According to medical statistics, at 53 (and approaching 54), I have lived far more than a majority of my life. If I were a baseball player, I’d be heading to third base with an eventual eye on “home.” So it comes to a point when one needs to summarize one’s life
In my time, I have discovered a thing or two. And for more than four decades, I tried to do that within the format of ink upon newsprint. Every so often, these are brilliant flashes of enlightenment; sometimes that are simple statements which elicit that Homer Simpson reaction of “Doh!” Illumination cuts both ways, you know.
I have discovered that …
Relationships are filled with passion and lust at the outset, but when that simmers down, something more real must eventually rise to the top.
We should classify people as “heroes” because they get the job done when it has to be done; regardless of personal or professional consequences (Sept. 11 should have taught everyone that lesson).
Money stinks when used as a scoreboard of a person’s life.
You and your best friend can do anything at all … or not one “darn thang” and it will be the most fun you’ve ever had.
Often those who you think will be the ones to dance on your grave will be the ones to keep you from going to an early one.
Sometimes you have the right to be angry, but you never have the right to be cruel. Cruelty should be one of the deadly sins.
True friendship will grow, despite the distance between cities, states or even continents; it is also true for true love. And people don’t always show their love to you just the way YOU want them to; they do it in the best way they know how;
Being mature means what you’ve discovered from your own life experiences and NEVER just how many birthday candles you have to extinguish on your annual cake.
There are times when you cannot be there for your family and vice versa; there will be times when non-relatives will be the ones you need the most;
Once in a while, your best friend will hurt you and you must forgive them … because they are your best friend. Remember, forgiveness is a two-way street; you need to be forgiven and you’ve got to forgive yourself.
The world does not halt for your grief and pain; the sun does manage to rise the next morning.
We are different in terms of social, ethnic, racial and economic makeup, but we become what we become and that is determined by us (only).
People argue all the time; it is not a sign that they don’t love one another; it isn’t a sign that they do.
You don’t end friendships once you discover that people (and friendships) change; just like everything else in life.
No one should want to know another person’s secret because it really is none of their business.
You can look at something and see it in a totally different light from someone standing right next to you.
Despite how hard you try to protect your sons or daughters, they WILL eventually get hurt … and in turn, their pain will be felt by you because you ARE their parent.
Your life can change in a matter of minutes (even a few seconds) by strangers you never know.
Even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.
All the awards and certificates you possess do not make you a decent person. Just because you attend a house of worship does not make you righteous.
The ones you care about most in life have to die much too soon.
These are a few of the things I have discovered in more then a half-century. Maybe I’ll have more time to discover more.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Follow the money in the DeLay resignation
If anyone really believes that Tom DeLay is taking one in the shorts for his beloved GOP, then they do not know Mr. DeLay's history or his public penchant for MONEY MONEY MONEY (cue the O'Jays!).
His timing is exact and his reasons total $1.2 million. That's IT in a nutshell. He did it to gain that money, raised by "campaign" funds, to become his legal defense bankroll. It is another form of money laundering, if TRUTH be told.
And it should not stand ...fo any politician. There needs to be a law in making such practice illegal. If funds are raised for the purpose of campaigning, then that's EXACTLY what it should be directed toward and NOTHING else.
Otherwise, it should be returned. Any other use is simply fraudulent. And people need to step up and say so ... LOUDLY!
In the end, he leaves simply as a coward (cue Kenny Rogers for the Coward of [Fort Bend] County). His ego cannot stand the thought of actually losing (which he was) to a Democrat (which would have happened in November). He's taking his ill-gotten gain, as he has always done while in Congress and slinking away. Shameful!
Either way, it is a wonderful moment for people who don't think graft is a good thing. Good bye and good riddance; it's been far too "DeLayed" for many of us.
His timing is exact and his reasons total $1.2 million. That's IT in a nutshell. He did it to gain that money, raised by "campaign" funds, to become his legal defense bankroll. It is another form of money laundering, if TRUTH be told.
And it should not stand ...fo any politician. There needs to be a law in making such practice illegal. If funds are raised for the purpose of campaigning, then that's EXACTLY what it should be directed toward and NOTHING else.
Otherwise, it should be returned. Any other use is simply fraudulent. And people need to step up and say so ... LOUDLY!
In the end, he leaves simply as a coward (cue Kenny Rogers for the Coward of [Fort Bend] County). His ego cannot stand the thought of actually losing (which he was) to a Democrat (which would have happened in November). He's taking his ill-gotten gain, as he has always done while in Congress and slinking away. Shameful!
Either way, it is a wonderful moment for people who don't think graft is a good thing. Good bye and good riddance; it's been far too "DeLayed" for many of us.
Monday, March 27, 2006
U.S. immigration policy totally inconsistent
Like most things surrounding the Bush Administration, the U.S. immigration policy is a web of totally inconsistent legislation and priorities.
If you come to this country illegally from MEXICO, there are hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of "Americans" (themselves all ancestors of immigrants) who want to throw you out on your Latino ass. That stands regardless of being productive, law-abiding people who merely want a better life.
BUT if you are from Cuba, you are treated FAR differently. Because of the undue political influence of ultra-conservative Cubano voters in south Florida, and those votes going to the Republicna party, illegal immigrants from Cuba, wanting a better life, are given special privileges.
The Cuban Adjustment Act was adopted by Congress on Nov. 2, 1966, under the Lyndon Johnson administration. Its main purpose was to change the legal status of Cuban immigrants - to become "political refugees" and to grant them asylum. That would mean immediate access to the legal system and welfare benefits not given to other groups (automatic permanent residence status - all without review and without the normal processing time).
The Immigration and Naturalization Service policy was updated in the 1990s to become the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, acknowledged just a few days ago by the White House. That means Cubans who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay; those caught at sea usually are sent home.
