Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Nixonland


Another one picked up: Rick Perlstein, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (New York: Scribner, 2008). Looks great, though it could just as accurately be sub-titled Tricky Dick, The Silent Majority and the Slow Poisoning of the US of America.

In all truth, it's always seemed to me that the Republicans have had two interesting presidents -- Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Eisenhower and Ford seem moderate by today's standards. Nixon, Reagan and Junior Bush have sickened me in my lifetime; Senior Bush was in between, though even he took up the garbage rhetoric of the "Moral Majority" and deservedly lost to Bill Clinton in the '92 election.

In any case, more will be revealed in this cycle. Obama seems to me closest to Abe Lincoln, FDR and JFK in epoch changing styles. I hope he not only wins the election but also lives to enjoy a happy retirement, too. As for the opposition, I can think of few people more goofy, boring and out of sync with our Zeitgeist than John McCain and his joykilling supporters.

GObama-Biden!

Today's Rune: Joy.

4 comments:

the walking man said...

You only feel that way about mccain. Erik, because you don't have 5 million dollars and enough houses to forget how many you have and the location of each.

Charles Gramlich said...

McCain is status quo, Obama is change. So Mark is right, depends on how satisified you are with things.

Lana Gramlich said...

"Nixonland" makes me think of a really baaaaaaad amusement park. Or is that an anti-amusement park?
Yes...Bring on the change, stat! Unfortunately I'm not holding my breath, but hopefully I'll be surprised. :)

JR's Thumbprints said...

Do they have a "Watergate" slide at Nixonland? If so, I'll bet McCain is waiting his turn.