Of the 52 cards in the deck, it had to be the Queen of Diamonds.
It was during that nasty campaign for Wisconsin's 80th District Assembly seat in 2008. The incumbent, aided by his well-heeled out-of-state supporters, treated the voters of southern Wisconsin to a barrage of nasty television and radio ads trashing me as unworthy of public office.
These ads were augmented with a barrage of mailers. A couple of mailers accused me of raising taxes for three years during my service on the Monroe school board. Never mind that I was on the board for only two years, there are eight other members of the board and, during that period, voters of the district passed a referendum to compensate for deficient state funding - all while my opponent was Chair of the Assembly Education Committee that influences, if not controls, state funding for education.
But that's politics. It's a bizarre, surreal experience being publicly trashed on television and radio. When under such duress you find amusement where you can, as with that flyer sent under my opponent's name, prominently displaying the Queen of Diamonds. The accompanying text cautioned the reader, "Watch out for John Waelti ... He'll gamble with your money..." It went on to dutifully inform the reader that Waelti supported a "risky, and possibly illegal tax scheme that ... could tax food, gasoline, prescription drugs, home heating fuel, farm equipment - EVEN WHEELCHAIRS." (Caps in the original text.)
It couldn't have been the Ace of Spades or the King of Clubs. It had to be the Queen of Diamonds, a carefully chosen symbol alluding to "The Manchurian Candidate." My opponent was a clever fellow, but this creative gem had to be concocted by one of his more imaginative henchmen.
"The Manchurian Candidate," released in 1962, based on the novel of the same name by Richard Condon, is one of my all-time favorite movies.
Korea, 1952 - An American Army patrol is led into a trap, captured, and whisked off to Manchuria. They are hypnotized and brainwashed by Communists using advanced, revolutionary techniques. Frank Sinatra plays Captain Marco, and Laurence Harvey plays his sergeant, S/Sgt Raymond Shaw, an unpopular, sad loner. During captivity, their Communist captors psychologically condition and program the entire patrol. S/Sgt Shaw is programmed to be an assassin, to follow orders upon recognition of a trigger, the Queen of Diamonds.
To demonstrate to high Communist officials the effectiveness of the advanced brainwashing techniques, Shaw's trainers have him brutally murder two of his fellow soldiers in front of the other conditioned soldiers. As the conditioning is complete, the patrol is released in such a way as to make it appear that S/Sgt Shaw has singled-handedly saved the lives of his entire patrol - except for the ones he himself killed while under influence of his captors.
Upon returning home, S/Sgt Shaw is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his supposed heroics. His fellow soldiers never liked Shaw, and can't remember the details of their escape. But when questioned, all respond, "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I have ever known in my life."
Shaw hates his ambitious domineering mother, Mrs. Iselin, played by Angela Lansbury. He hates even more his stepfather, Sen. Johnny Iselin, a dimwitted, Redbaiting demagogue patterned after Wisconsin's own former Redbaiting demagogue, Tailgunner Joe McCarthy. Mrs. Iselin is the scheming power driving her obtuse husband.
Captain, now Major, Marco starts to have weird dreams - nightmares of S/Sgt Shaw murdering his own soldiers in cold blood. The Army places him on indefinite sick leave. Other soldiers contact Marco, informing him of similar nightmares, and waking up screaming. These mysterious dreams, shared by former soldiers, prompt Marco to visit Shaw.
Meanwhile, Sen. Iselin finds notoriety by declaring the U.S. Dept. of Defense to be infested with Communists. Shaw, experiencing rare happiness in his sad life, has rekindled an old love affair with the daughter of Sen. Jordan, a political enemy of Sen. Iselin. When Sen. Jordan informs Iselin that he will move for Iselin's impeachment, Shaw's controller activates the trigger, and has him assassinate Jordan. When Shaw's lover unexpectedly stumbles on the murder scene, he kills her too, as he has been conditioned to kill any witnesses to his murders.
The most chilling scene in the movie is when Mrs. Iselin says to her son, "Let's play some solitaire," and pulls out the Queen of Diamonds. Alas, Mrs. Iselin, wife of her Redbaiting husband, is Shaw's American Communist controller.
Meanwhile, Major Marco is gradually unraveling the tangled web. He encounters one of the Communists he recognizes from captivity, now living in America. They get into a heckuva fight. (Sinatra really injured his hand while shooting that sequence.)
With Sen. Jordan out of the way, Iselin becomes the vice presidential nominee of his party. Mrs. Iselin activates the trigger. Using the Queen of Diamonds, she orders her son to assassinate the presidential nominee. This will create the chaos intended to pave the way for her husband, "The Manchurian Candidate," to gain the presidency.
Before sending Shaw to perform the dastardly deed, she tearfully confesses to him that she had no idea that the Communists would select him, her own son, to be the brainwashed assassin so that they could retain control over her as she ascended to power via her malleable husband. The bitter Mrs. Iselin promises revenge, that once in power, "I will grind them into the dirt."
Shaw heads for the convention hall, disguised as a Catholic Priest, successfully hiding his weapon to be used to assassinate the presidential candidate.
You will have to read the book or see the movie (1962 version - not the 2004 version) to learn what happens.
And what about that nasty campaign poster connecting me to the Queen of Diamonds?