If this nation wants consistent immigration reform and control of its borders, then such enforcement MUST be across-the-board, regardless of country of origin. We profess to hate Fidel Castro and love Vicente Fox but Senor Fox's actions often demonstrate that he is NOT our compadre. However, the Mexican-American community still lacks the concentrated political strength as exhibited by their Cuban brethren.
The entire debate centers on the wrong issue. It's just like the phony War on Drugs. Instead of attacking the suppliers (much more difficult since they often exist outside our borders), the "demand" situation is the area to attack. Kill the demand and the supply will dry up.
If the United States government decides to make it VERY painful for U.S. employers to openly desire to hire (illegal workers on the cheap), then the supply to dwindle. But that seems quite unlikely because there is no political will to challenge to business lobby. One shriek of "higher prices" is enough to stifle any meaningful debate.
And that's la verdad. The Truth.
If you come to this country illegally from MEXICO, there are hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of "Americans" (themselves all ancestors of immigrants) who want to throw you out on your Latino ass. That stands regardless of being productive, law-abiding people who merely want a better life.
BUT if you are from Cuba, you are treated FAR differently. Because of the undue political influence of ultra-conservative Cubano voters in south Florida, and those votes going to the Republicna party, illegal immigrants from Cuba, wanting a better life, are given special privileges.
The Cuban Adjustment Act was adopted by Congress on Nov. 2, 1966, under the Lyndon Johnson administration. Its main purpose was to change the legal status of Cuban immigrants - to become "political refugees" and to grant them asylum. That would mean immediate access to the legal system and welfare benefits not given to other groups (automatic permanent residence status - all without review and without the normal processing time).
The Immigration and Naturalization Service policy was updated in the 1990s to become the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, acknowledged just a few days ago by the White House. That means Cubans who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay; those caught at sea usually are sent home.
If this nation wants consistent immigration reform and control of its borders, then such enforcement MUST be across-the-board, regardless of country of origin. We profess to hate Fidel Castro and love Vicente Fox but Senor Fox's actions often demonstrate that he is NOT our compadre. However, the Mexican-American community still lacks the concentrated political strength as exhibited by their Cuban brethren.
The entire debate centers on the wrong issue. It's just like the phony War on Drugs. Instead of attacking the suppliers (much more difficult since they often exist outside our borders), the "demand" situation is the area to attack. Kill the demand and the supply will dry up.
If the United States government decides to make it VERY painful for U.S. employers to openly desire to hire (illegal workers on the cheap), then the supply to dwindle. But that seems quite unlikely because there is no political will to challenge to business lobby. One shriek of "higher prices" is enough to stifle any meaningful debate.
And that's la verdad. The Truth.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Assholes in the airport
True fucking story.
I was flying un-American Airlines (the worst of the worst) back to DFW from Las Vegas last Saturday. I can speak to the tininess of airline seating these days and other unfriendly aspects of air travel (remember when it was actually ... fun?), but here is a true story that involves the stupidity that we call "airport security."
Because I must walk with a cane these days (real bad back problems), at McCarren (a nightmare of a layout and one of the most unfriendly venues for handicapped people), I was allowed to go through a separate line for us handicapped. However, the line was stalled for many minutes and a large huddle of men crowded around the baggage scanner, pointing fingers and deploying long faces.
Finally, the line moved, but when it came my turn to go through, I was asked to remove my shoes, which I could not do (no place to sit and no way to bend over to do that). In Dallas, they merely wanded my shoes with a device and things were peachy.
In Vegas, I was ushered to a separate goddamn area, told to sit my ass down and immediately wiped down (shoes and hands) with treated pads, which were put into some machine. Thi, I was told, was to search for drug residue. Because I had a cane? Bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was then patted down by some guy, front, back and in between, despite having nothing in my pockets or on my body (I placed all that shit in a bowl prior). Meanwhile, the whole line is staring at me - wondering what in the fuck is going on.
Did I look like, or walk like, someone who was dangerous? And with three different TSA personnel stating oppisite orders at once, I had no idea what their problem was.
I then discovered the reason for the line delay. A woman, who shall be titled "The Bitch," ahead of me had tried to take a pen knife in her purse (despite ample signs and videos every five feet to the contrary). At first, it displayed on the security screen. When the TSA personnel asked The Bitch to run the purse through again, it was gone, drawing more concerns and long faces.
Seems as if this mental midget fool took the knife out of the purse and put it ... in her goddamn pocket. How fucking ignorant can a person be????
They discovered her bait-and-switch and confiscated the knife. But they then allowed The Bitch to move through without any other action. I got frisked; she got a pass.
WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?????????????????????
Add to the idiocy the fact that in a space of 45 feet, you must show your boarding pass FIVE fucking times, including twice in a distance of 7 feet. WHY? It infuriated my wife to the point of verbally snapping a TSA guy's head off.
It was just too much! It makes air travel as unpleasant as a rectal exam. In fact, my ass felt better after seeing the doctor than sitting in a flying fucking cigar tube for three hours. It is absurd and the public allows itself to be treated this way.
I don't feel safer when I feel put upon. I hate airports; I hate airlines; I hate Transportation Safety Administration. I hate American Airlines. And I hate idiot bitches who can't read, and don't think, when trying to bend the rules (what year is it again?).
We have allowed our freedoms to be compromised because of some false sense of security. Want security? Go suck your thumb and grab a blanket, you faggot Linuses!!!!!!!!
I was flying un-American Airlines (the worst of the worst) back to DFW from Las Vegas last Saturday. I can speak to the tininess of airline seating these days and other unfriendly aspects of air travel (remember when it was actually ... fun?), but here is a true story that involves the stupidity that we call "airport security."
Because I must walk with a cane these days (real bad back problems), at McCarren (a nightmare of a layout and one of the most unfriendly venues for handicapped people), I was allowed to go through a separate line for us handicapped. However, the line was stalled for many minutes and a large huddle of men crowded around the baggage scanner, pointing fingers and deploying long faces.
