Decoding the Right

I've spent a fair amount of time lately wondering why I'm having recurring bouts of deja vu about politics in general -- and US politics in particular. Then I remember: I've seen this all before, especially when it comes to right-wing "talking points".

My proof? Take a look at this column by satirist Art Buchwald, written in 1973, as "advice" for those poor downtrodden Nixonians and other cement-heads who found themselves beset by moderate and left-wing Americans. Change a few names and events (or non-events, if you prefer) and you have exactly the strategy and tactics you see in use today.

9 members like this

Comment by JMac1949 Today on July 16, 2017 at 6:50am: LOL. Not sure, but I believe Thomas Jefferson used half of those talking points to defeat John Adams in 1800.

Comment by koshersalaami on July 16, 2017 at 7:21am: I hope Buchwald's estate gets royalties

Comment by Ron Powell on July 16, 2017 at 1:03pm: Art Buchwald was required reading back in the day.....

Comment by Jonathan Wolfman on July 16, 2017 at 2:20pm: :)

Comment by marilyn sands on July 16, 2017 at 2:47pm: Lots of smiles here - our great, great grandchildren will be quoting Trump's list too!

Comment by Boanerges on July 17, 2017 at 7:02am: Yeah, JMac, the methodology hasn't changed much over the years.

Me too, Kosh.

Yes, he was, Ron. I was a follower for sure.

Thanks for suggesting I post this, Jon.

Too true, Marilyn. Sad, innit?

Comment by J.P. Hart on July 17, 2017 at 9:47am: Whoa!

Let's recall: 27 + 17 = 43 years ago?! My best ol' X friend (BOXF) Daniel traveled to Spain, Helen was more than ready, I was a poet, damp in a burned out basement, pointedly the Sam known as Uncle, wrote me: (needing big, strong men) 'Greetings, he started, wait, I thought, I'm just out of the service, then the Navy recruiter said: 'small as you? You'd wind up in a gook tunnel, with a 45 - got notice? You have no choice. There's always the midnight train. Forget all that peace and love malarkey. This is deep in the seventy-three. In the land of the free. Be brave! I said a man can't crawl. What do you really think about agent orange I asked. No, I didn't sleep well, that Ladish hammer all night pounds reverberates and clinks and clanks & clangs, this is your last chance for a power drive, goodness through the ages: MCMLXXIII; just drift away kiddo, hitchhike to Saginaw, you know, Boanerges, sit and wonder, i before e except when you're spelling Einstein.

I admire your adroit ability to compress and encapsulate a light year. So well written: Good ol' Art B!

Comment by Boanerges on July 17, 2017 at 1:58pm: Yeah, I really liked Buchwald, James. He got right to it.

Know what, FM? Read recently that 30 per cent of Americans STILL don't think Nixon did anything wrong -- presumably the same ones (or at least their spiritual/political inheritors) who now back Trump, whatever he's been up to.

Yep, Terry. Remember "nattering nabobs of negativism"? OK, I know it was Agnew who actually said it, but it neatly encapsulated the Nixon administration's mind-set. And Ailes has never got what he actually deserved.

Comment