Times are hard on the Democrat Ranch these days. There’s one bad story after another coming out about Hillary Clinton, her own left flank seems to be in full revolt and their only other choice is a socialist who seems to be very math challenged if you look at his tax plan. Now normally the Democrats can at least rely on their allies in the media to prop up their candidate even in the worst of times, but you need only look at this “endorsement” from the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank to see exactly how far the mighty have fallen.

Milbank begins his piece by flat out saying that he adores Bernie Sanders. (That’s his word… not mine.) He then goes on to list Bernie’s many wonderful qualities, all of which seem to describe the ideal president for the Left. And all of that glowing adoration is strategically placed right before he drives a shiv right between poor Bernie’s ribs.

I agree with his message of fairness and I share his outrage over inequality and corporate abuses. I think his righteous populism has captured the moment perfectly. I respect the uplifting campaign he has run. I admire his authenticity.

And I am convinced Democrats would be insane to nominate him.

His rationale isn’t exactly a crazy one. Milbank fears that the nation’s traditional predisposition against voting for socialists could lead them to a disastrous loss, possibly even handing the White House to… (gasp) Donald Trump. So with that in mind, he needs to come up with a pitch to get people to go out and caucus for Hillary. But check out how he does it.

Hillary Clinton, by contrast, is a dreary candidate. She has, again, failed to connect with voters. Her policy positions are cautious and uninspiring. Her reflexive secrecy causes a whiff of scandal to follow her everywhere. She seems calculating and phony.

And yet if Democrats hope to hold the presidency in November, they’ll need to hold their noses and nominate Clinton.

That’s your idea of an endorsement? Dreary… unable to connect with real people… uninspiring… secretive… scandalous. This sounds less like a political column than an unhappy husband kvetching about his mother-in-law. But hey… you should vote for her anyway!

On the odd chance that you’re not familiar with the author’s work, just check out the titles of some of his recent columns. There’s no question which party Milbank supports and he simply loathes Republicans. But to his credit he at least doesn’t make any secret of it. We’re using to seeing the media cheering for the Democrats, but far too many of them try to hide it under the guise of journalism and an effort to pretend they are portraying both sides of the issues equally. Not Dana… what you see is what you get, which is rather refreshing.

Which brings us back to my original premise. When you can’t even get a rousing endorsement of the presumptive nominee from Dana, dark times have fallen on River City, my friends. But she can at least count on his vote this year, dreary, uninspiring and scandalous as she may be.