Sen. Eugene McCarthy is dead at the age of 89.
I was only five at the time McCarthy’s 1968 presidential campaign became a fulcrum of the anti-war movement, and in the process, took down Lyndon Johnson’s presidency. But I’ve often looked back on that era and wondered whether I would have been caught up in his passion.
Indeed, the McCarthy campaign was so inspiring, and the times so politically divisive, that nearly four decades later, the large, Irish Catholic family I married into still celebrates the family split between the Robert F. Kennedy and McCarthy camps, with banners and words flying every St. Patty’s Day. The squabble has long since been dulled by time, whiskey and family ties into little more than an amusing reenactment, but knowing my history — and knowing this family — I imagine the contemporaneous debate must have been quite intense and entertaining.
As for me, my impressions of “the good McCarthy” are all second hand. He’s always struck me as a kind of ideal… a candidate willing to cite philosophy or poetry on the campaign trail, instead of just spouting focus-group-filtered talking points, perhaps most famously flummoxing his audience by quoting the ancient Greek historian Plutarch:
“They are wrong who think that politics is like an ocean voyage or military campaign, something to be done with some particular end in view.”
In an age when high-priced consultants package their well-groomed candidates with petty, single-issue causes like tax cuts or gay marriage or a nebulous “war on terror”, one can’t help but pine for a politician more familiar with Putarch than with pollsters. From what I knew of the man, I suppose McCarthy might have despised the type of calculating, partisan politics in which I traffic. Still, that doesn’t stop me from longing for the type of ideal he represented to his fervent supporters.
Blessed are the peacemakers…
It’s too bad that we no longer celebrate ‘smart’ politicians. When you’ve got folks telling Albert Gore, Jr. and John Forbes Kerry to act ‘dumber’ and ‘more like regular folks’, it seems we don’t aspire to greatness anymore. This ain’t about bashing the GOP either: of all the GOP candidates for President in 2000, George W Bush wasn’t half as smart as others running, like Lamar Alexander, John Kasich, and John McCain.
Belltowner,
That depends totally on each person’s definition of a “smart” politician. McCarthy had grass roots support from Vietnam anti-war protestors, he was the first, I think to effectively do that. He never gained the respect of the majority of Americans for being a smart choice for President.
@ 3
Well, considering the party bosses stepped in and put forward Hugh Humphrey for the nomination, I guess folks outside the Democratic electorate never had a shot at supporting the ‘smart’ candidate.
Belltowner @2,
I don’t know what’s scarier: that in electing Bush, most Americans don’t seem to want a president who’s smarter than them… or that in electing Bush, most Americans got a president who’s smarter than them?
Well, they put in Humphrey because Robert F. Kennedy was murdered in LA on National TV, while I, and millions of others watched in horror. Robert Kennedy is the one who effectively destroyed any chances that McCarthy had.
Sarge @3 There is a big difference to what most people see as a ‘smart’ choice and a smart politician. Do we really want someone stupider then we are running the country?
Perhaps we do, a lot of the dynamics surrounding Bush’s popularity(?) seems to have been that he was not smart enough to fool you, unlike Rhodes scholars like Clinton.
Frankly, I think calling Bush stupid was one of the worst mistakes Democrats made. He is not exactly bright, but he is very clever and as we have all seen quite capable of deception on a grand scale.
Bush and Kerry both received almost the same exact grades in college, if Goldy or Shark either one debated Bush and Kerry, I would put my money on Goldy and Shark! Neither Bush or Kerry compare intellectually with Clinton.
Bush acts like he is the rough tough Texan who will look you in the eye and tell you what he thinks in plain common English. Kerry has lived his life trying to be rich and elite, he is an ACE at debating, he has a hard time trying to convince normal everyday Americans that he can relate to them.
Clinton has ‘charisma’ and intelligence and that is hard to beat. Wanna take bets on when Barak Obama will become President?
Clinton has ‘charisma’ and intelligence and that is hard to beat. Wanna take bets on when Barak Obama will become President?
