Hey, Hey, LBJ....
Nov. 4th, 2004 10:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloI've been around a while and I've seen hateful politicians come and go.
They arrive, they block out the light, they depart.
The first American President I really hated was LBJ.
"Hey, hey, LBJ
How many kids have you killed today?"
Actually Johnson wasn't all bad. He pushed through civil rights legislation. Sometimes the biggest monsters do the most surprising things.
Like it was Nixon who went to China. And maybe (as the old Vulcan proverb says) he was the only one who could.
Then there was Margaret Thatcher. I hated her with a passion. And she just seemed to go on and on and on. But she's stepped down now- and I find it hard to remember what all the fuss was about.
Politicians are less important than they/we think they are. Who was in charge in the 1890s? Which American Presidents? Which British Prime Ministers? I don't know. I'd have to go look it up. But everybody's heard of Oscar Wilde.
They arrive, they block out the light, they depart.
The first American President I really hated was LBJ.
"Hey, hey, LBJ
How many kids have you killed today?"
Actually Johnson wasn't all bad. He pushed through civil rights legislation. Sometimes the biggest monsters do the most surprising things.
Like it was Nixon who went to China. And maybe (as the old Vulcan proverb says) he was the only one who could.
Then there was Margaret Thatcher. I hated her with a passion. And she just seemed to go on and on and on. But she's stepped down now- and I find it hard to remember what all the fuss was about.
Politicians are less important than they/we think they are. Who was in charge in the 1890s? Which American Presidents? Which British Prime Ministers? I don't know. I'd have to go look it up. But everybody's heard of Oscar Wilde.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 12:49 pm (UTC)I heard a fine interview on All Things Considered (National Public Radio) on Sunday that I believe you will find interesting.
In 1800, Thomas Jefferson was running against Aaron Burr, and it was a far more unsettling campaign than W vs Kerry.
And the partisan press! They threatened America with hellfire and burning houses if Jefferson were elected!
no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 01:04 pm (UTC)And maybe the lesson is that we all need to calm down about Bush 2. Or would that be a counsel of complacency?
no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 04:26 pm (UTC)He is smiling and chipper.
He says, among other things: "We will extend our hand to all who share our goals."
Note the Divine "we."
no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 05:16 pm (UTC)We have to hold onto our perception of these people as trivial and ridiculous. We must never stop finding them funny.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 05:24 pm (UTC)This should be easy!
Bush looked so happy and relaxed today that it was hard not to like him. Then he talked about all those new Republicans coming into the Congress, how he'd be welcoming them, and my moment of maudlin weakness passed.