Crack Stepper Jack, the Untold Story Told
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| - | A pocket-sized tract published by [[The League of Men with Fancy Gloves]], functioning essentially as a vaguely literate form of character assassination aimed at former member [[Cleo James Thurstunwell]]. Though it was generally admitted that Thurstenwell hadn't broken League by-laws or had otherwise antagonized the membership, the tract goes to great length to describe and promote his crimes -- to the extent, in fact, that many critics consider the entire affair as something of a misdirection ploy, aimed at confusing swing voters in the extremely heated Eisenhowever-Stevenson contest of 1952. The ploy, as such, was a miserable failure in that Thurstenwell was and remains a distinct unknown to the American populace. In the words culture-critic and historian [[Easton W. Wunderkidd]], "the attempt to discredit Cleo was successful quite aside from itself; the text is full of the most ritualized defamation, an almost quabalistic and impulsive form of [[les douzaines]]. Despite the vacuous and airless tedium,, the sheer weight of the accusations crushed any contrary opinion and, more important, destroyed what little interest the public maintained in following the exploits of a lonely philogist and cross-eyed mystic, giving over to the story the same kind of raised eyebrow a crone would give to a soup-tureen." | + | A pocket-sized tract published by [[The League of Men with Fancy Gloves]], functioning essentially as a vaguely literate form of character assassination aimed at former member [[Cleo James Thurstunwell]]. Though it was generally admitted that Thurstenwell hadn't broken League by-laws or had otherwise antagonized the membership, the tract goes to great length to describe and promote his crimes -- to the extent, in fact, that many critics consider the entire affair as something of a misdirection ploy, aimed at confusing swing voters in the extremely heated Eisenhowever-Stevenson contest of 1952. |
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| + | The ploy, as such, was a miserable failure in that Thurstenwell was and remains a distinct unknown to the American populace. In the words culture-critic and historian [[Easton W. Wunderkidd]], "the attempt to discredit Cleo was successful quite aside from itself; the text is full of the most ritualized defamation, an almost quabalistic and impulsive form of [[les douzaines]]. Despite the vacuous and airless tedium,, the sheer weight of the accusations crushed any contrary opinion and, more important, destroyed what little interest the public maintained in following the exploits of a lonely philogist and cross-eyed mystic, giving over to the story the same kind of raised eyebrow a crone would give to a soup-tureen." | ||
| However, among the [[27]] accusations levied against Thurstenwell, were: | However, among the [[27]] accusations levied against Thurstenwell, were: | ||
Revision as of 05:14, 29 Sep 2004
A pocket-sized tract published by The League of Men with Fancy Gloves, functioning essentially as a vaguely literate form of character assassination aimed at former member Cleo James Thurstunwell. Though it was generally admitted that Thurstenwell hadn't broken League by-laws or had otherwise antagonized the membership, the tract goes to great length to describe and promote his crimes -- to the extent, in fact, that many critics consider the entire affair as something of a misdirection ploy, aimed at confusing swing voters in the extremely heated Eisenhowever-Stevenson contest of 1952.
The ploy, as such, was a miserable failure in that Thurstenwell was and remains a distinct unknown to the American populace. In the words culture-critic and historian Easton W. Wunderkidd, "the attempt to discredit Cleo was successful quite aside from itself; the text is full of the most ritualized defamation, an almost quabalistic and impulsive form of les douzaines. Despite the vacuous and airless tedium,, the sheer weight of the accusations crushed any contrary opinion and, more important, destroyed what little interest the public maintained in following the exploits of a lonely philogist and cross-eyed mystic, giving over to the story the same kind of raised eyebrow a crone would give to a soup-tureen."
However, among the 27 accusations levied against Thurstenwell, were:
- "He has proven to us by his actions to be a cracker, and has admitted to enjoying the whip." p.13
- "Several neighbors have witnessed him worshipping Mormo, what with his pants down." p.21
- "His gloves were often soiled and crispy." p.25
- "The Thurstenfwell fugues, for marching band or drum corp, sound like hail on a coffin." p. 3
