Pols say the Darnedest Things…
One of my favorite political sayings is from former Attorney General Eric Holder to Texas Congressman Louis Gohmert : “Good Luck with your Asparagus. ” This comes from a truly bizarre exchange with ultra-kook Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas. He sounds like something out of an old Abbott & Costello movie with Gohmert taking offense and trying to sound affronted by talking about how “The attorney general will not cast aspersions on my asparagus.”
The famous Obama comedy monologue at the Correspondent’s Dinner, where he disses Trump with his apprentice firing of Meatloaf and Gary Busey, is priceless. Of course, many attribute this to the reason Trump decided to run. But that may be stretching it a bit. We cannot blame Obama for messing with the mind of Trump to that extent!
The Adlai Stevenson moment at the United Nations, where he tells the Russian ambassador: “I can wait till hell freezes over” was pivotal, particularly in light of what they were discussing. The lies and prevarication of the Russian ambassador as they misrepresented their involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis were a pivotal moment in that anxious chapter in world history. Most of these are points in history resonate for a reason. Someone calls out the asinine behavior, the lying and shameless actions of those who would stand in the way of the truth.
And then there was this: “Have you no shame, sir, at long last, have you no shame!?”is another moment in time where we find ourselves back in a Time Capsule of discovery. From the McCarthy hearings of the fifties through today, there is a point where we are seeing the past as prologue. And what we thought was our shameful past is occurring right now in our political timeline. And the results, though often amusing, have a deadly and deeper meaning for us in these fragile times.