Finally, the line moved, but when it came my turn to go through, I was asked to remove my shoes, which I could not do (no place to sit and no way to bend over to do that). In Dallas, they merely wanded my shoes with a device and things were peachy.
In Vegas, I was ushered to a separate goddamn area, told to sit my ass down and immediately wiped down (shoes and hands) with treated pads, which were put into some machine. Thi, I was told, was to search for drug residue. Because I had a cane? Bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was then patted down by some guy, front, back and in between, despite having nothing in my pockets or on my body (I placed all that shit in a bowl prior). Meanwhile, the whole line is staring at me - wondering what in the fuck is going on.
Did I look like, or walk like, someone who was dangerous? And with three different TSA personnel stating oppisite orders at once, I had no idea what their problem was.
I then discovered the reason for the line delay. A woman, who shall be titled "The Bitch," ahead of me had tried to take a pen knife in her purse (despite ample signs and videos every five feet to the contrary). At first, it displayed on the security screen. When the TSA personnel asked The Bitch to run the purse through again, it was gone, drawing more concerns and long faces.
Seems as if this mental midget fool took the knife out of the purse and put it ... in her goddamn pocket. How fucking ignorant can a person be????
They discovered her bait-and-switch and confiscated the knife. But they then allowed The Bitch to move through without any other action. I got frisked; she got a pass.
WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?????????????????????
Add to the idiocy the fact that in a space of 45 feet, you must show your boarding pass FIVE fucking times, including twice in a distance of 7 feet. WHY? It infuriated my wife to the point of verbally snapping a TSA guy's head off.
It was just too much! It makes air travel as unpleasant as a rectal exam. In fact, my ass felt better after seeing the doctor than sitting in a flying fucking cigar tube for three hours. It is absurd and the public allows itself to be treated this way.
I don't feel safer when I feel put upon. I hate airports; I hate airlines; I hate Transportation Safety Administration. I hate American Airlines. And I hate idiot bitches who can't read, and don't think, when trying to bend the rules (what year is it again?).
We have allowed our freedoms to be compromised because of some false sense of security. Want security? Go suck your thumb and grab a blanket, you faggot Linuses!!!!!!!!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Muslim respect not an automatic; must be earned
I am amazed at how this country now handles those who practice, and profess, to believe in Islam with kid gloves when it comes to the abhorrent behavior of followers who do harmful things in the name of Allah.
This UNC student who deliberately drove into a crowd of Tar Heels last week, "on a sign from Allah," to spread his mixed-up faith (that revenge should be taken for Americans killing Muslims when it apparently doesn't work in reverse) has not received the outwardly vocal condemnation of even American Muslims.
Why? It is because the current perception holds that ANYTHING said negatively about Islam is immediately called "racist?" That's bullshit of the highest degree.
If it were a Klansman driving into a crowd of black students, Christian (and Jewish) groups would be signalling outrage. Why no such reaction, on anything like this or many, MANY other incidents?
Once upon a time, we as a people spoke truth. And the truth is you cannot go around killing, or injuring, innocent people, and expect automatic love because you say you "believe" in something.
"Respect is earned," Jock Ewing once told Bobby. "It is not given."
This UNC student who deliberately drove into a crowd of Tar Heels last week, "on a sign from Allah," to spread his mixed-up faith (that revenge should be taken for Americans killing Muslims when it apparently doesn't work in reverse) has not received the outwardly vocal condemnation of even American Muslims.
Why? It is because the current perception holds that ANYTHING said negatively about Islam is immediately called "racist?" That's bullshit of the highest degree.
If it were a Klansman driving into a crowd of black students, Christian (and Jewish) groups would be signalling outrage. Why no such reaction, on anything like this or many, MANY other incidents?
Once upon a time, we as a people spoke truth. And the truth is you cannot go around killing, or injuring, innocent people, and expect automatic love because you say you "believe" in something.
"Respect is earned," Jock Ewing once told Bobby. "It is not given."
Monday, February 27, 2006
Another story about old Detroit
Writer's Note: This comment came from Hal Furlong, a reader of the Dallas Morning News, concerning my column "What about Detroit?" in last Sunday's (Feb. 26) Metro section/Collin County.
There are many times that I am tempted to respond to articles in the "News,"
and want to write in, but rarely does the temptation rise above the threshold of action to actually write. I have on one other occasion written to the Dallas Morning News, and that has been many years ago. But your article struck a familiar chord with me regarding my own history in Detroit similar to yours, but occurring 26 years before.
I'll try to be as brief as possible but there are many things that happened that have begged for attention.
I was born in Detroit in 1930. My father was from Texas and my mother from Detroit. It was a struggle during the depression and the tough years of the 1930s to make a living and take care of themselves and the three of us kids. Dad delivered milk and mom taught piano at the Detroit Conservatory that, by the way, is across the street from the Detroit Public Library mentioned in your article.
In 1940, my grandfather gave us a two-story brick home, one of a number of properties that he owned, and we moved up a significant notch in the living standard. Prior to that dad and mom worked hard to improve our situation.
Moving frequently but always improving the houses we lived in. The brick home we received as a gift was a half block from Woodward Ave. and just across Woodward Ave. from an upscale neighborhood called Virginia Park.
As it turns out it was about two blocks in the other direction, away from Woodward Ave., from the "color line." There was a distinct color line at that time in Detroit.
When World War II began in 1941, the defense industry, which had already begun to support the "Lend-Lease" agreement with Britain, went into full swing. There were jobs for everyone. Both mom and dad got jobs at Vicker's, a military equipment manufacturer, and began making good wages.
Things at least from a financial perspective were looking good. There were the
occasional confrontations between blacks and whites, both for my parents and for us kids. But things took an ugly turn in, I believe late 1942 or early 1943, when it happened.
