The Unspeakable in Pursuit of the Inedible

c/o Dailybeast.com

CONFUCIUS SAY...

We call it the sound byte but before this is was "the saying." Let us play this game of creating axioms, sentences and phrases that seeks to encapsulate a mountain of wisdom in a grain of syntax. So. We have great sound bytes from Irish playwright and wit Oscar Wilde which still have currency. For instance defining a fox hunt as "the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible." And so if I expand this and say "the Republican Convention is like a fox hunt," you may get half a joke from it. What does that make the "inedible?" Power? Acceptance? Love? Can you eat the presidency? The pictures I see of the candidates, especially Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders, mouths gaping. They sure look like they are about to eat something.

So this is a blog about sayings and then shoe-horning them (does anybody even know what a shoe horn is anymore?) into discourse about the RNC convention in particular and politics in 2016 in general. 

1. "Business gives people what they want, government gives people what they need."- P. Manos

I hear it over and over again. "Trump is a successful businessman so that's what we need to run the country." OK quick- name a president who was a successful businessman. There were plenty who were not successful- Truman, Lincoln, etc. Herbert Hoover, now there's a guy who made his own millions in business! But that's my punchline, Herbert Hoover. 

Certainly, to get elected, you need to be seen as giving people what they want. Low taxes, many government programs, a good defense, "law and order." But the guy in power sometimes needs to fudge on that and sometimes that kills his career. George H. W. Bush- "read my lips, no new taxes." Guess what? One time the guy had to tax people. You can't take back that product once you've bought it. We don't always know what's good for us. That's why Coca Cola makes more money than Grapenuts.

2. "A great leader is a man with a sense of humor"- Robert Gates

Asked to name the qualities former National Security Advisor Robert Gates thought exhibits superior leadership ability, he mentioned only one thing: a sense of humor. Hilary has one, though her laugh sometimes sounds like a forced cackle as if she's laughing though she doesn't get the joke. Bernie Sanders probably hasn't smiled since the 1960s and Donald Trump seems the master of the humorless smirk. I can get what Mr. Gates is talking about, though. There is something deep about the person who can recognize the ludicrousness of a situation, in my opinion. Both Lincoln and FDR were known for their ability to laugh, especially at themselves. Maybe we should take Hilary's cackle as something for real. It's the closest we're going to get, I think, to this paradigm.

3. "It's the economy, stupid," Bill Clinton

Well, yes, Bill, it is. Until it isn't. As Prof. Swearingen pointed out, sometimes people vote with their bible or their family values even if a policy by the opposing party will benefit them more economically. I know many people who saw their incomes go down even after being mesmerized by Ronald Reagan's smile. Of course, Ronnie was also a card in the humor department (see 2). And sometimes "the economy," like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I have heard so many people trash Obama as a person who has "ruined" our economy. Gosh. I don't see that. The guy before him, Whatsisname, seemed to usher in the bad times. On the other hand (oh, and there's a great saying- "give me a one-handed economist so I know what to do-" FDR).

4. "Words speak louder than actions."- P. Manos

We are in the age of the communication revolution. Pronouncements aplenty will course over us all bathing us in their persuasive waters. From FDR's Fireside Chats we have all I think found words both the most unifying and devastating aspects of our existence. As my admittedly bellicose son once told me (when he was 14, and I probably paraphrase: "I am friends with more people who have punched me in the mouth and I hate a lot of people who  have made fun of me with what they said." OK. So this is America, not the school yard (though, see Anderson Cooper chastising Trump for defending his criticism of Cruz's wife's looks by saying "he started it." "He started it?" asked Cooper. "That's what they say at recess in grade school" or words to that effect). 

Anyway, inaction can sometimes be over rated, just as words words words are over-rated now. But it is this act of always remembering what people say, that makes words so compelling. That said, Trump has said conflicting things and has done nothing in terms of running a country. Hilary has said comparatively little and watches her words a million times more than The Donald or anybody else does. I think she subscribes to my mot up above.

5. "Brevity is the soul of wit."- not sure

This stands as a singularly un-witty blog then.