[W]e know Donald Trump's a racist, but there is no red badge of courage for calling him that. Racism exists. The question isn't who isn't a racist. It's who is and isn't doing something about racism.In the classic American novel "The Red Badge of Courage," the term appears exactly once and is easily understood:
The mob of men was bleeding.... At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.The "red badge of courage" is a war wound. That's why it's red. It's not a medal you get in recognition of courage. It is physical damage to your fleshly body that may be taken — rightly or wrongly — as evidence that you were courageous in battle.
Booker was right that you don't deserve a courage medal for calling Donald Trump a racist. It's an easy — even pusillanimous — move. ("Pusillanimous" is the opposite of "courageous.") But even if it were courageous and we were inclined to give you a medal for courage, we shouldn't be giving you a red badge of courage! That would mean we should shoot you!
A basic American education should include reading "The Red Badge of Courage." I was forced to read it in high school, and though I found it hard to understand at the time and a half century has passed since I read it, I have not forgotten what "red badge of courage" means. It makes me sad to hear Cory Booker get that wrong. He is one of the best-educated individuals in American politics today. He went to one of the finest high schools, received a BA and an MA from Stanford University, studied at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and then went to the most illustrious law school in the country, Yale. Yet he doesn't know "The Red Badge of Courage." What does that say about American education? This makes me sad.
Even sadder is the low standard for what courage means. Of course, Booker is right that there's no courage in calling Donald Trump a racist. But what did he think was courageous? He said:
We have to come at this issue attacking systemic racism, having the courage to call it out, and having a plan to do something about it. If I am president of the United States, we will create an office in the White House to deal with the problem of white supremacy and hate crimes.It's not courageous to express belief in "systemic racism." It's the basic ideology of the left. It would be more courageous to critique the dogma than to repeat the usual incantations.
Elsewhere in the debate transcript, we see the impoverishment of the concept of courage: Kamala Harris said: "Beto, God love you for standing so courageously in the midst of that tragedy." Beto was not on site during the El Paso shooting. He visited the city afterwards. What was courageous? Opposition to murder and shooting people?!
Booker said Beto showed "such courage" for supporting supporting gun licensing. Warren talked about "courage" to fight Trump on immigration. Buttigieg talked about the "courage" it would take for Congress to vote on military interventions. Harris credited Barack Obama with "courage" for his work on Obamacare. There is no serious effort to engage with the idea of courage.
It's an empty, blather word.
***
It rained. The procession of weary soldiers became a bedraggled train, despondent and muttering, marching with churning effort in a trough of liquid brown mud under a low, wretched sky. Yet the youth smiled, for he saw that the world was a world for him, though many discovered it to be made of oaths and walking sticks. He had rid himself of the red sickness of battle. The sultry nightmare was in the past. He had been an animal blistered and sweating in the heat and pain of war. He turned now with a lover's thirst to images of tranquil skies, fresh meadows, cool brooks, an existence of soft and eternal peace.
Over the river a golden ray of sun came through the hosts of leaden rain clouds.
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121 comments:
Grifters all
What makes the muskrat guard his musk? C-ourage.
He is one of the best-educated individuals in American politics today.
Which, as you astutely observe, isn't saying much.
Courage would you be one of these feckless candidates admitting Trump is not racist, because he isn’t, but he just won’t kowtow the Progs worldview on spreading racial discord in our country.
"It's an empty, blather word."
Do you want to know some other empty blather words?
"You are a racist!" and calling someone " Hitler".
"It's an empty, blather word."
Do you want to know some other empty blather words?
"You are a racist!" and calling someone " Hitler".
best-educated? best-credentialed, maybe. dumb as a post though.
The only "Racists" I see, are the ones who see racism everywhere in everybody who doesn't agree with their ideology.
Booker, like Obama - petted and promoted and moved to the head of the line his entire life.
best-educated? best-credentialed, maybe. dumb as a post though.
These elites are only credentialed not educated. Sad.
Kamala Harris said: "Beto, God love you for standing so courageously in the midst of that tragedy."
....
