It’s not out online yet, but Time Magazine announced that their next cover story will be a picture of a certain high profile Democrat presidential candidate with the title, “Bernie. Socialize This, America.” It was first reported on Morning Joe.

https://twitter.com/Morning_Joe/status/644493965404807168/photo/1

I’m not sure at this point whether it’s more refreshing or frightening that mainstream outlets have gotten so comfortable using the “S word” when discussing the future leadership of the country, but at least Bernie is being honest about it. But what does that sort of socialist agenda entail? Well, for one thing, it apparently means crawling on bended knee back to the doorstep of some of the people who most badly humiliated you throughout your campaign. In this case, it’s the Black Lives Matter movement. (Washington Post)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose insurgent presidential campaign is working hard to court African American voters, was scheduled to meet Wednesday with one of the leading activists of the Black Lives Matter movement.

DeRay Mckesson, who has emerged as one of the most visible figures of the movement protesting the killings of unarmed black people at the hands of police officers, tweeted Tuesday about the meeting. Neither Mckesson nor the Sanders campaign responded to requests for additional information about the meeting.

But as the article goes on to point out, there’s some infighting in the movement over control of their brand, and DeRay is apparently not considered pure enough for the BLM label.

The meeting with Mckesson has been the source of friction within the movement because some activists have noted that Mckesson, who got involved after a white police officer shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014, is not a member of the organization that bears the name Black Lives Matter. It was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi in protest of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the slaying of black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.

As you may recall, DeRay Mckesson is the same individual who was recently named as a new lecturer at Yale despite having an educational background which was primarily comprised of working in the HR department for a public school. He is paraded out on CNN and other outlets on a regular basis as a national spokesperson for BLM, so it’s rather odd to hear that the actual founders of the movement don’t consider him one of their own. I’m sure they can work it all out at their next national convention, though.

But returning to the original question, how big of a piece of his soul is Bernie Sanders willing to sacrifice just to gain some more traction on Hillary Clinton in the primary? Not only is the movement coming under increasing criticism for their violent, anti-police rhetoric, but their leaders have repeatedly insulted and belittled him in very public ways. He’s been essentially chased off of his own stage and had his microphone taken away from him by loud, obnoxious people who were taking up an entirely different topic than the subject at hand during his rallies. The group has demanded that this presidential candidate change his priorities and his platform to suit their agenda.

The strangest part of this entire political opera is that it worked. Sanders immediately retooled his stump speeches, hired a black senior staffer to introduce him at all events and began weaving new slogans into his remarks which even he seemed to only vaguely grasp. And now, after being beaten down in the public square, Sanders is crawling back asking for forgiveness and looking to cut some sort of a deal. Is this the definition of modern socialism? Is this something which large numbers of liberals are looking for in the next leader of the free world? Seriously, Democrats. As Jon Stewart use to say, meet me at camera three.

Even if you mange to win another term in the White House, whoever takes over the Oval Office is going to have to face down ISIS, China, Vladimir Putin and a world which is going up in flames. Do you want to hand that job to somebody who can be bullied and put on a leash by a group of street protesters? If that’s 21st century socialism you are more than welcome to it.