Huey P. Long

[Wolfman 11]

insane with power or genuine guardian of the people?

at what point does one become too ruthless?

do you think we could benefit from someone like this in our party right now?

anyone from LA (not the city) want to weigh in?

I am from TX but have distant relatives and many friends next door and their politics have always fascinated me.

[MrModerate]

1. Woulda been a cracker-Mussolini

His assassination was the best thing that could have happened.

[Wolfman 11]

2. do you consider yourself a "tolerant" person?

[MrModerate]

7. Sure -- but I don't like Huey Long

Machine politician, opportunist, demagogue, hypocrite, etc., etc.

[Wolfman 11]

8. understood...

he leaves much to be desired in the accountability and couth departments, that's for sure. And as a political purist, I can definitely sympathize. But the fact remains that he was able to do a lot of good in a place that really needed it, and to say that you are happy with his death seems just a bit harsh.

[MrModerate]

9. Maybe so . . .

But my original post reflected on my discomfort with what his subsequent career might have been. I think he had his eyes on a larger stage, and I firmly believe he would have been disastrous for the country.

[Wolfman 11]

13. you know what really chapped my hide?

your casual use of the term "cracker". That just frustrates me and perpetuates the stereotypes by people from other regions who know nothing of the history of an area. Huey Long fought against Poll Taxes and for workers' rights for those of all races over 30 years before the actual Civil Rights' Movement. Corrupt methods do not necessarily discount sound financial and racial policies. I fear for the eventual progressivism of the South if we are constantly hampered by those who will instinctively and without reason or rancour call us racist or cracker or blockheaded or true. Not all Southern Whites are racists. And please remember, that George W. Bush is NOT a Texan nor a Southerner. He is, just like his father and grandfather, a New Englander Patrician Old Money Repbulican who has tried to use every possible opportunity to his political advantage, including living in Texas for a few years. Don't believe him. He doesn't know a thing about growing up in and living in the South.
Wow. I've written a Treatise. With that, I bid you goodnight.

[MrModerate]

17. Well, you're no doubt in bed already, but here goes anyway . . .

I agree with most of what you treaticized above (I just made that up -- do you think the spell checker will pass it?)

However, my use of cracker with regard to HPLong was not casual. And I did consider whether it would be offensive to modern-day folks. I wasn't calling anyone but HPL himself a cracker.

And I have to issue a disclaimer here. My knowledge of Long is based on one bio (can't remember whose) I read about 20 years ago and "All the King's Men," which I realize is only somewhat based on him. So my view is perhaps a tad ahistorical.

However . . . had he lived, I fully believe he would have struck for the presidency, and would have played his jus'-plain-folks schtick to the max. He would have portrayed himself as "a simple cracker" -- which I define as anti-intellectual, coarse, cunning rather than smart -- to grab the votes of those tired of being hornswaggled and canoodled by The Liberal Elite. And had he won, we'd have seen the establishment of a kleptocracy to put Grant and Marcos to shame. Not to mention what he mighthave done in foreign affairs.

Wait a minute! I'm beginning to see some parallels with the present here. But never mind.

And yes, the idea of Schimpanski as a Texan is a laugh. *I'M* a Texan (born in Ft. Worth, even though I only stayed in the state 6 weeks before moving overseas) and smirkie and all his backeastern chimpies are as phoney as 3-dollar-bills. That gee-shucks crap he spews makes me want to fling a turd in his face.

Admittedly his twang isn't the ONLY reason I want to fling a turd in his face.

[Emops]

3. Looks to me like he was

insane with power and a genuine guardian of the people. A mostly benevolent Dick Cheney.

[vogonjiltz]

4. Huey Long rocked.

[davsand]

5. Huey P. Long fascinates me.

I have never known how to view him. I have heard some interesting stories about him, however.

One story was about Negro nurses. At that time there was no nursing school for black women who wanted to go into nursing. Huey saw a need and made sure there was a school. Then there was no hospital that would HIRE those nurses.

Huey called the state hospital and said he wanted to tour it. They took him all thru the hospital and finally returned to the Director's office. Huey made sure the door was closed and broke out, "I am SHOCKED. Shocked and appalled. There were Negro patients in those wards and white women takin' care of them. That has GOT to stop."

