Tarbabies
Man buys ring woman throws it away
Same old thing happens everyday
I'm down (I'm really down)
I'm down (Down on the ground)
--I'm Down, The Beatles
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war
--Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who
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These are the people to whom Ann Coulter, witchy pied piper of that crew, says hopefully, Sarah Palin could be the next Ronald Reagan . “Raise your children so none of them turn out like Ron Reagan Junior, and be a good governor, and then I think she could be another Ronald Reagan..." (Ann Coulter: Palin Could be Next Reagan.)
So if she reads The Federalist papers for the next decade (saith the witch), Ms. Palin could be in league with The Gipper, becoming the Right's next know-nothing bauble-head. Just brilliant.
Yeah, but no Ron Reagan, Jrs., fer chrissakes. Bad enough Dick Cheney's got a lesbo daughter. Boys as ballet dancers = bad, unless of course, you're Mikhail Baryshnikov. One wonders how Reagan even became Reagan, saddled as he was with a prancing faggot for a son (I'd really like Ms. Coulter to explain that one.) Hockey's the thing.
And for them, the political philosophies of America are conceived, drawn and executed by Ivy Leaguers. In this way, George Bush was masterfully drawn, and his patrician background was subjugated to allow his ascendence to the position of Redneck in Chief.
The iconography was all right: ineloquent, tumbleweed mover, big belt buckles and boots, brother who ran for Florida Governor under the banner "JEB!" Those who do not hail from the swamps think it's a hoot, and understand that images must be tweaked in the name of expediency.
Similarly, Bill Clinton was drawn to ensnare the largest demographic, emphasizing the Good Old Boy persona over the Rhodes Scholar. Clinton (The First Black President), however, coming as he did from modest means rather than a dynasty, was the more authentic of the two men.
Now, we confront a change of administration, historic we are told in that the new President is a person of color. However, his $5,000 Hart Schaffner Marx suits belie the fable that he is one of us and might have people named "Pookie and Ray-Ray" living on a mattress in the back room who need to be kicked every four years into the voting booth. Obama is still an Ivy League man. The color may be new, but the song remains the same.
Ranger says this in the face of Obama's tapping Brent Scowcroft and Robert Gates to play on his team. They do not represent the change that the voters thought they would get. Both are George H. W. Bush's tarbabies, and they are being thrown back into this Democrat's briar patch
Scowcroft is a fine, intelligent and loyal American, but he is tarred and feathered by his former affiliations. If one were looking for geneological linkages, one might wonder if this is a way for Obama to embrace the H. W. crowd. Like in a game of basketball, Obama is picking up 41 as his mentor where 43 dropped him in favor of his Spiritual Father.
The redneckiness of America is assuaged by this unholy pastiche of Mr. Obama + Bush père. Every legitimate redneck family has one in the woodpile.
--Jim and Lisa
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Labels: obama chooses H.W. Bush as progenitor, obama is a company man
posted by rangeragainstwar at 8:35 PM
9 Comments:
there is a fascinating old chinese proverb which says
by the time an invader reaches bejing, they are chinese.
it happened to ghengis, to the manchu, to the han, and even to the british.
in the late 18th century there was a british grenadier company which was shipwrecked near shanghai. they formed up and began to march in search of a boat to steal and sail to safety. given their superior armaments and taut discipline they were absolutely unbeatable, until bejing. the dowager empress of the time simply declared that they were "the personification of the gods of war" and told them where she felt that the gods should live in luxury.
in a recent conversation with my chu hoi friend, lt. col. victor charles, i asked him when the moment in our interactions came about that he decided to buy into our program. it wasn't, as i had thought when i told him about the financial rewards to be reaped in america. he said
"it was when you told me that i could end my war by going to america. my father fought the french, the japanese, then the french again. i had fought the french and the americans. i wanted peace, america gave that to me."
we need to figure out something that folks would want to do rather than fighting, and give that to them.
obama will be changed by the machinery of washington, as much, if not more than he will be able to change. the prize is not in the result, but in the trying.
MB,
What an excellent insight, which applies equally to Obama as it does our adversaries. There is much to consider here.
As in treating addictions, it is often not enough to go cold turkey. Easier is to find an acceptable and less detrimental substitute. Successive approximations toward well-being.
Easier is to find an acceptable and less detrimental substitute. Successive approximations toward well-being.
It's just that they ones in power have never read history, I sure they won't even look for a substitute.
Thanks Minstrel Boy always a joy and education when you all write.
jo6pac
Trying to remember where I say this - Matt Ygleias, I think. Anyway, a recent analysis of the past 20 years representation in the U.S. Senate and HoR returned a rather appalling statistic: about 25% of the Sens/Reps elected over that time were "legacies"; sons, daughter-in-laws, wives, cousins, etc. of the incumbents. The article stated that this was above - WAY above - the average for the preceding 100 years. You have to go back to the late 19th Century before you encounter the level of nepotism, patronage and eliteism we're seeig now in the U.S. government.
I'd say that this was sickening, except that it falls nicely in with my conviction that we're in the "Late Republican" period of the United States. Money, family, influence...all these are capturing the political process.
So am I surprised that Obama's team looks like a combination of Clinton's team and 41's?
Um.
No.
FDChief,
Your cmt on congressional nepotism is true about the armrd services also.Remember McCain,Patton , Eisenhower,Abrams,Mac Arthur,Roosevelts,Krulaks,. I'm afraid that the list is very long-a great research thesis .
jim
jo6pac,
Reading history is just half the battle- it's instructive to also understand the topic and to relate it to current scenarios.
jim
it's that analysis of history, that pouring over the chronicles of the past to find hints and suggestions for the present that has been done away with by the republican push into rote memorization.
critical thinking, analysis, all of it is gone from the schools.
when i was studying classics with victor davis hanson, there were very few times when we agreed as to the meanings and conclusions to be drawn from a history or series of events. he never downgraded me for disagreeing. if i marshalled my sources, cited my history well and accurately i was allowed the freedom to think for myself. we had a great many lively debate of endless cups of coffee in his office, the student union, and class.
now? swallow the facts, spit them up on command and move on. thinking hurts their heads, so don't do that.
it shows in our society across the boards. it's one of the most frightening things about modern times.
some of our biggest points of agreement were:
the only truly valid study of history involves a very heavy dose of military history.
a deep respect, and abiding love for the grunts of the heavy infantry. they tote the weight of human history in their rucks. pilots make movies, grunts make history.
the main winner of the peloponessian war was persia. they spun the gold into a cloth of world domination, at least until alexander marched his load of grunts right across their faces.
an invasion, or land war in afghanistan is pointless, bloody, and ultimately doomed. those fuckers will figure out a way to outmaneuver you, and do it wearing shower shoes in the snow. it's their fucking briar patch, they was bornded and raised there.
MB,
Yes--the only valid historical studies include a deep understand of military history. I appreciate the way you span that history, and distill it into a nugget encompassing present scenarios.
There is no escaping precedent, no matter how naive we would like to be.
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