Comment by sgmmac — 12/11/05 @ 11:39 am
[Condi/J. C. Watts 2008………the Democrats will howl in pain as a couple blacks leave the Democrat plantation!!]
You really think Bush would tell you what he thinks in plain english? I think he would tell you whatever it would take to convince you of what he wants you to believe in pseudo simple english. He comes across to me as a salesman (and as a tech its my place to hate all salesmen).
Clinton, who I think was a good president, came across as a frat boy bully and I suspect I would hate him on a personal level as well. For me its not about whether or not I like the person, but whether or not they will do the job well.
For what its worth, I think McCain would be an excellent president and I wish he had gotten the nod. The 2k elections would not have even been close.
@11
I love McCain too, I always have, probably because of his war on pork. He didn’t really connect with the ‘base’ in 2k, Bush did, Bush connects to a broader majority of people across America. McCain may do better in the future, if he’s facing Obama, it will be a tough fight. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind the last election who I thought would do a better job at being President. The choice between Kerry and Bush and who I think is going to give me an honest answer wasn’t in question either, probably because I don’t really believe that any politician will give you the WHOLE truth.
I like JC Watts…….
Bill,
I forgot to say that I like Rudy Guilanni the best of all of the wanna-bees…………..
On a personal level, he strikes me as a nice person. However, I have some doubts about Guilanni’s abilities.
I think the only reason McCain didn’t connect is because he got swift-boated in Az before swift-boating was a legitimate term.
McCain’s voting record is actually quite conservative, and you can expect him to further cozy up to the right in order to win the 2008 Republican nomination. If he succeeds, his prospects in the general election may significantly hinge upon whether the electorate learns about where he stands on issues beyond legislative pork and torture. This guy is not a moderate!
In a democracy, you occasionally get an FDR or JFK, but most of the time you get the lowest common denominator.
Bill,
Swift-boating, huh? Politicians have been playing dirty for centuries. It is ironic that McCain would be sb’ed since he is the one who helped write the legislation that created all of these crazy PACs…… (I think)
Goldy, in spring of 1968 America’s college students were deeply frustrated with the Vietnam war and the nation’s leaders weren’t listening to “the people.” However, they knew little of what “the people” in the world beyond ivy walls thought or felt, and in those days the voting age was 21 and most college students couldn’t vote.
Having lived through those days, I believe the anti-war movement was noisy but ineffective. The tide turned when the sea of middle class voters began harboring doubts about the war. It took a long time, because this was the generation that had fought World War 2, and they were a hard-nosed lot. These tougher-than-nails veterans saw communism as a threat on a par with Hitler, and weren’t deterred by the 20,000 casualties that had accumulated by then. They had a face-any-foe, bear-any-burden mentality, and called the complaining youths “candy asses.” In the end, it was the mothers who opted out of the war, and took the rest of America with them.
Legions of college youths took to New Hampshire’s neighborhoods, doorbelling and trying to convince voters to elect McCarthy. It was “ground zero,” the center of the universe, the place where history would be made; and they flocked to the state in charter buses, VWs, and anything else that had wheels. McCarthy’s showing in the New Hampshire primary unhinged LBJ. I watched his “I will not accept my party’s nomination” speech in the U.W. student union. Of course, the student crowd burst into loud applause. But McCarthy never really had a chance. New Hampshire is a very small state, one of the few places where retail politics has a chance, and it could not be replicated in the primaries to come.
LBJ’s withdrawal blew the race wide open, and RFK immediately jumped in. McCarthy’s supporters saw RFK as a crass opportunist; many older voters saw him as an impetuous youth; RFK’s young supporters were full of glowing idealism and believed they could change the world, make it better, stop the war, end poverty, and all of that. RFK was a dynamic and charismatic figure, and conceivably might have won the nomination, although I believe the party bosses would have prevented it. Humphrey, a colorless drone, nevertheless nearly defeated Nixon; the 1968 election proved a cliffhanger, but primarily because George Wallace sucked off 9 1/2 million popular votes and 46 electoral votes that otherwise would have gone mostly to Humphrey — the “solid South” was still solidly Democratic in those days. Thus, the consequence of LBJ’s support of the civil rights movement was Nixon’s presidency, four more years of war, and 38,000 more American combat dead.
