I’m fond of pointing out that all you have to do is spend a little time with grad students at an elite university to understand why Mao sent these people off the rice paddies. They manage to combine wrongheadedness with smug condescension to the point where you want to smash them in the face. I suspect a corollary here is that you can understand the French Revolution by spending a few minutes following American politics. A normal man wants “to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”"The Warning Shot." The Z Man, 5/4/16.This is why Trump exists. It’s never been about Trump, what he says or what he promises to do. That’s just the glitter on the stripper. The Trumpening is about the people in charge and their callous disregard for their duties and the country they allegedly serve.
(a.k.a. Bastion Of Liberty)
"Keep clear of the dupes that talk democracy,
And the dogs that bark revolution.
Drunk with talk, liars and believers.
I believe in my tusks.
Long live freedom and damn the ideologies!"
(Robinson Jeffers)
Good catch! The Z-man gets it. It's about lampposts + hemp rope + faithless "servants"- some assembly required!
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps Trump's famous phrase: "You're fired!"
I scour the web so you don't have to! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting insight into why Mao might have sent to intellectual down to the farm to shovel certain stuff. I never thought of his move that way. It makes perfect sense if you extrapolate from our current class of "scholars." The whole period was tumultuous and just crazy so I don't want to be too quick to ascribe any rationality to that jasper.
Nice to see someone gets it. Right on.
ReplyDeleteWhere was all the outrage when McCain and Romney were nominated? I was aghast at those 2 choices.
McCain's nomination was particularly disheartening but Romney's wasn't much better. The mediocrity of the first of these is legendary.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me that such a large nation as ours manages to cast up such oddities and nobodies as candidates. Do we have a built-in bias for mediocrity?
Some decent people do risk a run but when I think of really quality people I think of the two men who were directors of security for the Twin Towers on 9/11. One was ex-FBI and the other a former platoon leader in Nam. (I think he might have been an Australian....) They were just exemplary men, but somehow the system does not select for that kind of quality.
Maybe we need for five people to be nominated by a national lottery and one just drawn out of a pool of Social Security numbers. Academics, politicians, entertainers, media people, felons, and poets would be automatically disqualified. Maybe that would break the grip on nonentities on the process though let it be said that I think Trump is a welcome candidate from nowhere who has many qualities I want in a president.
"It never ceases to amaze me that such a large nation as ours manages to cast up such oddities and nobodies as candidates. Do we have a built-in bias for mediocrity?"
ReplyDelete"I don't care who they vote for as long as I do the nominating!"
In a time when there literally is no privacy, and nothing any political figure does is truly secret, there is very little likelihood that any truly independent thinker without stain would be nominated. They are not controllable.
As regards Trump, his personal character leaves a great deal to be desired. He is a mirror, who reflects the wishes of those looking at him. Who he really is remains to be seen.
Three very good points, Historian. I think Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan earned their nominations but even RR seemed to have aparatchiki thrust on him and afterwards and after we clearly have seen how the idea of dynastic entitlement has flourished with a vengeance and a truly independent actor like Trump has revealed what a subterranean river of establishment entitlement there is. Powerful forces oppose the outsider and the feckless Republicans who squandered the majorities handed to them show that the obeisance to the Tea Party was feigned.
ReplyDeleteA competent person has to factor in that competing will entail a ruthless examination of every misstep, unless one is a fair-haired child of the left. Cain and Carson found that out. Personally, I tend to like and trust people who are imperfect but have a sense of humor about themselves.
Trump certainly does appeal to me on immigration, trade, and America Firstism. He could easily have signaled constitutional understanding when asked about, I kid you not, NC bathrooms. He should have said fedgov has no enumerated power to regulate them but needlessly got entangled in a stupid issue. Abortion's the same. State issue only. We won't see Trump shine any light on the Court's Commerce Clause betrayal, which is terrible but not unique to him. Suffice it to say he's got good instincts on three vital issues. In a world of imperfect choices I say yay Donald.