In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apparently related to local anti-war movement and peace movement activists in Vermont when he was the mayor of the small city of Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, by writing the following:
"....In August 1982, a group of activists targeted the General Electric [GE] plant in Burlington because it `is the only significant producer anywhere of the high speed, multi-barrel machine guns that are a basic component of virtually all the fighter aircraft in the Western world'--the Gatling gun, which is used extensively in Central America....
"In summer 1983, the Burlington peace community....planned to engage in civil disobedience [CD] action at the plant, which drew criticism from....Sanders....
"The tension that existed between the peace community and Sanders early in his administration came to a head over the GE demonstrations. One of Sanders's progressive critics offered this perspective on the differences between the peace movement and the mayor:
"`It goes back to '83, when we decided to sit in at GE and Bernie opposed that....'
"The tensions between Mayor Sanders and the peace movement were confirmed by many both inside and outside the administration...."
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