Let’s face it. Last night’s debate was cringeworthy on so many levels. Between Julian Castro hitting Joe Biden on his age by “suggesting” Biden didn’t remember what he said two minutes earlier (misconstruing what Biden said in the process) to O’Rourke’s vow to take away our ARs, there wasn’t a line the Dems failed to cross. The biggest surprise, at least to me, was seeing Biden not only calling Bernie Sanders, aka Comrade Bernie, a socialist but one who had a lot more faith in corporate America than he did.

Picture this. Two men well past retirement age, one trying to look like the elder statesman and the other the wild-eyed savior, verbally sparring over health care. Specifically over Medicare-for-all.

I know, I know, anyone with an ounce of sense and a basic understanding of economics knows it won’t work. After all, none of those pushing Medicare-for-all have told us how they plan to pay for it. Oh, they say the rich will pay more and the, to paraphrase Elizabeth Warren from last night, “hardworking American families” will pay less.

Hmm, what about the non-hardworking American families? How about those who don’t have families? Or those who don’t work?

Ooh, ooh! I know!

The workers and the innovators will pay more and the hangers on will pay less. Just like the world has seen happen in so many socialist and communist countries. You know, the countries Bernie keeps harping on and telling us how much better they are.

Anyway, Uncle Bernie (who really wants to be our own Uncle Joe Stalin, hopefully without the pogroms and exterminations) made sure we all knew he “wrote the damn bill” that would bring Medicare-for-all to our country, like it or not. This also seems to be his talking point. (Maybe he should have t-shirts made using the quote. Beto seems to think they’re working for him.) Here’s a clip of Comrade Bernie from the July debate saying the same thing.

Bernie didn’t look too happy last night when Amy Klobuchar countered that while he wrote the bill, she had read it. Not only had she read it, but she had a pull-quote ready.

But when it comes to our healthcare and when it comes to our premiums, I go with the doctor’s creed, which is, ‘Do no harm.’ And while Bernie wrote the bill, I read the bill. And on page eight — on page eight of the bill, it says that we will no longer have private insurance as we know it.”

Oops.

Did she just say this wonderful bill would take away our freedom to choose our insurance and, in all likelihood, our doctors? Sure sounded like it to me.

The look on Bernie’s face was priceless. You could almost hear him thinking, “Damn it, they weren’t supposed to read it!”

But the money quote, actually the money statement, came from Biden. First, he pulled away the curtain and called out those touting Medicare-for-all because they hadn’t said how they would pay for it. Then he zeroed in on Comrade Bernie.

Biden certainly didn’t mince words.

Let me tell you something, for a socialist you got a lot more confidence in corporate America than I do.”

I don’t know what was more entertaining: seeing someone in the Democratic Party finally having the balls to identify Comrade Bernie as what he is–a socialist and not a “Democratic Socialist” or a Democrat–or Biden challenging his opponents to explain exactly how they were going to pay for their so-called “answer” to health care. Then there was him asking if Bernie really thought corporations would pay back everything employees have paid as health care premiums and Bernie saying they would.

As my mother would say of Bernie, “Bless his heart. Isn’t he special?”

My response is simple. First, thank you, Mr. Biden, for calling a socialist a socialist. I still don’t want you as my president, but you had the stones to step out of the crowd and quit pretending Sanders is something he’s not.

Comrade Bernie is “special” and we don’t need him in the Oval Office as a visitor, much less as the Commander-in-Chief. I may not like Biden but, damn, he made parts of the debate fun to watch. Too bad I didn’t have enough popcorn or beer to get through all of it without wanting to throw something through the television screen.

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Featured image: Bernie Sanders-painting by DonkeyHotey. Creative Commons 2.0 license.