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| Vice president Kamala Harris campaigns in Wisconsin Tuesday (photo for the Sun-Times by Anthony Vazquez) |
Say what you will about Northwestern University's former Medill School of Journalism, those annealed in its furnace tend to stick together. Two of my classmates made the complicated trek to Charlevoix, waaaay up in you-can't-get-there-from-here Northern Michigan, for my older son's wedding.
Back in the day, I also schlepped to keep up with my far-flung classmates — I think it was my way to be quasi-adventurous while having someone who knew the territory close by and, not incidentally, a free place to stay.
So when Medill classmate Mary Kay Magistad based herself in Bangkok, freelancing around Asia, I slid by to offer my support. It was a memorable visit — how could it not be? I saw the king and queen of Thailand, at least from a distance, in a procession of red Mercedes ferrying them out of the palace gates, where I happened to be loitering.
And I saw Dan Quayle, then the vice president, up close. He came to town and I couldn't resist showing up at his press conference. The motorcade arrived, police motorcycle outriders, communications vans, Cadillac limousines flown in on Air Force Two. At least a dozen vehicles, this long line of flashing red lights, a strobing parade of American power where, at the very end, a door flies open and disgorges Dan Quayle. I couldn't help think of that scene in a Bugs Bunny cartoon where a huge spaceship spits out a series of smaller vessels, Russian nesting doll style, until finally out pops tiny Marvin the Martian.
Quayle was one of the more laughable vice presidents — remembered today, to the degree he's remembered at all, for telling a class he was visiting that "potato" is spelled "potatoe." Spoiler alert: It's not.
But Quayle also represents all vice presidents, in his invisibility and inadequacy. Among the most astounding things of this very astounding week, after the fact of a powerful man doing a selfless thing for his country — Donald Trump had almost made us forget it is possible — was the alacrity with which the Democrats rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris.
Not to take anything away from her many fine qualities. But it is a reminder that when you're dangling from a cliff from a sapling that's pulling out of the earth, you don't vet the person throwing you the rope too closely. The party ready to vote for Joe Biden's mummified corpse saw that dusty cadaver magically transform into a living, breathing, talking, fund-raising woman. Talk about an upgrade.
So when Medill classmate Mary Kay Magistad based herself in Bangkok, freelancing around Asia, I slid by to offer my support. It was a memorable visit — how could it not be? I saw the king and queen of Thailand, at least from a distance, in a procession of red Mercedes ferrying them out of the palace gates, where I happened to be loitering.
And I saw Dan Quayle, then the vice president, up close. He came to town and I couldn't resist showing up at his press conference. The motorcade arrived, police motorcycle outriders, communications vans, Cadillac limousines flown in on Air Force Two. At least a dozen vehicles, this long line of flashing red lights, a strobing parade of American power where, at the very end, a door flies open and disgorges Dan Quayle. I couldn't help think of that scene in a Bugs Bunny cartoon where a huge spaceship spits out a series of smaller vessels, Russian nesting doll style, until finally out pops tiny Marvin the Martian.
Quayle was one of the more laughable vice presidents — remembered today, to the degree he's remembered at all, for telling a class he was visiting that "potato" is spelled "potatoe." Spoiler alert: It's not.
But Quayle also represents all vice presidents, in his invisibility and inadequacy. Among the most astounding things of this very astounding week, after the fact of a powerful man doing a selfless thing for his country — Donald Trump had almost made us forget it is possible — was the alacrity with which the Democrats rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris.
Not to take anything away from her many fine qualities. But it is a reminder that when you're dangling from a cliff from a sapling that's pulling out of the earth, you don't vet the person throwing you the rope too closely. The party ready to vote for Joe Biden's mummified corpse saw that dusty cadaver magically transform into a living, breathing, talking, fund-raising woman. Talk about an upgrade.
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Oh Neil!
ReplyDeleteHow could you repeat that bizarre Bowdlerized crack of Garner's, when the correct crack was about a "bucket of warm piss"?
It was the prudish newspapers of the 1930s that Bowdlerized his crack into "spit", because no one ever had a bucket of spit.
Because I didn't know.
DeleteA little more deference is called for when responding to EGD. The tiniest of omissions in a forum that provides us with wonderful entertainment, information, humanity, and an opportunity for reflection. Daily. Gratis.
