October 31, 2015

When Jeb — giving a sword to Rubio — talked about a made-up Chinese character he called "Chang" — a "mystical warrior" who "has never let me down."

From a WaPo article — by Sean Sullivan, Manuel Roig-Franzia and David A. Fahrenthold — called "The 17-year story behind Marco Rubio’s cut-down of Jeb Bush":
By 2005, the two men were close enough that when Rubio gave an emotional speech after winning the race to be Florida’s House speaker... [Jeb] honored Rubio with a gift: a sword, which he said belonged to a great “conservative warrior” named Chang.

“Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society... Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down.”

This gesture was even stranger than it sounds. It appears that “Chang” was not a real person but something from a Bush family in-joke about Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek (“Unleash Chiang!”). Now, Jeb — whose ­father was once the U.S. envoy to Beijing — had garbled the story into something about a mystical warrior with a sword.

The sword “really meant something to Jeb,” a longtime friend and colleague of both men said. “He thought it was Marco who would continue his legacy.”
So Jeb gave Rubio a sword and later Rubio performed a (metaphorical) "cut-down." With 3 writers on that WaPo story, couldn't they at least have figured out where Jeb got the sword?

I suspect re-gifting. Somebody gave somebody in the Bush family a sword. H.W. Bush served as an envoy in China. I suppose that over the years, the Bushes have gotten many gifts they don't love or need. Stuck with a sword... until you can stick somebody else with it.

What went into the decision to give the new speaker of the Florida house a sword? Normally, the speaker wields a gavel, a symbol of calling a diverse, noisy group to order, so that the many can proceed with the business of the whole. Why supplant the gavel with a sword, a symbol of violence and divisiveness. You literally divide with a sword. But in Jeb's mind, that seemed like the right message.

Now add to that the invention of a Chinese character. Nothing Chinese was going on. It was about the Florida legislature. And Chinese culture was appropriated for the occasion... why? Some stereotype about warriors? About "mysticism"? Or is it just something internal to the Bush family, within which it's (apparently) a running joke to say "Unleash Chiang!" Did Jeb imagine that the sword ritual was initiating young Marco into the Bush family secret society?

That question made me look up Skull and Bones, the Yale secret society to which George H.W. and George W. Bush belonged. But Jeb Bush didn't go to Yale. He went to the University of Texas, and he didn't even join a fraternity. He'd met his future wife during a trip to Mexico when he was 17, and that affected his approach to college:
When his friends decided to rush fraternities, Bush stayed behind — he wasn’t interested in dates or parties, [best friend Rob] Kerr said. It took him less than three years to graduate magna cum laude with a degree in Latin American studies.

“He had a very good ability to study really intently while other people were goofing off,” Kerr said. “He was probably more studious than the rest of us.”

After a few years of constant phone calls and occasional visits, Jeb, 21, married Columba, 20, at the UT-Austin University Catholic Center in 1974.
Those 3 WaPo writers — Sean Sullivan, Manuel Roig-Franzia and David A. Fahrenthold — offered to explain the 17-year story of Jeb and Marco, but they never say anything deep about the human personality. I just want to make up a coherent story of the man who made up a fake story about the mystical Chinese warrior as he gave a sword to Marco Rubio:

The warrior Chang stands in for the elder Bush who fought in the war and went to China. The younger man, Rubio, stands in for the younger brother, George W. Bush, who, like the father, went to Yale and performed whatever those secret rituals were, while the studious older brother buried himself in books at the state university, earnestly striving to marry the girl he fell in love with when he was 17. The callow brother surged past him and acquired the mystical power over the American soul that is the presidency, and now another man is surging ahead.

The sword was passed.
CORRECTION: This post originally had George as the younger brother and Jeb as the older brother. Jeb may have seemed more mature, but he is, of course, younger.

AND: Reading this post, Meade inferred that the 3 WaPo writers got this story from Rubio, who has a motive to make Jeb sound bad. Did Jeb really "garble" the Bush family story? Was it an "in-joke" or meaningful references to Chiang Kai-shek? Did Bush, handing over the sword, really talk about an invented character named "Chang," or was he saying "Chiang"? Chiang Kai-shek was a warrior, and Chiang Kai-shek could be said to be "conservative" and even "mystical." The Wikipedia article on Chiang Kai-shek identifies him with The New Life Movement, which "was based upon Confucianism, mixed with Christianity, nationalism and authoritarianism":
Chiang Kai-shek used the Confucian and Methodist notion of self-cultivation and correct living for the Movement; to this end it prescribed proper etiquette on every aspect of daily lives. Some of its many measures included: opposition to littering and spitting on the floor; opposition to opium use; opposition to conspicuous consumption; rejection of vice entertainments in favor of artistic and athletic pursuits; promotion of courteous behavior; and promotion of flag salutes. Among its more unusual campaigns was its promotion of bathing with cold water: Chiang Kai-shek pointed out the (supposed) Japanese habit of washing their faces with cold water as a sign of their military strength, and expected the Chinese to be able to do the same if not better.

