George W. Bush

36 Years Down the Republican Rabbit Hole

In "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Lewis Carroll tells the story of Alice, a more-or-less average curious, rational child, who, on a dreamy summer day, chases a waistcoat-wearing white rabbit down a rabbit hole into a bizarre land. In this, and in a later book ("Through the Looking-Glass"), we find many strange characters producing many puzzling and irrational quotes. For instance, we have the giant talking egg, Humpty Dumpty:

When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master—that's all.'

And we have the Queen of Hearts, who is quite quick to propose simple, brutal solutions:

[The King] called the Queen, who was passing at the moment, 'My dear! I wish you would have this cat removed!'
The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. 'Off with his head!' she said, without even looking round.

... and, when the Dormouse spoke out of turn in court:

'Collar that Dormouse,' the Queen shrieked out. 'Behead that Dormouse! Turn that Dormouse out of court! Suppress him! Pinch him! Off with his whiskers!'

An observer of American politics since 1980 or so, might well picture oneself as, like Alice, having gone down the rabbit-hole to find many strange Republicans, who, like the characters in Wonderland, issue puzzling and irrational quotes. Over the decades, here are just a few of the characters we have met, as we went down, down, down ...

Two really good interviews this morning

Sorry for the drive by essay. My life is way to busy. However I did get a chance to watch DemocracyNow this morning (in bits on my TV and iPad) and there were two very good interviews that are well worth watching. The first interview is with a Wall Street Journal Reporter James Grimaldi. It deals with the Clinton Foundation and its relationship with the Clinton State Department. The interview is not sensational but is full of facts and Grimaldi is serious and knowledgeable.