Actually, this is a small yet very revealing example of GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain’s thinking. This comes straight from one of his books, from which I’ll quote a 264-word passage. But first, a brief introduction of the three principals in this little drama:
· R.W. Woodruff, head of Coca-Cola company from 1923 until 1984;
· Herman Cain’s father, Luther Cain, who was Mr. Woodruff’s chauffeur;
· Joe Jones who was, as Cain puts it, “a white man, who handled [Woodruff’s] finances,” but who was also (as I will demonstrate) a lot more than that.
The following quote is from This is Herman Cain!: My Journey to the White House, by Herman Cain, which appears on http://books.google.com... (see complete link at the end of my essay). After reading it, I think you’ll agree with me: “Sometimes self-inflated men give themselves away in rather casual and unthinking ways, not realizing there are people out there vetting their every word.”
QUOTE:
R.W. Woodruff knew how devoted Dad was to him, and he loved and trusted Dad more than he trusted some of his executives, like Joe Jones, a white man, who handled his finances.
Mr. Woodruff was also very generous with gifts of cash. One day, Dad said to Woodruff, “I really like the gifts you’ve bought for me and I appreciate the cash, but, you know, I would also appreciate some Coca-Cola stock, if you wanted to give that to me.”
So Woodruff started giving my dad stock, and he was generous with that, too. One day he told my dad, “Joe Jones doesn’t think I ought to be giving you any stock, but I told him I was going to give it to you anyway.” To Joe Jones, Woodruff’s money was his money.
One day Dad said to Jones, “Mr. Jones, I’d like to see you outside for a minute.” They walked out to the driveway and Dad said, “Do you see this gun I’m carrying?” – Dad had a permit to carry one because he was with Woodruff – “Do you know how good I can shoot this gun?”“No,” Joe Jones replied.
“I can throw a silver dollar up in the air and hit it four times before it hits the ground. That’s how good a shot I am,” my dad said. “if you ever tell Mr. Woodruff not to do something for me again, you’re going to find out how good I am with this gun!”
He was joking, but my dad was unafraid: Nobody was going to mess with Luther Cain.
:UNQUOTE.
My Analysis
About that last sentence in the quote, the one starting with, “He [my dad] was joking…” Really? If anyone showed me his gun and (in effect) threatened me with it, I wouldn’t take that as a joke. In fact, it's rather disturbing that Herman Cain takes it that way.
Luther Cain was lucky he wasn’t strung up for this outrage. After all, this was Atlanta, Georgia at a time when Blacks could be strung up for a lot less. Herman Cain doesn’t give us any date of occurrence for this episode. But it’s pretty obvious that it took place (that is, if it did at all) well before our more enlightened era of race relations.
Luther Cain was lucky he wasn’t strung up for this outrage. After all, this was Atlanta, Georgia at a time when Blacks could be strung up for a lot less. Herman Cain doesn’t give us any date of occurrence for this episode. But it’s pretty obvious that it took place (that is, if it did at all) well before our more enlightened era of race relations.
Concerning: “…if it did at all…” Herman Cain doesn’t say that he witnessed this encounter. Most likely, this tall tale (yes, I’ll call it that) was spoken to Herman by his daddy to show (as quoted above, from Cain’s book): “…my dad was unafraid…[and] nobody was going to mess with Luther Cain.” The lesson being: And you shouldn’t let even a rich, powerful white man mess with [Herman Cain].
Another entry under: “…if it did at all…” must surely go to that claim by Herman’s dad that he could throw a silver dollar up in the air and hit it four times before it hits the ground.” Cain doesn’t even question such an incredible [and surely, untrue] assertion.
But worst of all, Cain – by including this black lie of an anecdote – has besmirched the reputation of a good man (Joseph W. Jones), who isn’t even alive to offer his version of that story. By the way, I haven’t seen anyone else corroborate Cain’s version. Joe Jones was a lot more than “a white man, who handled [G.W. Woodruff’s] finances.” He was a lot more than a man whose boss “loved and trusted Dad more than he trusted some of his executives, like Joe Jones…”
Don’t forget: Luther Cain was GW’s chauffeur, for Christ’s sake! And who was Joseph Jones, of whom Cain writes disparagingly, “To Joe Jones, Woodruff’s money was his money?” To directly refute Cain, I will say: “From what I’ve learned about Mr. Jones, you should have written, “Woodruff’s money was looked after by Mr. Jones as if it were his own.” But, as you’ll see if you read a few of Mr. Cain’s public masturbations, subtle-yet-important phrasings aren’t his strong suit.
So who was Joseph Jones?
So who was this man, who was held in lesser esteem by the head of Coca-Cola than his chauffeur?
Consider:
· “…Joseph W. Jones, who was Woodruff's longtime associate, a senior vice president of the Coca-Cola Company, and chairman emeritus of the Woodruff Foundation.”*
· Bottles of Coke were issued bearing an image of Joseph W. Jones and these words: “1935-2000 Congratulations! Joesph W. Jones Celebrating 65 Years of Service”…[Click on the link (below) to see pictures of these bottles**]
Herman Cain’s lack of intelligence in…
Herman Cain displayed an incredible lack of intelligence by putting this anecdote in his book. This was written in the hopes of enhancing his White House bid? Can you imagine how well this will sit with conservative Southerners: Cain bragging about how his daddy put down this white man, threatening him with a gun? Even if that were true, which I didn’t believe for a second. If Luther Cain had really flashed his pistol, I don’t doubt for a moment that Jones would have reported that incident directly to his boss. And that would have been the end of Luther Cain’s “ride” as the CEO’s chauffeur.
I want to revisit what Cain’s daddy (allegedly) said to his CEO boss: “I really like the gifts you’ve bought for me and I appreciate the cash, but, you know, I would also appreciate some Coca-Cola stock, if you wanted to give that to me.” I highlighted the word also to point out that Luther was asking for stock in addition to (but not instead of) the gifts and cash he’d received and (this part took balls) assumed would continue to be receiving. If I had been that CEO, I would have said, “Use some of the money I give you and buy some Coke stock, you fucking ingrate!”
And yet, Herman Cain not only doesn’t question the veracity of any part of this 264-word anecdote, he obviously expects us to accept it without question. This, however, doesn’t surprise me, given how dismissive Herman Cain seems to be should anyone have the audacity to question him.
In closing
If a humble writer such a myself can take Herman Cain to task for so blatantly disrespecting his readers, imagine how much fun bona fide economists are going to have tearing apart his 9-9-9 Plan.
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party
“If Herman Cain weren’t so busy being in love with himself, and being blinded by that love, he would never have included this anecdote.”
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
Source of quote (above) from Herman Cain’s book:
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