I think this perfectly encapsulates the Dem platform:
1. Being somewhere is what's important
2. Taking a stance is what's important
3. Saying the right things is what's important
4. Knowing the right people is what's important
None of these people are about results. None of them are about careful analysis of a situation and calling a spade a spade. It's all about superficial looks.
It, of course, takes no courage at all for a Dem candidate for President to blather on about systemic racism or curbing gun violence by taking AR-15s away from “white supremists”. Courage would be being the one going up to their front doors and demanding that they turn over their “white supremist” “assault weapons”. Courage would be for a Dem politician to talk truth to power, ad admit that the gun violence problem in this country doesn’t involve their “assault weapons” used by a tiny number of mass murderers, but rather handguns used by inner city youths, mostly lack to kill other inner city youths again mostly black. A black on black violent crime problem primarily caused by a breakdown of the family caused by the welfare syste foisted upon minority communities by Democrats. Admitting that publicly on the debate stage would take courage.
Booker was right that you don't deserve a courage medal for calling Donald Trump a racist. It's an easy — even pusillanimous — move.
Booker's figure of speech is compatible with this fact, though I doubt he thought it through. What he ends up saying is that calling Trump a racist is safe as houses-- no one's going to metaphorically shoot you for it.
Heh. As has been said...Adios, Johnny Bravo
That stage last night was the best we can do. Think about it.
Here is an example of courage. A name everyone should know. A chubby teen gave his life to save his friends from school shooters. Not as much publicity as would be expected. One shooter transsexual, the other mad at Trump.
"Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old hero who charged a shooter at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado, was posthumously named a Knight of Columbus on Aug. 6 at the organization’s Supreme Convention in Minneapolis.
Castillo’s parents, John and Maria, also accepted the Caritas Medal on his behalf. It is second-highest honor of the Knights of Columbus. Their son is just the fourth recipient of the award, created in 2013 to recognize extraordinary acts of charity and service.
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/08/07/teen-who-died-saving-classmates-school-shooting-made-knight
"White feather of cowardice"
Best post in months.
Monetizing White Guilt can be a problem when none of the White People are feeling guilty anymore. So they all have to be re-educated about the year 1619 when the Original Sin infected the land.
But the Psychological Warfare now has to deal with Imaginary CO2 Sin for using modern energy to raise our standard of living from a dollar a day to hundreds of dollars a day. That far outweighs what the Democrats did to African Americans over the last 150 years.
I mourn what has been lost in America's education of its young these last 50 years or so. sound like an old grumpy geezer? yes. Graduating high school in '69, Civics was a regular class, American history was codified by lovers of American principles, Beowolf and Shakespeare and Auden were insisted upon, freshman mathematics prepared you well for Senior year Calculus, etc.
my fellow hippies who went extreme Red in those days and hung out in college long enough to get into cushy education gigs began systematically changing all that for our children and their children. Chilling.
Agree completely.
In today's schools we're more worried about the color of the skin or the gender of the author than we are about the long term influence a piece of literature will have. We also worry more about whether a book will be entertaining enough to engage the students more than will reading it have a long term residual effect on them. Personally, I'd rather have only half the kids actually read a book that's going to be profound reading than have 100% of the kids read some of the drivel that passes for young adult literature today. There's a common culture that gets established by most everyone having a familiarity with the same literature. Today that's Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen. While entertaining, neither author of those characters writes higher level literature. It's like the Trixie Beldon or the Hardy Boys books from the 50s, but now we get excited when kids read those books.
Agree completely.
Booker said Beto showed "such courage" for supporting supporting gun licensing. Warren talked about "courage" to fight Trump on immigration. Buttigieg talked about the "courage" it would take for Congress to vote on military interventions. Harris credited Barack Obama with "courage" for his work on Obamacare. There is no serious effort to engage with the idea of courage.
It's an empty, blather word.
In fairness, most of the terms this pack of clowns regularly deploy could be defined so. They seem to have redefined terms like "racist" and "white supremacist" to essentially mean any person they disagree with. They're either unable or uninterested in making proper arguments, instead resorting to base insults. And then they propose unrealistic, even fanastical solutions to complex problems. I realize that I'm not their audience, but I struggle to understand where they imagine the mindset of the typical American voter is.