34 comments:

madAsHell said...

I dunno. It sounds like the WaPo writers are creating a new mythology. Eventually, the mythology will be used to disparage Jeb, and Rubio. Cuz.....Hillary!!

Laslo Spatula said...

"...a made-up Chinese character he called "Chang" — a "mystical warrior" who "has never let me down."

Evidently Chang the Warrior is a bit Low Energy, lately.

I am Laslo.

chickelit said...

Sheaths are central shibboleths in the Clinton family.

Mark said...

I just want to make up a coherent story of the man who made up a fake story about the mystical Chinese warrior as he gave a sword to Marco Rubio:

What is most likely that it was the Post writers who took the story about the sword and garbled it, including changing the spelling of the real Chaing into "Chang." Who else would have changed the spelling? It's not as if Bush would have spelled it in the course of giving his speech. Moreover, the words attributed to a Bush speech, about this person being "somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society" could arguably very well be applied to the real Chaing.

This "strange story" is about as strange as Democrats speaking about the spirit of JFK living on. In other words, a partisan made-up slime job to make both Bush and Rubio look foolish.

Hagar said...

And just yesterday I read a paragraph about Shi Huang-ti, who welded together the Chinese empire from the many small warring states with his mighty sword.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I can't see how Rubio solves many problems for the Republicans. He is the person most closely associated with the Chamber of Commerce's push for an immigration free for all. Since Trump's 25-30% of the vote appears to be premised primarily on opposition to this push, how does Rubio square the circle?

Michael K said...

"I can't see how Rubio solves many problems for the Republicans. He is the person most closely associated with the Chamber of Commerce's push for an immigration free for all."

I agree. That's twice this year, ARM.

Chris N said...

Clown article, bro.

Nichevo said...

The reason Ann doesn't understand force is because she's never been hit.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

"Stuck with a sword... until you can stick somebody else with it."

I'm so triggered... you know, professors need to stop showing off.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

(i was just kidding)

Michael K said...

Chiang attended military college in the Soviet Union. That's how "conservative" he was.

YoungHegelian said...

Maybe the Bush brothers learned Chinese from the same professor who taught Rosie "ching-chang-chong" O'Donnell.

It could happen.

Sebastian said...

"how does Rubio square the circle?"

By picking Cruz as his running mate.

jr565 said...

Chang!
-Jeb Bush emoting the same way Kirk did in Wrath of Khan when saying "Khan"

Steve said...

Certainly a chink in Bush's armor.

Hagar said...

"Conservative" has many meanings. Chiang Kai-shek was a traditional Confucian (though mindful of his promises to Madame, who was a Southern Methodist and made him read the Bible every day), so in Chinese terms he was quite conservative as opposed to Mao, who was intent on "transforming" China from day one.

And yes, all the original Communist high brass, including Mao, once were members of the Kuomintang and served under Chiang Kai-shek.

T J Sawyer said...

On February 2, 1953, the new President lifted the Seventh Fleet's blockade in order to fulfill demands by anticommunists to "unleash Chiang Kai-shek" on mainland China.

Google is our friend.

walter said...

Well..perhaps it's all subterfuge, but folks here claim Rubio has promised away his ability to deliver beyond enforcement.
""That's like saying, 'As soon as I gorge on food this week, my diet is going to be so good,'" Sharry said. "The idea that we're going to pass legislation ... the idea that he would get Democrats in the immigration-reform movement to support doing all the things Republicans want in exchange for down the road maybe doing something for the 11 million? ... I don't give a s--- whether he's for citizenship at that point. What he's for is enforcement only."

walter said...

It will be interesting how Europe's "migrant" issue plays out over the election year. If Sweden (Hey Bernos), for example, keeps having concrete shoes made for them...

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Chiang attended military college in the Soviet Union. That's how "conservative" he was.

I'm not aware of how political ideology applies to military strategy, or of any successful army with true morale that's not somewhat socialist. You must be thinking of mercenaries and using them as your frame of reference.