I was about 11 or 12 years old at the time and had a paper route. It was Sunday morning, and seemed quiet. I had to cross Woodward Ave. going south, to pick up my papers blocks away from home. It was early still and perhaps 6 or 7 in the morning. By the time I returned to the house after delivering the papers about 10 a.m., the news was out. There was a full riot in Detroit that was mainly located in central Detroit along Woodward Ave., and at the same time near the Belle Isle bridge.
Cars were being turned over and burned on Woodward Ave. People on streetcars were being attacked and there were reports of snipers shooting people waiting for streetcars. There were reports of homes and businesses being looted and burned. The city of Detroit went into a complete shutdown.
A curfew was declared and the state troops were called in. However, it was difficult to receive the kind of support needed during World War II. They called in elements of the Texas 35th Division and placed the city under marshal law. Sandbagged, .30-caliber machine gun emplacements were located at each corner of the Detroit Public Library and the Detroit Museum of Art.
The streets were patrolled by fully armed military in half-tracks every 15 minutes. They used John R Street, half a block from my house, which became the black-white dividing line. We used to go down to John R Street to watch them go by. (The city remained under marshal law for, I believe, six months). John R, which was an asphalt street, was somewhat torn up after the constant use by the half-track vehicles. Later you could drive down Woodward Ave. and spot the burned spots where cars were turned over and burned.
I don't know how many people lost their lives during the riots, since most news was censored due the war, but I am sure there were many. Also the fact that news was censored has reduced the occurrence of historical references to the riot.
I can assure you that white flight began as well after this 1940s era riot. People were leaving as soon as they were financially capable. At the time, there was a technique known as "block busting." Since you couldn't sell your house if you were close to the black-white line, speculators were then buying into white neighborhoods and selling to upward mobile blacks for significant profits.
We sold out to a black family, which by the way made our neighbors very unhappy with us, moved to Greenville, Texas and never looked back. That was by far the best move we ever made.
I have been back to the area of Detroit on several occasions, but usually avoid the city proper. I have relatives on mother's side that live on Harsen's Island in Lake St. Clair. But in 1990, my curiosity got the better of me and I drove down to my old neighborhood. Detroit, in general, looks liked a bombed out city. Our old two-story brick home was still there, but suffering greatly from neglect, as was the neighborhood.
People keep moving out to the suburbs and the center appears to continue to decay. There are many cities in the U.S. that have similar problems, but most have addressed the need to fight the decay. I don't live in Detroit, so I'm not familiar with their attempts at renewal, but I'm not encouraged by what I saw 16 years ago. Also, I have not heard good things about Detroit since.
As you noted in your article, African-American History should also include this Detroit 1940s chapter as well.
Currently my mother is living with me and is 103 years old and healthy for her age. At every opportunity, she likes say even now, that the best thing we ever did was move to Texas.
There are many times that I am tempted to respond to articles in the "News,"
and want to write in, but rarely does the temptation rise above the threshold of action to actually write. I have on one other occasion written to the Dallas Morning News, and that has been many years ago. But your article struck a familiar chord with me regarding my own history in Detroit similar to yours, but occurring 26 years before.
I'll try to be as brief as possible but there are many things that happened that have begged for attention.
I was born in Detroit in 1930. My father was from Texas and my mother from Detroit. It was a struggle during the depression and the tough years of the 1930s to make a living and take care of themselves and the three of us kids. Dad delivered milk and mom taught piano at the Detroit Conservatory that, by the way, is across the street from the Detroit Public Library mentioned in your article.
In 1940, my grandfather gave us a two-story brick home, one of a number of properties that he owned, and we moved up a significant notch in the living standard. Prior to that dad and mom worked hard to improve our situation.
Moving frequently but always improving the houses we lived in. The brick home we received as a gift was a half block from Woodward Ave. and just across Woodward Ave. from an upscale neighborhood called Virginia Park.
As it turns out it was about two blocks in the other direction, away from Woodward Ave., from the "color line." There was a distinct color line at that time in Detroit.
When World War II began in 1941, the defense industry, which had already begun to support the "Lend-Lease" agreement with Britain, went into full swing. There were jobs for everyone. Both mom and dad got jobs at Vicker's, a military equipment manufacturer, and began making good wages.
Things at least from a financial perspective were looking good. There were the
occasional confrontations between blacks and whites, both for my parents and for us kids. But things took an ugly turn in, I believe late 1942 or early 1943, when it happened.
I was about 11 or 12 years old at the time and had a paper route. It was Sunday morning, and seemed quiet. I had to cross Woodward Ave. going south, to pick up my papers blocks away from home. It was early still and perhaps 6 or 7 in the morning. By the time I returned to the house after delivering the papers about 10 a.m., the news was out. There was a full riot in Detroit that was mainly located in central Detroit along Woodward Ave., and at the same time near the Belle Isle bridge.
Cars were being turned over and burned on Woodward Ave. People on streetcars were being attacked and there were reports of snipers shooting people waiting for streetcars. There were reports of homes and businesses being looted and burned. The city of Detroit went into a complete shutdown.
A curfew was declared and the state troops were called in. However, it was difficult to receive the kind of support needed during World War II. They called in elements of the Texas 35th Division and placed the city under marshal law. Sandbagged, .30-caliber machine gun emplacements were located at each corner of the Detroit Public Library and the Detroit Museum of Art.
The streets were patrolled by fully armed military in half-tracks every 15 minutes. They used John R Street, half a block from my house, which became the black-white dividing line. We used to go down to John R Street to watch them go by. (The city remained under marshal law for, I believe, six months). John R, which was an asphalt street, was somewhat torn up after the constant use by the half-track vehicles. Later you could drive down Woodward Ave. and spot the burned spots where cars were turned over and burned.