It's not courageous to express belief in "systemic racism."
No, but it's common to pretend that spouting calculated applause lines is courageous. And why not, when catching a ball is routinely described as courageous?
"[W]e know Donald Trump's a racist.." There is zero evidence of that. It would be instructive for someone call on his accusers to actually list his racist actions, because I think their trying to elucidate the supposed racism would be very instructive regarding the shallowness of their charge.
Looking at the 'Best and Brightest' of the Democratic Party on display is... worrisome.
How did they get to a point where a serious inbreeding program would be likely to RAISE their collective IQ?
Boofer is a highly educated ignoramus who is running as a Democrat, trying to win the votes of the majority, I assume, by calling the majority of the people inherently evil.
Cory Booker is a boob.
Cory Booker is a boob.
I'm reminded of Mr. Peabody, and Sherman. Fractured Fairy Tales.
Cory Booker is a boob.
He [Booker] is one of the best-educated individuals in American politics today. He went to one of the finest high schools, received a BA and an MA from Stanford University, studied at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and then went to the most illustrious law school in the country, Yale
Which only goes to show how worthless a lot of our present day education is.
Sorry for the repeats, just realized you were moderating before posting (although it does bear repeating that Cory Booker is a boob).
When hear D's speak of courage, I think of Dan Rather.
A simple internet search to the query, "What is courage," produces these two definitions of courage from the Oxford English Dictionary:
"the ability to do something that frightens one: bravery."
"strength in the face of pain or grief."
Mr. Booker seems to have failed on two counts--following the Mob and calling Trump a racist at the same time (as in "[W]e know Trump is a racist."
He would have soared in pubic opinion if he had said, "Trump is NOT a racist and the country gains nothing by slinging this word about so meaninglessly." That would have taken courage, and the ensuing shit he would have gotten most certainly have earned a Red Badge of Courage.
He misspoke. Meant to say "Order of the Red Banner".
There should be a courage bullshit tag.
Real courage would for one of the candidates to say:
"We all must fight racism everyday but let's not forget that over the last 70 years, the people of the United States have eliminated 90% of outright racism the laws and activities of our country. We are going in the right direction, and the American people can all take pride in that."
Straw men don't draw blood.
Real courage would for one of the candidates to say:
"We all must fight racism everyday but let's not forget that over the last 70 years, the people of the United States have eliminated 90% of outright racism the laws and activities of our country. We are going in the right direction, and the American people can all take pride in that."
I wouldn't trust any of them to fix a paper jam in my printer.
Trump oddly quiet about the debate.
Even he is embarrassed.
Makes one think of Booker's Spartacus moment, when he compared being a US senator challenging another Yale Law grad's fitness to being a slave leader leading his fellows in rebellion against Roman oppressors.
He probably should have paid more attention humanities classes back in his decades of formal education.
You could get a red badge from stabbing. It is bad that Booker doesn't know the literary history of the term "red badge of courage", but it also highlights Booker's lack of military and law enforcement familiarity. I don't think you'd find a military soldier or police officer, whether they read the book or not; that didn't understand what "red badge of courage" meant. Heck, I suspect gang members understand the term. In short, Booker is not your "law and order" or "strong defense" candidate.
Still waiting for someone to give me some examples of PDJT's racism.
Either words or deeds.
Bueller....?
Bueller...?
John Henry
The question isn't who isn't a racist. It's who is and isn't doing something about racism.
Is calling other people racist while supporting racism yourself "doing something about racism"? Maybe in some abstract sense but not in any meaningful way.
We do give a purple badge of courage that is sort of analogous to Crane's book.
We call it the Purple Heart given for wounding (the red badge) by the enemy.
You have to actually bleed to get it though.
Unless your name is Kerry.
John Henry
If you can believe in socialism (even "socialism-lite"), or the insanely redistributive polices these candidates are all pushing, you are not well educated. As noted up-thread, Booker's degrees merely show him as well-credentialed. If he never got around to reading much of the literary canon of the West, then he missed being "educated" by a mile.
limited,
What could he possibly say about the debate to make them look any worse than they are?
