What is the big thing about Bernie Sanders with his photo in the chair?
I feel like you’re too young to pull a “when I was your age” on Bernie Sanders. And the tickets thing makes it even better. One of the most visible senators in DC, and he not only makes sure to bring his tickets, he uses a big envelope to have them at the ready, so he doesn’t have to hold up the line while he takes off his mittens. There’s nothing about that sentence I don’t love. Well, the biggest thing is you have a guy at a big event who looks like any crabby old man in a plain coat and heavy mittens, and, most critical: it’s taken in a way that makes it FANTASTICALLY easy to Photoshop. Plain light background with darkish borders, nothing in the way or underneath making it so basically anyone with rudimentary computer skills can crop it out and it can be pasted into almost any other image or adjusted without any real difficulty. Anyone anywhere can meme it. That kind of unvarnished, unassuming lack of concern with the appearance of power is refreshing in national politics.”
It’s more than that. It’s refreshing EVERYWHERE and in most areas of life these days. I think this is the main reason it became such a popular meme. People didn’t realise just how thirsty they were for something truly genuine until they saw it. I don't think this is a peculiarly of his person. Nearly all socialist and communist leaders dressed as “one of the people”. The contrast is particularly strong in communist China and the URSS, given that the previous Chinese and Russian emperors had the most lavish court ever. But elected socialists such as Chavez and Evo also have this characteristic.
It's incongruous with the entire event, but completely consistent with what we all know, and what many of us love, about Bernie Sanders.
Despite having been in congress for decades, and a Senator for about half that time, Bernie Sanders is delightfully unpretentious. He never pretends to be anything more or less than he is: a hard-headed, grumpy old Vermonter who sees problems and thinks he can do something to fix them. Whether or not you like his politics (and I don’t agree with all of his policies), he has the kind of simple, genuine, unpolished personality that a lot of people enjoy. I agree it's kind endearing. But… I'm going to strike a slightly discordant note.
Our past leader of the opposition in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn, had a similar, if less extreme, line in what he thought was appropriate dress. It was a fairly clearly a sign he was ill-suited to high office. There were official functions he had to attend as leader of the opposition (for instance, the remembrance ceremony) and his inappropriate dress was clearly a mark of disrespect. The fact that he failed to appreciate this was a pity. How would he, or Sanders, have dressed for visiting heads of state? If Corbyn had been the leader the country needed in other ways, it would have been even more of a shame.
To be honest, the whole thing could also be a sign that age is catching up with Sanders in other ways.
This picture is a perfect distillation. He’s a sitting Senator on the stand for a Presidential Inauguration, the transfer of power for the single biggest position on earth. To be present is a huge thing, it’s a position of prominence and influence. Most people show up in carefully constructed outfits to pose for the cameras. After all, you’re going to be watched by tens of millions who will form an opinion of you here.
And here comes Bernie Sanders, looking for all the world like your stubborn grandpa. Or maybe your gruff but benign history teacher from high school:
He’s wearing a warm parka because it’s cold out, and a chunky pair of patterned mittens that look like something your least-favorite aunt gave you for Christmas. (As it turns out, they were made by a school teacher in Essex Junction, Vermont, which is absolutely PERFECT!) And that’s pretty much the extent of the thought he put into his outfit.
But it’s not just how he dressed. The fact that he’s huddled up with his arms and legs crossed makes perfect sense for a 79-year-old man in January in DC, but the other people on that stand, even the old guys, deliberately try to look as if the weather doesn’t affect them. Bernie doesn’t care about trying to look invincible, he’s cold, so he’s trying to keep warm. It’s the exact opposite of the kind of image-obsessed politicians that we’re used to.
And for some reason, he was even carrying a manila envelope with him. I have no idea what was in it, I’m sure he had his reasons for having it with him. But the net effect was that this whole event just wasn’t that big a deal for him. My favorite meme on the subject joked about how it looked like he was just going to the inauguration on his way to run some errands. Like “I should really swing by Joe’s thing, I promised Jill I’d be there. But I have to get away in time to go the post office before it closes.”
That kind of unvarnished, unassuming lack of concern with the appearance of power is refreshing in national politics. With no deeper meaning involved, it’s just a fun thing to see.
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