An Observation on Last Night's Democrat Debate: Bernie's Generosity

I could stomach only about an hour's worth of it.

What struck me was Bernie Sanders' generous political self-immolation vis-à-vis Mrs. Clinton.  He handed her the nomination by agreeing with her about the e-mail server (non)-issue.  And the crowd loved it.  (Is there a lesson here for Republicans?)

Here is my take on Sanders.  He is basically a decent man who, though personally ambitious as every successful politician must be, nevertheless puts the good of the country, as he sees it, above his own personal ambitions.  He is deeply rooted in principles that he honestly believes are correct.  For him climate change, economic inequality, women's 'reproductive rights' and the rest are the real issues.  And so he nobly took the high road to his own political marginalization by agreeing with Hillary that the e-mail server business is but a distraction from these real issues.  After all, he could have justifiably attacked her on this very serious matter to bolster support for his nomination.  He didn't.  

If you're a 'progressive,' why vote for him when she is as much of a socialist and toes the politically correct line on guns to boot? (Nice pun, eh?)

Of course, there is another angle.  Perhaps Bernie was playing the sycophant in hopes of  a slot in the Hillary admin.  But I don't think so.  I really think he is a high-minded fellow with foolish and deleterious ideas.  I could be wrong about the high-minded part. 

By the way, we shouldn't be too harsh on our politicians.  They are in the arena.  They stand there, out in the open, under their own names, not hiding behind pseudonyms, exposed to the slings and arrows of a vast commentariat.  They have courage.  For this they deserve some respect.  Even Hillary.  Even Obama.  Even the worst of them.  For our worst are better than [you fill in the blank].

UPDATE (15 October):  Daniel Henninger of WSJ agrees with me.  He's a smart guy!

UPDATE (16 October):  And Krauthammer too!  Another smart guy.  Nice tidbit:

The other three candidates hardly registered. Lincoln Chafee, currently polling at 0.3 points (minus-10 Celsius), played Ross Perot’s 1992 running mate, Admiral James Stockdale, who opened his vice presidential debate with: “Who am I? Why am I here?”