August 17, 2024The Glorious PastI am sitting here watching the round table section on Meet the Press and listening to Doris Kearns Goodwin and Joe Klein decry the recall at least partially in the context of when the recall was instituted that the electorate was more informed than they are now (this is the "whim" of the people, not the "will" said Klein). While it is clearly the case that voters are nowhere near as informed as they should be, it is hardly the case that we were in a Golden Age of Civic Education and Knowledge in the early 20th century. I mean, please. And Doris, as she always does, appealed to some far-past (and exceptional) example, noting that the image-peddlers of today couldn't stand up to the written word of Abraham Lincoln. Well, no joke! Indeed, there are few politicans in all of US history who could stand up to the written word of Abraham LiNcoln. What a comparison! I do agree with Klein, however, that populism, both from the left and the right, is higly problematic. Posted by Steven Taylor at August 17, 2024 08:59 AM | TrackBackComments
The natural retort to Doris, I think, is that if Lincoln were alive today, he'd be really, really old. That said, I'm a little annoyed with people who claim the recall is line with conservative ideology and thereby conflate "Republican interest" with conservatism. There's a reason conservatives distrust populism -- the public is notoriously fickle. What happens if the recall passes and Mr. Schwarzenegger wins, but California remains a mess throughout the next year? Isn't there a good chance that Willie Brown makes good on his threat and monied Democratic interests fund a recall campaign against Ahhhnuld? Posted by: Matthew at August 17, 2024 09:20 AMThe natural retort to Doris, I think, is that if Lincoln were alive today, he'd be really, really old. That said, I'm a little annoyed with people who claim the recall is line with conservative ideology and thereby conflate "Republican interest" with conservatism. There's a reason conservatives distrust populism -- the public is notoriously fickle. What happens if the recall passes and Mr. Schwarzenegger wins, but California remains a mess throughout the next year? Isn't there a good chance that Willie Brown makes good on his threat and monied Democratic interests fund a recall campaign against Ahhhnuld? Posted by: Matthew at August 17, 2024 09:20 AMGyeah, sorry for the double-post. I don't know how that happened. Posted by: Matthew at August 17, 2024 10:17 AMNo prob--it happens. Posted by: Steven at August 17, 2024 10:22 AMPost a comment
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