I don't know how many people lost their lives during the riots, since most news was censored due the war, but I am sure there were many. Also the fact that news was censored has reduced the occurrence of historical references to the riot.
I can assure you that white flight began as well after this 1940s era riot. People were leaving as soon as they were financially capable. At the time, there was a technique known as "block busting." Since you couldn't sell your house if you were close to the black-white line, speculators were then buying into white neighborhoods and selling to upward mobile blacks for significant profits.
We sold out to a black family, which by the way made our neighbors very unhappy with us, moved to Greenville, Texas and never looked back. That was by far the best move we ever made.
I have been back to the area of Detroit on several occasions, but usually avoid the city proper. I have relatives on mother's side that live on Harsen's Island in Lake St. Clair. But in 1990, my curiosity got the better of me and I drove down to my old neighborhood. Detroit, in general, looks liked a bombed out city. Our old two-story brick home was still there, but suffering greatly from neglect, as was the neighborhood.
People keep moving out to the suburbs and the center appears to continue to decay. There are many cities in the U.S. that have similar problems, but most have addressed the need to fight the decay. I don't live in Detroit, so I'm not familiar with their attempts at renewal, but I'm not encouraged by what I saw 16 years ago. Also, I have not heard good things about Detroit since.
As you noted in your article, African-American History should also include this Detroit 1940s chapter as well.
Currently my mother is living with me and is 103 years old and healthy for her age. At every opportunity, she likes say even now, that the best thing we ever did was move to Texas.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Response to thoughts about Detroit and 1967
Writer’s Note: The following is the text of an e-mail from a total stranger concerning the submitted piece published today (Feb. 26) in the Dallas Morning News’ Collin County Opinions section, which you find that was blogged here earlier this week.
-----
My nephew Michael and I traveled to Detroit just the other day. He’s 22 years old, in his first year at Loyola Law, and a New Orleans hurricane evacuee. Katrina’s wrath brought pain and suffering to all of us; yet one of those hidden blessings has been the opportunity to spend more time with the only son of my beloved sister, Kim, may she rest in peace.
Our journey north to pay our respects to Rosa Parks was transcendent. I can remember well traveling with my own family to see other relatives in Detroit during the summer of 1968. My nephew was as shaken as I to see the vast areas of the city that remain devastated by the historic riots of 1967. We discussed Vietnam, and the debate that raged over America’s involvement at the time. I described the twinge of fear we felt as my parents, sisters and I picked our way amongst the fire-ravaged blocks to the relatively unscathed street where our relatives lived.
You see, back then black families did not have the option of stopping at the nearest Courtyard or Hampton Inn for the night. Travels had to be planned based on a network of friends and family who could provide safety and shelter from Point A to Point B. Somewhat like the Underground Railroad that had transported so many to “freedom” in the North, I mused.
We both felt the deep respect, admiration and love for this tiny woman, Rosa Parks. It was everywhere around us as we waited our turn to file past a legend’s remains. My heart swelled as we chatted with what I would call “old church ladies” both in front and behind us. It was so obvious that as they looked at us - an African American business owner, and Michael, an African-American law student - in some way our success made the sacrifices they and many others made “back in the day” worthwhile. We, and many others surrounding us, exemplified the freedom Rosa Parks gave all Americans on that December day back in 1955.
Four days after our return to the trials (no pun intended) and tribulations of every day life, I continue to see example after example of what to me represents a major shift in the American psyche. Others of my age have described the same internal tug they felt; the overwhelming urge to “go to Mother Rosa, and take a young person with you.”
Call it evolution, call it intelligent design, call it fate, call it destiny, call it the hand of a higher power … I’m personally convinced that Rosa Parks was sent here for a purpose and, whether she knew it, planned it or simply found herself in the wrong place at the right time; this diminutive and gracious lady took a seat for justice and the basic dignity of all human beings. Faced with such humility and grace, our nation could not help but recoil in disgust at the fundamental evil that reigned under the guise of post-Reconstruction Jim Crow laws.
When a private citizen is celebrated and mourned country-wide, is the first female non-military, non-governmental citizen to lie in state in our nation’s Capitol (legislated by both houses , almost overnight it seems!) and whose funeral services take seven hours to complete, you’d have to be pretty narrow minded to ignore the implications of that citizen’s legacy.
What most effectively “made the case” for my nephew and I? When a friend and business colleague from the Detroit area described the thousands of Americans who came out to line the streets of nighttime Detroit (not the friendliest environs in broad daylight). From Greater Grace Temple to Woodlawn Cemetery, my friend Gary noted that as the funeral procession passed by, the crowds spontaneously broke out in a wailing cry of “Rosa … Rosa.”
To this day, he can’t say whether it was the moaning of grieving souls, or the unbidden praise of a grateful people acknowledging one of their greatest queens. He just said it was eerie. It made my nephew and I very glad we were there to bear witness to what could be, once again, the birth of a new nation.
My father, a Methodist minister, always gave people pause when he named 1960’s singer-songwriter Bob Dylan as a modern day prophet. For me, personally, it was less a matter of whether that was an accurate statement, than an issue involving my seeming inability to make out a single word of Bob’s lyrics! One of Dad’s personal favorites (later to become a mantra for the political, economic and cultural upheaval of the 60’s) was, “... for the times, they are a’changing.”
I think both old Dad and Bob Dylan had it right.
All the best to you and yours this Thanksgiving.
Ivan Bullock
Plano, Texas
“Good Morning, Mr. Bloom,
I don’t usually make a habit of writing to DMS columnists, but your piece in this morning’s DMN Collin County Opinions was superb. Perhaps it’s a result of getting older (47) and succumbing to the inevitable waves of nostalgia, but certainly the summers of ‘67 and ‘68 were fundamental in the formation of my own outlook on the world. Vietnam, Walter Cronkite announcing the day’s body counts on the CBS Evening News, the assassinations of MLK, Jr. and Sen. Robert Kennedy, the riots in Detroit and LA … I mean, which do you select for the ‘ay that changed everything?’
