A moment ago, I was watching a cable news discussion of the
current political mess with the lawyer who represented Spiro Agnew during his
troubles as sitting Vice-President. The
discussion called to mind one of the loveliest moments of my life.
My first wife and I had not too long before relocated from a
wretched New York semi-slum apartment that Columbia grandly allocated to me as
a full professor in the Philosophy Department to a glorious Federal style three
story home in Northampton, Massachusetts where we moved when my wife and I took
up positions in the English and Philosophy Departments at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst. I was still a
rabid Mets fan, even though we were now in Red Sox territory.
My pine-paneled book lined third floor study looked out both on a back patio and also on Barrett Place, a lovely dead end street
in the Smith College area of Northampton.
I had a tiny portable TV set with rabbit ears that I brought up to my
study so that I could keep track of the Mets’ battle for the National League
championship.
It was there that I sat on October 10th, the sun streaming
in the windows on a crisp fall day, working on my next lecture, watching the
Mets win the final game of the National League playoffs against the Cincinnati Reds
and listening to the spot announcements of Spiro Agnew’s resignation.
Life does not get much better than that.
Spiro Agnew - the poet laureate of the Nixon administration: "nabobs of negativism"
ReplyDeleteFollow-up to a previous comment. Just a slight clarification. I've recently taken up Facebook, for lack of anything better to do. The comment about book thievery was from my own page, from about a month ago. I did not, however, "recently" stumble upon your blog---I've been a faithful reader for years (compliments to Leiter Reports). "Recently" was just a bit of rhetorical license. What is not a bit of rhetorical license is this: Your book was later cravenly stolen from me by a crack-head! Go figure. I wonder where it reposes currently.
ReplyDeleteIn 1966, when Spiro Agnew ran for governor of Maryland, his opponent was George Mahoney, a conservative, Southern-style Democrat. Fair housing laws were an issue at the time, and Mahoney was firmly against them. He campaign stops were high-lighted by his singing his campaign song to the tune of the Bells of St. Mary’s--“Your home is your castle, defend it, defend it!” There wasn’t a progressive in Maryland, DC, or Northern Virginia who wasn’t greatly relieved when Agnew won.
ReplyDelete@MS William Safire was the speech writer (and later pseudo language-maven pundit at NYTimes) who composed "nattering nabobs..." and much else.
ReplyDeleteMan, I always thought it was Pat Buchanan who coined, "nattering nabobs of negativism".
ReplyDelete