Bernie Sanders’ hippie 20s: Drugs, free love and Vietnam!

[NCTraveler]

In the spring of 1966 Steve Slavin joined a pickup basketball game on a playground in Greenwich Village. Who should show up but Bernie Sanders, his old friend and roommate from Brooklyn College. He was the same lanky kid with a decent jump shot and aggressive moves under the basket, but his hair had grown long. The curly pile of black ringlets stood out in what was called a “Jewfro”—the Jewish version of the Afro hairstyle popular among Black Power leaders like Angela Davis.

Slavin had been in the army and had lived in Atlanta for a short time; now he was back in New York. He asked Sanders what he was up to.

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/29/bernie_sanders_hippie_20s_drugs_free_love_and_vietnam/

Salon piece with lot of interesting little bits for everyone.

[djean111]

1. And here is what the Clintons were doing.....

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/george-wallace/13/

I will stick with Bernie.

[beam me up scottie]

2. Good point, I'll take the hippies and farmers in Vermont too.

[Vinca]

8. Now that's disturbing.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

33. Is that George Wallace?

[beam me up scottie]

34. Yes indeed.

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Whoa! Hangin' with a known racist. Yikes.

Can't you just imagine the outrage if that was Bernie sitting at that table?

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[BlueStateLib]

35. IT WAS THE SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL GOVERNORS MEETING, Portland, Maine. July 31 - August 2, 1983

In the summer of 1983, the governors met in Portland, Maine. Hillary, Chelsea, and I had a great time, getting together with my old friend Bob Reich and his family, and going with the other governors to a cookout at Vice President Bush’s house in the beautiful oceanside town of Kennebunkport. Three-year-old Chelsea marched up to the Vice President and said she needed to go to the bathroom. He took her by the hand and led her there. Chelsea appreciate it, and Hillary and I were impressed by George Bush’s kindness. It wouldn’t be the last time.

Bill Clinton, remembering George H.W. Bush’s kindness to his family shortly after meeting him for the first time during a conference of Governors in 1983, in his autobiography, My Life, 2004

[beam me up scottie]

3. I thought Froma Harrop and other HC supporters said Bernie moved to VT to get away from minorities?

One summer Sanders brought three African American kids from New York to spend a couple of weeks in Vermont. It was his version of a Fresh Air Fund escape from the city. The problem was that there wasn’t enough room in the sugar shack for Sanders, two boys, and a girl. He desperately needed to add space, or at least extend the roof so they had a simple shelter for a kitchen and dining room. Sanders wasn’t much of a carpenter; fortunately he soon got help from an old friend who had grown up on a farm and knew his way around construction.

[Warren Stupidity]

20. It is ok if the attack narratives are disjoint and contradictory.

The point is not to actually discuss the issues where Clinton and Sanders have major differences, the point, in fact is to avoid those issues at all costs, to talk about anything else, to in fact distract the discussion away from those issues.

[beam me up scottie]

21. Did you see the article she just posted calling Bernie a draft dodger?

I guess this thread didn't go as planned so she had a backup:

Sanders' stance on Vietnam continues to disappoint

[NurseJackie]

4. Interesting read.

[NCTraveler]

6. I think so.

Interesting that the first three comments are about Clinton. As I said, I think there is a little something in there for everyone. Didn't expect immediate deflection.

[NurseJackie]

10. Slightly OT: The word "Jewfro" always makes me chuckle. I can't help it. :-D

And a Google image-search has some amusing examples. (Not that any of my youthful hairstyles are anything to be proud of.)

https://www.google.com/search?q=jewfro&newwindow=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi16MXekIHKAhUGWSYKHWTwCnMQ7AkILQ&biw=1009&bih=693

I laugh when I "mentally photoshop" Bernie's face on the likes of Bob Ross, or Napoleon Dynamite, or Richard Simmons (or the guy who took me to the prom).

[NCTraveler]

12. To this day...

I have no clue as to why I laugh my ass off watching Napoleon Dynamite. Luck EE

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Wow. Jon Heder of Napoleaon Dyanmite is a Mormon of Sweedish decent.

Not Jewish, nor was the character he played in the film. You guys sound very naff to me.

[NCTraveler]

19. Please show where I said he was Jewish?

Thanks in advance.

[NurseJackie]

22. Does it matter? Who cares? They all had the funky and memorable "Jewfro" hairstyle.

And regardless of which Jew or non-Jew was sporting the style, the style is still known as a "Jewfro" and it's amusing to imagine it being worn by one Bernie Sanders. Face it ... everyone (or most everyone) had clothing style and hairstyles in their youth that are hysterical. My own children ROAR when they see my "big hair" and blue eye shadow and shoulder-pads. So do I! It was the height of fashion then ... but now, it's funny!

Lighten up!

[Scuba]

5. Yeah, well ....

[NCTraveler]

7. Love that video.

Thanks.

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. This Dirty Fucking Hippie

LOVED that video of TRUTH. Every word of it is true.

Thanks for posting that, Scuba!

