Wow, that's a wall! Tell me how you really feel! :D
Never dealt with ned or eli personally but if she is rattling bernies cages, that's enough to get my vote for now. Thank you for answering my question of how you didn't know about bernie though.
IMHO the main reason steem is failing is due in large part to people like bernie and marky thinking that their SP makes them right no matter what. Combine that with the fact that it's exponentially harder to setup/understand/obtain a steem account, sprinkle in less dopamine rewards(upvotes) and you have our current all time low. I say current because I don't think support will arrive before these and other bad actors are dealt with.
TL:DR buy bitcoin! :D