{"id":4000,"date":"2016-04-27T13:57:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T13:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=4000"},"modified":"2026-09-29T23:43:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T23:43:59","slug":"is-there-a-new-maverick-in-town-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=4000","title":{"rendered":"“Is there a new ‘Maverick’ in town?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

April, 2016 – I’m working on a new piece. \u00a0It’s based on an article I found in an old (November 12, 1998<\/em>) issue of\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/a>.\u00a0Strangely enough, I found the old magazine at the bottom of a\u00a0dumpster<\/a>. And that<\/strong><\/em> – you may come to agree – will turn out strangely appropriate.\u00a0I decided to keep the old\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/a>\u00a0as a souvenir. \u00a0(Based on the cover photo.<\/em>) \u00a0It featured a photo of Bill Clinton, looking rather befuddled, with the headline:\u00a0Sex, Power & The Presidency: The Clinton Conversation<\/a>. \u00a0(See also\u00a0Monica Lewinsky<\/a>.) \u00a0<\/em>But\u00a0inside – starting on page 92 – I found an article that seemed\u00a0much<\/em><\/strong> more relevant to today\u2019s political scene.<\/p>\n

The article\u00a0noted a presidential candidate who showed \u201ca malignant understanding of how angry words, more than real ideas, can be deployed as weapons of power:”<\/p>\n

He knows that repetition \u2013 invoking the same foul claims over and over \u2013 can transform outrageous lies into popular understandings. \u00a0He blithely changes his facts, positions and personae because he is making it up as he goes along and assumes no one will catch up with the contradictions. \u00a0Beneath the mask of conservative idealogue is an amoral pragmatist.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sound familiar? \u00a0Or is this instead a matter of: \u00a0“Can you say\u00a0prescient<\/a><\/em>?”<\/p>\n

And here’s another hint: \u00a0It\u00a0wasn’t<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Donald Trump!<\/p>\n

Anyway, the project-piece turned to be out a bit more complicated than I expected. \u00a0So – in the\u00a0interim<\/a>\u00a0– I offer up this blog-post. \u00a0It’s both a look at the past and a\u00a0teaser<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"NickOne thing some politicians bring up a lot today is “how great things used to be.” \u00a0I agree. \u00a0That was pretty much my point in\u00a0Whatever happened to \u2026 Cassidy<\/a>? \u00a0But I made the same point much earlier in\u00a0\u201cJohnny YUMA was a rebel<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

The title of that post was a take-off from an old\u00a0Seinfeld<\/a>\u00a0bit: \u00a0“A rebel?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Johnny Yuma was a rebel.<\/em>\u00a0 Eckman is a nut\u2026”<\/p>\n

Which also<\/em><\/strong> seems strangely appropriate to politics today.<\/p>\n

But take a closer look at that\u00a0blast from the past<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[Johnny] Yuma faced down intolerance, distrust, greed, confusion and revenge.\u00a0 Despite his rebellious nature, Yuma respected<\/strong> law and order and despised abuse of power.\u00a0 He stood up for the weak and downtrodden.\u00a0 He traveled alone and was often forced to work alone because he was the only one willing to stand up to the bad guys. (E.A.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which – I suppose – brings up the subject of\u00a0mavericks<\/a>\u00a0in general.<\/p>\n

Originally the term referred to “Texas lawyer Samuel Maverick<\/a>, who refused to brand his cattle. The surname Maverick<\/i> is of Welsh origin, from Welsh mawr-rwyce<\/i>, meaning ‘valiant hero.”<\/p>\n

As an adjective the term applies to someone who shows “independence in thoughts or actions.” \u00a0As a noun the term means someone “who does not abide<\/a> by rules.” \u00a0Either that, or someone who\u00a0“creates or uses unconventional and\/or controversial ideas or practices.”<\/p>\n

\"MaverickBut to those of us\u00a0of a certain age<\/a>, the more-familiar connection is to Maverick<\/a>, the “Western<\/a> television series with comedic overtones” that ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962, on ABC<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(The series starred “James Garner<\/a> as Bret Maverick, an adroitly articulate cardsharp<\/a>.”) \u00a0<\/em>Which – I suppose – brings us back to the subject at hand.<\/p>\n

So: \u00a0Is there indeed a “new\u00a0Maverick<\/a>\u00a0in town?” \u00a0Or are today’s politics just another example of\u00a0nothing new under the sun<\/a>? \u00a0(For the original thought, see\u00a0Ecclesiastes 1:9<\/a>: \u00a0“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”)<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ll have the answer in the next post. \u00a0That post in turn will review more fully the\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/a>\u00a0magazine I found at the bottom of a\u00a0dumpster<\/a>. \u00a0(Which I expect to turn out as a great\u00a0metaphor<\/a>.)<\/em> \u00a0In the meantime enjoy this other<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0blast from the past<\/a>:<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

HOPALONG CASSIDY<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n

“Reserved … well spoken, with a sense of fair play,” and:<\/em><\/p>\n

“His drink of choice being sarsaparilla<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Re: “Dumpster.” \u00a0Here the proper term would be “roll-off<\/a><\/em>,” a specific type<\/strong> of\u00a0dumpster<\/a>. \u00a0“Roll-offs” – as I know them – are used in\u00a0recycling<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0(Converting “waste<\/a> materials into reusable objects.”) \u00a0See also Dumpster diving … Dictionary.com<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0Note that when I found the “last century” copy of Rolling Stone<\/a>, I wasn’t “foraging in garbage.” \u00a0I was “stomping down” paper products in the paper-recycling roll-off<\/a>. \u00a0Such stomping-down insures that the roll-off will contain more material to be recycled. \u00a0(In this case paper products, which in turn will\u00a0<\/em>Save More Trees<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0The HOPALONG CASSIDY Poster Page, WILLIAM BOYD<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * April, 2016 – I’m working on a new piece. \u00a0It’s based on an article I found in an old (November 12, 1998) issue of\u00a0Rolling Stone.\u00a0Strangely enough, I found the old magazine at the bottom of a\u00a0dumpster. And that – you may come to agree – will turn out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4000"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29095,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000\/revisions\/29095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}