Beautiful. In only six popping words, Mr. Adams had touched so many fruitful
bases of prejudice, moral, ethnic and class. Bastard Brat of
a Scotch Pedlar. Note the alliterative start and the rhythmic,
almost explosive succession of consonants compressed into the smallest
space. How trippingly it comes off the tongue. Who knew that our second
president, that dour old puritan, was a poet?
As for Col. Hamilton, he gave as good as he got - usually better. (Imagine
the peak of mutual virulence these two good Federalists could have achieved
if they had belonged to different parties.)
But perhaps intraparty rivalries are the bitterest, like family fights. See
Obama-Clinton, a spitting match that may be only warming up, although Mrs.
Clinton's apoplectic spouse already seems to have gone over the top,
repeatedly.
See hubby's rant not long ago on YouTube; it brought to mind a small boy
dutifully working himself into a royal tantrum. What a show. (Believe me, if
you've never had the privilege of being yelled at by Bill Clinton, you've
never been truly amused.)
But it's always the spouse who takes these things more seriously than the
candidate, isn't it? Abigail was definitely the tougher of the Adamses in a
political fight. A practitioner of the snub supreme, she never did forgive
the cagey Mr. Jefferson for his behind-the-scenes campaign against her
husband, not even when he tried to deny it and cozy up to his rival in their
old age.
Age could not wither nor custom stale Mrs. Adams' contempt for her husband's
nemesis. As the Irish would say, she had a tongue you could cut a hedge
with. The sainted Abigail would have made Hillary Clinton, who passes for an
alley fighter in these tough-as-tapioca times, look like a sweet little
thing.
Sir, you must try harder. You might not be able to do as well as John Adams,
but surely you can do better than, "In my opinion, if this man is elected
President our country will enter a period of total eclipse in regard to good
political and economic decisions."
After "total eclipse," which has a nice astronomical drama to it, it's all
downhill. Maybe it's the "in regard to" that gives this attempt at dire
prophecy the flavor of a standard American business letter circa 1924.
Pull up your socks, man, and start crying Impending Disaster. Picture grass
growing in the streets, planets in collision, "a conspiracy so immense, an
infamy so black, as to dwarf any in the history of man." That was Joe
McCarthy going after a real patriot, George C. Marshall, back in 1952.
To warm up, read some of Robert Welch's old John Birch Society tracts.
American political literature is full of examples to draw inspiration from.
With a little practice, surely you can do better than a form-letter phrase
like "in regard to good political and economic decisions." Anybody could.
Better luck next time,
Inky Wretch