Posted on 03/05/2016 8:18:40 AM PST by RoosterRedux
You could say politics has reached a new low with the ‘‘small hands’’ remarks from the Republican debate.
But the exchange over the size of Donald Trump’s, um, hands is merely the most recent vulgarity in American politics. The history of crude remarks goes back to the Founding Fathers.
In the 18th century, John Adams called Alexander Hamilton a ‘‘bastard brat’’ and wrote that Hamilton had ‘‘a superabundance of secretions which he could not find whores enough to draw off,’’ according to historian Ron Chernow.
One difference between then and now: ‘‘These were words written or spoken in private, not in public,’’ said Chernow, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Alexander Hamilton helped inspire the hit Broadway musical ‘‘Hamilton.’’ (Chernow says the comments were quoted in letters that survived the centuries.)
In the 1880s, rumors of Grover Cleveland’s out-of-wedlock child led to a song from his Republican opponents: ‘‘Ma, ma, where’s my pa?’’ When Cleveland won the presidency, the response came: ‘‘Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!’’
‘‘Old-fashioned American politics was full of those kinds of vile comments,’’ said Arnold Shober, who teaches government at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. ‘‘We’ve kind of lost that over the last 70 years, and I think it’s just coming back.’’
Not that 20th century politicians shied away from vulgarities. Here’s President Bill Clinton describing his 1970s El Camino pickup truck: ‘‘I had Astroturf in the back. You don’t want to know why, but I did.’’
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
You don’t think he already has? Just by standing as a candidate his whole business empire is on the line say the combined republican/media/democrat establishment manage to stop him becoming President what kind of revenge do you think those in power will try to inflict on him?
Good golly, my friend. His life isn’t anymore at risk than yours is by driving the I-5, though that may be considerable depending on the city and the time.
I like the comparison of Obama to a Kamikaze. I can see him flying a plane named the economy into something like the Statue of Liberty or a map of the US.
I do not think Trump is taking any great risk with his wealth. If past presidents are any indication, it should greatly increase his. I do not have any more or less “heartburn” concerning Trump than any other candidate. I do find it interesting the esteem to which he is held by some. Would I be willing to do the same with my life and fortune (what fortune?)? I was a Marine infantryman for 9 years; a forward observe who went out on small kill teams to call fire; you tell me.
Thanks for posting that!
Which is about as useful in politics as succeeding at "Call of Duty" is in war.
GMO corn does exist and was approved to feed cattle.
For example, Ben’s book, “Fart Proudly!”
As yours just have. Be careful of memorizing sayings and thinking that just because you have, you are immune from that against which they caution.
Here is your thought: "I find something distasteful, therefore the person who produced it is morally wrong and to be judged by me, and that judgment is de facto correct". What if you're wrong?
That's your narcissism. At it's base, Narcissism merely means 'believing your own thought stream as if it's the word of God, especially as it pertains to judgement of anything as evil or good'
I suspect you are more sure of yourself than Trump in his private moments, more self righteous, regardless of how much of an act he puts on on stage. Think on that, or not.
In the middle of now. Very good read.
Well, in all fairness so have I :)
He has rock star status.
I admit he has said things that I couldn’t believe any republican would ever say in a million years.
then five minutes later he loses me with twitter post
but i’ll vote for him in November if he gets the nod.
has to be better than Hillary.
Cruz!!
Well, John Adams was Harvard educated and normally seen as one of the more uptight and proper of the Founding Fathers. But at heart he was a Massachusetts farmer and could be as crude as anyone acquainted daily with manure, soil, and rutting farm animals. And he never minced words about people he didn’t like, of whom there were many. Speaking of rutting, my favorite Founding Father was Ben Franklin and he was hardly a saint either.
Wow. Just as bad. That's a ringing endorsement.
Speaking from a purely viatical/statistical standpoint, POTUS is among the most dangerous of jobs. One in 11 people who have held the position have been killed on the job.
"I do find it interesting the esteem to which he is held by some."
Perhaps some, but I think the only a small percentage of Trump supporters hold him in any great esteem or preeminence; they merely seem him as perhaps the most pragmatic choice available, and one who gives voice to their dissatisfaction with the GOP, the fedgov, and cultural elitists. I've stated my take on Trump elsewhere on this forum. The body politic in this country is currently a putrescent, festering open sore of gangrenous, diseased flesh, so while Trump may be something of a maggot, sometimes a maggot is just what is needed to clean things up before any regenerative healing can begin. I don't hold maggots in any great esteem, but they do have their place and their role in which they are particularly effective.
In other words, it is utter absurdity to hire somebody to drain the swamp when that person is not willing to get the least bit muddy.
If Trump’s desire was to make more money and buy politicians, why rock the boat and risk losing his cushy life? Answer the obvious question: What do the other candidates have to lose?
However, Webster also had much to say about our nation and government, including this quote from his book, Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education to which is subjoined a Brief History of the United States (New Haven: S. Converse, 1823, p. 19):
"When a citizen gives his suffrage [vote] to a man of known immorality, he abuses his trust and he sacrifices not only his interest but that of his neighbor. He betrays the interest of his country. Nor is it of slight importance, that men elected to office should be able men, men of talents equal to their stations, men of mature age, experience, and judgement; men of firmness and impartiality. This is particularly true with regard to men who constitute tribunals of justice—the main bulwark of our rights—the citadel that maintains the last struggle of freedom against the inroads of corruption and tyranny. In this citadel should be stationed no raw, inexperienced soldier, no weak temporizing defender, who will obsequiously bend to power, or parley with corruption.[Emphasis added]
"One of the surest tests of a man's real worth, is the esteem and confidence of those who have long known.him, and his conduct in domestic and social life. It may be held as generally true, that respect spontaneously attaches itself to real worth; and the man of respectable virtues, never has occasion to run after respect. Whenever a man is known to seek promotion by intrigue, by temporizing, or by resorting to the haunts of vulgarity and vice for support, it may be inferred, with moral certainty, that he is not a man of real respectability, nor is he entitled to public confidence."
Trump will have some supporters throw me off the sidewalk for trying to tell women of the regrets and dangers of abortion....and pay their legal bills. That is scary...like Bill Clinton using the RICO laws to impoverish and jail prolifers in the 1990s...and the supreme court will support him.
The biggest insult to the founding fathers is what we have done with the liberty they provided. $20T in debt isn’t insulting?
Pfffft.
*yawn*
Might as well. You people haven't accomplished anything legally binding in forty years, yet insist on following the same old impotent doctrines and tactics.
You left out —
— the Colossus of Rhodes
and
— Moe Howard (of Three Stooges fame)
there’s too many insults to count.
but that one is up there.
they weren’t angels.
but we’ve gone mad. gay marriage, transgender, a government that is HUGE!!!!
what a shame
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