Mark Twain on Criticizing the Clintons: "sassing such famous politicky people"

[CorpGovActivist]

Know any Boston Brahmins? You know, the ones who will tell you precisely how they're related to (read: 'inbred with') the Cabots, Lodges, AND God?

The next time one gets your goat, remember http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/onstage/whittier.html">Mark Twain and the Whittier Dinner Speech.

Twain survived the mortification, and went on to have the last laugh at the Boston Brahmin types 30 years later, when he revisited the incident in a letter to a reader.

If you happen to know a Boston Brahmin type angling for a job with, or already licking stamps for, the Clinton Campaign, do by all means share the link above with them, along with your very best "sassing of such famous politicky people."

A snippet from the incomparable Twain, nearly 101 years after he wrote to his reader:

*****************************************

January 11, 1906.

Answer to a letter received this morning:

DEAR MRS. H., -- I am forever your debtor for reminding me of that curious passage in my life. During the first year or two after it happened, I could not bear to think of it. My pain and shame were so intense, and my sense of having been an imbecile so settled, established and confirmed, that I drove the episode entirely from my mind -- and so all these twenty-eight or twenty-nine years I have lived in the conviction that my performance of that time was coarse, vulgar, and destitute of humor. But your suggestion that you and your family found humor in it twenty-eight years ago moved me to look into the matter. So I commissioned a Boston typewriter to delve among the Boston papers of that bygone time and send me a copy of it. It came this morning, and if there is any vulgarity about it I am not able to discover it. If it isn't innocently and ridiculously funny, I am no judge. I will see to it that you get a copy.

*****************************************

- Dave

[CorpGovActivist]

1. Even Leon Panetta - Clinton's Chief of Staff - Sasses 'Em

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&q=panetta+clinton&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d">Recent stories regarding Panetta's comments.

- Dave

[Rageneau]

2. What the devil do the Clintons have to do with the Whittier Birthday Speech?

The report of any connection between the two has been greatly exaggerated.

[CorpGovActivist]

3. The Same Elitist Indignation...

... evident in the reaction to the Whittier Speech is evident also in the reaction many have to anyone who dares to sass the Clintons.

Nice use of a Twain quote, btw.

- Dave

[UTUSN]

4. In all of your one-note bashing threads, you should self-disclose

what your axe-to-grind is, who you work for (as others have asked), or whether you even like Dems at all.


Now for the usual fancy riposte that will not address what I said.

[CorpGovActivist]

5. Full Disclosure, for UTUSN: "you should self-disclose..."

1. "what your axe-to-grind is": the Clintons' closed, corporatist tactics.

2. "who you work for (as others have asked)": Why in the world are my source(s) of income relevant? No, I don't work for a party, a candidate, a political entity, a 527, or anything remotely resembling one.

3. "or whether you even like Dems at all": I like a good many of them. I even like a small number of GOP public officials, independents, etc.

Please file away and refer back to as often as you need it.

- Dave

[Cha]

18. I feel like you're

working with me and others who really don't want the clintons covering up for the bushes again in the whitehouse. hillary had 5 years to prove herself and she proved to be a cog in the ever grinding US military complex War Machine.

senator hillary should be castigated for being a part of the machine that is killing our Soldiers and Maiming them for life so she could play political expediency for her ambitions.

[CorpGovActivist]

19. We're Hardly Alone

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/for_or_against_presidential_candidates">Rasmussen Poll showing Clinton with highest core opposition rating of leading Democratic candidates.

Much of that core opposition has coalesced for the very reasons you cite.

Thank you for your kind words, and for your efforts to hold her accountable for her positions and actions (and lack thereof).

- Dave

[Cha]

20. I know we're not alone..

and it Feels Good! The reason I can do this is because I was in on it from the beginning 5 years ago..calling her office here in New York.

I just hope the big bad brush of karma sweeps away her lust for power at our expense.

Thanks again, mucho!

[CorpGovActivist]

21. Hope and Karma...

... expect us to do our part.

; )

How responsive have you found her NY office to be? I will candidly admit I've always found her Senate staff to be competent.

- Dave

[Cha]

22. I don't wait for

Karma but it would be nice if she would get her butt in gear.

All I heard is doubletalk. hillary's actions speak louder than any Senate staff.

[CorpGovActivist]

25. Karma's Calendar...

... probably operates on its own schedule.

; )

You on pins and needles over Iowa?

- Dave

[Cha]

26. No, I'm a

freakin' fatalist. I kid. I just want the best man to win. :)

[CorpGovActivist]

27. Heresy!

:rofl:

I guess once you eliminate the one, it's technically correct to say "best man ... win."

- Dave

[Cha]

28. Yeah, I'm taking my cues

from Mark Twain.. that politicky person has been eliminated.

[CorpGovActivist]

29. From Your Lips...

... to the goddess' ears.

; )

- Dave

[Cha]

30. "politicky"...

love that word..just added it to my lexicon. Thanks!

[CorpGovActivist]

31. Didn't Coin That One

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=politicky

It's hard to go wrong, though, deriving from Twain.

