Sociology of Bushies: After Meritocracy

John Mage jmage at panix.com
Sun Feb 4 14:40:34 PST 2001


The elder of my three older brothers, of whom I am immoderately fond, wrote:


> The comparison of Clinton to Harding is monumentally unfair. Among the first
> of Harding's official acts was the pardon of Eugene Victor Debs. Among the
> last of Clinton's official acts was his refusal to pardon Leonard Peltier.
>
> Shane Mage
>
> "Thunderbolt steers all things."
>
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64
>
> >>In 1993, the historian Stephen Ambrose said of Clinton, "I don't
> >>know anyone who's gone so far appointing friends and cronies since Warren
> >>G. Harding."
> >
> >In that and other ways, Clinton does remind me of Harding. And I have the
> >feeling that Clinton is destined to be seen as the same colossal figure as
> >H. in the eyes of history.

In principle 100% right, bro ... though a tiny bit off factually. Here's the description of the issue from the viewpoint of a recent historian of the ACLU - Samuel Walker, _In Defense of American Liberties_ (Oxford Univ. Press, 1990) at p.56:

"An embittered President Wilson refused to make any concessions to political prisoners, though after the 1920 elections some administration officils released imprisoned COs through commutation. Amnesty for the Espionage Act cases was far more difficult, and the campaign dragged on for years. Republican President Warren G. Harding expressed sympathy and met with ACLU representatives Norman Thomas and Albert DeSilver in April 1921. It was the only occasion in the decade when the ACLU gained access to the White House. Harding suggested that they could free his hand by molbilizing public opinion. The strategy of "persistent if quiet agitation" did produce some results. On Christmas Day, 1921, Harding commuted the sentences of Eugene Debs and twenty-four other prisoners, releasing all of them. Adverse public reaction, however, halted further release.

... {Roger} Baldwin [the ACLU Pope at that time - JM] now favored vigorous public pressure on the president. He proposed "making life a burden" for Harding by picketing the White House and his golf course. Anticipating the direct-action tactics of the 1960s, Baldwin suggested picketing even inside the White House and the attorney general's office. But the Joint Amnesty Committee insisted on a low key approach, and so Baldwin withdrew his support in protest. President Calvin Coolidge released more prisoners in 1923, but the issue lingered for another decade. Finally, on Christmas Day, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt restored the citizenship of the remaining fifteen hundred former prisoners."

"The things of which there is seeing and hearing and perception, these do I prefer." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr.55 "The real constitution of things is accustomed to hide itself." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr.211

This combination is very Baconian. john mage



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