You’ll see that I mentioned those times in Detroit during a piece I wrote after taking my nephew to Detroit to pay our respects to Rosa Parks. Never one for “spiritual” moments, even as a preacher’s kid, but if ever there was one, that was it. Thanks for sharing your own experience with us this morning. It was much appreciated!”
-----
My nephew Michael and I traveled to Detroit just the other day. He’s 22 years old, in his first year at Loyola Law, and a New Orleans hurricane evacuee. Katrina’s wrath brought pain and suffering to all of us; yet one of those hidden blessings has been the opportunity to spend more time with the only son of my beloved sister, Kim, may she rest in peace.
Our journey north to pay our respects to Rosa Parks was transcendent. I can remember well traveling with my own family to see other relatives in Detroit during the summer of 1968. My nephew was as shaken as I to see the vast areas of the city that remain devastated by the historic riots of 1967. We discussed Vietnam, and the debate that raged over America’s involvement at the time. I described the twinge of fear we felt as my parents, sisters and I picked our way amongst the fire-ravaged blocks to the relatively unscathed street where our relatives lived.
You see, back then black families did not have the option of stopping at the nearest Courtyard or Hampton Inn for the night. Travels had to be planned based on a network of friends and family who could provide safety and shelter from Point A to Point B. Somewhat like the Underground Railroad that had transported so many to “freedom” in the North, I mused.
We both felt the deep respect, admiration and love for this tiny woman, Rosa Parks. It was everywhere around us as we waited our turn to file past a legend’s remains. My heart swelled as we chatted with what I would call “old church ladies” both in front and behind us. It was so obvious that as they looked at us - an African American business owner, and Michael, an African-American law student - in some way our success made the sacrifices they and many others made “back in the day” worthwhile. We, and many others surrounding us, exemplified the freedom Rosa Parks gave all Americans on that December day back in 1955.
Four days after our return to the trials (no pun intended) and tribulations of every day life, I continue to see example after example of what to me represents a major shift in the American psyche. Others of my age have described the same internal tug they felt; the overwhelming urge to “go to Mother Rosa, and take a young person with you.”
Call it evolution, call it intelligent design, call it fate, call it destiny, call it the hand of a higher power … I’m personally convinced that Rosa Parks was sent here for a purpose and, whether she knew it, planned it or simply found herself in the wrong place at the right time; this diminutive and gracious lady took a seat for justice and the basic dignity of all human beings. Faced with such humility and grace, our nation could not help but recoil in disgust at the fundamental evil that reigned under the guise of post-Reconstruction Jim Crow laws.
When a private citizen is celebrated and mourned country-wide, is the first female non-military, non-governmental citizen to lie in state in our nation’s Capitol (legislated by both houses , almost overnight it seems!) and whose funeral services take seven hours to complete, you’d have to be pretty narrow minded to ignore the implications of that citizen’s legacy.
What most effectively “made the case” for my nephew and I? When a friend and business colleague from the Detroit area described the thousands of Americans who came out to line the streets of nighttime Detroit (not the friendliest environs in broad daylight). From Greater Grace Temple to Woodlawn Cemetery, my friend Gary noted that as the funeral procession passed by, the crowds spontaneously broke out in a wailing cry of “Rosa … Rosa.”
To this day, he can’t say whether it was the moaning of grieving souls, or the unbidden praise of a grateful people acknowledging one of their greatest queens. He just said it was eerie. It made my nephew and I very glad we were there to bear witness to what could be, once again, the birth of a new nation.
My father, a Methodist minister, always gave people pause when he named 1960’s singer-songwriter Bob Dylan as a modern day prophet. For me, personally, it was less a matter of whether that was an accurate statement, than an issue involving my seeming inability to make out a single word of Bob’s lyrics! One of Dad’s personal favorites (later to become a mantra for the political, economic and cultural upheaval of the 60’s) was, “... for the times, they are a’changing.”
I think both old Dad and Bob Dylan had it right.
All the best to you and yours this Thanksgiving.
Ivan Bullock
Plano, Texas
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The historical date that changed everything
In everyone’s life, there is a single date – one vivid unforgettable day – that changes a person’s life. It’s not really that wedding day, or the birth of a child or even the assign of a loved one. All those are important and significant, but not historical.
I write of moments in history that alter your view of life, your actions toward your fellow man and your entire outlook on the world in which you live.
For most people alive today, that date would be Sept. 11, 2001 … for obvious reasons. That ground has been plowed a million times since that Tuesday morning and we all know how much the United States seems different since that point forward.
For your grandparents, it would have been Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval fleet and planes at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was our official entry in the biggest armed conflict Earth has ever seen, and perhaps the last time definitive lines between good and evil (among nations) were drawn clearly for the average person.
Could be it was Sunday, July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and you then realized that mankind was not as bound to these mortal coils as once believed.
For me, it was a different Sunday - July 23, 1967 - when my childhood notions of my home were forever changed for the worse. In the early hours of that date, a police raid on a blind pig (after-hours speakeasy) turned confrontational. Things on that hot summer night escalated and quickly became lethal.
Within hours, two forces collided, based on racial lines, and the city of Detroit essentially was destroyed. By late afternoon and early evening, as disenfranchised people went on a riotous rampage, flames that were engulfing stores, homes and cars could be seen from many other neighborhoods, including mine … from my front lawn.
Places which I had known riding alone on Detroit city buses, or speeding past on my bicycle, became war zones, complete with troops in full battle gear, tanks and armament previously only seen on the news in Vietnam. I stood on one of the main thoroughfares and watched federalized Michigan National Guard troops occupy my city, to quell what Gov. George Romney termed “a state of insurrection,” and somehow I knew, my life would never be the same.
