2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWOW!WOW! & WOW! An Atlantic Magazine profile of Bernie from 1985 never published until now
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In 1985, when Bernie Sanders was in his second term as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, a writer named Russell Banks published his breakthrough novel, Continental Drift. It would earn Banks the John Dos Passos Prize, and make him a finalist for the Pulitzer for fiction. Sometime after the book came out, Banks accepted an assignment to profile the self-described socialist mayor. He followed Sanders around the city, watched him interact with constituents, and recorded his candid views. He produced a remarkable and compelling portrait of a distinctive politician, but it never found its way into print. Instead, it was filed away for three decades.
snip
Being a non-conformist, that was in me before I had politics, he says. But to give you an idea of just how politically naive I was, I remember like it was yesterday my first day at Brooklyn College, during orientation, right? Theres this fair in the gymnasium where all the sororities and fraternities and student organizations have their literature and their people out. There was this table and this group called the Eugene V. Debs Club, and I said, Whats that? I never heard of Eugene V. Debs. and they said, Oh, were the local socialists, and I said, Socialists! I was shocked. Not that I was against it, you understand, but I was amazed. Here were real live socialists sitting right in front of me!
snip
In the fall of 1961, arming himself with a part-time job and a loan, he transferred to the University of Chicago, and here began Bernie Sanderss infatuation with radical politics.
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He joined the Congress for Racial Equality and in a short time was being arrested for helping lead sit-in demonstrations against segregated housing owned by the University of Chicago. These were among the first sit-ins in the North. He says now that his confrontations with the Chicago police and university officials over this issue were crucial to the development of his politics. The university administration lied about their racial policies, he says. Until then, he had not realized that respectable people often lie, and the discovery significantly changed his feelings about people in positions of authority.
One time there was an incident on the streets that resulted in a picture in The Chicago Defender, the black newspaper, of a police officer twisting a young black womans arm, and we made a poster with it, and I was working near the university pasting up these things to announce a demonstration against police brutality. Unbeknownst to me, a cop car was following along behind me, and as fast as I put the posters up, the cops were pulling them down. Finally, the cop car pulls up to me, and they get out and accost me. Needless to say, Im terrified. One of the cops puts his finger in my face and says, Its outside agitators like you whore screwing this city up. The races got along fine before you people came here! Like this is Alabama or someplace. Anyhow, I was late for my class, a political science class, and I remember the teacher was talking about local government, and when I walked in and sat down, I saw right then and there the difference between real life and the official version of life. And I knew I believed in one and didnt believe any more in the other.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/bernie-sanders-mayor/407413/
merrily
(45,251 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)It's just my intuition, but I think Bernie will be a wonderful money-manager.
Allen Gear, a Republican member of the Board of Aldermen since 1979, looking back over Sanderss tenure as mayor, says, Hes done things I dont think we Republicans could have done, because the two traditional parties in a town like this are very close. We interact with each other on business over coffee, over tea, crumpets and marmalade, if you will, and it would have been very hard for us, us being Republicans, if we had the Chief Executives spot, to have done some of the things Bernie has done ... Hes taken a lot of very Republican ideas and put them in place. Such as combining all of the garages of the various city departments and putting them into a single public-works department, initially a Republican proposal, to gain efficiency in handling city rolling stock ... Hes put a lot of modern accounting practices and money-management practices into place that are good Republican business practices ... And he has surrounded himself with some very talented, vigorous people.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/bernie-sanders-mayor/407413/
Democrats have a reputation for spending a lot of public money. But Bernie is by nature a frugal person. He is not going to try to buy people or countries or big business.
He will run the government with pinching pennies in mind. That's my take on him, and one of the things I like about him.
This is not a religious or ethnic stereotype but rather what I see when I look at Bernie. He could care less about having the latest necktie of the fanciest suit. He spends what he needs to spend and no more. That is my take on him.
He probably would have been a very good businessman if he had wished to go that direction. He is fair in his dealings and does not waste.
Feel the Bern!
I think Republicans will learn to like Bernie once he is in the White House. He is going to ask the smart questions about where the money goes.
SCantiGOP
(13,869 posts)Was all the capitalized WOWs.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)I like it
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Emerging from the darkness of the rooms beyond, a young woman suddenly appears at the door and says to Sanders, Oh, hi! as if to an old friend dropping by for a beer. She has the same pale, almost pink, blond hair as the kids on the sidewalk, and shes extremely pregnant.
In a spluttering burst of words with a pace and curl that are distinctly Brooklyn, Sanders announces that hes the mayor and this is Alderman Thabault here and theyre out tonight visiting the people in Ward Five just to talk to the folks and see how things are. Were here to listen to complaints. But we also want to hear about the good things, too, he adds, passing her a thin smile. Abruptly, he stops smiling and waits for the womans response.
I recognized you from TV, she says, and she visors her eyes against the setting sun with her hand and takes a step back, as if to get a better look.
