Great Men

Names and faces

“Great men are almost always bad men.” Quote: John Dalbergd-Acton, a historian, been dead a hundred years now. His definition had nothing to do with morality, wisdom, or great accomplishments. He was thinking of ‘great’ in terms of size, and power, fame and wealth. Who are the ‘great’ men we remember without effort to recall? My memory is not so good as it never was – always iffy. Not so good at faces either, may or may not recognize a neighbor in a crowd. What famous faces do we all remember? Hitler – easy with that funny mustache. Stalin, Lincoln, Washington, and Jackson . . . maybe. Helps to have your face on money. Faces I see every day . . . almost, Obama . . . Hillary.

Who’s face do I see the most these days? Without a question, Donald Trump. The man’s a genius, and a temporary (who knows?) ‘great’ man who has captured our mass media attention. We recognize the famous face seen every day, and night, on TV news, on Face book, magazines. That hair, as good as Hitler’s mustache ─ trademark, brand, he’s called it. If tomorrow were election day and you asked the people what Republican they thought might win. What names would be remembered? I don’t know, except for one, who wishes he could expedite the next election.

It’s the Brer Fox ploy if you remember that old tale, the rabbit pleading, “Only please, Brer Fox, please don’t throw me in that brier patch.”
Don’t hurt me. Please don’t make fun of me. Please don’t ridicule my hair – especially on TV. He made the cover of New Yorker. A cartoon, of course. We can’t escape the face gone viral. We are told it just about to wind down, just like Ross Perot, a much more modest man. The pundits probably have it right . . . I think. Let’s hope he’s not just winding up.

I watched his Alabama thing last night, when it was 3 A.M. in Sweden. Well worth staying up for. Things you notice: He does not sound like a politician, it’s like listening to the guy that lives across the street. No more or less intelligent. Such simple words and plans that anyone can understand without a second thought. It might be better not to have that second thought.

He spoke of Anchor Babies, wants to build a wall, a better, stronger army. Favorite book – the Bible. “I am not a nice person,” he told better than 10,000 people at his rally, which was on the TV news, seems like almost an hour. Who gets that kind of coverage? Pundits pro and con made comments after, wrangling over Anchor Babies, and political correctness. One said she had never heard the term before. This is the kind of rhetoric were all familiar with.

I think about the ways ‘great’ men have come to power in the past. Remember Hitler’s early speeches, how he planned to rebuild Germany, create a stronger army.

We live in interesting times.