It wasn’t safe anymore to take those bicycle rides, even within my neighborhood, or to the Jewish Community Center for swimming lessons, or on the bus to the Detroit Public Library for research or to the Institute of Arts to see priceless works of genius. One would be looking over their shoulder around almost every corner – regardless of skin color. It simply wasn’t the same place to which almost everyone had seen. The Motown sound went from the Supremes, Temptations and Four Tops to the sounds of emergency service sirens wailing in the night.
When the smoke literally cleared, 43 people had died and 1,179 more were injured. There had been 7,000 arrests and more than 1,400 buildings were burned beyond salvage. The financial cost was $45 million (astronomical for that era) and indescribable in terms of the emotional damage. Only the achievements of a baseball team, the 1968 Detroit Tigers’ drive to a World Series victory, prevent reigniting of the tensions from the prior year.
It lasted for about a week, but the affects remain to this day. On a trip to Detroit two years ago (for one of the few times since I migrated to Texas), I could still see visible scars from that 1967 moment in history. When the sports world turned its recent attention to the 40th Super Bowl, held in Detroit, nary a word was spoken about that terrible week. However, all the lauded urban renovation, or “renaissance” as it could be laughingly described, was for a reason. Detroit lost half of its population from 1967 to 2000, falling from 1.8 million residents to less than 950,000.
No one discussing Black History Month ever examines that dark moment in our nation’s history, choosing instead to focus on other milestones. So much of how our nation’s population pattern changes can be traced to that moment in time. White flight began in earnest after 1967, first toward to northern Detroit suburbs and then southward toward seemingly friendlier confines, such as Texas.
But it is, and was, part of our American history. During a time when our society acknowledges and attempts to educate itself about African-American history, I wish this chapter, sad as it was, would be fully included.
For at least one American, it is a date that changed everything.
I write of moments in history that alter your view of life, your actions toward your fellow man and your entire outlook on the world in which you live.
For most people alive today, that date would be Sept. 11, 2001 … for obvious reasons. That ground has been plowed a million times since that Tuesday morning and we all know how much the United States seems different since that point forward.
For your grandparents, it would have been Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval fleet and planes at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It was our official entry in the biggest armed conflict Earth has ever seen, and perhaps the last time definitive lines between good and evil (among nations) were drawn clearly for the average person.
Could be it was Sunday, July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and you then realized that mankind was not as bound to these mortal coils as once believed.
For me, it was a different Sunday - July 23, 1967 - when my childhood notions of my home were forever changed for the worse. In the early hours of that date, a police raid on a blind pig (after-hours speakeasy) turned confrontational. Things on that hot summer night escalated and quickly became lethal.
Within hours, two forces collided, based on racial lines, and the city of Detroit essentially was destroyed. By late afternoon and early evening, as disenfranchised people went on a riotous rampage, flames that were engulfing stores, homes and cars could be seen from many other neighborhoods, including mine … from my front lawn.
Places which I had known riding alone on Detroit city buses, or speeding past on my bicycle, became war zones, complete with troops in full battle gear, tanks and armament previously only seen on the news in Vietnam. I stood on one of the main thoroughfares and watched federalized Michigan National Guard troops occupy my city, to quell what Gov. George Romney termed “a state of insurrection,” and somehow I knew, my life would never be the same.
It wasn’t safe anymore to take those bicycle rides, even within my neighborhood, or to the Jewish Community Center for swimming lessons, or on the bus to the Detroit Public Library for research or to the Institute of Arts to see priceless works of genius. One would be looking over their shoulder around almost every corner – regardless of skin color. It simply wasn’t the same place to which almost everyone had seen. The Motown sound went from the Supremes, Temptations and Four Tops to the sounds of emergency service sirens wailing in the night.
When the smoke literally cleared, 43 people had died and 1,179 more were injured. There had been 7,000 arrests and more than 1,400 buildings were burned beyond salvage. The financial cost was $45 million (astronomical for that era) and indescribable in terms of the emotional damage. Only the achievements of a baseball team, the 1968 Detroit Tigers’ drive to a World Series victory, prevent reigniting of the tensions from the prior year.
It lasted for about a week, but the affects remain to this day. On a trip to Detroit two years ago (for one of the few times since I migrated to Texas), I could still see visible scars from that 1967 moment in history. When the sports world turned its recent attention to the 40th Super Bowl, held in Detroit, nary a word was spoken about that terrible week. However, all the lauded urban renovation, or “renaissance” as it could be laughingly described, was for a reason. Detroit lost half of its population from 1967 to 2000, falling from 1.8 million residents to less than 950,000.
No one discussing Black History Month ever examines that dark moment in our nation’s history, choosing instead to focus on other milestones. So much of how our nation’s population pattern changes can be traced to that moment in time. White flight began in earnest after 1967, first toward to northern Detroit suburbs and then southward toward seemingly friendlier confines, such as Texas.
But it is, and was, part of our American history. During a time when our society acknowledges and attempts to educate itself about African-American history, I wish this chapter, sad as it was, would be fully included.
For at least one American, it is a date that changed everything.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Who Said What? - Part 5
Another day, another way to play …
Who said what?
In a time when high-ranking government officials were either becoming targets, or finding their own targets (two or four-legged kind), there was plenty said, and not all of it good.
So I ask you, “Who said what?”
As always, answers below.
And here are the answers:
1) Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), newly-elected House Majority Leader on Fox News Sunday, Feb. 5.