Sanders says, So were just here to find out if everythings okay, if, you know, theres anything in particular you want to talk about with us. He pauses. Everything okay?
Oh, yeah, sure, she says. She turns around and hollers to a figure in the kitchen behind her, a shirtless man at the table. Its Bernie Sanders! The mayor! The shirtless man doesnt answer or move.
So ... everythings okay? Sanders repeats.
Yeah, sure, Bernie.
The guy cared about people when he was a mayor, just like when he was a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator. I bet he would also if he were a President.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)It is like a time capsule and it shows beyond his lifelong commitment to improving the lives of everyone.
the scene in the political clubhouse where they urge him to run...for governor in 1985. eerie.
Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)Mine was right after getting my license to practice law. I saw how Exxon in the 30's-50's used to start everyone in the labor gang at their plant in Baytown, TX. The white guys would be in the labor gang from 2 weeks to 2 months before being offered a spot in a Trade like carpenters, boilermakers, pipefitters etc., the black men were in the labor gang (without exception) until they were too old to do the work, then moved to the warehouse.
Then I saw how the big companies had their Lobbyists create a special bankruptcy just for asbestos defendants enabling them to escape most of their liabilities for covering up the dangers of asbestos for decades, killing millions of American workers. Us Trial Lawyers were made to be the bad guys "bankrupting these poor companies" by Congressmen and Senators.
It has continued 25 years later watching BP bribing the Plaintiff's Steering Committee (PSC) in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation with a $600,000,000 "Common Benefit Fund" that the PSC only gets if the terrible Class Action Settlement goes through to the end without being overturned. This deal has saved BP tens of billions in settlement payments and allowed them to drag this thing out 6 years and counting.
BP has bought up almost all documentaries on the subject before they came out and spent so much in advertising that NO MEDIA will report on what's really going on. Ed Schultz did and two months later he was fired by MSNBC!
We have to have a political revolution before we devolve into anarchy because these companies just keep pushing for more and more! They are like the Terminator because THEY WILL NOT STOP!!!
trof
(54,256 posts)2banon
(7,321 posts)Eye opening, and should be an OP itself.
mountain grammy
(26,614 posts)They will not stop until we the people stop them, and we're running out of time..
pat_k
(9,313 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)One would presume that you will exit stage left.
R&fuckingK!
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)nt
tblue37
(65,290 posts)reformist2
(9,841 posts)senz
(11,945 posts)This is the way he is. We haven't had very many representatives like this ever, and even fewer as prominent as Bernie is now.
This is OUR opportunity.
and i don't see another like bernie, for the people, for a loooog time. you remember how it went in 1968. TPTB underestimated us and will NOT let this happen again.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)Duppers
(28,117 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)You're very welcome.
Marcella Proux
(5 posts)It gives him the grace with which he keeps his passion for the issues and rises above the irritating circumstances of these debates. He holds his truths and I am sure this flusteres all the tribesmen and women, holding up the status quo.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)Of course, we WILL take it. Take it and wear it like the badge of honor that it is!
Punkingal
(9,522 posts)We need this man to be President so badly. Please, please, please......
madokie
(51,076 posts)We so need this man in the oval office making decisions and leading the way out of the forest. We can and must do this. No, We have to do this.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)navarth
(5,927 posts)What a great book.
Thank you thank you thank you for finding this article.
Uncle Joe
(58,345 posts)Thanks for the thread, snagglepuss.
AzDar
(14,023 posts)kath
(10,565 posts)He's always worked hard for the people he represents.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)Until then, he had not realized that respectable people often lie, and the discovery significantly changed his feelings about people in positions of authority.
how prescient
zentrum
(9,865 posts)Last edited Thu Mar 10, 2016, 07:38 PM - Edit history (1)
won't tell this history on the campaign trail, is because he can't stand the feeling of somehow exploiting theses events for personal political gain. That wouldn't feel honorable to him.
He really meant it and really means it nowhe doesn't see what there is to "brag" about. It's his integrity code.
Coincidence
(98 posts)...what our country and government would look like if somehow everyone agreed that as a country we would only put people of such integrity into positions of power?
zentrum
(9,865 posts)
.that a minority of people create hell on earth for many (most?) of the human species.
Bernie is unusual in American politics. I think Warren and Feingold may be as well. Obama is a good man but too much was put on him for him to conduct the Presidency the way he wanted. Again, because of that vicious minority.
renate
(13,776 posts)Very well said.
MerryBlooms
(11,761 posts)Bernie's a good egg.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)democrank
(11,092 posts)Bernie Sanders is one fine human being.
demmiblue
(36,838 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,012 posts)Chicago must have been a magical place.
(But I know better, my mom and dad both went to Univ. of Chicago)
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)I did a quick read...it's a long story! Must read it again.
My gosh...he really has spent his life working for the people.
MuseRider
(34,104 posts)I so enjoyed reading this. Life is a learning process so many never take. He took it and became aware and compassionate. I so want him to succeed in this run.
