About This Blog

I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your convenience. You will all receive invitations to post to the blog. I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:

· To post questions or comments;

· To follow up on class discussions;

· To post relevant news items or videos.

There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges.

Statement on viewpoint diversity: https://heterodoxacademy.org/teaching-heterodoxy-syllabus-language/


Syllabus: https://gov124.blogspot.com/2022/08/cases-in-american-political-leadership.html

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Farewell

 Enter Clinton at 43:00




Triangulation

See, esp. 1:30


The citation on p. 212 of Schoen

Bush 43, second inaugural:" So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

Triangulation v. Base Politics

Polarization 1994-2017



  

Roger Stone at The Spectator:

It’s well known that I have a tattoo of Nixon on my back. It’s not a political statement, but a daily reminder that in life, when you get knocked down, when you strive for something and you fail, when you are disappointed and discouraged, you have an obligation to get up off the canvas and get back in the fight. It’s about resilience and persistence.

‘Until one has been in the deepest valley, one cannot appreciate the majesty of the highest mountain top,’ Nixon said. ‘A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is only finished when he quits.’

After my release on bail, I flashed Nixon’s famous ‘V for Victory’ sign on the courtroom steps. Two years of fake news reports that I would be charged with Russian collusion, conspiracy and treason have neither destroyed my spirit, nor my resolve to fight for exoneration. Like Nixon, I am not a quitter. This November, I will fight for total exoneration in my trial. I am not guilty, and I intend to prove it.

A jury found him guilty.

Trump pardoned him. 


Nixon Goes to China
 
Vinita Gupta and former Sen. Tom Daschle at NBC:
It is both the tragedy and irony of contemporary American politics that former President Barack Obama is impugned as a radical leftistfor reprising, in more moderate tones, the legislative health care legacy of a fiscal conservative, President Richard Nixon.
Lessons

  • From In the Arena: "Politics is battle, and the best way to fire up your troops is to rally them against a visible opponent on the other side of the field.  If a loyal supporter will fight hard for you, he will fight twice as hard against your enemies.”
  • From the farewell to the WH staff:  "Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."

Psalm 146:3-4

Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Cautionary tales.  Life does not come with a soundtrack

No comments:

Post a Comment