Before I begin droning let me apologise for my absence today. 'Domestic events, dear boy, domestic events', to paraphrase one of my boring and over-used quotes.
My preceding post went back to 1963 and the murder of President Kennedy, and this post remains in that era. I am provoked to it by the imminent release of a new film, "LBJ", which is about to be released with Woody Harrelson playing the lead. The film is reviewed by Kyle Smith at The National Review and he points up the deeply peculiar nature of the late Lyndon Baines Johnson. He was, after all, the archetypal 'good ol' Southern boy' and any one of the multitude of crass insults he tossed at 'niggers' would, if spoken today, have ended his career in a second.
And yet ... and yet ... this foul-mouthed, bully boy used all of his considerable skills at political thuggery to drive through the Civil Rights Act which was, arguably, the greatest step forward for black Americans since the Civil War. I know next to nothing about this contradictory, fascinating and, I suspect, deeply unpleasant man and so I throw myself on the mercy of my American readers to point me towards a detached but professional biography - er, but don't hang about, Xmas is coming and I will need to add it to the 'book wish list' I always send to 'SoD' on the 1st December!
LBJ,
Lendum Billions Johnson
A vile man willing to do or sacrifice anything or anyone for power. Maybe no modern American President was as destructive during his Presidency and no Presidency has done more lasting damage than his. Not even Obama, though close and maybe not even Woodrow Wilson, though close.
The worst follow on to the murder of JFK. He should have been in JFKs place.
Posted by: Whitewall | Thursday, 19 October 2017 at 18:55
Don't hold back, Whiters! Don't think you have to give a bland and balanced account just because we are sensitive English ladies and gentlemen!
Posted by: Whyaxye | Thursday, 19 October 2017 at 21:24
Way back in my youth when I didn't know shiite about politics, I voted for this asshole Democrat. Here is a ROTFLMAO recording of a phone call he made from the White House to buy pants from a clothier (I kid you not):
LBJ's Bunghole Needs Room!
Posted by: TheBigHenry | Thursday, 19 October 2017 at 22:09
Whyaxye,
I have been working on my self restraint lately.
Henry...that was funny! I used to hear men speak that way when I was young.
Posted by: Whitewall | Thursday, 19 October 2017 at 22:29
"For Caro, writing a biography is writing a thriller—in Johnson's case, a Western. You can't stop turning the pages. He doesn't like Johnson, but the facts are there so you can make your own judgments. I can't recommend this book highly enough."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson
(Supposedly David, Doris Kearns Goodwin has been reputed to've written a pretty good book - lemme see ...
https://charlierose.com/videos/20378
)
Posted by: JK | Thursday, 19 October 2017 at 23:13
I couldn't wade through Flexner's 4-volume bio of George Washington, though GW (along with Lincoln) was America's greatest President.
No offense, JK, but I can't imagine who would want to read 4-volumes worth of LBJ (with a 5th one still in the works!).
So many books; so little time.
Posted by: TheBigHenry | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 03:40
Henry, please put me out of my misery and tell me what "ROTFLMAO" stands for - I am braced because I suspect it will be fearfully rude!
JK, thanks for the tips but alas, like Henry, I don't think I could cope with a 4/5 volume bio of LBJ - I', still struggling with the 1,000 page bio of Lord Salisbury! Also, I checked Ms. Goodwin's effort and I gather it is full of 'psycho-babble' - 'nuff said, I think!
Still 'n' all, as LBJ might have said, I must find out more about this extraordinary man.
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 08:51
Not Henry, but here you will find the definition you seek.
Posted by: Up2L8 | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 13:34
Thanks, 'Uppers', coming from Henry it was very much milder than I imagined!
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 13:41
He was right greedy, too. Everyone in Texas knew how he and Ladybird got all those television and radio stations. Still, like all gangsters, he could also be quite generous. His lawyer, a patient of mine, told how it came to be that the lawyer and Mrs Lawyer were going to Europe for the first time. Lyndon said, "You'll see all manner of things you may not need, but will surely want, so, here's a check for ten G's, spend them wisely." As I said in a previous comment, the fact that Lyndon derived some benefit from the assassination does not mean that he was involved in the plot. He did not even arrange for people in South Texas to be killed. That was the work of third parties, more locally concentrated thugs. Yes, they delivered votes for Lyndon in a Democratic primary that got him into the Senate, but he does not appear to have been involved at all in the murders. How lovely life would be, if the Clintons had such clean hands.
Is it any wonder then, that those of us who have been around for a while think of the Democrats as career criminals? If you read American media accounts of the latest corruption scandal, you begin to see a pattern. If the perpetrator is a Republican, it is often the first word in the story, as in, "Republican Senator J Robert Goodsoul is facing charges, etc." If the guy is a Democrat, that fact will be buried somewhere in the next to last paragraph on an inside page. Millions of people think that Senator Menendez is a Republican, even now. I rest my case.
Republican party rules require a Republican under indictment to resign his or her committee positions and chairmanships. A Democrat has to resign before he reports to the penitentiary, maybe? Local Democrat prosecutors take advantage of this, persuing indictments of sitting Congress members on balsawood charges, that, when they have all been thrown out, three or four year later, have completely wrecked the political career of a good man. That is absolutely not limited to Texas. Alaska Governor Palin was forced to resign, because she could not afford the legal costs of defense against bogus charges, that mysteriously evaporated as soon as she left office. So, I see Democrats, and I used to be one, as a chronic infestation. LBJ is dead, thanks be to God, although his family controls media and a huge amount of property around Austin. I am happy to say that their wealth does not depend upon anything I might say or write. so I feel relatively safe. His case is handled now in a Higher Court.
Posted by: Michael F Adams | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 20:30
Thanks for that, Michael, and you have now made me twice as eager to find a good biography of the man, about whom, I remain firmly neutral until I know better!
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 21:25
Just as a first order approximation, according to the wiki "List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes" and the search function of my browser 72 Democrats and 91 Republicans have been convicted during the life of the republic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes
Seems fairly even.
Posted by: Bob | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 22:37
David
Never a hero. I suppose an argument could be made he was technically not a villain, but it is not coming from me.
https://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/lbjs-decision-on-viet-nam.108385/
While not LBJ by name it was on his watch, he probably knew and approved, but certainly consistent with his other actions.
https://grumpyelder.com/2014/11/11/mcnamaras-moron-corps-was-his-name-harris/
As this attemps to be a civil blog I will not expund.
Posted by: Hank | Friday, 20 October 2017 at 23:46
I know, David, abit late. You are welcome.
Posted by: Up2L8 | Saturday, 21 October 2017 at 00:52