EDITORIAL: The Snowflake Dilemma

March 6, 2020 by Scott Luedtke

Ever wondered why Democrats are often labeled “Snowflakes?” As an independent leaning, recovering Democrat, let me give you my take.

“Snowflake” — someone with an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, who is overly-emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions.

Prior to Super Tuesday, Joe Biden barely registered on the scope of people’s choices. He had opened a total of one office in the very large state of California. According to CNN, as of March 3, Biden has only spent $16 million dollars for his entire campaign, compared to $55 million that Bernie Sanders spent. For his big win in Massachusetts, Biden spent nothing. He won five states during Super Tuesday that he never even campaigned in.

Joe Biden in Orangeburg, S.C. on Jan. 19, 2020

Suddenly, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar drop out of the race and BOOM! Biden becomes the Golden Child. He is the “safe place” for all the scared Democratic voters to huddle, even though he could barely get a crowd of several hundred together at his rallies, versus Sanders, who has attracted tens of thousands of people where often times many were turned away.

Sanders rally in Portland, Oregon, March 25, 2020

Placing your vote with Biden is nothing more than an “I am safe” vote. If you support Biden, it’s okay that he doesn’t have a plan because he was Obama’s VP. That also makes it okay that he’s been on the wrong side of history with many of his votes in the past. Most people who vote for the safety of familiarity have no idea the harm that has been caused by Biden because they are not personally hurt by these policies.

He supported the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), perhaps the most anti–middle class piece of legislation in the past century. This was the law that made is impossible for anyone suffering from massive student debt to file bankruptcy.

He supported a rush to the war in Iraq, which was based on lies from the Bush administration and killed nearly 10,000 U.S. soldiers and contractors, over 180,000 Iraqi citizens and is still raging today. Many parts of the country do not have adequate drinking water or housing.

He supported the anti-LGBT Defense of Marriage act, that defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.

His crowning achievement was sponsoring the racist Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 that enacted federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking, increased funding for US prisons and applied the death penalty to 60 crimes.

Biden reveled in the politics of the 1994 law, bragging after it passed that “the liberal wing of the Democratic Party” was now for “60 new death penalties,” “70 enhanced penalties,” “100,000 cops,” and “125,000 new state prison cells.”

Bill Clinton and Joe Biden 1998

By the time Clinton left office, the number of people under correctional control was seven times greater than at the beginning of the Johnson administration, and the black-to-white ratio for incarceration rates had risen from 3-to-1 to 6-to-1.

In 2020, Biden hasn’t changed his stance on much, if anything. These Biden-supporting Democrats refuse to consider these facts and are making weak excuses for why Sanders can’t be President. “He’s too old,” even though he and Biden are only a year apart. “He had a heart attack.” Yes, Sanders had a heart attack. Anyone can, and he bounced back to be even more energetic than before his surgery. What is more concerning is someone who appears to have the onset of the terrible disease of dementia as Biden does. Sanders has his mental faculties and is very articulate in what he wants us to accomplish.

“He’s not a real Democrat.” Sander was an independent for many years who caucused with the Dems and joined the party in 2015. Yet he is not a “real” Democrat? Look at their history. Sanders is much more of a Democrat, ala Roosevelt, than Biden. Biden leaned to the right throughout his career.

Even if Sanders weren’t a card-carrying Democrat, why does it matter if he has that “D” label? Americans’ obsession with political labels are preventing them from seeing past the label and looking at the content. But Joe is a safe space for them because his supporters don’t feel a need to see him for who he really is. When confronted with the truth, they claim they are being attacked.

Snowflakes melt. That is exactly what Biden supporters are doing: melting into a pool of ever-shifting pandering, believing what they want to hear vs what needs to be heard. Sanders isn’t afraid of that. He has held a steady course for decades. From as far back as the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, up to his “#NotMeUs” movement of today, he has worked for what is right for everyone, not just a few.

As these Democratic snowflakes hide behind their fear of Trump, they are more afraid of change than they are willing to have hope for this country.

In 2016, Biden stated that Sanders was authentic and had the best chances of beating Trump. This has not changed.

This country desperately needs progress, not status quo. Changes are coming whether anyone likes it or not. But let’s make the right changes now, not in 10 years, while we have the chance. Because by then it might—and probably will be—too late.