Bertolucci has died https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...cci-last-tango-in-paris-director-dies-aged-77
And I'm seeing now that Indian authorities boated over to the island to try to recover this maroon's corpse but were repelled by the natives. They should just leave these people alone.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ What the hell is that guy doing in this thread? I can't find anything about him on IMDB!
Foer writes that Poppy Bush was the last WASP president. WASPs were the establishment for a long time but at least had some higher moral principles that this current occupant of the Oval Office totally lacks. What goes unstated, however, is the subtext of that yearning. All the florid remembrances are packed with fondness for a bygone institution known as the Establishment, hardened in the cold of New England boarding schools, acculturated by the late-night rituals of Skull and Bones, sent off to the world with a sense of noblesse oblige. For more than a century, this Establishment resided at the top of the American caste system. Now it is gone, and apparently people wish it weren’t. When George H. W. Bush passed, so did the last true WASP. In appearance, he embodied what The New York Times’ Alessandra Stanley once called “The Presidency by Ralph Lauren.” The evocation of the legendary fashion designer was a sly bit of sociology—the old American aristocracy was already in decline, since its aesthetic had been commodified (by none other than Ralph Lifshitz) and made accessible to all in the democracy of the shopping mall. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/george-hw-bush-last-wasp-president/577156/
Isn't the orange buffoon a WASP? And to some extent, wasn't Obama a Harvard graduate, ergo a little bit of an elite half-WASP globalist? Furthermore, seems like he's also related with Clinton and other remarkable people: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-obama-pitt-clinton-jolie25mar25-story.html Sure, Trump is unconventional and doesn't really get governing or morality, but he's in several ways part of the establishment and his longing for the good old days [of unfiltered racism] is why some people voted for him. I really don't buy into that argument...
The author uses WASP in a cultural sense, meaning "not crass, having a sense of propriety." Bubba, W, and Trump are from the South, the South, and Sodom, respectively, so I get that part. But if we're using WASP in that sense, Obama is one of the WASPiest Presidents ever. So I rate that argument as a Fail.
Big difference tho. Obama's childhood could've easily sent him in a totally different direction by the time he became an adult. Poppy Bush's future was never in doubt after surviving WWII.
W could have a very particuluar accent but he was still poppy's son and member of the same elite family. He never failed despite crashing numerous ventures thanks to his connections. What about Carter? Wasn't he from the South too? Dick and St. Ronnie were from Cali, LBJ from Texas....
This topic is easy for me, because I just have to channel my dad - Carter - "Peanuts," said with complete scorn Reagan - Crappy politics but a proper WASP Poppy - Better yet. Clinton - Lord no. W - He could have been something from breeding, but ruined by Texas Obama - Fantastic. The first proper WASP since forever with good politics. Trump - Are you ********ing kidding me?
JFK was Irish Catholic and his daddy was a bootlegger, Nixon was Quaker and boringly servant-class, Ike was born in Abilene for Chrissake, Truman's folks were dirt-poor-- his middle name was just "S" because two semi-prosperous grandmothers or great aunts or something had surnames starting with "S" and they hoped each would think he was named after them and help a little... FDR was the previous example; but almost every ticket had one somewhere around it-- Henry Cabot Lodge, Jackie Kennedy, Averill Harrimann. etc, etc.
Maybe it's because I was not raised here, but I fail to see the unity behind Reagan, the Bushes and Obama.... I mean, Reagan entered politics at a much later stage in his life, and had no real cultural connection with elites... I would clearly see the connection (and the validity of an argument) made that the Roosevelts, the Kennedys or the Bushes were part of that WASP elite, with all that family history and proper education and connections... I can see the despise for Carter, Clinton and even W... What am I missing?
\ Carter hired George crackers, Reagan hired Ivy Leaguers. You did't have to be an Ivy Leaguer to pass Dad's WASP test. Being something less (as he was) while showing the proper respect would do just fine. Unless you were from the South. There was no hope for those people, well maybe if they were from northern Virginia. And of course no talk about religion. One of the things he liked about Reagan was while Reagan courted the evangelicals, he knew that Reagan wasn't any more Christian than he was. Just one view. I guess the bigger point is that "WASP" has various meanings. In my house the term had nothing to do with inherited wealth. Donald Trump wouldn't have been remotely WASP while Barack Obama certainly was. To other people, the word has a different connotation -- it pretty much means guys like the two old dudes in Trading Places.
WASP is both an ethnic term and a cultural-class term. It's not easy to see when each term is being used.
I don't think it is that difficult, but I was missing the connections.. The last two JohnR and taosjohn posts explain why some outsiders were cast as WASP in JohnR Dad's view and why some WASPy politicians were deemed not worthy in the elite's view...
Trump is German. Do they count as WASPs? If you want to be literal, it would depend on what part of Germany his people hail from.
Well there you go. WASP in the sense of WASP vs. Catholic vs. Jewish. Not so much WASP by the cultural definitions, though.
In NYC some might've been later like Rockefeller (my bus driving grandfather used to pick up John D. on 5th Ave very early on in his career. Remembered him handing out the dimes). The Dutch & English were the patrician classes forever in NYC. Donnie's noveau riche and never fit in with NYCs elite nor will his brat offspring