A very interesting article in today’s New York Times on the origin of the word “maverick,” and why the Maverick family would like McCain and Palin to stop bandying about a term they have no business claiming:
“I’m just enraged that McCain calls himself a maverick,” said Terrellita Maverick, 82, a San Antonio native who proudly carries the name of a family that has been known for its progressive politics since the 1600s, when an early ancestor in Boston got into trouble with the law over his agitation for the rights of indentured servants.
In the 1800s, Samuel Augustus Maverick went to Texas and became known for not branding his cattle. He was more interested in keeping track of the land he owned than the livestock on it, Ms. Maverick said; unbranded cattle, then, were called “Maverick’s.” The name came to mean anyone who didn’t bear another’s brand…
It should come as no surprise that Ms. Maverick insists that John McCain, who has voted so often with his party, “is in no way a maverick, in uppercase or lowercase…
“He’s a Republican,” she said. “He’s branded.”
It’s also no surprise that the desperate McCain/Palin ticket, which has co-opted the language and ideals of the Obama/Biden campaign while continuing to mudsling and kick up racist and anti-Muslim sentiments, would appropriate and misuse a term that stands for progressive politics. While Palin “promotes the brutal and unethical aerial hunting of wolves and other wildlife,” she and McCain steal a term that signifies a group of animals that, while not free by any stretch of the imagination, were at least not mutilated.
I’m just hoping the McCain campaign continues to tank. This small article is one more example of why they should. They are all hate and subterfuge and no substance.
Vegans of Color 
SO true, and very well put, Joselle. To think of McCain and Palin as anything less than exactly the same (if not MORE right-wing and scary!) as what we’ve got now is to be completely deluded.
“she and McCain steal a term that signifies a group of animals that, while not free by any stretch of the imagination, were at least not mutilated.”
Makes me cringe a little more every time I hear the word “maverick” come out of one of their mouths.
Interesting entry!
[…] Joselle @ Vegans of Color, an interesting article in the New York Times about the origins of the term “maverick” […]
I’m not so bothered by the exact or historical meaning of “maverick.” I am bothered by McCain’s definition of rich people as being those who make over $5 million a year (really?! So people who make $4 million a year are middle class?), his support of the Iraq War, and his choice of running mate. Ugh!
Maverick is of old American stock. They are direct descendants of the American Revolution.
There is two crime victims have unfortunate twists.
Lauren McCain (no relation to John McCain) and Gary Joy, the direct descendant of Samuel Maverick and 7th cousin of Samuel Augustus Maverick, McCain and Joy, never the twain shall met.
Clarification:
Lauren McCain is not related to the Mavericks at all.
Clarification:
Gary Michael Joy is a direct descendant Elias Maverick, Samuel Maverick’s brother.
More Facts:
Sarah Palin is a direct descendant of Elias Maverick and Palin and Joy are distant cousins! Joy himself is the third cousin, nine times removed of President George Washington! Palin is a direct descendant of William Bradford!
[…] Vegans of Color: Cattle, Mavericks, and McCain […]