As RedState recently reported, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has once again pulled the rug out from under Democrat hopes of a revised reconciliation bill. Progressives, including those at the White House, were planning on a slightly trimmed-down version of the “Build Back Better” agenda, still full of “climate” spending and tax increases. With last month’s inflation numbers reaching a staggering 9.1 percent, though, Manchin quickly changed course, recognizing the economic ruin on the horizon.

That decision has sent his Democrat colleagues into fits of rage, with the moaning and crying continuing on the Sunday news shows. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont appeared on CNN, choosing to carpet bomb Manchin rhetorically, including attacking him personally.

Sanders accuses Manchin of 'intentionally sabotaging' Biden's agenda by opposing Build Back Better https://t.co/w3T1m2NA7E pic.twitter.com/7VrO6spdfa

— New York Post (@nypost) July 17, 2022

Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Sen. Joe Manchin of “intentionally sabotaging” President Biden’s agenda after the West Virginia Democrat pulled his support from legislation that included initiatives to battle climate change and raise taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals.

“He has sabotaged the president’s agenda,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”

“If you check the record, six months ago, I made it clear that you have people like Manchin, Sinema to a lesser degree, who are intentionally sabotaging the president’s agenda, what the American people, what a majority of us in the Democratic caucus want. Nothing new about this,” he told host Martha Raddatz, referring to Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

Sanders is nothing if he isn’t delusionally confident in the supposed popularity of his quasi-communist views. Do a majority of the “American people” actually want inflationary spending on boondoggle green subsidies, coupled with corporate tax increases that will be passed on to consumers? That’s a ridiculous assertion and one that ignores that inflation continues to be the top concern of Americans.

The entire idea that Manchin and Sinema are “intentionally sabotaging” the president’s agenda belays the fact that their choices on spending and taxes are completely logical. If Democrat policies weren’t objectively harmful, they would garner more support. In the case of Manchin, the easiest thing in the world he could do is become a Republican, ensuring his re-election. That he remains a Democrat is proof enough that he’s at least attempting to operate in good faith. Otherwise, why even stick around to deal with clowns like Sanders?

The Vermont senator continued his attacks by accusing Manchin of being bought off by “fossil fuel money,” before taking direct shots at West Virginia itself.

“And the problem was that we continue to talk to Manchin like he was serious. He was not. This is a guy who is a major recipient of fossil fuel money, a guy who has received campaign contributions from 25 Republican billionaires,” Sanders said…

…“Look, that’s the same nonsense that Manchin has been talking about for a year,” Sanders said, calling West Virginia “one of the poorest states in this country.”

I’m just not sure what Sanders is hoping to accomplish here, and given his pathetic record of legislative governance despite being in the Senate for decades, perhaps the answer is “nothing.” Democrat socialists have no ability to perceive nuance in policy discussions. Instead, they convince themselves that their positions are always the most popular on the board, no matter how much evidence to the contrary exists.

What we are seeing from Sanders and others is derangement mixed with desperation. They won’t admit it, but they know Democrats are about to get wiped out by the red wave in November, with their dreams of a progressive utopia getting washed away in the process. This reconciliation bill is their last shot, not just until 2024, but well into the 2030s–given the electoral shifts happening and the Senate maps in future cycles.

At the end of the day, Manchin holds all the cards, though. He doesn’t have to care what a geriatric socialist from Vermont thinks. He can continue to chart his own path, and if his party continues to attack him, he can just leave them in the dust. On the other side, the answer for those like Sanders will always be that they weren’t radical enough, which is bad news for Democrats going forward. Call it the “slamming one’s head into a brick wall” strategy.