The state hospital began hiring black nurses shortly after his visit.

Now, you could look at Huey and say he was a racist. You could also look at him and say he used the existing prejudices against those racists and opened doors for women of color who wanted entrance into the medical field.

A lot of the Huey P. Long stories I've heard have been kind of like that one. He got stuff done, but was maybe not too pretty about how he did it...

I dunno. I'd like to hear more from people who actually know about it.


Laura

[Wolfman 11]

6. I'm the same way.

He sort of fascinates me, as an Enigma. I have a friend at work from LA who is older, almost retired. He told me that when he was in Jr. High (he used to live in Baton Rouge), they'd take girls up to the capitol steps and sit out in the grass beneath the statue and look at the grass and pretend it was damp and ask the girls, "would you like to see Huey Pee?" But then he became very reverential and said that every bridge in the state was built by Long. And Tiger Stadium. Not to mention about 2000 miles of roadway. I think he really cared, but I would also like to get more native opinions.

[onager]

10. Ken Burns did a great documentary about him.

A few years before Burns got famous with "The Civil War." I think it was produced by PBS. I have an old VHS of it and would love to find it on DVD.

Burns interviewed old POOR folks back in the bayous...black and white...who reminisced about Long like he was a second cousin of Jesus H. Christ.

He also interviews rich people...like Mrs. Hodding Carter: "Whenever we had a dinner pahty, at least one person would say: 'When is somebody going to shoot Huey Long?'" (That's from memory, but it's close.)

Calling Long a "cracker Mussolini" ignores the way he fought corporatism (which Mussolini loved).

When Long announced a modest tax on Louisiana crude oil, the oil companies told him they would dismantle their operations and move across the border to Texas.

Long told them if they tried, he would seize their holdings as state property and call out the National Guard to enforce his order. The oil companies backed down.

I also liked Long's response when the head of the Texas KKK announced a march in Louisiana. At a press conference Long said: "You tell that Ku Klux son-of-a-bitch if he sets one foot in Louisiana, he will be arrested. And when I call him a son-of-a-bitch, I'm referring not to the circumstances of his birth, but to his character."

The best bio of Long is probably still T. Harry Williams' huge book, which is very old now.

[DerekG]

11. Credit him for pushing FDR to the left

Though I admire Roosevelt, and consider him to have been one of the few humane presidents we've had, we must remember that there were a *lot* of progressives who were disenchanted with his administration's tepid economic policies. As a result, Roosevelt faced significant opposition from shitstormers like Long and Father Coughlin, enough to make the prospect of him being reelected questionable. Social Security was a most impressive lure to get perturbed leftists back into the Democratic fold.

P.S. He was both: a demogogue, but a useful demogogue.

[Radical Activist]

12. He was both.

Long was a corrupt machine politician just like all Louisiana Governors and bosses were corrupt crooks back then. The only difference with Long is that he was crooked on behalf of the interests of the average person, while previous Louisiana Governors were corrupt on behalf of the business and wealth establishment in the state. That's why Long got so much more criticism for it than the many other crooked and power hungry Louisiana politicians in the history of that state. People who threaten the power structure are demonized and stopped one way or another.

[Melynn]

14. Huey Long was a hard guy to figure out

but he did scare some powerful people.

[YankeyMCC]

15. Characters like Huey P Long

Always make me question the nature of politics and the structure of human societies in general.

I'm from the Boston area and we certainly have had our share of "machine politicians" who have also have done a lot of good for working people.

Do we need these people? Is the effort to "clean them up" effective or even necessary? Might it even be counter productive?

Is there a way to truly find people truly motivated to public service and committed to fair and just application of their influence and still capable of achiving the things the likes of people like Huey P Long achived.

It's not an easy question for sure.

[Deja Q]

16. If Heuy could pee long, he must've had a big bladder!

:rofl: :woohoo:

[JohnKleeb]

18. From what I know about him

He was corrupt but had his eye out for the little guy. It is interesting though I must say that his son Russell became a key founder of the new democratic movement but then again most democratic sons of senators have been to their father's right, for example Birch Bayh was way more liberal than his son Evan. Huey Long is an interesting character in history, I would love to learn more about him.