In my latest Loonie Politics column I say the Canadian chattering classes’ lead-balloon response to Trump’s clumsy 51st-state joke was devoid of wit in any sense.
“If you have to swallow a frog, it’s best not to look at it too long.”
Tennessee governor Ned McWherter quoted in The Economist April 6, 1991 [specifically urging the legislature to adopt a state income tax, which I’m against, but I applaud the maxim as a general rule]
“as difficult as leadership is, it is not complicated. In its simplest form, leadership is ‘accomplishing a task with the people and resources you have while maintaining the integrity of your institution.’”
Author’s “Introduction” to William H. McRaven The Wisdom of the Bullfrog
“There is, you know, such a thing as being too intellectual in your approach to a problem. He [Truman] believed that even a wrong decision was better than no decision at all.”
Clark Clifford, quoted in an article in The Economist August 1, 1992 [if it had a byline I did not record it; it was evidently something Clifford “then a bright young man” said later than his time in that administration].
“A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
The United States Military Academy Cadet Honor Code, quoted in William H. McRaven The Wisdom of the Bullfrog. McRaven adds that “Below the honor code is the mission of the United States Military Academy. The mission of West Point is not to produce Pattonesque geniuses, four-star generals, or presidents of the United States. The mission is to produce ‘leaders of character’. And the honor code provides the foundation of that character. The code beckons young men and women who aspire ‘to live above the common level of life.’”
“I believe in men who take the next step; not those who theorize about the two-hundredth step.”
Theodore Roosevelt quoted in John Morton Blum, The Progressive Presidents: Roosevelt, Wilson, Roosevelt, Johnson.
“All I can say is, the man who said, ‘Talk is cheap,’ never had to say, ‘I do.’”
Donald Trump, quoted in National Post October 8, 1999
In my latest Loonie Politics column I note the extraordinary contrast between England’s Bad King John, at a crisis in his reign, ordering books of theology in Latin for guidance and modern politicians I doubt even read trendy airport paperbacks on policy in English.