Wednesday
"I think it’s an interesting reflection on politics today when the choice in a major election is between a drunken, possibly alcoholic, philanderer and a philanderer. I’ve nothing at all against booze, excessive consumption of such, extra-marital legovers nor even illegitimate children. All add enormously to the gaiety and variety of life and no society with even the slightest claim to being liberal or free would say different. But it is an interesting insight into the characters of those who rise to the top in politics, isn’t it?"
Well, if you explore the history of the 18th Century and 19th, for example, you will find political figures who were drunks, wife-beaters, adulterers, duellists (Andrew Jackson, the US president, fought several, as did British political figures such as Fox, Castlereagh and Canning); indolent fools, frauds and con-artists. Plus ca change......
Don't trust someone who never drinks thet have things to hide.
Posted by Jobrag at February 29, 2012 01:36 PM
"Duelists"? In the same category as "fools, frauds and con-artists"? Frankly, I'd like to see the return of formal duels. We'd have a much more civil society.
Posted by Laird at February 29, 2012 02:29 PM
"Don't trust someone who never drinks thet have things to hide."
But getting drunk means you'll have things to find - e.g. the letter "y"... (only joshing!)
Posted by mike at February 29, 2012 03:17 PM
Laird, fair point!
Bear in mind, though, that some of those guys deliberately sought to provoke someone, and then hoped to kill. The army in the UK started to get annoyed at officers killing one another over women, card gambling debts, etc.
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at February 29, 2012 03:53 PM
Is it really a revelation that politics attracts raging narcissists for whom anything in aid of their own wants is justifiable, and who use substances to avoid reality?
Posted by Jackie D at February 29, 2012 05:22 PM
Maybe I'm thick,but what politicians is he talking about?
Posted by Renminbi at March 1, 2012 06:15 AM
Pitt the Younger - Drunk
Duke of Wellington - Philanderer
Lloyd George - Philanderer
Winston Churchill - Drunk (with a severe mental illness).
Seems a pity to exclude talent on that basis.
Posted by guy herbert at March 1, 2012 09:28 AM
Drunkeness - a problem, but not if he has it under control. (Churchill despite his reputation was not a heavy drinker. He would put a splash of whiskey into a glass of cracked ice and suck on it for hours. Ted Kennedy was known for getting blind drunk - and then showing up at the office cold sober the next day. And "The [Canadian] people would prefer John A. [Macdonald] drunk to George Brown sober.")
Philandering - Does he have it under control? A discreet mistress is one thing; screwing any woman who holds still is another. JFK and Bill Clinton were reckless and completely irresponsible.
Duelling - could be an appropriate response to a personal attack.
Wife-beating - Completely unforgivable. It is sadistic bullying. (One odd impact of wife-beating in recent years. Obama won the Democrat nomination for US Senator from Illinois when his chief opponent imploded over revelations that he had assaulted his ex-wife. She was his second wife, definitely the sort of trophy bimbo a rich man often marries second. The most damaging aspect of the story was that it publicized the fact that he married the woman - who was arguably a crazy bitch - twice.)
Posted by Rich Rostrom at March 2, 2012 05:01 AM
Senator Benton ("Bullion Benton") was asked about the late President Jackson.
"I shot him once - a great man".
Was the reply.
Posted by Paul Marks at March 6, 2012 07:14 PM