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[Vinca]

11. As a person who was considered a hippie and lived in Vermont in the 60's,

all I can say is that it was a good time. Not in the sense that everyone was high or stoned or constantly partying, but it seemed everyone was paying attention to what was happening in the world and was working to change it. Of course, this was when dinosaurs roamed the earth and people weren't attached to computers, cell phones, fitness bracelets and every other device known in current society. People talked to each other and wouldn't want to have sent a cryptic text message if they could. Great memories.

[NCTraveler]

13. While I do agree with some of what you say.

I would add that many things are to eerily similar. Many of those similarities are an absolute shame. Others are awesome to see as they were positive and still active today.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. What things are 'eerily similar' to what other things?

I miss cogency on DU.

[Vinca]

29. That one's a mystery for sure.

[in_cog_ni_to]

18. Those days were, without a doubt, some of the best

years of my life.

Everyone was engaged in pretty much every social issue of the day; the Vietnam War (my friends were being drafted!), Civil Rights, the environment - Earth Day, Tricky Dicky, Famine in other countries, Homelessness in the good old USA, Women's Liberation, the Abortion issue, etc...

Those were the days the 99% actually ALL stood together against the wrongs committed by corrupt politicians/our government and they fought to help those less fortunate.

Yeah, Dirty Fucking Hippies certainly were right...about EVERYTHING.

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[marble falls]

15. As a hippie, I just gotta say, meh.

[WillyT]

23. I Just Gotta Say... Now We Know Where The "Reagan Democrats" Landed...

[marble falls]

24. Sure seems it, doesn't it.

[Ichingcarpenter]

32. More like a Dixie Democrat

if we are doing a time warp thing.

[Eric J in MN]

25. Photo of young Bernie Sanders with moderately long hair.

A stretch to associate his hair with hippies or Angela Davis.

[Hiraeth]

28. one *could* say it is ... almost ... racist ... in it's undertone ...

... almost ...

[beam me up scottie]

36. I love that picture.

And you're right, that's not a "Jew-fro".

[Truprogressive85]

26. Did I somehow travel back in time , while I went to sleep ?

This made me like Sen. Sanders more

He was a hippie , a radical that was about free love , smoked pot , and fought for a cause

[Wolverine23]

27. Bernie Sanders' hippie 20s

Peace, Love, and Bernie Sanders!

[Doctor_J]

30. This sounds just like the 1992 Republican campaign against Bill Clinton

Do they know they're stealing their stuff?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

31. You wish to be taken as a serious person? You're doing it wrong.

[aikoaiko]

38. And the jury results are in....

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service
Mail Message
On Tue Dec 29, 2015, 01:31 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

You wish to be taken as a serious person? You're doing it wrong.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=956196

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Disruptive personal attack, with no other substance.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Tue Dec 29, 2015, 01:36 PM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: With passive aggressive OPs like this from NCTraveler, DisgustipatedinCA's reply is good advice and not a personal attack.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: The attack is on hippies, some of whom are DUers, that this post responds to.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[hobbit709]

39. The alert brigade will alert on just about anything now.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

41. Some people really will alert on anything. Sorry, hippie punchers. Try again.

[Douglas Carpenter]

37. cool. Is there a problem with that?

[LWolf]

40. I'm the daughter of a hippie,

and don't take kindly to that characterization of my mom. It's a stereotype, and one you have launched here more than once today.

As a lifetime subscriber to Mother Earth News and Organic Gardening magazines, I'm quite comfortable with Sanders' youthful outlook. Your article also says,

If you take away the Utopian conceit, the hippies were in concert with backcountry Vermont farmers, who were, of necessity, the epitome of self-sufficiency. When their tractors broke down, they had to become mechanics. When brutal Vermont winters blasted their homes, they warmed them with wood they had cut, split, and stacked. They ate from the gardens they tended and dined on the meat of deer they shot, butchered, and preserved. “Vermonters in the 1960s and ’70s were mostly accepting of hippies because Vermonters are anti-authoritarian by nature,” the Vermont Historical Society attributed to the Rutland Herald in 1983, “and traditionally accepting of radical groups and free thinkers.”

Ultimately Vermont farmers just wanted to be left alone. As did the hippies. Once the farmers got accustomed to men with ponytails and women showing up braless in peasant dresses, they found common ground with the newcomers who wanted to go back to the land. They even hired the city kids, who could toss hay bales, feed cattle, and fell trees—for cheap.

You know. Hippies: self-sufficient, anti-authoritarian, and hard working. Qualities I appreciate.

To this day I still prefer long to short hair on men. The only Afro I was ever uncomfortable with was my mother's, because it looked ridiculous on her. She wore it with pride, though, and her hair had nothing to do with Angela Davis. When she took me, at age 11, to hear Davis speak, it was all about racial justice, not hair.

[KingCharlemagne]

42. Before you went RW 'draft-dodging,' you first went in for a little gpod old-fashioned

hippie punching. The majority of DU are using your threads to fine tune and update their Ignore lists.