Remember this, Goldy. In 1968, America elected Richard Nixon, not a peacemaker. McCarthy the Peacenik appealed to maybe 15% or 20% of those who could vote, not more. America then, was much like America now — stubbornly conservative and implacably nationalistic.
Goebbels was right; all you have to do is create a sense of fear and utter the word “patriotism,” and you can have your war.
“candy asses” That is still a very popular phrase in the Army…………
Off Topic :
Washington State, you might have to cover her up with leaves or something though…………..
Comment by sgmmac— 12/9/05 @ 2:32 pm
Sgmmac I left you a note on line 149 that got suck into the filter, and now released by Goldy. Wabbit curiosity did not kill the cat so you might like to read it “Judeo-Christmas Trees?”
21
The thing is, their war was necessary to save the world, but Vietnam was neither necessary nor successful. It was a total waste of 58,000 American lives. Where the Vietnamese commies bad guys? Sure. But they won, and they’re not collecting tolls on the Golden Gate Bridge. They won, and we’re still here.
And believe me, having been there, the generation that fought in Vietnam were just as good, and fought just as hard, as the generation that fought World War 2. Vietnam was a tough, bloody, exhausting war; and those who fought it left behind large boots to fill.
They didn’t fail; the strategy failed, their leaders failed, the idea of the war failed. Like the Confederates, there was nothing wrong with the soldiering, only the cause.
Goebbels was right; all you have to do is create a sense of fear and utter the word “patriotism,” and you can have your war.
Comment by Roger Rabbit— 12/11/05 @ 1:16 pm
Wabbit you forgot his best line “Goebbls” If you tell a lie long enough people will belive it to be the truth. Wabbit you do have pretty good memory from that era, and a great write.
klake, I don’t give a goddam whether you call it a “Christmas tree” or a “holiday tree.” I call it a “Christmas tree” because that’s the terminology I grew up with, and I’m too old to change my habits. Call it what you want. There’s more important things.
24
klake, I go back a ways, but not that far. Goebbels was before my time.
You can date me by my REI member number, which is in low 5 digits.
2008: Condi/J. C. Watts vs Hillary/Maxine Waters [hehe……….Democrats: economic idiots!!]
Wabbit you didn’t check out the links I left for sgmmac. I could be older than you and my memory is now starting to fail and some folks think I serve with George Patton. But I always like to keep my bunnies in a hutch so I can cuddle them and keep out of harms way.
@23
Actually, JFK thought is was an absolute necessity to stop communism in Vietnam. And I think you are the one who stated in a very eloguent fashion that the Vietnam war was not a loss because of the political actions of other countries.
Klake,
You are kidding me right, those pictures gotta be fake. Is Fremont really that depraved. Those pictures are disgusting, what’s worse is the children sitting there watching those nude idiots on bikes.
That said, you could have linked to more pics of men, I am female, and the men you showed lets me know I’m not missing anything by being divorced!
REI is?
@23
Actually, JFK thought is was an absolute necessity to stop communism in Vietnam. And I think you are the one who stated in a very eloguent fashion that the Vietnam war was not a loss because of the political actions of other countries.
Comment by sgmmac— 12/11/05 @ 2:24 pm
The war was lost because we “Amnerican” lost focus on what the war was about. Nixon almost won it but political actions in this country force a different line of actions, and now you see the end results. The American Civil War was the darkest time in this country histroy and it’s baggage is still present today. History keeps us from repeating the same misstake and only if you teach it in schools. The Wabbit live it and carries the pain of it, and it’s our job to study it, teach it, and make sure nobody rewrite it.
Sorry Wabbit I couldn’t find any pictures of you lost little bunnies to put on display.
sgmmac what do you think of boeing Bob’s girl friend and Deam Logan’s new voters?