I suspect that the Repos are busy this morning cutting out clips to use in ads. Not sure they need to do that. they could just cut it into random 30 second snippets and run those pretty effectively.
John Henry
Blogger glenn said...
That stage last night was the best we can do. Think about it.
The best they could do.
John Henry
Blogger glenn said...
That stage last night was the best we can do. Think about it.
No, the best they can do.
John Henry
Does someone have a clip of him saying "Red Badge of Courage"? It was in the few minutes I watched and I distinctively remember him saying something else. It was clear that he meant the red badge of courage but I thought I heard him say the read bag of courage.
John Henry
Courageous were those guys who flew airliners into buildings for what they perceived to be a greater cause.
It makes me sad to hear Cory Booker get that wrong. He is one of the best-educated individuals in American politics today. He went to one of the finest high schools, received a BA and an MA from Stanford University, studied at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and then went to the most illustrious law school in the country, Yale. Yet he doesn't know "The Red Badge of Courage." What does that say about American education? This makes me sad.
Preach it, Sister Ann! PUH-REECH!
It is difficult to fathom, isn't it? But, having run across oodles of amazingly credentialed people in my years in DC who seemed to have yuuuuge gaps in their educations, I am no longer surprised by such things.
Progressives have drifted into a dream world where nothing bad should ever happen and no one should ever bear a wound, even to their dignity or self-image (however inflated). They are living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Here on Earth, people have to take things as they are, experiment with improvements, reinforce what works, and dismiss what doesn't. And some things are worth shooting and being shot for, if it comes to that.
Politicians love to see themselves as "courageous superheroes" rather than as simple servants of the people. I personally find this very offputting.
Trump oddly quiet about the debate.
Even he is embarrassed.
Nope, he doesn't want to draw any attention away from the crazies.
Courageous were those guys who flew airliners into buildings for what they perceived to be a greater cause.
For 72 virgins ?
Standard lefty thinking.
Booker's misuse of a phrase from some old novel is quite trivial compared to the other things he said, which were a combination of extremely stupid and extremely dishonest.
Daniel Jackson said...
A simple internet search to the query, "What is courage," produces these two definitions of courage from the Oxford English Dictionary:
"the ability to do something that frightens one: bravery."
"strength in the face of pain or grief."
One of the bonuses of being an editor is I am comfortable arguing with dictionary definitions. I don't care if the word "Oxford" does come at the front, these definitions are woefully incomplete. Intent matters. To be courageous, it is not enough that it be dangerous or scary--foolhardy covers that just as well.
To be courageous, it must be for some higher purpose. Courage is more about risk or sacrifice for the benefit of another.
Booker's misuse of a phrase from some old novel is quite trivial compared to the other things he said, which were a combination of extremely stupid and extremely dishonest.
A black candidate who can only discuss race isn't going very far. And, with his background, I find it difficult to believe he was exposed to very much racism. Stanford is hardly a breeding ground for white supremacy.
I thought I heard him say the read bag of courage.
Booker was talking about the time he let a blind girl shave his scrotum on a dare, at Oxford probably, if I had to guess. Anyway, he started to tell the story, but then thought better of it.
Does someone have a clip of him saying "Red Badge of Courage"?
He has a tweet that uses the term "badge of courage" with no color (he's colorblind... does that mean he is not racist or not woke to systemic racism?). The difference between "badge of courage" and "red badge of courage" may foster discussion in the way Trump might say confefe. However, simple language would say "it isn't courageous to call someone racist" and then pivot to his message "do something" about the effects (he uses the term "infects").
Anyway, I've read and wrote more about Cory Booker today than all my past conversations about him combined. Yet, still not persuaded he could run the Executive Branch.
Booker was right that you don't deserve a courage medal for calling Donald Trump a racist. It's an easy — even pusillanimous — move. ("Pusillanimous" is the opposite of "courageous.") But even if it were courageous and we were inclined to give you a medal for courage, we shouldn't be giving you a red badge of courage! That would mean we should shoot you!