Achilles said...

AReasonableMan said...
"I can't see how Rubio solves many problems for the Republicans. He is the person most closely associated with the Chamber of Commerce's push for an immigration free for all. Since Trump's 25-30% of the vote appears to be premised primarily on opposition to this push, how does Rubio square the circle?"

He doesn't. That is why Rubio doesn't get much in the polls. Sure he is 3rd but if you add up Bush/Rubio and compare it to Trump/Carson/Fiorina/Cruz you get an idea of how the two sides in this conflict stack up. He is the perfect presidential candidate for the republican party but he made one mistake, and he is getting support from people who want him to make it again.

The donor class will try to get him on the ticket but I doubt it is possible. They will give Hillary all of the monies. She might not break Obama's records but the wealthy in this country know who serves them.

Achilles said...

Rhythm and Balls said...

"I'm not aware of how political ideology applies to military strategy, or of any successful army with true morale that's not somewhat socialist. You must be thinking of mercenaries and using them as your frame of reference."

Successful militaries are not socialist, they are fascist. This is mostly in execution. There is some collaboration in the development of goals and strategy, but on the tactical end it is pure unthinking top down fascism.

The difference between fascism and socialism is that in socialism there is a fantasy of the proles that they are getting equal shares of the wealth from the leadership. There is no such fantasy in the Army.

traditionalguy said...

Once you unleash Chang, you cannot get Chang back under your control again.

The New England based Bush Family never should have gone to south Florida which is in effect a suburb of Spanish America. The Spanish King and his friends ruled the place from Havanna for 300 years until Andrew Jackson and the Tennessee Scots Irish Militia took it by force.

Ruling Texas and its Mexican Aztecs is one thing, but ruling Florida and its Spanish Conquistadors is another thing.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

There is no such fantasy in the Army.

Maybe not. But I think the ethics of the U.S. Army are suspect compared to how they could be. Americans in general never tire of admiring the IDF and with those guys, disobeying an order thought to be "immoral" is expected and a much more thoroughly defended act. But success for them is more important and has less to do with dubious corporatist aims -- corporations being another institution rife with fascism.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Wow. A harmless goofy in-joke stretched and pummeled into a bizarre political hit piece. The Left is truly unhinged. They always have been but they used to try to hide it. Think of the garage of four years ago versus the garage of today.

William said...

Why is it that Taiwan under the fascist rule of Chiang and the Nationalists evolved into a prosperous democracy with a standard of living higher than most European countries and Red China under the egalitarian Mao and the Communists became a place of famines that evolved into a corrupt oligarchy?

PoNyman said...

Speaking of conspicuous consumption. I haven't heard Michelle Obama's name in the news lately.

Oso Negro said...

I object to the Professor's terming the affair an "appropriation" of Chinese culture. Is UW staffed with cultural purists? Do you shame Asian students who wear jeans and speak English for cultural appropriation. Do your negroes wear kinte cloth and live in huts when not on the basketball court or gridiron? Please, be reponsible, and shutdown the bullshit appropriation talk

Carter Wood said...

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was a renowned re-gifter, Barton Swaim reports in his book, "The Speechwriter." He gave things like a hardware shop T-shirt or shoe polish to his staff. The communications staff was also occasionally given the chance to take something from the big room where all the gifts were stored, but there wasn't anything good, Swaim writes.

averagejoe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
robother said...

"Unleash the Chang!" Gotta admit this is another Bush story too good to fact check. I only wish the WaPo writers had elaborated further on the Bush clan in-joke, e.g., that every time HW or W go to the bathroom, the phrase echoes from behind the closed door.
I disagree with Ann, however on the appropriateness of a rusting old sword: what better gift from one hack politico to another?

virgil xenophon said...

I'm with Oso Negro (above) all the way. I'm sick unto death of all the lefts PC "appropriation" BS. I guess under that theory no cello for Yo Yo Mas, nor pianos for Count Basie nor Duke Ellington, right? Neither should any but descendents of white Europeans ride in cars nor fly in airplanes, right? Are we supposed to find another word for "chocolate" (or a million other words/phrases taken from other cultures and incorporated into the English language because they are useful) just because it's taken from the Aztec language? Pluuuulezzzze....... ENOUGH of this utter crap PC insane craziness..

cubanbob said...

Maybe the Bush family famous for its malapropism said " Hyundai! I Kia you!" when wielding the sword.