Thank you so much for this. 😊
Aerows
(39,961 posts)with integrity second to none.
When I look for a quality that determines who I will do business with, who I want to be friends with, and who I would wish to represent me in politics, the quality that I hold in the most esteem is integrity.
Marcella Proux
(5 posts)Snotcicles
(9,089 posts)Coincidence
(98 posts)dchill
(38,468 posts)pugetres
(507 posts)Thank you!
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)hust·ings
ˈhəstiNGz/
noun: hustings; plural noun: hustings
a meeting at which candidates in an election address potential voters.
the campaigning associated with an election.
"a formidable political operator at his best on the hustings"
One of the things that struck me about an earlier article posted here of Sanders when he was young, was living in a small apartment that was very austere, but filled with books.
You have to admire a man who dedicates his life to learning and wanting to serve, and fighting for the people.
Thanks for the article. I speaks strongly of this beautiful man. He isn't as easy to get to know as Obama, but he has a beautiful soul when you dig in there.
But his personality brought out a commitment from many who normally regarded a politician as someone with a peculiar and slightly dangerous mental illness.
He does not have the politician vibe at all. Just real...he's so real.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)He has proven to be an excellent administrator, appointing people who are in general younger, better educated and more capable than the people they have replaced.
He has streamlined city government and has introduced procedural and financial reforms, many of which have been supported by Republican members of the 13-person Board of Aldermen, a body the Sanderistas now control, but that, in Sanderss first year, when he had only two supporters on the Board, controlled him, even to the point of refusing to allow him to appoint his own secretary.
And this is something more towns and cities should think about doing.
Sanders sat down at a table, sipped at a bottle of beer and explained...how the state property-tax rebate works, assuring them that if their annual income is below $35,000, they can quality for a rebate.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)and his legacy. Both showing Bernie to be an exceptional leader with a proven track record. Below is one of them
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511445008
WHEN CRABS ROAR
(3,813 posts)both of us saying YES! YES!
Peace and Love for posting this.
Paka
(2,760 posts)Great article. Good find. Such a kind and caring man.
GO BERNIE!!!
bklyncowgirl
(7,960 posts)BernieforPres2016
(3,017 posts)Thabault stands by the door, clipboard in hand, taking notes. Ill get that rebate information for you, he assures her in a low voice.
She murmurs, I dont take welfare.
The mayor says, Its not welfare. Its money that never should have been taken from you in the first place, for Gods sake.
The old woman looks at him and smiles indulgently. She clearly likes the mayor. I shouldnt say this, she tells him, but I saw you on TV the other night, with my son, when they finish fixing North Avenue? And my son says to me, That Mayor Sanders, hes a communist, you know. And do you know what I say to him?
Sanders shakes his head no.
I say to my son, Dont go around saying such things where intelligent people can hear. Theyll think you are stupid.
She laughs, a silvery laugh, and the mayor laughs, too, and rising from the sofa, he puts his huge hands on her tiny shoulders, thanks her and makes sure Thabault has got her address.
Stopping him at the door, the woman says, I told my son that youre a socialist, not a communist.
Precisely! the mayor shouts.
My son, he tells me, Whats the difference? And you know what I tell him? I say, If you cant tell the difference, then you should not call the mayor a communist!
2banon
(7,321 posts)Sanders shakes his head no.
I say to my son, Dont go around saying such things where intelligent people can hear. Theyll think you are stupid.
What a gem of a response. Sharing this one my facebook!
BernieforPres2016
(3,017 posts)Could have been straight out of To Kill a Mockingbird as something Atticus Finch would say. The article said that after Bernie left the house he said what a smart and dignified woman she was.
Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)Wish this had come out about a month ago.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)that reels through my mind years after the reading. And now this!
RKP5637
(67,102 posts)chknltl
(10,558 posts)TBF
(32,043 posts)[
There was more. There was the Student Peace Union, where Sanders met students whose parents had been communists in the 1930s and had paid heavily for it in the 1950s, and there was the growing protest against the Vietnam War. During this period, Sanders read constantly, widely, and mostly on his own. I read psychiatry, political science, history, philosophy, poetry. I used to spend most of my time in the basement of the university library. If there had been a nuclear war, I wouldnt have noticed it.
That's where I spent my time in college too.
madisongrace
(63 posts)Ivan Kaputski
(528 posts)Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)In 1962.
Wow, that is fantastic.
kgnu_fan
(3,021 posts)raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)2banon
(7,321 posts)Thank you Snagglepuss!
mountain grammy
(26,614 posts)for publishing this.. I have several of their articles on permanent bookmark..
21st Century Poet
(254 posts)but I still approve this message.
FighttheFuture
(1,313 posts)He gives me hope that this country may still yet survive! I cannot say that about any other politician.
dchill
(38,468 posts)Mosby
(16,297 posts)Bernie is the real deal.