Bernie the Bum

Want a sure-fire stumper of a trivia question the next time a couple of drinks are on the line at the pub?  Ask what Bernie Sanders did for a living before getting into elected office.  Even those who are listed as "career politicians" can point to some private sector job experience that preceded their first run for office.  But no source seems to provide a "career" for Sanders prior to his election as Mayor of Burlington, Vermont in 1981--at the age of 40.

Wikipedia--which likely sees Bernie's page maintained by his most ardent supporters who have nothing better to do all day than to edit Wikipedia pages--can only come up with a list of what appear to be part-time and short-term jobs like registering people for food stamps, doing psychiatric work with kids (even though he has no degree in psychiatry), a short-lived period as a carpenter and writing articles for Socialist publications.  There's nothing like practicing law or even running a ladies clothing store.

Perhaps Sanders would have had an easier time finding gainful employment in his twenties and thirties if he had applied himself a little better at the prestigious University of Chicago, where he admittedly spent little time on academics because he found it "boring".  Instead, Sanders spent most of his time in the Windy City organizing and taking part in protests--belonging to pretty much every student protest group on campus--and extending those actions into the city itself--with one arrest on his record, which supporters are now trumpeting as "proof" that Bernie has credibility with African-Americans and their "plight".

One thing that I guess we can give Senator Sanders credit for is that he truly practices what he preaches.  Somehow, at the age of 74, Sanders has no assets of real value.  Everything that he "owns" is listed in his wife's name--including their house.  I'm guessing that Bernie's credit score lower than those portrayed by the actors in all of those payday lender ads on TV.  His municipal and Congressional pensions are the only things of value that Sanders has to show for more than 50-years of "work".  And if total government dependence through your entire life isn't the definition of Socialism--then I don't know what is.

When I went to school at UW-Madison, there were always these "orators" around the Library mall.  Most would go on and on and on for hours about religion--others would deliver repetitive diatribes about "social injustice"--and some were even more mentally unstable and you couldn't tell what the heck they were talking about.  Often they would be collecting nomination signatures for some local office--and they would usually get on the ballot and finish a distant last.  Bernie Sanders is one of those guys on the Library Mall--except he actually got elected and managed to work his way up the political ladder.

No wonder Millenials are flocking to his campaign--because Bernie Sanders, like them, has never actually had a job.