Think of all the things that could be implied in a headline like this:
"The Bernie Sanders Archive Is Bustling With Mysterious Young Men"
Then you start to read the article and it sound like it is going to report on Clinton oppo-researchers, and it is rather confusing on that point and then you finally realize it is about interns employed to digitize the Bernie Sanders archives at University of Vermont documenting his eight years of being Mayor of Burlington.
The digitization of the Sanders archive began about a week ago, and that his campaign apparently only thought to do so now could indicate a refreshing lack of paranoia. But it's potentially a tactical misstep, too. As much as Sanders might have evolved since his leadership role in the Vermontâs renegade Liberty Union Party during the 1970s, his records from that period are housed in the UVM archive for all to seeâand might require a bit of contextualization from his campaign, lest an opportunistic opponent portray them unflatteringly.
Notwithstanding Politico Magazine's claim that "Bernie Sanders Has a Secret," no bona fide bombshells have emerged yet from the archive or elsewhere. Much of the material is fairly unremarkable to those schooled in Cold War-era socialist discourse, especially given that Sanders today is a self-identified democratic socialist. Nonetheless, his past statements could feasibly cause some disquiet among the culturally conservative working men and women whom Sanders hopes to court.
Having been among those that have done without television most of my adult life, Bernie comes off a bit stricter than myself:
Television's enervating influence was a recurrent theme for Sanders in those days; in 1972, he wrote a letter to FCC chairman Dean Burch denouncing as âbanalâ such classic Americana as âI Love Lucyâ and âGunsmoke.â
âHow many programs do we see which reflect what is really going on in this nation?â Sanders asked. âWhere is the weekly T.V. network series which deals with the worker who is unable to find a job and who is drinking himself to death as a result?â
Ok, he would not have made a TV programmer in 1972. And
everyone loves Lucy, except for those of us who preferred Ethel and Fred....
Over the years he did lighten up a bit and actually appeared in a comedy film as a Rabbi:
My sense is that we will find more to love about Bernie when the archives become public knowledge, but in that dirty game of politics, I suppose someone can de-contextualize a comment to feed whatever negative Bernie narrative is required.