Editor's note: Joseph Farah is on vacation. The following is a repeat of his popular column from Jan. 25.

Donald Trump has called Bernie Sanders a "communist" and a "maniac."

Was he wrong?

You decide.

But before I make the case that he is, consider that in my misguided youth, I would have described myself as a "communist." I traveled in many of the same circles as the young Bernie Sanders – Students for a Democratic Society, anti-Vietnam War protests, various Marxist organizations.

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I stopped calling myself a socialist and a communist a long time ago. But Bernie has never given up the utopian dream.

It began for him when he joined the Young People's Socialist League while a student at the University of Chicago, from which he graduated in 1964. What was the mission of the Young People's Socialist League?

It was spelled out in the preamble to its constitution: "The Young People's Socialist League of America calls upon all young people who are interested in the emancipation of the working class from the chains of wage slavery to join its rank and through it and its associated organizations of the International Socialist Movement, to work for the overthrow of the present capitalist system in all its social and economic ramiﬁcations, and for the establishment in its stead of a worldwide socialistic cooperative commonwealth."

Today Sanders still calls himself a socialist, but he says don't worry – "I don't believe the government should take over the grocery store down the street or the means of production." I guess the next question one should ask a socialist is, "Why not?"

Has Sanders' definition of socialism changed since he was a member of the Young People's Socialist League that called for a complete overthrow of the capitalist system to be replaced by "a worldwide socialistic cooperative commonwealth"?

While my views have changed quite a bit since the 1960s, Bernie Sanders doesn't seem to have evolved very much politically.

In 1990, still a socialist, he got elected to Congress in the rural state of Vermont. One of his first actions in Congress was to found the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which was partnered with the Democratic Socialists of America. No surprise there, because most Americans have no idea of what the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Democratic Socialists of America are really all about.

Way back in 1998, I reported on Bernie Sanders' little creation.

Back then the Congressional Progressive Caucus shared a website with the DSA. In other words, these two organizations, one government-funded and the other a tax-exempt nonprofit, were of like mind and on the same page politically.

What I found back then was astonishing – even for me.

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On this shared website, that was quickly scrubbed after I exposed it, was a collection of songs I can almost hear Bernie, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus singing in harmony.

One of my favorites back then – – was "Red Revolution" sung to the tune of "Red, Red Robbin."

Here are the lyrics for your edification and amusement:

When the Red Revolution

Brings Its Solution

Along, Along

There'll be no more lootin'

When we start shootin'

That Wall Street throng

Wake up you proletarians

Don't act like seminarians

Expropriate Barbarians

Build a Workers' Republic

Exploitation and Degradation

You Won't Find Here

Surplus Value and Capital Will Disappear

I'm Just a Red again,

Saying what I've said again,

When the Red Revolution... da, da, da, da

Brings Its Solution...da, da, da, da, da

Along

Hello? Is this the same Democratic Socialists of America and the Congressional Progressive Caucus that claims not to be communist?

"When we start shootin' the Wall Street throng"?

How do these people get away with denying they are redder than a robin's breast while singing songs like this – and printing them on the Internet?

But it gets worse. Here's another touching old ballad for you to consider, called "Are You Sleeping, Bourgeoisie," sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques."

Are you sleeping, Are you sleeping,

Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie,

And when the revolution comes,

We'll kill you all with knives and guns,

Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie

For those not trained in the lingo of communism, the dictionary definition of "bourgeoisie," is, and I quote: "(in Marxist theory) the class that, in contrast to the proletariat or wage-earning class, is primarily concerned with property values."

Concerned with property values, are you? Better watch out for Bernie Sanders' knives and guns. He's coming to get you.

From my own personal experience, many socialists and communists hide their true objectives. But unlike the Muslim Brotherhood, they have trouble doing it well. The socialists and communists leave a paper trail about what they really believe that is hard to miss – if you look for it.

As one formally trained in such matters, I can tell you it's still on the Internet despite their attempts to whitewash it!

You'll also find "The Internationale," the worldwide anthem of communism and socialism, front and center.

Not to forget that old standard, "Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie, See How They Run," sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice":

Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie,

See how they run,

See how they run

And when the revolution comes,

We'll kill them all with knives and guns,

Bourgeoisie, Bourgeoisie

Are you getting the picture? This is the real Democratic Socialists of America and Congressional Progressive Caucus – the one they don't want you to see.

And Bernie Sanders was the founder – not back in 1964, but in 1991. I didn't look for this stuff until 1998. And when I reported it, it was coincidentally removed – except for the unforgiving Wayback Machine.

Yet, there's Bernie Sanders running for president. Nancy Pelosi, another member of these groups, served as speaker of the House until 2011.

Imagine the outcry if there were prominent figures like this belonging to some other extremist "hate group" quietly preaching violent revolution. Is there really any moral distinction between this kind of violent "hate speech" and what we hear from neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan?

The Democratic Socialists' goal is clear from their own literature. The goal is Communism. Never mind that the history of that system is littered with more death, oppression and destruction than any other "ism." Never mind that it has been discredited everywhere it has been tried. The DSA believes the right people just haven't been in charge. They want to try it here – in the United States of America.

The Progressive Caucus and congressional members are a big part of their game plan. The Democratic Socialists actively seek out "celebrities" and Democratic party officials for outreach purposes. They use them to recruit — to achieve mainstream credibility.

And look at how well it is working!

"While it's certainly true that one can't build a mass socialist movement simply by recruiting celebrities, they are very important in legitimizing both the organization and the concept of socialism," explains one DSA organizational document geared toward its youth program that I uncovered years ago. "When you tell someone that Ron Dellums, Barbara Eisenreich, Gloria Steinem, Wimpy Winpisinger and Ed Asner are members," it helps take the horns off of socialism.

Furthermore, the Democratic Socialists' chief organizing goal is to work within the Democratic Party.

"Stress our Democratic Party strategy and electoral work," the same document explains. "The Democratic Party is something the public understands, and association with it takes the edge off. Stressing our Democratic Party work will establish some distance from the radical subculture and help integrate you to the milieu of the young liberals."

Yet, that radical subculture is alive and well within the Democratic Socialists of America and its affiliate group, the Progressive Caucus of Congress.

Make no mistake. These folks are revolutionaries. They may dress in suit and tie. They may not carry guns and bandoleers. But the Red Army Caucus in Congress is at the vanguard of a Communist movement that has no respect for the U.S. Constitution, individual rights and the freedoms America takes for granted today.

And Bernie Sanders is their leader.

Their rhetoric is a little more sophisticated at times than Stalin's, but the goals are the same – a dictatorship of the proletariat, that oh, so elusive worker's paradise, re-education camps … you get the picture.

In one article on the DSA site, a "fundamental restructuring of our socio-economic order" is demanded.

"While the freedoms of democratic capitalism are gains of popular struggle to be cherished, democratic socialists argue that the values of liberal democracy can only be fulfilled when the economy as well as the state is democratically controlled," the statement continued.

Gee, I can hardly wait. How about you?

OK, granted we've survived seven years of Barack Obama's "fundamental transformation of America." But can we take any more?

Now you know the real Bernie Sanders. What are you going to do about it? And please don't tell me you're going to vote for Hillary Clinton.

You know what? I think Donald Trump was right: Bernie Sanders is both a communist and a maniac.

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