; )

- Dave

[Cha]

32. I meant thanks for

making us aware that Mark Twain said it! Politicky :)

[CorpGovActivist]

33. He Said "Literry"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22sass+such+famous+littery+people%22

Politicky is just a play on it.

; )

- Dave

[Cha]

34. Oh boy, I got it straight now..

Well, that's a darn good derivative! So Mark Twainish! :P

[CorpGovActivist]

35. Pity the Apostles!

One never-ending http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=spake+to+them+parable">parable.

:rofl:

- Dave

[11 Bravo]

6. Damn, he's down to only 4 Clinton posts on the first page.

Let's just allow him to continue to wallow in whatever fetid cesspool he chooses to inhabit. Remember, pathology is it's own reward, and nothing exceeds like excess.

[CorpGovActivist]

7. Dang! We're down to Only 7 Days...

... until Iowa. How utterly unnatural that there should be political posts relating to primaries, or issues affecting undecided voters in same.

What are things coming to in America?

- Dave

[11 Bravo]

8. One political post on a topic is not unnatural.

Two (on the same topic) - You're a political aficionado.
Three - Get a hobby.
Four - You may not know it, but you have become a caricature.
Five - Seek immediate help.
All the others over and above five that I lack both the time and the inclination to comb the archives for - You're on your own. I hope you lack access to narcotics and firearms.

[CorpGovActivist]

9. Perhaps the Ignore Feature Would Suit Your Needs...

... but for policy and political enthusiasts (not to mention degree holders who work in same said fields), this election is simply too important not to be participatory.

Your armchair psycho-babble quackery aside, I assure you the only danger I pose to anyone is the quality of the data I've unearthed.

If it bothers you as much as you profess, I sincerely, respectfully, calmly, and sanely invite you to click on the Ignore feature.

- Dave

[11 Bravo]

10. Perhaps I didn't make myself clear.

You have become amusing, why should I pass on that? But, wait! You claim a degree? I have a couple myself, and George W. Bush has an Ivy League MBA. Neither of mine bestowed any exceptional wisdom on me. Bush's clearly didn't do him a bit of good. Perhaps you are the bright, shining, exception which proves the rule.

[CorpGovActivist]

11. Are You Passionate about Your Degree Field(s)...

... or just punching the clock each day and marking time until you retire?

I'm passionate enough about mine to act, do my best, and I get up every day eager to go to work.

- Dave

[11 Bravo]

12. Well, let's see. After I got back in country, I spent a few months at Walter Reed ...

was eventually discharged from the army, obtained my degrees (BA and MA in Education), taught for 32 years, retired, and then missed it sufficiently to go back to teaching. Yeah, I guess you could say I'm passionate. I have never "punched a clock" in my life.

[CorpGovActivist]

13. Hats off...

... thanks for your teaching and your time at Walter Reed.

: )

- Dave

P.S. What subject(s) did you teach?

[11 Bravo]

14. Elementary school. A little bit of everything.

I don't pretend to be a great thinker, and as was made clear earlier, am noteven a Hillary supporter. However, some here (not to name any names), just seem to offer nothing other than attacks upon her. If she's our nominee, I will support her.

P.S. We could have been neighbors. I used to live in Old Town Alexandria. Now I'm in Fairfax County.

[CorpGovActivist]

15. As I've Posted Several Times Here, My Elementary School Teachers...

... are owed a debt that can never be fully repaid. I bet you had former students coming back to visit you all the time. Believe it or not, I still refer back to resources that some of the especially gifted teachers shared with us. Teachers change lives.

I started out as a supporter of Senator Clinton; it became harder and harder to ignore policy differences on issues I hold dear, and then this disclosure issue led me to make discoveries that cinched my change of mind.

- Dave

P.S. Landmark area here; please don't be frightened by the proximity.

; )

[11 Bravo]

16. Not frightened at all.

I would imagine we agree on about 90% of the issues. I just get tired of watching Hillary get hammered (and I'll say it again, she's NOT my candidate, John Edwards is my candidate!) I'm busting my hump working for John here in NOVA, but if he doesn't get the nod, I think it will probably be Hillary. I would prefer not to participate in a pre-election knee-capping.

Have a good night.

[CorpGovActivist]

17. "I would imagine we agree on about 90% of the issues." - Likely Enough...

"I just get tired of watching Hillary get hammered"

I understand that meme; by the same token, I think primaries should be meaningful scrimmages.

"(and I'll say it again, she's NOT my candidate, John Edwards is my candidate!)"

To my surprise, I landed on him as mine, too, after rejecting Senator Clinton's candidacy. Put that in the 90% agreement bin, I suppose.

"I'm busting my hump working for John here in NOVA, but if he doesn't get the nod, I think it will probably be Hillary."

Hope you're enjoying it.

"I would prefer not to participate in a pre-election knee-capping."

The data in question *will* be used by the GOP. Given that, I think one of two things has to happen: (1) voluntary disclosure by the Clintons before the primaries/caucuses; or (2) a leak that forces them to deal with it.

"Have a good night."

Thank you; you, too.

Best,

- Dave

[UTUSN]

23. I thought this spamming had been shut down!1 n/t

[CorpGovActivist]

24. The "Forbidden Topic" Is Not Present n/t