The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Clinton, make them like it.

    By Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 10:43am |

    "We will win this election  and make those Republicans like it. Don't you forget that.

    We will do that because they are wrong and we are right, and I will prove it to you in just a few minutes.

    This convention.....reaffirms the beliefs of the Democratic party. There have been differences of opinion and that is the democratic way. Those differences have been settled....and it is time for us to get together and beat the common enemy, and that is up to you.

    ....the people know that the Democratic Party is the people's party, and the Republican Party is the party of special interests and it always has been and always will be.

    And what I say to the farmer I will say again. They are the most ungrateful people in the world if they pass the Democratic party by this year."

    I am not an expert on why the underdog Truman then went on to win the election of 1948 but perhaps one of the reasons was his use of direct speech---including what one recent author has described as the use of the word "you". I thought I saw a bit of Harry Truman poking out through the speeches last night, but I hope that the Big Dog will channel "Give em Hell, Harry" tonight in even a more forceful way than was done last night. 

    I think Truman's phrase, "...and make those Republicans like it." is a fascinating one. It's a school yard taunt. It is a quasi-religious punitive phrase---"you're going to get your bottom spanked and by the time I'm through, you're going to like it." For four years there has been an Old Testament kind of retribution psychology which is, in my opinion, fueling much of the hatred toward Barack Obama. Not to shovel this back at the Republicans in an eye for an eye is, in my view, a mistake because it is seen as weakness, a kind of school yard vulnerability which makes others want to shun a loser. So Godammit, give it back to them, hit the bullies in the face and keep hitting them until they like it.

    Barack Obama has been bullied for four years, not only by the Republicans but by people in his own party. Throughout his term he has remained the positive and reasoned adult while being insulted and threatened in ways not seen in the modern period. I use as proof that four military persons will be tried on a charge of attempted assassination of the President. The fact that this trial is seen as a ho-hum event tells me how permissive and acceptable hating the President has become. I thought the best line from last night was Deval's "I'm not going to stand by while Barack Obama is bullied out of office."

    Apparently this election hinges on the angry white person vote, especially the angry white male vote. I would love the Big Dog to say something along Truman's line.

    "And what I say to the owners of Big Business, I will say again. They are the most ungrateful people in the world if they pass the Democratic Party by this year. The economy was saved. Their corporations were saved. They are sitting on the biggest pile of cash in American history. The Democrats want to improve education and train their workers. The Democrats want to fix the roads and bridges which deliver their goods.

    I say to Big Business owners, go ahead, vote for Romney. Vote for uneducated workers. Vote for falling down bridges. Vote for more tax breaks when you already are sitting on more cash than you know what to do with. And when you vote for Mitt Romney you will show that you are not only ungrateful but that you are irredeemably blind to your own precarious future and therefore not worth the money you are being paid." 

    It's an indirect message to Mr. Angry White Guy voter.. O.K., dumbass, vote for Romney, the guy who will cut the corporations' taxes so that they can continue to make record profits while at the same time they suppress your take-home pay. Vote against your economic interests so that you can keep blaming the poor and minorities for your problems---instead of your real enemy, oppressive corporations.  

    I stood in knee pants in 1948 while my Dad proudly climbed the steps of the caboose to shake Truman's hand on his whistle stop tour through Ohio. My Dad was born in a dirt floored cabin in Appalachia. He worked for every dime. And you know what, he was always for the underdog. He didn't have a racist bone in his body. Harry Truman was his idol. We don't have many idols today, but perhaps Clinton can tap into our sense of fairness, common sense, and for a change, demonstrate some straight talk.

    Comments

    One reason I love book scouting is while seeming a random process, I am often led to a timely find, which happened last weekend with the tome, "Democracy at Work", the Dem. Convention of 1948, for which I paid $5.

    I know we have beaten Eastwood to death but I was surprised to find a speech by the actor,Van Heflin, commemorating FDR. It was most likely written for him, but this paragraph gives a sense of the times:

    "I was in the Army when he died. I'd just come back here from the European Theater, but I had letters from the English and French families who had become my friends while I was serving there. They wrote me as they might have written if my father had died. Men I knew who were in Europe and in the Pacific on that April day three years ago, told me that Australians and Filipinos, French, Italians, Englishmen, came up to American sailors and soldiers, to anyone in our uniform, and expressed their sympathy for our loss. They shared our grief. They felt bereft, too. The people of the world had lost a friend and a champion. An Italian peasant said to a friend of mine who was serving in Italy when Franklin Roosevelt died, "He was such a great man. A good man---and a fine Catholic."

