Newt and Paul Ryan
WASHINGTON
How did so flawed a man as Newt Gingrich get to the top of his
party in the 1990s? For that matter, how did so flawed a man as
Bill Clinton get to the top of our government in the 1990s?
And—here I am giving you a hint to the answer for the above
questions—how did so flawed a man as Dominique Strauss-Kahn get to
the top of the International Monetary Fund and of French politics?
All are about the same age. All have similar, shall we say,
recreations. The answer is that they came from what is called the
1960s Generation. Now they are gone. There will be temporary
reprises—more court appearances for DSK, an occasional public
appearance for Bill, some more catastrophic missteps on the
campaign trail for Newt—but for all intents and purposes they are
history.
In Europe and in America the 1960s Generation was pretty much
the same. It was composed of student hustlers who became national
political hustlers. Some were rock prodigies who continued as rock
prodigies, rather pathetically into middle age and, rather
absurdly, beyond. They did not amount to a majority of their
generation but they claimed to typify it, and their cheerleaders
went along with the sham. They were called the most idealistic
generation ever and the call was close. Other idealistic
generations, for instance the generation that founded this country,
fared better. Unfortunately, the 1960s Generation was flawed from
the start and never overcame its flaws.
Let us hope that we have seen the last of them. The other
morning in the New York Times David
Hajdu, an associate professor of journalism at Columbia University,
marked Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday by noting how many voices from the
1960s had recently turned 70. John Lennon (RIP), Joan Baez, Paul
Simon, and George Clinton were mentioned. Next year, Hajdu
reverently enthused, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Carole King,
Brian Wilson, and Lou Reed will achieve their 70th. How long can
this go on? Will no one from a younger generation note the obvious,
to wit, in the arts and in politics the 1960s Generation was a
bust?
There are no Faulkners, no Hemingways, no Fitzgeralds. There are
no Aaron Coplands or a Virgil Thomson. In drama there is David
Mamet, but that is about it. In Europe there may be a little more
life in the 1960s has-beens but not much.
Newt is an especially loathsome figure, at least in his last
phase, the presidential campaigner. Congressman Paul Ryan, the
chairman of the House Budget Committee, has taken on the biggest
challenge facing America since World War II and the Cold War, our
enormous entitlement and budget overhang. In a way it is a graver
challenge than World War II and the Cold War, because cowardly
politicians can duck it for a few more years. Then the bond markets
and the credit raters will step in, and it will be too late for
America. Our years of prosperity will be over. Possibly even our
years of national security will be gone. Ryan has faced the threat
manfully and he has the Republicans in Congress with him for
now.
So in his first week on the campaign trail, Newt undercut Ryan,
and in his remarks on Ryan’s plan to overhaul Medicare, the
would-be Republican presidential nominee has giv-en the Democrats a
sound bite that they will play over and again: a corpulent Gingrich
denouncing “right-wing extremism,” and holding forth against
Chairman Ryan’s “right-wing social engineering.” Of course, it is
not social engineering. Rather, Ryan wishes to control costs by his
policy of “Premium Support,” a fixed-dollar subsidy allowing senior
citizens to purchase private insurance options. The poor get
adjustments on their premiums according to their need. The cost of
health care will be controlled by market principles and consumer
choice. Finally, the program will not go into effect for 10 years
so we will have plenty of time to fine-tune it. For people 55 years
of age and older, nothing will change with their Medicare.
Paul Ryan is going to campaign for his 2012 budget one way or
the other. President Barack Obama has made him the most popular
Republican in the country. The boob Gingrich has seconded the
notion. Ryan might as well go whole hog. Campaign for the 2012
budget and for the presidency. There are increasing numbers of
conservatives and independents pulling for him.
An Imposter’s Complaint
WASHINGTON
HERE WE ARE now in the afterglow of another Memorial Day. The
flags and the bunting are being put away. The memories endure for
another year of our honored dead, of the brave wounded, of the
veterans—some grizzled, some still youthful—all deserving their
country’s gratitude. Then there are the imposters, who have created
often from zilch military honors, whole
careers, records of heroism and splendid triumphs. What
wretches!
One is Joseph Brian Cryer, 45, who claimed to be a U.S. Navy
SEAL and boasted online of his “77 confirmed kills” during a
glorious operation in Libya in 1986. A genuine SEAL, Don Shipley,
exposed Cryer as an imposter. Shipley has taken it upon himself to
expose frauds and veterans who engaud their war records. It must be
a full-time occupation. This kind of thing happens surprisingly
often, and very much in public. A best-selling historian was
suspended for a year from his college teaching position for
bragging to his students of his Vietnam War feats, and, oh yes, he
claimed exploits on the football field too. Both claims were
fabrications. Now with SEAL Team 6’s exploits in snagging Osama bin
Laden, SEALs are turning up everywhere.
Cryer admitted his hoax to the Washington
Examiner, explaining that he confected the story as “a
coping mechanism” because of some grievance he had against the
Navy. He did serve in the Navy in the 1980s, but as a seaman, not
as a SEAL. I thought a “coping mechanism” was a euphemism for
drowning one’s problems in booze or some other addiction. Now a
coping mechanism is a lie. Well, it did not help Cryer.
Actually, in Cryer’s case his embellishments are somewhat
understandable. He was running for office. He was a candidate for
city council in Ocean City, Maryland, in 2006. He was just doing
what a lot of successful politicians do. They run claiming
achievements that are completely fictional and those who are caught
often win office anyway.
Remember Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of
Connecticut? He ran for the Senate claiming, “We have learned
something important since the days that I served in Vietnam.” That
was a lie, but the Hon. Blumenthal repeated it in various forms
throughout his campaign. In truth, he received no less than five
military deferments and finally a sweet job in the Marine Reserve.
He also lied about his athletic career. Contrary to his claim, he
never was captain of the Harvard swimming team, or even swam on the
team. The voters elected him nonetheless.
How many other whoppers had this fraud told pursuant to becoming
a member of the U.S. Senate in 2010? I would suggest his record
abounds with them. However, so does the record of countless other
politicians. There is Jimmy Carter claiming to be a nuclear
engineer. There is Senator Jean-François Kerry, launching his
campaign for the presidency as a war hero, despite his taped
appearance before Congress denouncing the war and alleging that his
comrades committed war crimes. There is Al Gore getting ensnared in
a thicket of petty lies beginning with his campaigns for the
Senate, continuing with his campaigns for the presidency, and
culminating with his present campaign where he serves as the
world’s chief proponent and exploiter of global warming. It has
made him millions, and forget not the Clintons. They are the
longest running con act in American history, with Bill conning his
draft board and Hillary creating her visit to a Marine recruiter—or
was it an Army recruiter?
So I can understand if Joseph Brian Cryer feels a little abused.
Had he won his campaign for city council he would be on his way to
greatness. He could have been a Joe Biden. Maybe from the city
council he would have sought the governorship, possibly the Senate.
By then he would have received a Purple Heart, possibly the
Congressional Medal of Honor. He had his whole life before him
until the spoiler Shipley struck. Shipley has denied the masses
another hero. How many more politicians’ lives will Shipley
destroy?
