it sure feels like Bernie was just a liberal plant to gain the youth vote, etc, just to inevitably "lose" to have his supporters subserviently then vote for whomever democrats picked.
nah, I don't think he is a plant.
Leftists, by and large, are very conscientious people. Bernie fell for the Democratic blackmail a lot of times before and now he just keeps his position, because he truly believes the 'lesser evil' shit.
I think it's silly to assert that his entire candidacy was an intentional sheepdogging. It made apparent a very serious rift in the dem base that won't ever (and shouldn't) be closed. The fact is that despite some of his unorthodox beliefs, he sees it as worthwhile to capitulate...
I remember when that fraud told us that we needed to elect Biden in 2020, and he was going to "push him left." Well, turns out Biden pulled Bernie right, to the point where he was perfectly fine with being silent about genocide for months. Bernie got a chairmanship, while the rest of us got screwed.