Monday, October 31, 2011
Doesn't pass the smell test
Nearly always, when a politician is accused of sexual misconduct, either it immediately and obviously fits the person's overall character and personality, or does so after a bit more about the person comes to light. In the case of the Hermanator, though, the reason these charges that came to light in a Politico article last night seem unlikely at best and more probably impossible is that they are so utterly at odds with what we know about the man.
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Frankly my dear bloggie, I the commie reasonable gentleperson without morals don't give a damn. But what do you mean it doesn't fit his character? Are we starting legends (and lies) already about this man who would be President? Never tolf a lie, throws silver dollars across the Potomac? Doesn't affect my opinion of the man one way or the other. Nor did Anita Hill's accusations against Clarence Thomas, the most right winf of the Supreme Court. What does bother me about Thomas, if not Cain, is their intransigence. Thomas doesn't even associate with people who don't think like him any longer. Dunno about Cain, but, self-righteous intransigence is not a virtue in my book. Ever read Philip Roth's "The Human Stain?" Set during the Clinton impeachment trials, it addresses America's double nature and phony Puritanical streak. Highly recommended! I recently purchased a used hardcover edition at a library book sale.
ReplyDeleteThe Human Stain is set in the 1990s United States, during fierce culture wars, political correctness and the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal. The story is told by Nathan Zuckerman, a writer who lives a secluded life where Coleman Silk is his neighbor. Silk is a classics professor and dean of faculty at Athena College, a fictional institution in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. At 71, Silk is unjustly accused of racism by two black students, because of referring to them as "spooks", since they had never shown up in his seminar: "Do they exist or are they spooks?" Having never seen the students, Silk did not know they were black when he made the comment. The uproar eventually leads to Silk's resignation and soon after, to the death of his wife Iris. Silk starts an affair with one of the school's janitors, Faunia Farley, a 34-year-old woman married to an abusive Vietnam veteran. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that Coleman Silk is a mixed-race man who had been presenting himself as Jewish.
[edit] Awards
[edit] Winner
New York Times "Editors' Choice" (2000)[3]
Koret Jewish Book Award (2000)[4]
Chicago Tribune Editor's Pick (2000)[4]
WH Smith Literary Award (2001)[4]
National Jewish Book Award (2001)[4]
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2001)[5]
Prix Médicis étranger; Meilleur livre de l'année 2002
[edit] Finalist
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction (2000).[6]
L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award (2001)[4]
[edit] References
1.^ a b Taylor, Charles (April 24, 2000). "Life and life only". Salon.com.
2.^ Philip Roth interview at bloomberg.com
3.^ NY Times' Editors' Choices of 2000
4.^ a b c d e "The Human Stain: Awards". Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
5.^ PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: Winners 1996–2006
6.^ LA Times book awards (press release)
(Source: Wikipedia)
Does sound like a good read indeed. From you synopsis it sounds like it makes a rather pointed point about how tangled identity politics have become in recent decades. None of which contradicts my basic point that it is obvious that Herman Cain exudes a different kind of character from Anthony Weiner, John Edwards, Bill Clinton, or that Republican guy from Nevada.
ReplyDeleteMy overall take is that the utterly savage climate of American politics today is going to prevent us from having the kind of president we ought to have.
If I were so inclined, I'd have to weigh the evidence against against the Herminator. Seems like a nice(yes, nice counts, since, as I think TR said, "nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care") enough, certainly smart and business savvy enough candidate(his Hoosier connection is an MS in Computer Sci from Purdue you know, son of a great pair of hardworking parents, he himself hardworking and long-term married, we all sometimes say or do slightly off-color stuff, so that might well likely be what these accusations are about. I find it hilarious and distresing that some are calling this the end of his candidacy. Long may you run, Mr. Cain!
ReplyDelete