[AGL] It's enough to hare lip the Queen...

[Frances Morey]

Dear Fontaine, 
I looked the word up in Webster's and it does credit Sam Maverick as the origin for the use of the word. Of course, unless it is capitalized you really shouldn't take it personally. The meaning came from your great-grandfather's unwillingness to compromise the health of his cattle by burning a brand onto them. 
 
Other less kind versions that circulated around South Texas had it that he did it so he could then claim all unbranded cattle as his own. I prefer the cattle health rationale. As one who frequently marches to a different drummer I like to think it is even descriptive of moi.
 
Anyway I saw this piece on the Media Matters site and it made me think of you and your quandary about hearing it used ad nauseam--and it looks like it has just begun now that both want to proudly wear the label. Maybe you could do an Obama ad saying this is one Maverick who won't support these same-ol' same olds parading themselves as so-called mavericks.
 
Best,
Frances
 
 
From Media Matters today:
"...The media's total unawareness of Palin allowed the McCain campaign to immediately press their narrative. Whether the media would have challenged the narrative anyhow is open to speculation, but in this case, they had no choice but to accept what they were told -- they didn't know anything else. 
For example, the McCain team assured reporters that Palin was a maverick. And so it was:
	* Referring to Palin during the August 29 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews claimed, "I think she is a maverick," and added, "[T]he several years she's been in public life has been that of a maverick, someone taking on the good ol' boys. ... Every time one party runs the show, it gets corrupt, and she was challenging it." 
	* Discussing the choice during the August 29 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Kevin Corke said of McCain: "I'm thinking he likes this idea that she's also a bit of a maverick." 
	* During the August 29 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer uncritically asserted, "Republicans call her a uniter and a tough maverick." 
	* During the August 29 edition of Fox News' Your World, host Neil Cavuto asserted, "First, the maverick. He picks a maverick." 
	* An August 29 Detroit Free Press article was headlined "McCain chooses maverick Alaska governor to be his vice president."
What has my panties in a knot is that now that Palin is the newsworthy female there is all this buzz about not getting into trouble by abusing "The Gurl." Where was that concern with politeness and manners when Hillary was running? The abuse heaped on her ought to start a national dialog about the ubiquitous, residual sexism in our society. 
 
It is as strong as it ever was and it needs to be confronted, highlighted and condemned. "Bitch" and "Ho" should elicit the same approbation when applied to a national woman candidate running for high office as calling someone of color the "N" word, IMHO.
 
Best,
Frances



----- Original Message ----
From: Fontaine Maverick <fmaverick at austin.rr.com>
To: ghetto2 at two.pairlist.net; mds-austin at lists.riseup.net; survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Cc: himaverick at comcast.net
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 12:29:18 PM
Subject: [AGL] If I hear it one more time I'm gonna SCREEEEEAM!


I just got a call from my brother, Maury Maverick, who said that if he hears that John McCain is a Maverick ONE MORE TIME, he is going to shoot the tv. Well, my brother doesn't even own a gun, but I know exactly how he feels. Every time we hear that use of our name, it is like fingernails on a blackboard times ten.
 
We kicked around the idea of doing a web page but good old monkey cage has beat us to the punch:
 
The Real Original Maverick
John McCain is running this new ad touting himself as the “original maverick.”
This led Jason Zengerle and Christopher Orr over at TNR’s The Plank to debate whether Tom Cruise or James Garner is the real original maverick.
In fact, the original maverick was Maury Maverick, the grandson of Samuel Maverick, from whom the name maverick first entered the American lexicon. Maury was a radical politician from San Antonio who who served two terms in Congress (1935-1939). There, he led a bloc of progressive Democrats who sought to push Roosevelt and the New Deal to the left. The press quickly labeled this group “The Mavericks.” While hugely popular with the the many poor Hispanics in his district, Maverick was far too liberal for the conservative Texas Democratic establishment. In 1938 he lost the Democratic party after being slandered as a communist. Maverick then went on to serve as mayor of San Antonio before once again losing in the primary after being red-baited. 
During World War II, he served in various defense agencies. It was at this time that he coined the term “gobbledygook,” saying that incomprehensible government bureaucratese sounded like turkey noise.
This site has a nice description of Maverick’s congressional career along with links to the online version of his 1937 autobiography, A Maverick American.
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