dagblog - Comments for "When the War Began"

Yeah, TR radicalized a bit

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 05:15:23 +0000

In reply to You might be disappointed ,

Yeah, TR radicalized a bit during his time off. His 1912 campaign employed much more progressive rhetoric than he expressed during his presidency from 1901-1908. But it was too late; he shoulda done it while he was still in office.

I would add that even in 1912, the hard-core progressives supported La Follette, but he never stood a chance against Teddy.

You might be disappointed ,

Resistance — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:45:17 +0000

In reply to You might be disappointed.

You might be disappointed ,

Another disappointment?

TR may have realized, he had been bought and paid for too and he owed them their moneys worth?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Party_(United_States,_1912)

"The party also became known as the Bull Moose Party ……

Inspiration for the party's beginnings may have come from Roosevelt's friend and supporter, U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns of Utah, who in October 1906 broke off from the Republican Party and started the American Party in that state. Kearns was a Roman Catholic, and this

was a direct response to the influence of the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"

However, the main theme of the platform was an attack on the domination of politics by business interests, which allegedly controlled both established parties. The platform asserted that

"To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day"

Genghis, please hurry up and get the book done so we can discuss it.

After the elections and the end of the gnashing of teeth, throwing ashes and ripping our outer garments, we'll be looking for something to discuss.

I do like the way the words

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:03:33 +0000

In reply to Thanks. Is part of your

I do like the way the words snarl off the tongue.

That can't be right. Taft

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 21:01:49 +0000

In reply to TR was also the LAST

That can't be right. Taft rode a carriage to his inauguration.

Great link. I'll use that.

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:59:54 +0000

In reply to I do know that Teddy once

Great link. I'll use that.

Thanks for the suggestion,

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:12:00 +0000

In reply to Congratulations, Genghis,

Thanks for the suggestion, Oxy. I have so much to read that I probably won't dig too much into the Wilson administration. His accomplishments will be confined to the epilogue.

In TR's case, might that have

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:10:08 +0000

In reply to The industrialists and

In TR's case, might that have been in part because those titans of industry respected TR's toughness and strength, inconvenienced as they were by it?

Not exactly. Here's what Speaker Joe Cannon, king of the do-nothing-legislators, had to say:

Roosevelt, business found, had a bark that was considerably worse than his bite, although often his bark was annoying enough.

The capitalists were also more comfortable with a Republican than a Democrat, even if he had some unsettling ideas. As one quote I read put it, they preferred the "unpredictable head of a predictable party" to the "predictable head of an unpredictable party."

The industrialists and

AmericanDreamer — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:55:58 +0000

In reply to You might be disappointed.

The industrialists and capitalists he went after, like JP Morgan and Rockefeller, were not so upset that it kept them from donating to his reelection campaign.

Wow. I hope you'll develop that point in the book. Hard to imagine a similar dynamic in our day. What to make of that? From its description, I'm wondering if Chris Hayes' book, Twilight of the Elites, due out next week, might offer some comparative cultural commentary food for thought on that. In TR's case, might that have been in part because those titans of industry respected TR's toughness and strength, inconvenienced as they were by it? I wonder whether the Koch brothers, say, feel that way about Obama, or instead can only find it within themselves to feel contempt and scorn for him?

Thanks. Is part of your

AmericanDreamer — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:42:34 +0000

In reply to I hear your concern about

Thanks. Is part of your attraction to this topic the prospect of re-introducing the words "Republican" and "progressive" into some of the same sentences? Showing that things have not always been as they are now, with the implication that, perhaps, they need not be so in perpetuity in our time?

You might be disappointed.

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:40:07 +0000

In reply to I look forward to reading the

You might be disappointed. It's hard not to admire TR. He was an amazing human being, superhuman even. But for someone who feels that Obama is a sell-out to corporate America, I've got news for you, TR was a bigger sell-out. Even the trust-busting for which he is famous was not quite what it was cracked up be. The industrialists and capitalists he went after, like JP Morgan and Rockefeller, were not so upset that it kept them from donating to his reelection campaign.