Sounds like a good idea to me. Call somebody a racist, get shot. Works for me.
If it takes no courage to call Trump a racist, then it takes even less to agree with the sentiment.
Googled RBoC figuring it's in common use. Quick look showed multiple hits of Alan dershowitz saying he viewed being shunned on Martha's vineyard over defense of Trump his RBoC. Piece on Trump supporters who view their red MAGA caps as their RBoC. Stopped looking at that point. Fair to say one of numerous phrases that alters meaning over time
Affirmative action in higher education
.
Also turned up a July article quoting Booker saying it's no great badge of courage to call Trump a racist. So sounds like a regular line of his and the Rhodes Scholar just misspoke last night.
Readering reads: Quick look showed multiple hits of Alan dershowitz saying he viewed being shunned on Martha's vineyard over defense of Trump his RBoC. Piece on Trump supporters who view their red MAGA caps as their RBoC. Stopped looking at that point. Fair to say one of numerous phrases that alters meaning over time
Those two examples are closer to the literary allusion than is Booker's comment.
Shorter readering: Its okay when dems get something wrong, besides its someone else's fault anyway and what difference, at this point, does it make? Plus, Trump just says stuff...
"Donald Trump is a racist, or I wish I may be shot."
Narr
Life is allusion
Booker is a dope. Everyone can see it, but he gets a pass for being a nonthreatening black.
He'll always have a job in the government, somewhere.
Perhaps Booker getting his pre-planned lines wrong is why his actress "girlfriend"-beard wont endorse him!!
If its true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, then there has never been a more fonder couple than they!!
It takes a real Rhodes Scholar to muff a simple line.
It took me years to figure out for sure exactly what "waving the bloody shirt" meant. Can we say that Kerry waved the bloody band-aid? JFK certainly traded on PT-109 for all Joe was worth.
Perhaps Booker was inspired by pundits' "red meat."
Shorter Drago: readering posted, must counter.
RalphL: and Trump waved the bloody tampon when he went after Megan Kelly during the '15-16 debate season?
Today, people wear the Red Hat of Courage. In college, over 30 years ago, we delved into Crane's novel in a history class. Our group was tasked to try to figure out who gave Crane his background material, as he was obviously using CW vets as sources. We traced where he was, and the units recruited near there. Our conclusion was the 124th NYSV, Orange County NY. Could be wrong, but the fights he describes almost exactly correlate the early experiences of that unit.
Booker went to Stanford as a Football player and he's black. So he got an AA spot at Oxford. While at Yale Law he founded the Shabtai Society:
Founded in 1996 by graduate students Ben Karp, Noah Feldman, Cory Booker, and Michael Alexander and Rabbi Shmully Hecht, the society aims to attract Jewish and non-Jewish leaders on Yale's campus in order to create dialogue between various branches of Judaism and between the secular and religious worlds in an intellectual salon setting.
National Political leaders often share intimate conversation and personal reflections of their successes and failures at the Shabtai table. Guests with political careers include Richard Blumenthal, Russ Feingold, Joseph Lieberman, Dannel Malloy, Susan Bysiewicz, Matt Brown, R. James Woolsey, Jr., Toni Harp, Joe Ganim, Josh Mandel, Adam Schiff, Ted Deutch, Nick Muzin, Noah Pollak, Larry Obhof, Joseph Klein and others.
When is Cory going to courageously come out of the Closet? That's my question.
Ralph,
Joe Kennedy Jr spent the war in a safe job flying patrols over the Atlantic. Never heard a shot fired in anger. He figured that this would never get him elected after the war and needed to do something "heroic". He volunteered to take off a remote controlled B-25 loaded with explosive to bomb the sub pens and it blew up, killing him.
JFK was rejected by both Army and Navy on health grounds but felt that he could never be politically viable unless he served. He got special exemptions to join the Navy but was restricted to DC office work. Until he got involved with a suspected German spy. That got him sent to the Pacific.
