Bernie Sanders, the god who failed

Before ending his second run for president on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders was a beacon of false hope to those who lack any memory of socialism’s immense human cost.

He helped people believe, for a time, that there is a simple answer to all of life’s problems and that it resides in a powerful central government.

Sanders did one thing further: He also demonstrated that, as radical as it has become, the Democratic Party of 2020 is not as ready for socialism as it once seemed.

In the 19th century,...