DeleteWhile I appreciate the support Dennis, I don't require deference. Everybody doesn't know most things, so being caught in an omission is no crime — Clark St.s crowing presentation is showy, but forgivable. Similarly Annie's update, below, on Dan Quayle is appreciated. As much as I try to educate people here, I also learn from them. It's a two-way street.
DeleteI think you sold Dan Quayle a bit short. Sure he was completely inconsequential while in office. But according to Woodward and Costa in 'Peril', on January 6 2021 he became a rather important figure in American politics. Woodward and his co-author reported as follows:
ReplyDeleteOn that date Mike Pence called the former VP for advice and
Over and over, Pence asked if there was anything he could do.
“‘Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away,’ Quayle told him.
“Pence pressed again.
“‘You don’t know the position I’m in,’ he said, according to the authors.
“‘I do know the position you’re in,’ Quayle responded. ‘I also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That’s all you do. You have no power.’”
Oh my---how long since anyone has referred to Tom Lehrer! Back to the 60's early daze of comedy vinyl. I just crept behind table to find a small stack of my parents vinyl and found one of Vaughn Meader's "First Family" spoofs of the Kennedys. I think there may be a TL in there too-I know there one one. We had Flip Wilson, Cosby, Newhart as well. Back in the days we could laugh in a bipartisan way.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but Quayle was a white privileged lawyer and a wanker
Quayle was a white privileged lawyer and a wanker who stood up for the Constitution in a seminal moment in U.S. history - Pence was looking for a rationale to follow Trump's command and Quayle told him to follow the law - while most Republicans were following Trump's march towards Fascism.
DeleteBecause of the advice he gave Mike Pence, Dan Quayle will have a better historical reputation than the reputation he had.
DeleteWhen Truman was unexpectedly summoned to the White House on that April afternoon in 1945, it was Eleanor Roosevelt who told him "The President is dead."
ReplyDeleteTruman asked her if there was anything he could do. She replied:
"Is there anything we can do for YOU, Harry? You're the one in trouble now."
"
I originally included that exchange in the column, but cut it for space. Great minds....
DeleteHarry is my all-time favorite on a short list of favorites. Six, maybe seven. Those who liked Truman called him "Harry", just as Biden has always been "Joe." He reminds me very much of Truman. I'm very sad to see him go.
DeleteTruman was as shocked as anybody else. He was probably never told how sick FDR was. The following day, Harry, who had grown up on a Missouri farm and who had also been a farmer himself, said to reporters:
“Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don’t know if you fellows ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.”
Honest, plain, direct. Like the man himself.
One of my favorite Truman quotes.
Truman was a good one. As was TR, FDR and Eleanor.
ReplyDeleteGreat column. I learned things. Last sentence: “We can just wait and find out.” To that let’s add, “Let’s vote. Let’s encourage others to vote. Let’s do what we can to help people register to vote and then actually vote.” We still have to make this happen. —Becca
ReplyDeleteyes-and once again I have the chance to vote for a woman for president.
DeleteWow, the "potatoe" flap. That takes me back...
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall Quayle tried to double down on his spelling mistake by making it sound like a matter of opinion as to whether "potato" was supposed to have an "e" on the end. What slightly helped his case for his supporters, at least in this area of the Midwest, was that Jewel supermarkets at that time were selling house-branded "Potatoe Pancakes" in their frozen breakfast foods section. A closer look showed that Jewel had apparently reused the graphics from their adjacent "Hash Brown Potatoes" boxes, and some doofus had failed to take off the "e" while deleting the "s" on the end.
I think the credit for that Jewel discovery might go to Bob Herguth in his Sun-Times "Public Eye" column of that era (though I don't think Bob was a fan of Dan Quayle). Interestingly, Bob's obituary also mentions another S-T column of his: "Small Potatoes."
"Joe Biden's mummified corpse"
ReplyDeleteI think you're being a tad premature there.
Don't forget that the majority of Dems still supported him.
Several readers misread this line — or I miswrote it. I didn't mean to say that Biden was indeed a mummified corpse. I meant to say that Democrats were willing to vote for him no matter his level of functionality. I lost a reader or two who huffily registered their displeasure and then were shocked to find out that I don't write for the easily-offended. If I said I would vote for the ashes of Joe Biden in an urn before I'd vote for Donald Trump, that is not suggesting that Biden is dead and cremated. It doesn't strike me as a subtle point, but it sure whizzed by a few folks.
DeleteI know I'm late getting here but really, the guy misspelled potato. Who cares? Let he who has never misspelled some simple word cast
ReplyDelete...