Interesting Stuff... 'Who You Callin’ a Maverick?' - NYT

[WillyT]

<snip>

There’s that word again: maverick. In Thursday’s vice-presidential debate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the Republican candidate, used it to describe herself and her running mate, Senator John McCain, no fewer than six times, at one point calling him “the consummate maverick.”

But to those who know the history of the word, applying it to Mr. McCain is a bit of a stretch — and to one Texas family in particular it is even a bit offensive.

“I’m just enraged that McCain calls himself a maverick,” said Terrellita Maverick, 82, a San Antonio native who proudly carries the name of a family that has been known for its progressive politics since the 1600s, when an early ancestor in Boston got into trouble with the law over his agitation for the rights of indentured servants.

In the 1800s, Samuel Augustus Maverick went to Texas and became known for not branding his cattle. He was more interested in keeping track of the land he owned than the livestock on it, Ms. Maverick said; unbranded cattle, then, were called “Maverick’s.” The name came to mean anyone who didn’t bear another’s brand.

Sam Maverick’s grandson, Fontaine Maury Maverick, was a two-term congressman and a mayor of San Antonio who lost his mayoral re-election bid when conservatives labeled him a Communist. He served in the Roosevelt administration on the Smaller War Plants Corporation and is best known for another coinage. He came up with the term “gobbledygook” in frustration at the convoluted language of bureaucrats.

This Maverick’s son, Maury Jr., was a firebrand civil libertarian and lawyer who defended draft resisters, atheists and others scorned by society. He served in the Texas Legislature during the McCarthy era and wrote fiery columns for The San Antonio Express-News. His final column, published on Feb. 2, 2003, just after he died at 82, was an attack on the coming war in Iraq.

Terrellita Maverick, sister of Maury Jr., is a member emeritus of the board of the San Antonio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.

Considering the family’s long history of association with liberalism and progressive ideals, it should come as no surprise that Ms. Maverick insists that John McCain, who has voted so often with his party, “is in no way a maverick, in uppercase or lowercase.”

“It’s just incredible — the nerve! — to suggest that he’s not part of that Republican herd. Every time we hear it, all my children and I and all my family shrink a little and say, ‘Oh, my God, he said it again.’ ”

“He’s a Republican,” she said. “He’s branded.”

<snip>

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/weekinreview/05schwartz.html?ref=politics

Ironic, eh ???

:shrug:

[msongs]

1. there's an ad concept - he's a republican, he's branded nt

[WillyT]

4. Wow... Great Minds, LOL !!!

:bounce::hi::bounce:

[quiet.american]

14. Yes, short and sweet -- and makes the point. :) nt

[WillyT]

2. Ya Know... Somebody Could Make An Effective Ad Out Of This Information !!!

Don't ya think?

:shrug:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. ROFL!!!!! This is great!!!!!

[Fridays Child]

5. "He's a Republican. He's branded."

Love that comment!

[pinto]

6. Great comments from the Maverick's. "he's branded" Thanks for the post.

[Trekologer]

13. I can see the TV spot now...

Grainy black and white picture of McCain and Palin.
Voiceover: They may call themselves mavericks. But when you look at their records, you see more of the same failed Republican policies. Deregulation (quote of deregulating insurance industry). Abuse of power (Troopergate, Keating 5, doesn't matter which). Government under a shrowd of secrecy (Plain emails). Ballooning defects.

[Voice for Peace]

7. k&r!

[malaise]

8. Fabulous

I'm sending this to everyone.

[Cresent City Kid]

9. Two fer

One family gives us "maverick" and "gobbldygook"? It's full circle time as McCain gives us this "maverick" gobbldygook.

[TahitiNut]

10. He's not only branded, he's a steer pretending to be a bull by parading around with a cow.

:shrug:

[WillyT]

12. LOL !!! - What You Said !!!

:rofl:

:hi:

[Pastiche423]

18. GMFAO!

You have a wonderful way w/words, Mr. Nut.

[Bryn]

11. Lovely!

:kick: Love it! Thank you so much for posting this treasure. Ad needs to be made! "McCain/Palin no Mavericks. They're branded." or something like that. But most right wing sheeple wouldn't understand, unfortunately, because most of them can't read, can't spell, don't know history.

[dhpgetsit]

15. Maverick, my ass. This is a Maverick.

[dhpgetsit]

16. Very interesting bit of history.

[ColbertWatcher]

17. Great story! Thank you for posting!

Now, these are the type of Texans I knew about growing up, not this new "brand" like the Bushes and DeLays.

Where have these people been? And why aren't there more of them?

[WillyT]

19. You Are Quite Welcome, !!!

:hi:

[peanut2010]

20. Maverick was a car built by Ford Motor Company in the seventies

and a part played in the movies by James Garner.John McIdiot and Sarah Falin ain`t no Maverick.That very claim is an insult to James Garner and Ford Motor Company

[Fozzledick]

21. Hey McCain, the Maverick family called, they want their name back

BTW, what's that big "W" branded on your rump?

(Oh, snap!)

[beac]

22. NYT reading my DU posts???

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4165712&mesg_id=4165885

_________

Fri Oct-03-08 10:04 PM 'Maverick' trivia:

Maury Maverick, a Democratic congressman from Texas, coined the word "gobbledygook."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maury_Maverick#cite_note-1


Sarah Palin, a Republican governor from Alaska, speaks gobbledygook.


So, to review:

Maverick + big state + oil = gobbledygook

_________


;)