It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Puerility Wednesday, Jun 15 2011 

History and Politics victorgold 5:27 pm

“What I do after seven in the evening is my business.” 

                                               — French President Georges Pompidou (1972)   

 Before the story is buried under an avalanche of irrelevant news about the war in Afghanistan, the economy and the deficit, a few wayward thoughts on L’Affaire Weiner:

1. This isn’t a case in which the Pompidou Rule — that even a public figure is entitled to a private life — applies.  Having 45,000 “followers” on Twitter doesn’t suggest a lust for after-hours privacy. When public figures go public with their private lives, they’re fair game.

2. Neither is it a scandal brought about because Anthony Weiner merely did a “stupid” thing. Stupid things are done out of ignorance or lack of understanding.  Weiner knew exactly what he was up to. Call it arrogance, call it puerility, but let’s not give the stupid among us a bad name.

3. Nor is this a case of the cover-up bringing on the problem. That’s a conventional canard that dates back to Watergate. Does anyone seriously believe that if Richard Nixon had gone on television to confess, “I approved the break-ins,” The Washington Post and Democrats on Capitol Hill would have dropped the matter? Or that Anthony Weiner’s confessing that he sent a photo of his crotch to a 23-year-old co-ed would have led Fox News and Republicans on the Hill to laud him for candor?

No, for politicians it’s not the cover-up that leads to trouble. It’s being guilty of something that needs covering-up.

4. Finally, about this business of Weiner seeking “professional help.” That’s simply the secular politician’s equivalent of calling in Billy Graham for a prayer session; which, I recall, has a 50-50 track record as a tactical ploy. It worked for Clinton but not for Nixon.

 

Sound Bite to Remember Wednesday, Jun 15 2011 

Politics victorgold 5:27 pm

“I was never worried about any sex investigation in Washington. All the men on my staff could type.”

— New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug (1974)

 

Goldwater in 2012? (Too Much Baggage) Monday, May 23 2011 

Politics , , , victorgold 6:24 pm

Mitch Daniels says he’s not running for president for family reasons. Maybe.  I don’t doubt that his wife’s wishes figured into Daniels’ decision, but it’s likely that, along with Haley Barbour, Mitch sees the road to the Republican nomination running through Cuckooland.

Rational men stay clear of irrational callings, and much as I hate to quote Charles Barkley on any subject other than dribbling basketballs, the Auburn blowhard had it right when he said, “The Republican party has lost its mind.”

How else to explain a bloviating horse’s ass like Donald Trump running up double-digit numbers in Republican polls – not to mention the presidential aspirations of the twitter-brained Sarah Palin and her airhead doppelganger Michele Bachmann?

Once the party of Lincoln produced women like Clare Booth Luce and Margaret Chase Smith, either of whom could have qualified as serious presidential candidates, but who today would be blown away by the same inhabitants of the cuckoo’s nest that last year defeated Utah’s conservative Senator Bob Bennett and helped re-elect Harry Reid by nominating Sharron Angle as his Republican opponent in neighboring Nevada.

So why did Daniels and Barbour drop out of the race? A guess: Early on, Daniels suggested we might give the social issues a rest, then had to spend the next three months backtracking; while Barbour took heat from the Cuckooland establishment because he had the subversive idea that we ought to rethink our commitment in Afghanistan.

Rational men, rational decisions. Other than political crackpots like Bachmann or pandering flippers like Mitt Romney, who needs to spend the next 18 months hyperventilating about secession, same-sex marriage, and the socialist secular plot to override the Constitution with Sharia law?

And what would my political mentor Barry Goldwater think about all this? Can’t say, but if he were alive I know he wouldn’t be running. Too much baggage for the cuckoos: His wife, Peggy, was a card-carrying member of Planned Parenthood.

 

Soundbite to Remember Monday, May 23 2011 

Politics , victorgold 6:24 pm

“He’s off his meds and out of therapy.”

—Colin Powell aide Richard Armitage re Newt Gingrich, after Gingrich called for Powell’s firing as Secretary of State (2003)

 

Speaking of Civil War Re-Enactments . . . Tuesday, Apr 19 2011 

History victorgold 6:10 pm

How did it escape the notice of those gung-faux warriors hung up on mock battles that last week was the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs?

Oh, sorry, my mistake. That was a CIA fiasco, no U.S. troops involved. Too bad. It would have made a swell souvenir show, though it might have offended a large segment of the population in south Florida.

Not that the door’s ever closed for exhibitionist war buffs. Casting calls are out for bit players anxious to celebrate next year’s bicentennial of the War of 1812, including the master scene that features the burning of Washington (Tea Party members preferred, but Bring Your Own Torch).

Then of course there’s that long-awaited biggie in battlefield slaughter, the upcoming 100th anniversary of World War One, those glory years of trench-digging, mustard gas, Verdun and the Somme, beginning with a stirring re-enactment of the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in scenic Sarajevo (Sean Penn would be perfect for the part).

All of which is by way of wondering what confederacy of historical dunces came up with the idea that the way to mark the sesquicentennial of the bloodiest war in American history is with a four-year orgy of fun-and-wargames, climaxed presumably by the crazed John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of our 16th President. (Charlie Sheen would be perfect for the part.)

 

Sound Bite of the Week Tuesday, Apr 19 2011 

Politics victorgold 6:09 pm

About the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency: If the country’s really headed for bankruptcy, there’s something to be said for having a man-in-charge who’s had experience at it.

 

March Madness Anyone? Friday, Mar 25 2011 

Sports victorgold 5:55 pm

“Son, it looks to me like you’re spending too much time on one subject.”

— Former Texas A&M basketball coach Shelby Metcalf to a “student-athlete” who received four F’s and a D.

 

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