Good 'Pub, Bad 'Pub
Before launching into this blog's subject, the always fascinating Republican ("Pub") Party, let's throw out a shout first uttered 59 years and 3,000 miles ago - "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" I won't bother with the historical context. Let's just say that this year's outfit seems to win just one way - with gritty pitching and an offense described as "torture". The World Series begins tomorrow.
Just because I sneer at Republicans from time to time doesn't mean I can't have respect for individuals in the GOP. Lately I've been reading the book by Henry Paulson, Bush 43's Secretary of the Treasury, which describes the events of his tenure, especially the near total Wall Street meltdown two years ago which required drastic government response.
What surprises me is that Paulson himself seems to be a fairly likable fellow. Of course, I know that no one is going to look like a villain in their own book, but Paulson has good things to say about some members of Congress who usually get only the back of Republican hands. Can you imagine Karl Rove saying nice things about about Barney Frank or Barack Obama? I can't, but that's exactly what Paulson does. Maybe I'm guilty of stereotyping, but Paulson's background makes it even more surprising that he would seem so bipartisan. We're talking about a guy who had been CEO of Goldman Sachs before taking the Treasury position. Heck, I'd be scared to shake hands with those guys for fear of pulling back nothing but a bloody stump.
I'm not through with the book, but I'm finding it easier to sympathize with the guy, given the nature and speed of that crisis. It's almost enough to make you feel some sympathy for Bush - but not quite.
So if Henry Paulson is this week's "good 'Pub", who does that leave as the bad one? There's plenty of fertile ground among candidates making wild last minute accusations, but pointing at those is like shooting fish in a barrel, not to mention that Democrats don't all have clean hands in this area either.
No, but let's point to, as our legal system has, one of the villains from a few years back. Remember Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, once the #2 ranking 'Pub in the House? The man was a cash collecting wonder in the Bush days, and he wasn't afraid to move it around to the pocket from which he thought it would do the most "good". But now, at long last, a full five years after being indicted for money laundering in an effort to make Texas safe for the GOP forever, DeLay's trial is about to begin.
I can't say how the trial will be resolved, but DeLay himself is an easy person to dislike. He's a small person, once self-employed in the pest control business in the Houston area. He seems to want things both ways, claiming the white evangelicals as his kind of folks while using money that had once belonged to native American tribes, which came his way through the notorious Jack Abramoff, to travel the world doing research on the world's best golf courses. He was constantly a guest on FOX News, who conveniently forgot to mention he was under indictment. He even took a spin on Dancing With the Stars before hobbling off with what was no doubt NOT a war wound. He's what the Tea Party folks should have nothing but hate for, except for the fact that he's a 'Pub. I hope he rots in jail.
Just because I sneer at Republicans from time to time doesn't mean I can't have respect for individuals in the GOP. Lately I've been reading the book by Henry Paulson, Bush 43's Secretary of the Treasury, which describes the events of his tenure, especially the near total Wall Street meltdown two years ago which required drastic government response.
What surprises me is that Paulson himself seems to be a fairly likable fellow. Of course, I know that no one is going to look like a villain in their own book, but Paulson has good things to say about some members of Congress who usually get only the back of Republican hands. Can you imagine Karl Rove saying nice things about about Barney Frank or Barack Obama? I can't, but that's exactly what Paulson does. Maybe I'm guilty of stereotyping, but Paulson's background makes it even more surprising that he would seem so bipartisan. We're talking about a guy who had been CEO of Goldman Sachs before taking the Treasury position. Heck, I'd be scared to shake hands with those guys for fear of pulling back nothing but a bloody stump.
I'm not through with the book, but I'm finding it easier to sympathize with the guy, given the nature and speed of that crisis. It's almost enough to make you feel some sympathy for Bush - but not quite.
So if Henry Paulson is this week's "good 'Pub", who does that leave as the bad one? There's plenty of fertile ground among candidates making wild last minute accusations, but pointing at those is like shooting fish in a barrel, not to mention that Democrats don't all have clean hands in this area either.
No, but let's point to, as our legal system has, one of the villains from a few years back. Remember Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, once the #2 ranking 'Pub in the House? The man was a cash collecting wonder in the Bush days, and he wasn't afraid to move it around to the pocket from which he thought it would do the most "good". But now, at long last, a full five years after being indicted for money laundering in an effort to make Texas safe for the GOP forever, DeLay's trial is about to begin.
I can't say how the trial will be resolved, but DeLay himself is an easy person to dislike. He's a small person, once self-employed in the pest control business in the Houston area. He seems to want things both ways, claiming the white evangelicals as his kind of folks while using money that had once belonged to native American tribes, which came his way through the notorious Jack Abramoff, to travel the world doing research on the world's best golf courses. He was constantly a guest on FOX News, who conveniently forgot to mention he was under indictment. He even took a spin on Dancing With the Stars before hobbling off with what was no doubt NOT a war wound. He's what the Tea Party folks should have nothing but hate for, except for the fact that he's a 'Pub. I hope he rots in jail.
posted by Mark at 10:17 AM
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