They look fake, I can’t imagine a man holding a sign saying he didn’t know how to vote, now the woman holding the sign saying she could only vote once – I might believe, only because there are lots of people out there saying, vote early and vote often!
So, some might believe that they are supposed to vote more than once. I have often been amused at what people will believe to be true, just because someone said so……
Wabbit did Mrs. Wabbit catch you looking at those dirty pictures, and you are not allowed to use you keyboard anymore? Sorry about that, didn’t want to get you in trouble. Give her a big nose rub for me. I’ll clean up my act and not entice you into any more trouble.
http://www.rei.com/
REI is the world’s premier outdoor gear store. Find everything you need for winter adventure right here. We offer a tremendous selection of equipment and …
They built their store over his rabbit hole and force him to move to Green Lake. The filters are up, so thing will have some delay.
Hmmm, it seems like great minds think alike. Once again, Goldy, you and I have written about the same subject without meaning to:
homesteadbook.com
I am a little older than you, and I did get involved with Gene McCarthy’s campaign. What a time that was. After he proved that LBJ could be defeated, Bobby jumped into the race, LBJ decided not to humiliate himself by running again, Bobby won California and then was murdered.
It was an incredible sequence of events that started when JFK was assassinated and eventually led to Nixon becoming President and then being impeached.
I don’t think we have ever recovered from having 3 of our liberal leaders killed in such short succesion; I am including MLK, Jr. here. In fact, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Powell got their start under Nixon and we are still suffering from that.
RIP, Gene McCarthy. You will always have a place in my heart.
If you tell a lie long enough people will belive it to be the truth.
Comment by klake— 12/11/05 @ 2:11 pm
That should be the motto of the left. The MSM puppets sure follow it.
32
“REI is?”
You’re not from around here, are you? You need an REI number to get into Heaven.
30
That was the belief at the time, but events proved it to be wrong. Vietnam fell; the U.S. did not.
33
“Nixon almost won it but political actions in this country force a different line of actions, and now you see the end results.”
Bullshit. Nixon was never close to winning the Vietnam War. It would have taken an invasion of North Vietnam, which would have brought China in.
33 (continued)
You’re right about one thing, klake — Roger Rabbit is against getting our troops mired in unwinnable wars. It’s a stupid thing to do, and George W. Bush, being a stupid man, has gone and done it.
BRITISH POLICE QUESTION PRINCE CHARLES IN DIANA’S DEATH
According to ABC News, based on new information, British police recently interrogated Prince Charles and suspect him of arranging his ex-wife’s murder. Apparently, Diana got wind of a plot by Charles to kill her by staging a car accident, and wrote a letter about it to someone.
37
What pictures? I don’t see any links to “dirty” pictures here, but if you’re talking about photos of naked people wearing body paint and riding bicycles in front of a large crowd in Fremont, the pictures aren’t fake. I was there that day. The nude bicyclists were members of a street theater troupe.
Well there’s one thing we know for sure about Nam. None of the current crop of republican chickenhawks was there. Piece of Shit Cheney got five free passes because he had “other priority” in his life, but he has no problem sending other people’s kids to die. Then there’s that drug addict big pants Limbaugh, he had a boil on his azz so he got out of doing his duty. Likewise Baby Bush hiding out in his father’s arranged Natl Guard outfit until he went AWOL. Yep the current crop of lapel-pin wearing Chickenhawks were nowhere near Nam!
Hey kiddies! It’s time to post the chicken picture and “The Chickenhawk Song” again!
http://www.fotosearch.com/bigc.....234013.jpg
http://www.roysongs.com/sounds/
Speaking of which, here is what prr has to say about not showing up for his scheduled confrontation with a 9 3/8-lb. rabbit:
“let’s just drop this. I would never put myself ina position where a lawsuit could be filed. End of story. Comment by prr— 12/9/05 @ 1:04 pm”
Well, okay, prr — now that we all know exactly what kind of fur you’re made out of, I guess I’ll let you off the hook. Your lawyer doesn’t have to show up at DL this Tuesday.
buh-uhk buhk cluck-cluck-cluck
If he’s typical of Republicans, and I suspect he is, we’ll never have another civil war in this country. We’ll just have to put up with incessant pissing and moaning.
