Basically yes. His staff likely coulda predicted this (eg there were a few circumstances where out of anger he did some small civil rights stuff, then backed off when he cooled down & looked at the political repercussions), and possibly Lady Bird, but no other senator or member of the public had any reliable way to predict this for the reasons you state.
I mean, even in the Emmett Till Arlington case, which is what I assume you’re referring to, it seems really hard for his staff members to have known, without the benefit of hindsight, that this was any significant window into his true beliefs? I mean, johnson is famously good at working himself up into appearing to genuinely believe whatever is politically convenient at the moment, and he briefly miscalculated the costs of supporting civil rights in this case. his apparent genuineness in this case doesn’t seem like strong evidence.
Basically yes. His staff likely coulda predicted this (eg there were a few circumstances where out of anger he did some small civil rights stuff, then backed off when he cooled down & looked at the political repercussions), and possibly Lady Bird, but no other senator or member of the public had any reliable way to predict this for the reasons you state.
I mean, even in the Emmett Till Arlington case, which is what I assume you’re referring to, it seems really hard for his staff members to have known, without the benefit of hindsight, that this was any significant window into his true beliefs? I mean, johnson is famously good at working himself up into appearing to genuinely believe whatever is politically convenient at the moment, and he briefly miscalculated the costs of supporting civil rights in this case. his apparent genuineness in this case doesn’t seem like strong evidence.