Posted by
Horizon on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 12:44:12 AM
An interesting text from Rex Warner's "The Young Caesar": What follows is Warner's very realistic fiction...And it's "Caesar" narrating--...
"My indifference to the people's pleasure does me no harm politically. Once the people have given a man their favor, as they gave it to Marius and gave it to me, they will not only tolerate but applaud any act which seems to them eccentric or original. Those who never forgive one for being unusual are invariably members of one's own class" (p.23, 1958).
Anyone who has read this far will be more than capable of developing the comparison I've presented!
Nonetheless, here goes: McCain has won, had won the people's favor even prior to the Palin Pinnacle. He had momentum with "Drill." Then, he makes what even wise man David Gergen called an eccentric choice. Indeed, the folks "not only tolerate but applaud..."
Our text then refers to the elites, the ones "who never forgive." How similar to what has been going on for ten days now!
Maybe this comparison works; maybe not. I do know that the young McCain, like the young Caesar, was a leader already in his own neighborhood--he was looked up to by all--even as a young boy.
Now, I beg your indulgence for one more powerful quote, on the subject of power and the young Caesar's first experience of it after standing up to Sulla, the adversary, on a street while leading young boys--then a crowd--in a chant against the villain. And right in front of the guy. "Yet still the incident caused some stir, and when I returned home later in the day I found rumors of it had preceded me. ...To me, this incident...had some importance...My reflections encouraged me to believe that it is possible to be, at certain decisive moments, entirely without fear, and that this state of fearlessness confers a strange energy and resilience to the whole body and mind, qualities which can even, by a kind of telepathy, affect others as well" (pp 25-26, Rex Warner's "The Young Caesar," 1958.
The reader is encouraged to read more in these chapters, especially "Caesar's" description of those first feelings of what we call power--his ability, by his example and word and deed--to move people. It is the same no doubt for many, many who, like Ross Perot, "woke up one morning and found that, like others can play the piano, I can lead." Governor Palin probably had a similar experience as a young person. It was not just yesterday that she woke up to discover this uncanny ability to inspire and to lead...
McCain appears headed for the White House as President. Odds are fifty-fifty that Sarah will one day be giving her First Inaugural Address. I feel sorry, not for Hillary--but for Obama and all those who fervently placed their hope in him. Sadly, it is not to be.
Why not? That sense of power that Caesar feels in this early part of his life. The McCain Campaign now appropriately feels this very sense of power. It shows on their faces. And the camera doesn't lie. The camera doesn't lie about the dejection on the faces of the Democrats, pundits like Mara Liasson and Michelle Bernard. I, too, I confess, am a little sad. However, I adore Sarah!