There’s nothing ‘democratic’ about Bernie Sanders’s ‘democratic socialism’

By Eddie Scarry

Published March 9, 2020 5:00pm ET

There’s nothing ‘democratic’ about Bernie Sanders’s ‘democratic socialism’ — Independent presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during the We the People Membership Summit, featuring the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, at the Warner Theater, in Washington, Monday, April 1, 2019. | (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Is there a reason why we’re all acting like there’s some stark distinction between socialism and “democratic socialism”?

The national media take such pains to ensure that their audiences are never under the impression that Bernie Sanders is a socialist-socialist but instead a democratic socialist, and I can only imagine it’s because they think placing the word “democratic” at the beginning makes it sound pleasant.