A Short History of 'Cut and Run,' Using the George W. Bush Definition

deadline poet

By Calvin Trillin

This article appeared in the November 6, 2006 edition of The Nation.

October 18, 2006

When you pull out before the job is done, that's "cut and run" as far as I'm concerned.
--George W. Bush, on whether he's fairly characterized the Democratic position

1. Vietnam

We'd been well mired in a quag.
Our allies there were not too strong,
But Nixon left them to themselves,
And they were swamped by Vietcong.

Subscriber Login

4 ISSUES FREE

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

.

About Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation's "deadline poet." He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1963 and has written the syndicated weekly column "Uncivil Liberties" since 1986. He has authored many, many books, including Tepper's Not Going Out and Deadline Poet: My Life as a Doggerelist. more...
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Blogs

» The Beat

Obama's "Finish the Job" Talk Sets Stage for Afghan Troop Surge | But Appropriations Committee chair Obey warns the move would "wipe out every initiative we have to rebuild our own economy."
John Nichols
Posted at 10:45 PM ET

» The Notion

Bad Black Mothers | For African American women, reproduction has never been an entirely private matter.
Melissa Harris-Lacewell
11 Comments

» The Dreyfuss Report

A Kingdom of Bicycles No Longer | China's ambassador for climate change speaks on the eve of the Copenhagen summit meeting.
Robert Dreyfuss
40 Comments

» Act Now!

Coal Country | "This is a civil war."
Peter Rothberg
83 Comments

» Editor's Cut

Around the Nation | The week we went Rouge. Plus, Moyers on Afghanistan.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
114 Comments

» Altercation

Slacker Friday | The "Second Amendment" sale; the raving paranoids of the right.
Eric Alterman