Speaking of balloons

In 1968 Nelson Rockefeller ran a presidential campaign based in large part on full-page newspaper advertisements. One such Rockefeller advertisement was permeated with high-minded assertions stating “We must do this” and “We must do that.” As I recall, and I am writing from memory, William F. Buckley, Jr. wrote a column that took up that Rockefeller campaign ad. He commented: “We must cut the crap.”

The thought comes to mind in connection with Remarks by President Biden Ahead of the One-Year Anniversary of Russia’s Brutal and Unprovoked Invasion of Ukraine in Warsaw yesterday.

As always, Biden struggled to read the text of his remarks. As he continued on his way, I thought these people are nuts. Biden’s speech echoed and abused great Churchillian rhetoric. Lighter than air, it rose like a helium balloon until it burst into the risible and the ridiculous. Toward the end of his remarks Biden declared:

Over the past year, the United States has come together with our Allies and partners in an extraordinary coalition to stand against Russian aggression.

But the work in front of us is not just what we’re against, it’s about what we’re for. What kind of world do we want to build?

We need to take the strength and capacity of this coalition and apply it to lifting up — lifting up the lives of people everywhere, improving health, growing prosperity, preserving the planet, building peace and security, treating everyone with dignity and respect.

As the great Bill Buckley might have put it, we need to summon the strength to cut the crap.

UPDATE: I found the Buckley column, dated April 23, 1968 and collected in The Governor Listeth (1970). Buckley quotes from a Rockefeller speech:

We can live together as bullies — or as brothers.
We can practice retribution or reconciliation.
We can choose a life of the jungle or of justice.
We cannot have both….
We must choose.

Buckley: “We must cut the crap.”

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