I think I'll frame it.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears each Friday in The Monroe Times.
It was during that nasty campaign for Wisconsin's 80th District Assembly seat in 2008. The incumbent, aided by his well-heeled out-of-state supporters, treated the voters of southern Wisconsin to a barrage of nasty television and radio ads trashing me as unworthy of public office.
These ads were augmented with a barrage of mailers. A couple of mailers accused me of raising taxes for three years during my service on the Monroe school board. Never mind that I was on the board for only two years, there are eight other members of the board and, during that period, voters of the district passed a referendum to compensate for deficient state funding - all while my opponent was Chair of the Assembly Education Committee that influences, if not controls, state funding for education.
But that's politics. It's a bizarre, surreal experience being publicly trashed on television and radio. When under such duress you find amusement where you can, as with that flyer sent under my opponent's name, prominently displaying the Queen of Diamonds. The accompanying text cautioned the reader, "Watch out for John Waelti ... He'll gamble with your money..." It went on to dutifully inform the reader that Waelti supported a "risky, and possibly illegal tax scheme that ... could tax food, gasoline, prescription drugs, home heating fuel, farm equipment - EVEN WHEELCHAIRS." (Caps in the original text.)
It couldn't have been the Ace of Spades or the King of Clubs. It had to be the Queen of Diamonds, a carefully chosen symbol alluding to "The Manchurian Candidate." My opponent was a clever fellow, but this creative gem had to be concocted by one of his more imaginative henchmen.
"The Manchurian Candidate," released in 1962, based on the novel of the same name by Richard Condon, is one of my all-time favorite movies.
Korea, 1952 - An American Army patrol is led into a trap, captured, and whisked off to Manchuria. They are hypnotized and brainwashed by Communists using advanced, revolutionary techniques. Frank Sinatra plays Captain Marco, and Laurence Harvey plays his sergeant, S/Sgt Raymond Shaw, an unpopular, sad loner. During captivity, their Communist captors psychologically condition and program the entire patrol. S/Sgt Shaw is programmed to be an assassin, to follow orders upon recognition of a trigger, the Queen of Diamonds.
To demonstrate to high Communist officials the effectiveness of the advanced brainwashing techniques, Shaw's trainers have him brutally murder two of his fellow soldiers in front of the other conditioned soldiers. As the conditioning is complete, the patrol is released in such a way as to make it appear that S/Sgt Shaw has singled-handedly saved the lives of his entire patrol - except for the ones he himself killed while under influence of his captors.
Upon returning home, S/Sgt Shaw is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his supposed heroics. His fellow soldiers never liked Shaw, and can't remember the details of their escape. But when questioned, all respond, "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I have ever known in my life."
Shaw hates his ambitious domineering mother, Mrs. Iselin, played by Angela Lansbury. He hates even more his stepfather, Sen. Johnny Iselin, a dimwitted, Redbaiting demagogue patterned after Wisconsin's own former Redbaiting demagogue, Tailgunner Joe McCarthy. Mrs. Iselin is the scheming power driving her obtuse husband.
Captain, now Major, Marco starts to have weird dreams - nightmares of S/Sgt Shaw murdering his own soldiers in cold blood. The Army places him on indefinite sick leave. Other soldiers contact Marco, informing him of similar nightmares, and waking up screaming. These mysterious dreams, shared by former soldiers, prompt Marco to visit Shaw.
Meanwhile, Sen. Iselin finds notoriety by declaring the U.S. Dept. of Defense to be infested with Communists. Shaw, experiencing rare happiness in his sad life, has rekindled an old love affair with the daughter of Sen. Jordan, a political enemy of Sen. Iselin. When Sen. Jordan informs Iselin that he will move for Iselin's impeachment, Shaw's controller activates the trigger, and has him assassinate Jordan. When Shaw's lover unexpectedly stumbles on the murder scene, he kills her too, as he has been conditioned to kill any witnesses to his murders.
The most chilling scene in the movie is when Mrs. Iselin says to her son, "Let's play some solitaire," and pulls out the Queen of Diamonds. Alas, Mrs. Iselin, wife of her Redbaiting husband, is Shaw's American Communist controller.
Meanwhile, Major Marco is gradually unraveling the tangled web. He encounters one of the Communists he recognizes from captivity, now living in America. They get into a heckuva fight. (Sinatra really injured his hand while shooting that sequence.)
With Sen. Jordan out of the way, Iselin becomes the vice presidential nominee of his party. Mrs. Iselin activates the trigger. Using the Queen of Diamonds, she orders her son to assassinate the presidential nominee. This will create the chaos intended to pave the way for her husband, "The Manchurian Candidate," to gain the presidency.
Before sending Shaw to perform the dastardly deed, she tearfully confesses to him that she had no idea that the Communists would select him, her own son, to be the brainwashed assassin so that they could retain control over her as she ascended to power via her malleable husband. The bitter Mrs. Iselin promises revenge, that once in power, "I will grind them into the dirt."
Shaw heads for the convention hall, disguised as a Catholic Priest, successfully hiding his weapon to be used to assassinate the presidential candidate.
You will have to read the book or see the movie (1962 version - not the 2004 version) to learn what happens.
And what about that nasty campaign poster connecting me to the Queen of Diamonds?
I think I'll frame it.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears each Friday in The Monroe Times.
