Sunday, November 27, 2005

Calling 'em like you see 'em c. 1905

A little ditty from the Nov. 27, 1905 NYT:

"Why don't you try to make yourself solid with the masses?"

"Well," said Senator Sorghum, "my constituents are peculiar. They like plenty of treating and speech-making. They don't care for solid candidates. They want 'em liquid or gaseous."

Sounds like the view of many of the good folks in DC. Nobody, right or left, is very solid on the issues - everyone waffles. There is plenty of treating and speech-making but very little action (sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes it is not such a good thing).

Who was Senator Sorghum? He was a fictitious Senator, modelled after Democrats during the second Cleveland administration who supported the sugar tariffs (which we still have today, thank you very much). Senator Sorghum even penned a book on political wisdom with quips such as these:

MAJORITY

"You don't mean to tell me you ever doubt the wisdom of the majority?"

"Well," responded Senator Sorghum with deliberation, "what is a majority? In many instances it is only a large number of people who have got tired out trying to think for themselves and have decided to accept somebody else's opinion."

and this one from a book of toasts and jokes:

"Do you think we are happier for the conveniences of telegraph and telephone?"

"Not always," replied Senator Sorghum. "It would be a great comfort to be able to make a speech that exactly agrees with your audience without its being placed immediately before people all over the country who may not feel the same way about it."

See? You can learn something new every day - this is why I read the paper from 100 years ago. Who, today, would be considered a Sen. Sorghum? Ted Kennedy? Bob Byrd? Ted Stevens?