Congress has gone home. The president and his family are vacationing in Martha's Vineyard. And most of the political structure (except the ones who can't afford private schools; public schools are already back in session) including the news media, are out of town.
In short, it's pleasant in DC.
The contests over health care, economic stimulus, and even acting-president Eric Holder's appointment of a special prosecutor are mild. The vitriol of commentary is muted.
So what a great time to reach back to those days when politicians used kinder, gentler discourse to discuss their opponents. For example:
John Quincy Adams on James K. Polk: Polk is just qualified for an eminent County Court lawyer....He has no wit, no literature, no point of argument, no gracefulness of delivery, no eloquence of language, no philosophy, no pathos, no felicitous impromptus.
Thaddeus Stevens on Andrew Johnson: In Eqypt, the Lord sent frogs, locusts, murrain, lice, and finally demanded the blood of the first-born of all the oppressors....We have been oppressed by taxes and debts, and He has sent us worse than lice, and has afflicted us with Andrew Johnson.
Walter Wellman on Benjamin Harrison: [Harrison] is narrow, unresponsive and , oh, so cold. As one Senator says, "It's like talking to a hitching post."
Well, maybe looking for a biting sound bite has long been a part of presidential disagreement.
Source of quotes: 1,001 Things Everyone Should Know about American History by John A. Garraty. ISBN: 0-385-24432-0
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Posted by: Aaron J. Aisen | September 05, 2009 at 13:26