I recently read an interesting article on how he got T-Boned. Basic incompetence but of the engine controls, not what I had suspected. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2003/february/did-jfks-order-sink-pt-109
LBJ wore the "Least deserved and most displayed silver Star ever" all his life after the war.
Reagan did what he did best during the war to buff up his image.
Blumenthal claims he was in Vietnam.
Even Joe McCarthy who had a pretty good, courageous, record during the war had to embellish his actual record.
Quick: What do we know about Tulsi Gabbard and Dan Crenshaw? War heroes (Hero perhaps a bit strong in Gabbard's case but she did serve under fire)
All politicians do it.
Just that generally they have some basis, however sketchy (LBJ) for it. Booker takes it to a new level with this.
John Henry
Even worse, appaerntly he's been doing this for months. The whole set up -- opposing Trump, RBoC, it's about what you're doing to fight racism -- it's a talking point.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/454680-booker-no-great-badge-of-courage-for-calling-trump-a-racist
He is one of the best-educated individuals in American politics today. He went to one of the finest high schools, received a BA and an MA from Stanford University, studied at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and then went to the most illustrious law school in the country, Yale. Yet he doesn't know "The Red Badge of Courage." What does that say about American education? This makes me sad.
Was he an affirmative action admission to all of those "institutions of higher learning"?
I dunno, Professor; a white person telling a non-white person that you find their education lacking is likely "problematic" no matter how true and accurate it is. Gotta watch yourself!
Anyway Dan Crenshaw could not be reached for comment.
I always think of how Shakespeare has Coriolanus dismiss (in nearly haughty tones, usually) the scars and bloodshed he has endured on behalf of his nation--even as those around him (his mother, most memorably) point that out to the mob as clear evidence of his worth, sacrifice on their behalf, and virtue.
The 2011 Coriolanus movie is pretty good--Ralph Fienes, Vanessa Redgrave, the always-great Brian Cox, and even a solid performance from Gerard Butler.
MENENIUS
Lo, citizens, he says he is content:
The warlike service he has done, consider; think
Upon the wounds his body bears, which show
Like graves i' the holy churchyard.
CORIOLANUS
Scratches with briers,
Scars to move laughter only.
Well, we live in an era when smart people think "courage" is removing headphone jacks from cell phones.
Well, we live in an era when smart people think "courage" is removing headphone jacks from cell phones.
Booker is such a bumbling moron. He makes it uncomfortable to watch him because I feel embarrassed for him. Being from NJ, I still can’t fathom how he managed to get elected. But, as bumbling morons go, he’s a treasure-trove of idiotic statements and creepy facial expressions. He never disappoints.
I believe it was Aristotle--or maybe it was Hopalong Cassidy--who said that courage is not an unqualified or stand-alone virtue. The armies of the Third Reich showed courage, but to what end? Statists who show courage in promoting statism aren't exactly in the same league as Tom Paine or the people who signed the Declaration of Independence, risking imprisonment or hanging in the cause of liberty.
Color supremacy is not a clear, let alone progressive problem. Americans, in the majority, are not rabid diversitists.
Trump is not a diversitist (e.g. racist). There is no evidence that he indulges color judgments, assess value, or affirmatively discriminates based on low information attributes.
Obamacare avoided addressing progressive prices and local availability, and instead promoted smoothing functions and consolidation to force a perception of affordability and availability. Obamacare is a clump of policies that are not viable and should be aborted.
readering: Googled RBoC figuring it's in common use. Quick look showed multiple hits of Alan dershowitz saying he viewed being shunned on Martha's vineyard over defense of Trump his RBoC. Piece on Trump supporters who view their red MAGA caps as their RBoC.
As Mockturtle already said, the Dershowitz usage actually fits the original meaning, albeit figurative rather than literal.
But you did not find a "[p]iece on Trump supporters who view their red MAGA caps as their RBoC." You found a piece on Trump supporters who have been verbally and physically attacked for wearing MAGA caps in which the [b]author[/b] refers to the cap itself as a red badge of courage. None of the "Trump supporters" she wrote about did so.
So, in other words, you found one other person besides Booker who used it incorrectly.
Congratulations.
