The Legacy Song I'm a legacy and I'm okay. I drink all night and I sleep all day. I go to school. I passed Phys Ed and Freshman Algebra. I'm gonna be a Yalie Just like my dear papa. (He's a legacy and he's okay. He drinks all night and he sleeps all day. He goes to school. He passed Phys Ed and Freshman Algebra. He's gonna be a Yalie Just like his dear papa.) I'm a legacy and I'm okay. My Poppy's head of the CIA. I go to school. I studied French. I passed and, from my oeil, Right down my cheek came rolling Sweet lacerates of joy. (He goes to school. He studied French. He passed and, from his oeil, Right down his cheek came rolling Sweet lacerates of joy.) I'm a legacy and I'm okay. CEO of the USA. I went to school. I'm President. I like diversity. I don't believe in quotas. Let 'em earn it just like me. (He don't believe in quotas. Let 'em earn it just like he.) Copyright, 2003, by TommyK (Until forever, less a day, If Jack Valenti has his way. Attaboy, Sonny!)
You forgot to mention where G.W. earned his M.B.A. from Harvard, learned to speak Spanish, and flew an F-105 jet fighter. Yeah, he's really dumb. Bruce
I don't much like the man, but anybody who's against quotas is OK by me. But then, as the first in my family to go to college, just as my father was the first to go to high school, and his father the first to be literate, I must be a defender of entrenched privilege and social elites. Silly me.
Yeah, a guy who wins an election with few votes than that of his opponent must be really intelligent, or perhaps...
I wish Colin Powell would chime in against quotas. His name came up the other night from the "water cooler" philosophers - and was quickly rejected because he was different. Funny - it seems that America does truly reward those who try to attain greater heights. Steven King
That's how the Electoral College works....part of the system that has made the United States the most powerful & prosperous nation in history. I couldn't even guess who the Canadian Prime Minister is. Why is a Canuck so concerned with our choice as President? Bruce
I don't think you'll ever see that. Powell is in favor of reverse discrimination, a.k.a. affirmative action. A list of prominent blacks against quotas would include Alan Keyes, J.C. Watts, and Condoleeza Rice. Bruce
I'd say that Bush has proven himself to be a very adroit politician. He has successfully reinvented himself from being a scion of a Northeastern "patrician" Republican family (think "Kennebunkport") to being a Texas rancher with appeal to the Southern "new Republicans" (former Southern Democrats) and Midwestern small-town "Rotary club" Republicans (think Bob Dole). He's managed to appeal to everyone in the extended Republican coalition, from the fundies to the boardroom captains of industry. He's juggling very well and still has all of the balls in the air. I think that you will see how difficult that kind of political task is when you watch all of the various Democratic contenders trying to position themselves to win key segments of the large, diverse and fractuous Democratic coalition without simultaneously putting off other segments. Remember that it's not the same thing to win contested party primaries and to win a general election. To win over a party, a candidate needs to win over party activists with special-interest agendas. But in order to win over the nation, a candidate needs to win the political center. In parties that are heavily weighted towards loud fundies on one hand, and race-class-gender activists on the other, that ain't easy. The compromises and pandering that win primaries are precisely the kind of things that make moderates uneasy and lose you general elections. Bill Clinton was a master at appearing moderate while simultaneously being a successful coalition builder among single-issue party activists. His instincts pulled him to the center, but he had the *style* (as much as anything) that made the media liberals love him. (Think Barbara Streisand.) That's why he had all those celebrity sleep-overs in the Lincoln bedroom. He could walk into a black church and make it rock. Despite his moderation, the left wing of his party believed that at heart he was one of them. Well, G. W. Bush seems to have the same kind of mojo. His basic instincts are moderate (he appointed more blacks to top positions than any other president in US history). He doesn't "scare the straights" (instead, he offers them dividend tax relief). But he has a mastery of the *style*. He can walk onto Bob Jones University and tell them all about how Jesus has changed his life. That halting delivery of his (he's a poor public speaker) and the sincere look on his face positively brings tears to your eyes. Despite his moderation, he can make the right wing of his party believe that at heart he's one of them.
In his 2nd term Jean Chretien, Canada's prime minister, formed a majority government with 38 % of the vote. We don't vote directly for prime minister, just local members of parliament. The prime minister is normally the leader of the largest political party.
