Parts of Bryan, None of Bernie

action, not rhetoric; tension, not failure

Ever the pathetic opportunist, it appears Bernie Sanders might be trying to emulate William Jennings Bryan with this new “Fighting Oligarchy” tour he’s begun. Like the man he is and the life he’s led, he will fail miserably once again.

Towards the end of the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th, the Chautauqua movement was in full flux. Originating at Lake Chautauqua, NY, it initially began as a summer training program for Sunday School teachers, then quickly evolved into an institutional movement for a variety of causes, mainly directed at the “common man.”

Traveling Chautauquas popped up in small towns throughout rural America. These were camp meetings for political and social movement devotees. William Jennings Bryan, ever the “common man” whisperer—er, rather shouter, became one of the most prominent “traveling evangelist” speakers at these meetings, bringing in quite a bit of cash per speech given, a fact that probably irked some of the purists in the crowd.

In that, you might immediately observe a correlation between Sanders and Bryan. Sanders used to go after the millionaires and billionaires, then quietly left millionaires alone once he became one himself. But the consequential similarities end there. (Yes, Bryan also had multiple failed presidential bids, but at least he became his party’s nominee instead of tucking his tail between his legs and doing what he was told after having the nomination stolen from him.)

While certainly a mixed bag, it’s not difficult to appreciate who William Jennings Bryan was, as both a man and an American. He cared about his nation and championed causes he truly believed would benefit common folk. And he was a good Christian man, who spent his last days fighting against the rejection of Christian beliefs in public schooling. He was a true American who spoke on behalf of Americans, sometimes at the expense of other Americans. Such is politics. In short, with regard to politics, he was a Jeffersonian combating Hamiltonianism.

Bernie, on the other hand, is simply another career politician—in its most pure definition as he’s never held an actual job outside of politics—masquerading as something he hopes people will gravitate to as he appeals to the temptation of greed. His desire to “fight oligarchy” exists only insofar as he can remain an official unofficial member of an establishment that’s actively losing its oppressive grip upon the people Bernie only claims to care about.

Even Bernie’s outward claims of support for the “common man” have receded in recent years, as manufactured effective politicking shifted from advocating causes of the working class to the promotion of the complaints and cravings of the degenerate class. In 2015, BLM protesters raided a Bernie rally, walked on stage, stole his mic, and began squawking unintelligible fragments of speech as Bernie stood stupidly and stared into the abyss he made for himself.

It’s possible that sometime in the early 20th century, suffragists could have pulled off a similar stunt during a William Jennings Bryan rally. However, in my estimation of the man, Bryan almost certainly would have cleverly convinced the women to hand back the mic, then gone on to state their cause better than they would have. But we don’t need this kind of “victory” for our man.

We’re not in need of a new William Jennings Bryan achieving Jeffersonian wins with rhetoric that could very well lead to self-destructive policy. Instead, we need Jeffersonian tension providing checks on Hamiltonian victories—an active government working in favor of national interests, as well as to the benefit and not the expense of, everyday Americans. All while Bernie peers at an empty crowd, gripping his mic ever so tightly.