mrneoluddite/politics

From the page: "A Ticket We'd Vote For In a Heartbeat
By Dave Sikula
Tue, November 4, 2008

Today is Election Day (as you just might have heard somewhere). While the snarky thing might be to write about election screw-ups of the past, we couldn't help but notice that it's also the birthday of two of the most influential voices of the 20th century on American politics: Will Rogers and Walter Cronkite.

From our 21st century vantage point, it may be hard to remember just how important these men were in their heydays. Rogers was born in 1879, and by 1902 had begun a show business career, which took him from rodeos to vaudeville to starring in the Ziegfeld Follies, From there, he branched into Hollywood (becoming the country's number-one box office draw), the most popular newspaper column in America, and radio, where his weekly show was the nation's top-rated program. Rogers's act consisted mostly of ad-libbed comments about the day's political events, and led to his 1928 mock campaign for president (though he might well have won a serious race). In 1935, at the peak of his popularity, he was killed in a plane crash, throwing the world into mourning.

Cronkite may not have been as beloved as Rogers, but for decades, he was considered the "most trusted man in America." He closed his newscasts with "And that's the way it is ...," a statement that might have seemed presumptuous coming from another reporter, but given his background, avuncularity, and nonpartisanship, was the opposite of hyperbole. He led America through some of its greatest crises and triumphs, and through it all, his calm authority was so powerful that Lyndon Johnson declared that if he had "lost Cronkite" on Vietnam, he had lost middle America.

So on this day that celebrates democracy, we salute two men who represent the best of what Americans can be."

From the page: "Who You Callin' a Maverick?

By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Published: October 4, 2008

There's that word again: maverick. In Thursday's vice-presidential debate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the Republican candidate, used it to describe herself and her running mate, Senator John McCain, no fewer than six times, at one point calling him the consummate maverick.

But to those who know the history of the word, applying it to Mr. McCain is a bit of a stretch" and to one Texas family in particular it is even a bit offensive.

I'm just enraged that McCain calls himself a maverick, said Terrellita Maverick, 82, a San Antonio native who proudly carries the name of a family that has been known for its progressive politics since the 1600s, when an early ancestor in Boston got into trouble with the law over his agitation for the rights of indentured servants.

In the 1800s, Samuel Augustus Maverick went to Texas and became known for not branding his cattle. He was more interested in keeping track of the land he owned than the livestock on it, Ms. Maverick said; unbranded cattle, then, were called Maverick's. The name came to mean anyone who didn't bear another's brand.

Sam Maverick's grandson, Fontaine Maury Maverick, was a two-term congressman and a mayor of San Antonio who lost his mayoral re-election bid when conservatives labeled him a Communist. He served in the Roosevelt administration on the Smaller War Plants Corporation and is best known for another coinage. He came up with the term 'gobbledygook' in frustration at the convoluted language of bureaucrats.

This Maverick's son, Maury Jr., was a firebrand civil libertarian and lawyer who defended draft resisters, atheists and others scorned by society. He served in the Texas Legislature during the McCarthy era and wrote fiery columns for The San Antonio Express-News. His final column, published on Feb. 2, 2003, just after he died at 82, was an attack on the coming war in Iraq.

Terrellita Maverick, sister of Maury Jr., is a member emeritus of the board of the San Antonio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.

Considering the family's long history of association with liberalism and progressive ideals, it should come as no surprise that Ms. Maverick insists that John McCain, who has voted so often with his party, is in no way a maverick, in uppercase or lowercase.

"It's just incredible the nerve! to suggest that he's not part of that Republican herd. Every time we hear it, all my children and I and all my family shrink a little and say, "Oh, my God, he said it again.""

"He's a Republican," she said. "He's branded.""

OpEd piece on Palin's comments regarding Iran in the VP debate.

From the page: "Governor Sarah Palin talks about being a maverick"

From the page: "CNN Poll results - Sorry Caribou Barbie, you lose
After Debate, 53% Still Believe Palin Unqualified

Who Did the Best Job In the Debate?
Biden 51%
Palin 36%

Biden did better or worse than expected?
64% better
14% worse
20% same

Palin did better or worse than expected?
84% better - duh the bar was set horribly low for her.
7% worse
8% same

Palin qualified to serve as President?

Before debate:
42% yes- who the f*ck says this?
54% no - this would be us!

After debate
46% yes
53% no- this number should be higher"

Speaks for itself...