I sure am gonna miss that lawyer.
I was hoping she and I could make some cute bunnies together. (sigh)
Well there’s one thing we know for sure about Nam. None of the current crop of republican chickenhawks was there. Piece of Shit Cheney got five free passes because he had “other priority†in his life, but he has no problem sending other people’s kids to die. Then there’s that drug addict big pants Limbaugh, he had a boil on his azz so he got out of doing his duty. Likewise Baby Bush hiding out in his father’s arranged Natl Guard outfit until he went AWOL. Yep the current crop of lapel-pin wearing Chickenhawks were nowhere near Nam!
Comment by LeftTurn — 12/11/05 @ 5:34 pm [Left turn, I musted have missed your “NAM” post on Bill Clinton. hehe…Fucking hypocite!!!
I was reading the comments at uSP, and Mr. Cynical is just as worthless there as he is here.
Watching C-SPAN right now, and Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA) is knocking it out of the park. All you fuzzy-headed northwestern liberals should take a look at some of these non-Hillary Clinton, non-Deanish candidates.
Belltowner–
As if you are some kind of pillar of knowledge & reason!!!
http://www.yuckotheclown.com
Why would I waste time trying to reason with a closed-mind, Christian-hating bigot like you???
All you do is defend the Democratic Party and their venomous hate of all Christians.
And you expect someone with different views to respect CLOWNS like you?
PS I’m glad you are reading SoundPolitics. All of you CLOWNS do. Perhaps someday you will become truly enlightened….like me!
@ 56
I hate Christians so much, especially because I am one. Mr. Cynical, you’re like John Carlson with down syndrome.
@46
That one woman in the market didn’t have any paint on. Doesn’t this state have any nudity laws? Now, I know where the moonbats who took over Olympia on May Day a couple of years ago gets their wild ideas from.
Belltowner –
Don’t fret about Mr. C. Remember:
The religious right is neither.
@41, I grew up in Southern California, and Las Vegas, NV. I enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps, reenlisted into the Regular Army and retired here 30 years later. I have lived in Lacey since 2000. I retired in 03 and have been lazy every since.
@45
Diana wrote a letter 10 months before she died saying that she would die in a ‘arranged’ car crash. It was published in a book a year or so ago. Maybe they now have some evidence that supports the letter.
@38 and 41
I don’t do windows and I certainly don’t do camping either. That’s why they make Hotels.
Sarge @63 – You really much have been in logistics if you don’t even do camping!
Nindid,
You are oh so correct. The Infantry, the Armor, and the Artillery can’t do anything without us. We provide the ammo, the guns, the food, the tanks, the fuel, the uniforms, and everything else needed to go anywhere and do anything. And we issue tents too!
63
You had an army career and don’t camp?
59
You’re not from around here, are you?
65
This is true. The logistics folks are the most important personnel in any army. It has always been so. No army has ever marched beyond the range of its stomachs.
Hitler tried sending his divisions into Russia without winter gear, and it didn’t work out for him.
Roger,
That’s exactly why I don’t camp! I got enough damn camping in the Army. I’ve only lived here in Washington since 2000.
Roger Rabbit, Enlisted man, “guvment” hack, and Democrat POS waiting for his “guvment” check. I think you need to post more, not less. JCH
Sarge @70 – Actually I can relate to that myself… after spending years out in the boonies prostituting my body for the government, it is hard to get out there recreationally sometimes.
(I even did some supply work myself, though I am sure it is nothing on your scale.)
Comment by JCH –
“Roger Rabbit, Enlisted man, “guvment” hack, and Democrat POS waiting for his “guvment” check…”
Ah…. Jealousy raise its ugly head once again.