Readers React: Bernie Sanders needs to start controlling his supporters

To the editor: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders reminds me of the cynical Captain Renaud in the Humphrey Bogart classic film “Casablanca,” who, just before pocketing his winnings, declares, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.” (“Passion of Bernie Sanders and his supporters turns against Democrats,” May 18)

Sanders, who has shouted his way through 45 primaries calling for “revolution” and implied his front-running opponent is a bought-and-paid-for sleazebag and her party corrupt (a party he’s enjoyed the use of to run for the presidency, its delegate rules clear from the outset), is now shocked to find that his voter base is laced with revolutionaries storming the party gates, besieging its officials and delegates with intimidating phone calls and Internet threats of violence on them and their families.

Yes, Sanders has pledged to stopping presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, but his more immediate problem is getting a handle on his own messianic fervor and corralling the furious mosh pit he has purposely created and continues to stoke.

Mitch Paradise, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Republicans troubled watching the GOP disintegrate first because of the tea party and now thanks to Trump should take courage. Maybe all the chaos will breathe new life into the GOP’s paralyzed old form.

Moreover, the Democrats seem equality paralyzed with their situation.

One might think 2016 offers Democrats an opportunity to win both the White House and Congress. The Democratic Party could embrace Sanders, if not as a candidate, at least as a force enlisting millions of progressive independents and youth. But the party seems to have turned its back against them.

What happened at the Nevada Democratic Convention on May 14? Instead of embracing Sanders’ supporters to unify the party, the Nevada Democrats rigged the convention and froze them out.

The same thing is happening at the national level, with party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz playing hardball and selecting only three of the 40-plus names submitted by Sanders for standing committee assignments at the Democratic National Convention.

Remember Chicago in 1968? What the party is doing now could blow up in its leaders’ faces.

Eugene Francis Mullaly, San Diego

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To the editor: After reading and seeing reports of Sanders supporters disrupting the Nevada Democratic Convention, booing Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) while she was delivering the keynote address and sending threats and harassing messages to Nevada Democratic Convention Chairwoman Roberta Lange, I’ve decided not to vote for Sanders in the upcoming California primary.

Instead, I’ll be voting for a Democrat.

David Medrano, Alhambra

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To the editor: To all the angry young Sanders supporters: Get involved in the Democratic Party. Volunteer. Become an activist. Put in some hours, walk some precincts. Work for change.

In a few years, instead of throwing chairs, you just might be chairman.

Ted Herrmann, Los Angeles

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To the editor: As of today, Hillary Clinton has garnered 12,989,134 votes during the process, while Sanders has won 9,957,889, a difference of 3,031,245 votes.

To steal an appropriate line often said by sports radio hosts, “Scoreboard.”

Howard P. Cohen , North Hills

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