Enjoyed the hell out of this one, Erin. I had to learn about JT from my Boardman-raised husband, who used Traficant to explain to me what Youngstown is/was all about. He (my husband) said he used to sell suits to JT at Strouss department store. So I guess that's two degrees of separation.
You wrote a better "trailer" than anybody else I've seen. Traficant, for all his small performative oddities, was a figure worthy of someone's great political book; the way Earl Long was for AJ Liebling. I know a couple of folks have tried, but I don't think they captured him and his times the way they could have.
These times now make it more complicated, somehow; it's hard to be amused by Traficant's antics when so many malignant weirdos stalk the halls of power today.
I know, Shag! He is so fascinating, yet his unique legacy has changed now that we're in the MAGA years.
I left a helluva lot on the table, but, well ... you know what I mean. It will take us years to truly figure out the Trump phenomenon and how it's changed everything, particularly stuff like Traficant.
Amazing and amusing piece, Erin! As an old fart of 74, I remember rolling my eyes at Traficant’s antics, certain that he was an outlier in politics. I felt he was so over-the-top that surely, more sane and intelligent voices would prevail. That we, as a nation, since the days of my student protest years in the late 60s, would certainly see this kind of person as an aberration, never to appear in government again. I was so wrong.
As I read of the man’s transgressions and bizarre antics in your essay, I realized that he was certainly an odd force to be reckoned with, yet once he was gone, I thought the pendulum would slowly swing back to voters electing bright candidates, who knew our country’s history and constitution and have the ability to use the art of compromise to steady the cart.
The staggering legacy of T- - mp remains with us, leaving a large, divisive and utterly convinced percentage of our population who will follow him to the death.
Ah for the days of charges and convictions being an effective way to regulate a democratic government.
I am uneasy. But a healthy uneasy, looking for a way through the muck to be able to remain open yet looking very carefully at what might be ways to work toward something better.
Enjoyed the hell out of this one, Erin. I had to learn about JT from my Boardman-raised husband, who used Traficant to explain to me what Youngstown is/was all about. He (my husband) said he used to sell suits to JT at Strouss department store. So I guess that's two degrees of separation.
Thanks, Peter. What I wouldn't do to wander around Strouss's--and to think of Traficant and your hubs there! So great to imagine it.
WOW
You wrote a better "trailer" than anybody else I've seen. Traficant, for all his small performative oddities, was a figure worthy of someone's great political book; the way Earl Long was for AJ Liebling. I know a couple of folks have tried, but I don't think they captured him and his times the way they could have.
These times now make it more complicated, somehow; it's hard to be amused by Traficant's antics when so many malignant weirdos stalk the halls of power today.
I know, Shag! He is so fascinating, yet his unique legacy has changed now that we're in the MAGA years.
I left a helluva lot on the table, but, well ... you know what I mean. It will take us years to truly figure out the Trump phenomenon and how it's changed everything, particularly stuff like Traficant.
Amazing and amusing piece, Erin! As an old fart of 74, I remember rolling my eyes at Traficant’s antics, certain that he was an outlier in politics. I felt he was so over-the-top that surely, more sane and intelligent voices would prevail. That we, as a nation, since the days of my student protest years in the late 60s, would certainly see this kind of person as an aberration, never to appear in government again. I was so wrong.
As I read of the man’s transgressions and bizarre antics in your essay, I realized that he was certainly an odd force to be reckoned with, yet once he was gone, I thought the pendulum would slowly swing back to voters electing bright candidates, who knew our country’s history and constitution and have the ability to use the art of compromise to steady the cart.
The staggering legacy of T- - mp remains with us, leaving a large, divisive and utterly convinced percentage of our population who will follow him to the death.
Ah for the days of charges and convictions being an effective way to regulate a democratic government.
I am uneasy. But a healthy uneasy, looking for a way through the muck to be able to remain open yet looking very carefully at what might be ways to work toward something better.
Bunny
I appreciate the comment more than I can say.