Archetypes

WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan muses about two Democratic Party septuagenarians.

Joe Biden is Caesar:

(Nate Beeler cartoon)

The political class of Rome wanted Caesar gone and successfully dispatched him with 23 wounds. But the conspirators themselves came to unhappy ends—Caesar’s base hated them and chased them out of town! Nobody loves an assassin. The only political survivors were Caesar’s designated heir and the leaders who didn’t join the conspiracy.

That is the predicament of the 23 contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination who are not named Joe Biden. They want the front-runner gone. But they don’t really want to be the one who does him in. Pete Buttigieg doesn’t want you saying he has a lean and hungry look! Amy Klobuchar doesn’t want it said she really is mean. The safe course for them is to let someone else do it, then mourn, with poignant words, the end of an epic 20th-century career.

Nancy Pelosi is Big Mama:

grandma has been observing them [the "Squad"--the four progressive House Democrats Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.) and sees what others see. She doesn’t mind that they’re hot, aggressive and ideological, but they don’t confine their fire to outside the tent. They attack moderates as sellouts, racists, child abusers...

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has been destructive to her party’s chances in 2020. She is a one woman Committee to Re-Elect the President. The way I read it now, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has been dunked on by a pro and schooled by Big Mama...

in private, Mrs. Pelosi couldn’t be clearer. To her caucus’s progressives at the closed-door meeting Wednesday morning: “Some of you are here to make a beautiful pâté, but we’re making sausage.” “You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK.” On attacks on moderates: “Think twice. Actually, don’t think twice. Think once.”

Like other seasoned pundits and politicians, Peggy Noonan uses logic and math to discount the power of the young lionesses of the Democratic Party.

However, given that few understand the political forces at work in the current environment, much less can use them to make predictions, anything is possible. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez could be Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, or Alexandria the Great, who conquered an empire before the age of 30. I think the former is more likely than the latter, but who knows?

It's a New World, Willie

Democratic Party elder Willie Brown has a practical take on the influence of the Squad (the four progressive House Democrats Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.):

Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley (NY Post)

All the talk about dissension among House Democrats is a bit overblown.

There are 235 Democrats in the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has only four really rebellious members, “the squad” led by hero-of-the-left Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

When I was Assembly speaker I had five rebels on my hands, and they actually organized to try to get rid of me. They didn’t succeed, because when you come right down to it, five people out of 50 ain’t a majority.

I’m sure Pelosi’s four rebels will find that out soon enough.

I'm not confident that Willie's right about the Squad's power. Non-stop media coverage can change perceptions of influence, and more influence translates into more power in the new world of social media.

The Ugly American 2.0

The cover I remember (Amazon)

One of the most influential political books in the 50's and 60's was the Ugly American: [bold added]

The authors were disillusioned with the style and substance of U.S. diplomatic efforts in Southeast Asia. They sought to demonstrate through their writings their belief that American officials and civilians could make a substantial difference in Southeast Asian politics if they were willing to learn local languages, follow local customs and employ regional military tactics.

In the book the "Ugly American" was actually a praiseworthy character who "got his hands dirty" working with the natives---it's cited as one of the influences on JFK to start the Peace Corps.

Subsequently the term came to mean the reverse of a good guy:

"Ugly American" is a term used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless, ignorant, and ethnocentric behavior of American citizens mainly abroad, but also at home.

One of the standing jokes through the 1970's was about how American tourists expected everyone to speak English, and, if the natives didn't understand, the solution was to speak louder. Later, American arrogance became chastened by Vietnam, Watergate, the Arab oil embargo, and political turmoil. The Ugly American stereotype receded, or so everyone thought.

Today Ugly Americans have not only come back, the arrogance on display--and it's all over the Internet--is even greater. Getting others to learn English is no longer the goal, they want non-English speakers to change their own language. We noted this phenomenon last year:

One source of amusement is the translation of gender-neutral English into Romance languages, where gender is all-pervasive.

(Gif from NBC News)

An example of this trend is the use of the term Latinx to replace "Latino" and "Latina".

If you follow politics closely, chances are that you have encountered the word “Latinx” in recent years. From freshman congresswoman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to the DNC to left-wing outlet We Are Mitu, it has become a popular term among progressives who say it’s a more inclusive way to refer to people (like me) [writer Giancarlo Sopo] of Latin-American ancestry.

Another Spanish-speaking person responds:

Spanish is not a gender neutral language. There are feminine and masculine words because that is how it has been spoken and read for centuries.

Hispanics will not accept completely changing their language just to avoid possibly offending some Social Justice Warriors. In fact, what is truly offensive is non-Spanish speaking SJWs demanding to change and completely upend the language of Cervantes.

Spanish speakers are perfectly capable of defending their language against these latter-day imperialists.

I just hope that they understand that we're not all Ugly Americans v 2.0.

Thoughts on the 2024 Presidential Election

On this President's Day there's no relief from politics: more Democratic would-be Presidents announce they're running, 16 states sue the President---this time over "the Wall" emergency funding, the 25th Amendment has been revived as a means of defenestrating Donald Trump, etc.

I can't get excited over the 2020 election. The fact that septuagenarians Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders all are thinking about running betrays the weakness of the field (DJT is 72, but wouldn't you want a young and vigorous opponent to highlight his age?---think Barack vs. John McCain).

You can hype it all you want, but it looks like the Patriots, I mean Donald Trump, will win again.

But 2024 is looking interesting.

(Facebook)

It's been decades since a California Governor was a serious candidate for President, but Gavin Newsom, 51, just may be the ticket. Tall (6'3") and telegenic, Governor Newsom has Progressive credentials. As SF Mayor, he issued marriage certificates to gay couples in 2003 long before it was legal and reinforced SF's "sanctuary city" self-designation. But there are signs that he may be moving toward the center---quietly agreeing with the President about forest-management practices and killing high-speed rail. He's focusing on enforcing existing gun laws instead of passing stricter legislation, and climate change was mentioned only in passing in the State of the State speech.

(biography.com)

Nikki Haley, 47, recently resigned--apparently on good terms with the President---her 2-year post as the U.N Ambassador and is considered to be one of the Republican front-runners for 2024. She was the first female governor of South Carolina and the second Indian-American (after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana) to hold a governorship. Known for her conservative positions (pro-life, pro-Israel, anti-tax), she can retreat when circumstances demand, such as when the 2015 Charleston church shooting made her take down the Confederate flag at the State Capitol. Being a woman and a non-white child of immigrants may win enough votes to put her over the top.

By the way, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will turn 35 the month before the November, 2024 election, and people have noticed.