    Van Heflin was a combat photographer in WWII. His career including the role of Joe Starrett in "Shane", co-starring with Alan Ladd. The movie "Shane" was the, you guessed it, model for most of Eastwood's westerns, including Pale Rider, etc.   


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 12:10pm

    I'd really like to see this, Oxy.  As well as a plain language description of why huge businesses like GE, with billions overseas, are not like small businesses at all.


    by Michael Maiello on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 12:27pm

    Thanks, Destor. I'm really looking forward to Clinton's speech and a high bar was set last night. Small businesses have really been helped by the the fast write-offs for equipment. I took advantage of it last year and will probably do so again before the end of this year. Not enough emphasis has been given to it.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 2:00pm

    I would love to hear Clinton say this. Heck, I'd love to hear anybody say it--in such plain, good words.


    by erica20 on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 1:28pm

    Thanks, Erica.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 2:01pm

    Excellent post, oxy.  So much to love and appreciate about Harry Truman.

    Bill Clinton is certainly in a role where he can say some things, more directly anyway, that Obama might be better off not saying.  I like your suggestion. 

    Time will tell, of course.  But the Obama campaign of late has the feel to me of a campaign that is about to take flight at a good time.  Reports of dag denizens from last night's convention coverage, which I was unable to watch, convey a sense of uplifting passion, energy and intelligent forcefulness and directness, in appreciation for what has been done and with a deep awareness of what is at stake in this election season, that has long been in short supply, almost dormant one might say. 

    The Republicans, as they are prone to, have overreached, badly.  They may just have re-awakened a sleeping giant.  For many of us who have been critical of various decisions of this President, reminders of the manifold destructive impulses which this GOP has been acting out, and has become fundamentally about, become more alarming almost by the week.  Some of us, almost to our astonishment, now find ourselves rallying around our beleaguered, embattled president and our party--fiercely.  We are beginning to have something of the look of that family that disagrees and argues passionately with one another, but turns on others who do so with a sudden and stunning intensity and coalescence of purpose.  

    I still think a late Democratic surge that could help a great deal with the Congressional situation is a possibility. 

    Thanks to all those who have been commenting on the Convention coverage.    


    by AmericanDreamer on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 1:30pm

    Thanks, Dreamer. Chris Matthews has been saying for a while that Obama just doesn't have forceful enough surrogates out there speaking up for him and his policies. And last night that changed. So maybe this is the turning point we've been hoping for. It would be great to see momentum, even a little momentum.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 2:04pm

    " ... he has remained the positive and reasoned adult ... "

    Might I suggest,  there are times when the adult needs to administer punishment. I can see sparing the rod a few times at first, however, once the disrespect becomes common place, the adult in the room needed to exert his authority. Respect is an earned asset .. it never comes with the job. And you never earn anything if you're always looking for common ground.

    I believe the lack of respect for the Presidency because a "black man" holds the office is the key to understanding what motivates republicans ... they lack morals - fundamental principles of what is right conduct. Yet they are the first to vent frustrations when they perceive of their"rights" are beingviolated.

    Obama needs to get tough and put his foot down, otherwise, he'll become political roadkill


    by Beetlejuice on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 2:12pm

    I absolutely agree that he has to stop appearing like the reasonable bipartisan wonk.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 5:37pm

    Bill Clinton could deliver the message (I can already see the infamous finger pointing) and probably be awarded accolades.  If only.........

    Do you think he will do something akin to this or ........?

    As always Oxy, interesting and thought provoking post.  Appreciated.


    by Aunt Sam on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 2:36pm

    Thanks, Aunt Sam. I heard a quick clip of his interview with Brian Williams, so I think he will set the record straight on the Welfare lies the Romney ads are promoting.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 5:35pm

    "And what I say to the owners of Big Business, I will say again. They are the most ungrateful people in the world if they pass the Democratic Party by this year. The economy was saved. Their corporations were saved. They are sitting on the biggest pile of cash in American history. The Democrats want to improve education and train their workers. The Democrats want to fix the roads and bridges which deliver their goods.