"Heck, I suspect gang members understand the term."
Maybe "T Bone" can explain it to him.
readering: "Shorter Drago: readering posted, must counter."
readering posted, easily countered.
"If I am president of the United States, we will create an office in the White House to deal with the problem of white supremacy and hate crimes."
Hell yes, we're going to take your white supremacy and hate.
I am not generally a Cory Booker fan and I only watched a very small segment of the "debate." I was thankful I did catch Cory being smarter that everyone else, and saying to Jorge, "no, and I'll repeat that in Spanish, NO!" That showed me he is really very intelligent and quick on his feet, plus he didn't succumb to the fake Hispanic stuff going on. That is really the only part of the big show I saw.
It makes me sad to hear Cory Booker get that wrong. He is one of the best-educated individuals in American politics today. He went to one of the finest high schools, received a BA and an MA from Stanford University, studied at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and then went to the most illustrious law school in the country, Yale. Yet he doesn't know "The Red Badge of Courage."
Credentialed, not accomplished. (quoting insty)
It's obvious, there is a difference between memorizing the material, and learning. I see it everyday.
I once worked with a girl that went through high school in 3 years, then got her BS in animal science in 3 years. She was in charge of our grid soil sampling, and VRT subscriptions for fertilizer application. She came up to me one day and asked me how big an acre was. I told her 43,560 sq ft. She said yes she knows if you multiply the length of field by the width, and divide by 43,560 you get the acres of that area. But what are the dimensions of 1 acre? I said, like the square root of 43,560? She just stared at me...So I walked her over to a calculator, plugged in 43,560 hit enter and showed her the answer. She still did not understand. I literally had to draw her a picture. She had been pondering this for days, and could not reason out solution.
Credentialed, not accomplished.
It's worse than ignorance. He was showing off. Gussying up a comment with a literary reference, an allusion to give the illusion of sophistication.
Readering those are not examples of a phrase "changing meaning". Red badge is an allusion. In Dersh 's case to a metaphorical wound, and with the hat to at least something red. They both fit within the normal and obvious ambit of an informed allusion. Booker's does not, it's just ignorant, as AA points out.
Crazy Jane: Makes one think of Booker's Spartacus moment...
Yes, I wondered what he meant by equating his non-leak to an "I am Spartacus" moment, where one takes responsibility for someone else's action. It was absurd. it doesn't even make sense to mockingly call Booker Spartacus the way he mangled the reference so badly. This seems to be a pattern. I wonder what he'll come up with next?
Spartacus, the vegan bachelor who can make his eyes really big. The heavily-credentialed politician with a really thin skin.
Not going to sell.
If he ever said anything remotely like what Mikec suggested above, he’d have it made. But truthfully, the Democrat crazy base would shellac him (and never forgive him) for it, and a lot of folks out there are still smarting from the results of the most recent “post-racial” President.
"I will not speak!" answered Hester, turning pale as death, but responding to this voice, which she too surely recognised. "And my child must seek a heavenly father; she shall never know an earthly one!"
"She will not speak!" murmured Mr. Dimmesdale, who, leaning over the balcony, with his hand upon his heart, had awaited the result of his appeal. He now drew back with a long respiration. "Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman's heart! She will not speak!"
The scarlet letter of courage
W]e know Donald Trump's a racist, but there is no red badge of courage for calling him that. Racism exists. The question isn't who isn't a racist. It's who is and isn't doing something about racism.
Don't forget about the false claims of racism that poison our modern culture and politics, Cory, you lying disgrace:
-Michael Brown
-Jussie Smollett
-Duke Lacrosse
-Rolling Stone on Virginia Frat
-Oberlin Bakery case
I wouldn't put anyone's military service down as "buffing up your record".
Joe Kennedy Junior, was in Coastal Command and flew 50 missions. Which was a dangerous job. While the lost on each mission was low, maybe 1/250, if you fly 50 missions - your chance of dying was 20% (math simplified). JFK was 4-F. He pulled strings to get INTO Combat. I think Bob dole and JFK earned their "red badge of Courage".
