The Bootblack Stand: Letters to Plunkitt from Senator Tunney and George Romney
The Bootblack Stand Dr. George Washington Plunkitt, our prize-winning political analyst, is celebrating the publication of his new book, which is now available at avant-garde bookstores throughout...
...I write about Washington, and I write about things as they are...
...GWP Dear Mr...
...GWP...
...Not even the fellow with a smile and a few specks less sand...
...A government that asks not what of the people merely escalates human misery and compassion...
...You are not the kind of person to be put in an audience...
...Perhaps you are too intellectual...
...As a result they lose touch...
...Though you are a veritable fountain of foolishness, ever to be counted on for a nonsensical statement or a silly gesture, putting you in the audience would be simply too risky...
...Could you advise me as to how I can fulfill my dream...
...And they begin to confuse their dreams with reality...
...Plunkitt expects to earn ten million dollars from sales of his new book, he has agreed to continue to advise public figures through this column...
...Why don't you talk about what is right with America...
...Romney: Well let me begin by saying that I am not writing about America...
...Everyone lives in his own kind of misery and fundamentally has a miserable time of it...
...They tell me that we might be able to get you on stage as a guest, but after extensive consultations with the Carson staff, there is no chance of getting you into the audience...
...In the distance I see all of God's citizens close to government and me close to them...
...Plunkitt's book is about the importance of altruism in politics and it is titled What's in It for Me...
...Bah...
...Why can't you build something up...
...A lot of people waste an enormous amount of energy looking for a few specks of gold in a bucket of sand...
...Cordially, George Romney Dear Mr...
...I am a political adviser not a magician, nevertheless I have set my agents to this task...
...Address all correspondence to The Bootblack Stand, c/o The Establishment, R.R...
...If I neglect to run on effusively about a few specks of gold, it is because I cannot neglect the vast abundance of sand...
...The truth is that no one has a bucket of gold...
...And if he does it with style he can keep us reasonably happy...
...George Washington Plunkitt, our prize-winning political analyst, is celebrating the publication of his new book, which is now available at avant-garde bookstores throughout New Jersey...
...The people like this, for the government should be brought to the people every now and again...
...They begin to dream of great buckets of gold populated with but a few specks of sand...
...They become sour about their condition...
...Cordially, Senator John Tunney Dear Senator Tunney: You startle me...
...Dear Mr...
...11, Box 360, Bloomington, Indiana 47401, Continental U.S.A...
...Those who make change improbable make impossible changes irreplaceable...
...Plunkitt: Ever since I became California's junior senator I have brought my office to the people...
...As part of my dream to bring people closer to government and to me I would like to get on the Johnny Carson Show...
...And if they continue to think rather than to take up drink or pouting they are but two leaps in logic from confecting notions of communism, facism, or Consciousness III...
...After all, think of what government brings from the people...
...Although Dr...
...Neither should you...
...But it seems to me that a cogent case can be made for inveighing against everything and everyone...
...Why can't you find something nice to say...
...Try the Dick Cavett show...
...If you were not confused by a few flicks of gold, you might never have made the stupid statements you have made these last few years...
...According to a spokesman for the Carson staff, the Carson Show must maintain its standards...
...Plunkitt: How come it is that you guys are always tearing things down...
...Soon they think that the fellow over the hill has a bucket of gold...
...The man who reminds us of it is the man who keeps us from the mischief of the dreamers...
Vol. 6 • January 1973 • No. 4