    I say to Big Business owners, go ahead, vote for Romney. Vote for uneducated workers. Vote for falling down bridges. Vote for more tax breaks when you already are sitting on more cash than you know what to do with. And when you vote for Mitt Romney you will show that you are not only ungrateful but that you are irredeemably blind to your own precarious future and therefore not worth the money you are being paid."

     

    I love this, Oxy.  


    by MrSmith1 on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 4:02pm

    How funny! I had just copied this exact excerpt and was about to paste it when I saw yours!

    This is EXCELLENT!!! Someone get it to the speech writers RIGHT NOW!


    by stillidealistic on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 5:10pm

    Thanks, Smith. When I read that sentence about the "ungrateful", I actually winced---proof that no politician today would have the guts to throw out a challenge like that. Maybe it was that kind of audacity and free wheeling which people ultimately recognized as authenticity. Let the chips fall, this is who I am.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 5:41pm

    I have had seventy (at least) reactions to the last two weeks of politics.

    I go nuts every time I hear that my President appears aloof; hell, Barack Obama is the Cato...is the Cicero of our time. The man is giving some of the greatest speeches I have ever hear. His delivery is flawless. He laughs at the enemy; he laughs at himself; he never talks down to his audience; hell he sings for Chrissakes!

    We are right at this moment in history listening to the best speeches by the dems that I have heard since Hubert.

    Castro and that Governor of Mass and then the First Lady.

    My God!

    Oh the dems are not as fired up as the repubs.

    Bullshite!

    Clinton will give a monumental speech today with that Southern accent and the boyish charm and My God the people will love him!

    I am having fun watching this for sure and Clinton of all people will not let us down anymore than Barry will let us down tomorrow.

    I could see from whence my depression arose.

    We have listened to repubs lie and lie and lie with relish for six months--make that ten months.

    We had no primaries; we had no debates; we were just forced to watch repubs argue with each other over the issue of real rape and rape rape.

    No I love this convention.

    And Bubba will not let us down!

     


    by Richard Day on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 4:44pm

    I think you are right, Arthur! Because we've had so much repub crap thrown at us for so long, we've forgotten who we are.

    Hopefully we are back!

    Yeah, I know...Obama has been a disappointment to many, in many different ways. He made some rookie errors, and at times he listened to the wrong people. He maybe was a little over-confident in his ability to bring parties together, and slow to react to his inability to get the repubs to be rational.

    But, we are where we are, and the choice we have is so very clear.

    We can sit on our butts and let the repubs have the election, or we can get our butts in gear, find a few bucks SOMEWHERE in our budgets, even if it is $.50, volunteer, do SOMETHING to get Obama re-elected.

    Last night reminded me why I liked him so much in 2008, and why I changed my party affiliation. I for one, will be voting FOR Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, not against Mitt Romney.


    by stillidealistic on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 5:19pm

    Thanks, Stilli. A couple of days ago I wrote about how good I felt stepping up to the plate on contributions. I'm contributing like a drunken sailor, but what the hell, this is the last harrah. If Romney is elected I'm simply going to sell the business and go underground.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 5:49pm

    Hey, Mr. Day. I think that's a very key thought---that because we had no primary, we were missing the kind of celebration this convention can produce. Excellent observation. And I am easily tear jerked by a good speech.

    Wasn't that three year old, the little Castro girl, the most adorable thing you've ever seen?


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 5:45pm

    Oh this baby is just delicious!

    She is all dressed up by mama and she looks up and sees...sees herself; just about the age we know what self might mean.

    Delicious.

    And her dad is just terrific.

    Maybe Texas might become part of America once again!


    by Richard Day on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 6:32pm

    Wonderful post, Oxy. 

    Truman used that word "ungrateful" a few times, and I'm sure his handlers winced every time he did.  I wrote about his bid for a second term here, and you'll see that the word is in a couple of speeches.  It was a battle royal to get people to respect him enough to endorse him for president--and that was just in his own party.

    The backstory about the whistle stops was interesting to me, and it's great to know about someone who had actually been there. (I included some of that in my post)  Truman made enemies in both camps, but you're right--he was always for the underdog.


    by Ramona on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 7:00pm

    Oxy, Bill knocked it out of the stadium tonite!

    Not only that but CBS and ABC were forced to 'run over'; thereby extending prime time and the dem message.

    This is fantastic and this former President finally explained OBAMACARE!

    Best speech ever!


    by Richard Day on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 11:12pm