Saturday, March 01, 2008
Maverick: not just an old TV show
Today’s Washington Post, writing about John McCain and his status as a “maverick”:
“A bad fit, claimed my old friend Maury -- a Maverick by birthright and a maverick by inclination.” A Brand of Politician: To a True Maverick, It's an Earned Label
Now Maury – as in Maury Maverick, Jr. - didn’t just claim that to Washington Post staff writer Joe Holley over a cup of coffee last week. That would be too incredible because Mr. Maverick passed away in 2003. Fortunately Mr. Holley had the foresight to discuss and record the last Maverick’s thoughts on this weighty matter – you know, just in case.
So why doesn’t John McCain deserve the vaunted ‘maverick’ status?
“But Maury insisted that any conservative Republican, by definition, adhered too closely to the status quo to deserve the hallowed label.”
(“conservative Republican”, “status quo”? Obviously, Mr. Maverick had never spent much time in Maryland.)
The term “maverick” apparently arose in reference to an ancestor:
“The eponymous transformation of the family name was pure happenstance. Samuel Augustus Maverick, Maury's great-grandfather, ran a small herd of cattle in the Texas Gulf Coast area in the 1840s. When the Mavericks moved to San Antonio, he left the unbranded animals with a trusted slave named Jack. Soon coastal settlers were referring to any unbranded cow as "one of Maverick's."
Wait a minute – the term “maverick” relates back to the actions of a SLAVE owner? Methinks Mr. Maverick Jr. then is partially correct as to a Republican's suitability for the "maverick" label...and as the Republican party was founded in opposition to the Democrats and their slave-owning ways, no conservative Republican should want such an unholy label.
“A bad fit, claimed my old friend Maury -- a Maverick by birthright and a maverick by inclination.” A Brand of Politician: To a True Maverick, It's an Earned Label
Now Maury – as in Maury Maverick, Jr. - didn’t just claim that to Washington Post staff writer Joe Holley over a cup of coffee last week. That would be too incredible because Mr. Maverick passed away in 2003. Fortunately Mr. Holley had the foresight to discuss and record the last Maverick’s thoughts on this weighty matter – you know, just in case.
So why doesn’t John McCain deserve the vaunted ‘maverick’ status?
“But Maury insisted that any conservative Republican, by definition, adhered too closely to the status quo to deserve the hallowed label.”
(“conservative Republican”, “status quo”? Obviously, Mr. Maverick had never spent much time in Maryland.)
The term “maverick” apparently arose in reference to an ancestor:
“The eponymous transformation of the family name was pure happenstance. Samuel Augustus Maverick, Maury's great-grandfather, ran a small herd of cattle in the Texas Gulf Coast area in the 1840s. When the Mavericks moved to San Antonio, he left the unbranded animals with a trusted slave named Jack. Soon coastal settlers were referring to any unbranded cow as "one of Maverick's."
Wait a minute – the term “maverick” relates back to the actions of a SLAVE owner? Methinks Mr. Maverick Jr. then is partially correct as to a Republican's suitability for the "maverick" label...and as the Republican party was founded in opposition to the Democrats and their slave-owning ways, no conservative Republican should want such an unholy label.
