McCain No True Maverick (TM)
13 October 2008 by Eve
OK, I confess, I just thought this was funny – though not to the Mavericks, it seems…
[snippet] “I’m just enraged that McCain calls himself a maverick,” said Terrellita Maverick, 82, a San Antonio native who proudly carries the name of a family that has been known for its progressive politics since the 1600s, when an early ancestor in Boston got into trouble with the law over his agitation for the rights [my emphasis] of indentured servants [but conversely was one of the first owners of black slaves in the colonies].
It appears that Ms. Maverick’s ancestor Samuel Augustus Maverick (in pic), a Texas cattleman who among other acts signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, had a habit of not branding his livestock, which led to unbranded cattle being called “Maverick’s” and later “mavericks.” The term then became applied to people who also stand out from the herd, so to speak: “refuse to abide by the dictates of or resist adherence to a group; dissenter[s]; [are] independent in thought and action or exhibit such independence” (The Free Dictionary).
The Maverick family didn’t just inherit this legacy, but have continued to illustrate it as well. Ol’ Sam’s grandson Fontaine Maury Maverick, who won both a Silver Star and Purple Heart in World War I, got himself labelled a “Communist” by conservatives, costing him his re-election bid for San Antonio mayor. He went on to serve the Roosevelt Administration in the Smaller War Plants Corporation and coined a term of his own, “gobbledygook;” we use it nowadays mostly as a synonym for any gibberish, but Maury Sr. was referring to the dense bureaucratic language that so infuriated him.
His son Maury Jr., a World War II veteran (Marines), kept up the family tradition as a civil libertarian, lawyer, Texas legislator, and columnist who defended those “scorned by society,” like atheists and draft resisters, with a famed passion. His last piece (I’m still looking for it), published post-mortem by The San Antonio Express-News, strongly spoke out against the impending Iraqi invasion. And his sister Terrellita herself is no slouch, either; she’s a member emeritus of the board of the San Antonio chapter of the ACLU.
[snippet] “It’s just incredible — the nerve! — to suggest that he’s not part of that Republican herd. Every time we hear it, all my children and I and all my family shrink a little and say, ‘Oh, my God, he said it again.’ ”
“He’s a Republican,” she said. “He’s branded.”
13 October 2008, on 8:44 pm
They guy has stood with the Rethuglican party many more times than he has voted against it. He just picked an evangelical as his running mate, largely because she’s an evangelical. A shrewed politician, maybe, a “maveric?”–don’t make me roll my eyes and groan–not again.
13 October 2008, on 9:22 pm
Yeah, Eve…”The noive!”
[ala Bert Lahr?]…
and what utter (& udder?) bullshit!
[ala the McLame & Palin, Rethuglican fuck-turds?]
Nice to see you Posting again, Eve! Thanks for such a timely ‘exposition’.
Here’s hoping, also, that Stardust’s health is improving greatly!
14 October 2008, on 6:19 pm
I don’t get why such a maverick would even want to run for President. There are plenty of rules and standards you must adhere to while you’re President, so why would such a committed maverick ever subject himself to such a thing?
Then again, the standards of the Presidency and Vice Presidency have kind of lowered in the last 8 years. Maybe McCain and Palin are gonna get all mavericky up in Washington and decrease our expectations even more like the couple-o’ mavericks they really are! Yippeee!
(I’m only happy cause I read an article today that said Obama’s lead may be “insurmountable.”)
15 October 2008, on 8:03 am
Eve:
Brilliant! May I use it? I would put a link in one of my own posts, but I’m afraid that would be like ringing the dinner bell for some trolls. Either way, I’ll get it out there.
“Muck FcCain!”
15 October 2008, on 4:48 pm
“Muck FcCain!”
Thanks democommie. I LOL’d!
I think McCain could only be considered a maverick in the same sense that a bovine with Mad Cow Disease would also be considered one.
15 October 2008, on 6:37 pm
ChuckA, thanks! It’s tough posting when my only computer/Internet access right now is at work and in my local library at night and on weekends.
democommie, go right ahead! One of the radio pundits I listen to (can’t remember who or I’d credit them) read from that article the other day, and I loved Terrellita’s remarks. Stardust, ChuckA, and I have joked around in the past about how we want to be really curmudgeonly old folks who get away with murder just because we’re such pains in the ass.
16 October 2008, on 12:00 am
Eve:
Thanks, I’ll be using it tomorrow, with attribution.
I’m already on the curmudgeon JayVee team. I like to rant while I’m walking up and down the aisles at Lowe’s or the supermarket.