise for Warren despite the tensions between them.

The choice for any real progressive is clear

In the online age, the opponents of progress have sought to magnify the importance of internet debates. Some people treat nasty Twitter comments as somehow more important or offensive than people actually suffering and dying as a result of decisions that politicians make. There have even been cases of right-wingers apparently creating fake supporter accounts online to try and smear progressive politicians by association. Indeed, it’s difficult in many cases to prove that allegedly ‘left-wing’ trolls are actually real people and not just bots.

In short, the important life-or-death political issues at stake should be at the forefront of political debate; not what some random person says online under the shield of near-anonymity. And in terms of the real issues, the choice for any real progressive in the US should be crystal clear:

Real life matters. Twitter trolls, not so much.

Featured image via Robert O’Neill and Gage Skidmore

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