The Rise of House ClintonI'm not particularly interested in the column's content which deals with the Clinton's sociopathic lying and spinning, all true enough but definitely old news.
What I like is the title itself which echoes the usage in Frank Herbert's drug-saturated SciFi epic Dune. Goldberg probably gets the usage from Game of Thrones, but I prefer the earlier source.
In Dune, the various great houses were known by names like "House Atreides" or "House Harkonnen." These were essentially hereditary ducal planetary fiefs which owed feudal allegiance to the Padishah Emperor on Calidan but competed brutally with each other and with other power centers: various guilds, corporations and quasi-religious orders.
Goldberg's usage brings to mind the clash today between House Clinton and House Bush. House Kennedy is, for the present, in a rebuilding phase and not in contention.
Minor houses like the Cuomos, the Romneys, the Pauls and the Browns look for opportunities around the fringes of the conflict. Houses Adams and Roosevelt, once powers, are today no more than historical footnotes.
Dynastic politics of this sort is somewhat degenerate, a sign of ill-health in our political life. It is reminiscent of the Medicis and Borgias. Our body politic, in better times, thrives on meritocracy and new blood lines.