Booker isn't very bright - for a US Senator. I know that's a low bar. He was tied with Hazy Crazy Hirano as the dumbest questioner during the Kavanaugh hearings. At times, the man literally didn't make sense or showed he had zero understanding of the US Supreme Court.
BTW, its tragedy that Stephen Crane and Jack London died so young.
Amy Klobuchar said she “valiantly” worked on some piece of legislation which annoyed me. . I know valiant also means determined, but when I think of someone who is valiantly doing something I think of being courageous
All you people!
With your book smarts and your facts.
The modern world doesn't care about definitions!
The modern world chooses Truth over facts
Blogger rcocean said...
I wouldn't put anyone's military service down as "buffing up your record".
Joe Kennedy Junior, was in Coastal Command and flew 50 missions. Which was a dangerous job. While the lost on each mission was low, maybe 1/250, if you fly 50 missions - your chance of dying was 20% (math simplified). JFK was 4-F. He pulled strings to get INTO Combat. I think Bob dole and JFK earned their "red badge of Courage".
I didn't mean to put anyone down. Sure, flying all those missions was dangerous for Joe Junior. It would have been heroic enouogh for most people but he knew that as a politician after the war he would lose ground to others who had been shot at in combat. Hence he volunteered for a very dangerous in which he died. Had it worked, destroy8ing the U-Boat pens in St Nazaire, it would have been a significant feat.
JFK did NOT volunteer for hazardous service. He was allowed in the military only because of who his father was and on the condition that he stay behind a desk in DC. He got involved with a suspected German spy, Inga Arvad, and basically had to leave town. Joined the PTs but was supposed to serve in Florida. Kept hopping a train to DC to carry on with Arvad and got sent to the Pacific.
After he boat got sunk he was pretty heroic but the events leading to his boat being sunk were not.
But JFK also needed to be in the military to have a political career after the war. Any non-veteran (who was eligible to have served) was severly hobbled as lat as the 1970s.
John Henry
I think Bob dole and JFK earned their "red badge of Courage".
Yes, separable. Offer criticism when it is deserved. Give credit where it is due.
Everyone on stage last night loudly believed Mousey Blasey Ford so they can all GFOAD. If we had a functioning press someone would follow up and ask them if they want to walk back any of their smears on Kavanaugh and his family.
-Michael Brown
-Jussie Smollett
-Duke Lacrosse
-Rolling Stone on Virginia Frat
-Oberlin Bakery case
-Trayvon Martin got the ball rolling.
My point was that JFK exploited PT109 politically. McCain once said he wouldn't trade on his Vietnam service.
IIRC, Reagan served in the Army Reserves in the 30's. They taught him to ride.
rhhardin @5:03 PM:
It is a wonderful book, novella, really (the first 40 pages are entertaining enough but are there just for the weight, I think).
There's a lot of truth in it. Ironic, and rather sad.
Roy Lofquist @6:08 PM sums up the situation we are in, and that we face, very well.
Well said, Roy Lofquist.
If Cory is the nominee he can claim to have “seen the elephant.”
Did Booker actually say “red badge of courage?” I ask that because The Hill quoted him as saying something similar in July, using the phrasing “great badge of courage.” That makes me think he was either mistranscribed or misdelivered his standard line, which is different than misunderstanding what red badge of courage means.
Cory Booker is being politically courageous, in the red badge of courage sense, in advocating for reparations. This is cutting into his political support. The wound will probably be fatal to his Presidential campaign in 2020.
The third servile war, was ended by pompei, it didnt do anything but comcentrate power in hos hands,
The catiline war (which coppola is revising after a fashion in metropolis) further weakened tthe republic.
Did Booker actually say “red badge of courage?”
He actually said, "red bag of courage." Swallowed the d.
Not sure if he swallowed the D, I think he left it out because he is a pompous fool. I cannot find a reference to the "Red BAG of courage" anywhere but here, and I clearly heard him say it...2 times I heard it on snippets of the 10 Dwarfs "Debate".
Excellent points in the blog, and I am glad other people heard "BAG"... imagine if Biden had made that mistake? Or the President?
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