tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post4673403880572969450..comments2023-12-19T07:34:45.677-08:00Comments on wordstrumpet: Nixon Vets the CandidatesRachel Lodenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07643048091966293914noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-66395103137543397742008-01-24T08:35:00.000-08:002008-01-24T08:35:00.000-08:00Hi Rachel:Well, one thing I note, as someone who w...Hi Rachel:<BR/><BR/>Well, one thing I note, as someone who writes some times in satirical voices not my own (and often reprehensible ones at that), that it becomes a manner of speaking that can be too easy, at least at moments, and perhaps especially when I'm tired. That is, I can be so good at speaking in these satirical voices at moments that I can't speak, or at least not well, in any other voices I might have access to.<BR/><BR/>It's one of the problems of the comedian perhaps; that the shtick you're channeling begins to take you over. Groucho Marx has often been talked about as an extreme case of this: even in private life he could never ever stop with the biting jokes, and it made people who knew him deeply frustrated.<BR/><BR/>I think there's a moment, in what book I can't remember, in which Allen Ginsberg has gone to see William Burroughs, and Burroughs is doing other voices endlessly, with a seeming inability to stop.<BR/><BR/>But of course, I'm at least partly laughing as I say these things while looking out over my shoulder, listening for the voices headed my way.mark wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047292022080114501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-78037786686964079372008-01-23T19:01:00.000-08:002008-01-23T19:01:00.000-08:00I meant I thought it unlikely, but who knows.I do ...I meant I thought it unlikely, but who knows.<BR/>I do suspect Nixon is appreciating Hillary C more and more these days. Alas.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149093537815104761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-68777080089598926712008-01-20T18:59:00.000-08:002008-01-20T18:59:00.000-08:00Mark, thanks -- I guess I don't worry about it, no...Mark, thanks -- I guess I don't worry about it, now that you mention it. Maybe I should.<BR/><BR/>It's actually strangely invigorating, in a ghoulish sort of way.<BR/><BR/>Sounds kind of like the plot of a horror movie -- poet undergoes vocal chord transplant from body of dead president...<BR/><BR/>Susan, do you mean "leaves one cold" in the sense of "chilling" -- in other words not beyond the realm of possibility, however unlikely -- or cold as in dead in the water, a non-starter, beyond even this crew?Rachel Lodenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07643048091966293914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-74530516366704372752008-01-20T09:29:00.000-08:002008-01-20T09:29:00.000-08:00Yes, there's some thought that Nixon was behind Ch...Yes, there's some thought that Nixon was behind Chisholm's run for prez. But some conspiracies simply leave one cold.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149093537815104761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-2244696164626053372008-01-19T15:39:00.000-08:002008-01-19T15:39:00.000-08:00These are great. It's like he speaks to you direct...These are great. It's like he speaks to you directly from beyond the grave. Do you ever worry about that?mark wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047292022080114501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-92142125196153330202008-01-16T06:57:00.000-08:002008-01-16T06:57:00.000-08:00Susan, you're right -- his trickiness would have b...Susan, you're right -- his trickiness would have been very likely to make nice noises about Obama in public. <BR/><BR/>I hadn't heard the Jackson quote. Just tried to find it (so far without success) but found instead an amazing NY Times article on how Nixon and his aides discussed running an independent black candidate in 1972 to try to siphon away Democratic votes, and Jackson was one of those discussed:<BR/><BR/>"According to the tapes, the President and his aides said they could devote millions of dollars to the effort and even talked of paying the candidate 'an incentive bonus' of $10,000 for every 1 percent of the total vote he pulled in."<BR/><BR/>"'Put that down for discussion -- not for discussion, for action,' the President said as the plan was laid out on Sept. 14, 1971, in an Oval Office meeting with his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, and his special counsel, Charles W. Colson."<BR/><BR/>So he certainly thought Jackson (and the others discussed) were exciting. Apparently nothing came of it, but this crew was a fount of creativity!Rachel Lodenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07643048091966293914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-36134692567583785372008-01-15T10:36:00.000-08:002008-01-15T10:36:00.000-08:00You know, Tricky did say once that Jesse Jackson w...You know, Tricky did say once that Jesse Jackson was the most exciting politician in America, so he might even be more generous toward Obama. Then again, that was for public consumption, and I suspect these are from his tapes!Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149093537815104761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31258360.post-51069692748115894212008-01-14T21:49:00.000-08:002008-01-14T21:49:00.000-08:00Outstanding, Ms. Loden!Outstanding, Ms. Loden!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com