American newspapers have spilled a lot of ink condemning likely GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign antics, as well as those of his supporters. It's only fair that we call out the Democrats when they engage in equally abhorrent acts of incivility.

Throwing chairs, texting death threats and spewing hatred is no way to win an election. The behavior of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' supporters, and his lackluster condemnation of their actions, makes us glad that he has minuscule chances of getting his party's nomination. Trump lacks the comportment and judgment required for the nation's highest office. So does Sanders.

The senator's supporters appear to take him literally when he describes his presidential bid in terms of a revolution. Revolutions, including America's own, tend to involve bloodshed and rubble. Rare are the examples anywhere in the world where revolutions have succeeded without physical violence.

In Nevada, when the state Democratic convention didn't go their way last weekend, Sanders supporters got nasty, texting death threats in the most vile terms to the state party chairwoman after delegates were apportioned to leading candidate Hillary Clinton instead of Sanders. They're now threatening to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July.

People think that as long as their motives are pure, such as fighting for high-minded ideals like justice and equality, they have permission to break the rules. No matter how self-righteous Sanders supporters might feel, they are dead wrong if they think this behavior offers a path to victory.

Some Sanders supporters have disrupted Trump rallies as the senator adamantly denied that his people were instigators of violence. Perhaps they didn't swing the first fist, but that hardly makes them the angels that the Sanders campaign suggests they are.

When asked about the campaign's association with incidents in Nevada, campaign manager Jeff Weaver dismissed the reports as "absolute nonsense."

The Democratic leadership has blasted Sanders for being slow to condemn his supporters' actions. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid correctly identified this as a "test of leadership" for the candidate.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz says she was "deeply disturbed" that Sanders continues to stand behind his supporters' behavior. He "certainly did not condemn his supporters for acting violently or engaging in intimidation tactics and instead added more fuel the fire," she told CNN.

Sanders failed the leadership test long ago when he opted to campaign on outlandish promises based on ideas that he knew were unworkable in Congress, a key reason we endorsed Clinton in the March Missouri and Illinois primaries. Sanders' supporters responded with vitriol-filled emails and phone calls only slightly less abrasive than what spewed forth in Nevada.

It's democracy on their terms, or no democracy at all. The real world doesn't work like that.

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Photo credit: Cory Doctorow