2) GOP strategist Mary Matalin on Hannity and Colmes, Fox News Channel, Feb. 8
3) caller to Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 7 EIB network broadcast, with Limbaugh repeating the line in agreement
4) Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 14 EIB broadcast, speaking about Paul Hackett’s decision to drop out of Ohio U.S. Senate race
5) Conservative Ann Coulter in her Feb. 8 syndicated column
6) Newsman Jack Cafferty, CNN’s The Situation Room, Feb. 15
7) Vice President Dick Cheney, on Fox News Channel, Feb. 15
8) Al Franken speaking to guest Joe Conasen, The Al Franken Show, Air America Radio, Feb. 15
Who said what?
In a time when high-ranking government officials were either becoming targets, or finding their own targets (two or four-legged kind), there was plenty said, and not all of it good.
So I ask you, “Who said what?”
As always, answers below.
1) “We can’t lock members up in a cubbyhole here in Washington and never let them see what’s going on around the country and around the world.”
2) “I think these civil rights leaders are nothing more than racists. And they’re keeping constituency, they’re keeping their neighborhoods and their African-American brothers enslaved, if you will, by continuing to let them think that they’re - or forced to think that they’re victims - that the whole system is against them.”
3) “Barack Obama is the Donovan McNabb of the Senate. He’s overrated, and he’s going to get a free pass by the media.”
4) “I erred when I said that Sherrod Brown is black. I’m confusing him with somebody with a similar name in the Democratic Party somewhere. But we have corrected this, and … I’m not gonna apologize, ‘cause I don’t think it’s an insult to be black. But I did err. He is not black. He’s one of these white European descendents in Ohio.”
5) “Muslims are the only people who make feminists seem laid-back.”
6) “I would guess it didn’t exactly represent a profile in courage for the vice president to wander over there to the F-word network for a sit down with Brit Hume. I mean, that’s a little like Bonnie interviewing Clyde, ain’t it?”
7) “I had a bit of the feeling that the press corps was upset because, to some extent, it was about them - they didn’t like the idea that we called the Corpus Christi Caller-Times instead of the New York Times.”
8) “We’re just two Jews who don’t know a thing about hunting.”
And here are the answers:
1) Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), newly-elected House Majority Leader on Fox News Sunday, Feb. 5.
2) GOP strategist Mary Matalin on Hannity and Colmes, Fox News Channel, Feb. 8
3) caller to Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 7 EIB network broadcast, with Limbaugh repeating the line in agreement
4) Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 14 EIB broadcast, speaking about Paul Hackett’s decision to drop out of Ohio U.S. Senate race
5) Conservative Ann Coulter in her Feb. 8 syndicated column
6) Newsman Jack Cafferty, CNN’s The Situation Room, Feb. 15
7) Vice President Dick Cheney, on Fox News Channel, Feb. 15
8) Al Franken speaking to guest Joe Conasen, The Al Franken Show, Air America Radio, Feb. 15
Friday, February 10, 2006
The kind of commercial you'll NEVER see
Newest commercial not to be seen during Super Bowl, Grammys or anywhere else, other than in one's mind:
(Announceer voiceover with scenes from New Orleans/post-Katrina on screen)
Michael Brown, you're the disgraced former head of FEMA; everyone is blaming you for what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck last August.
Now you've been officially hung out to dry when the White House would not even extend executive privilege to you to testify before a Senate committee about communications you had with the White House.
No one is coming to your defense, which ... today ... is that Homeland Security dropped the ball after you told them days ahead of what they've admitted to in public. No one is coming to yuor defense - Democrat OR Republican or quarter horse for that matter.
What do you have to say for yourself now that your career in over?
"I'm going to Dizzy World!"
Fade to black.
(Announceer voiceover with scenes from New Orleans/post-Katrina on screen)
Michael Brown, you're the disgraced former head of FEMA; everyone is blaming you for what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck last August.
Now you've been officially hung out to dry when the White House would not even extend executive privilege to you to testify before a Senate committee about communications you had with the White House.
No one is coming to your defense, which ... today ... is that Homeland Security dropped the ball after you told them days ahead of what they've admitted to in public. No one is coming to yuor defense - Democrat OR Republican or quarter horse for that matter.
What do you have to say for yourself now that your career in over?
"I'm going to Dizzy World!"
Fade to black.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Who Said What 4
Ah, February, the month of love, peace and happiness and one of my favorite Chambers Brothers tune.
Let us again go to Round 4 of “Who Said What?” and see if you can guess where these pearls of wisdom came from?
And the answers are …
1) Rush Limbaugh, Jan. 23 broadcast, EIB network
2) Rush, same broadcast
3) Oops, Rush AGAIN from the same Jan. 23 show. He was hot THAT day.
4) Limbaugh from his Feb. 2 radio show
5) uber conservative author Ann Coulter, speaking Jan. 26 at Philander Smith College
6) Ford employee Rufus McWilliams, concerning a ban of non-Ford cars and trucks from the parking lot of its Dearborn (Mich.) Truck Plant, Jan. 26
7) Bill O’Reilly, The Radio Factor, Jan. 25
8) O’Reilly, same show
9) Consultant Dick Morris on O’Reilly’s The Radio Factor, Jan. 26
10) Khaled Mashaal, Hamas leader, Jan. 27
Hope you did well this time around.
Let us again go to Round 4 of “Who Said What?” and see if you can guess where these pearls of wisdom came from?
1) “The Democrats will eat that up because, while they can’t trust George W. Bush, they can trust Osama bin Laden.”
2) “The bin Laden videotape that came out right before the election last year, well, 2004, could’ve been a John Kerry speech; you know, 75 percent of it.”
3) “Well, bin Laden and the Democrats sound similar, would you not agree?”
4) “The most dangerous place you can be is between a liberal woman and her morning-after pill. That’s a more dangerous place to be than between (Sen.) Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a television camera. When a liberal woman gets pregnant, you do not want to be anywhere near her morning-after pill. I think these babes ought to first prove that they’ve had sex with a man.”
5) “We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice (John Paul) Stevens’ creme brulee. That’s just a joke, for you in the media.”
6) “You buy what you build. That only makes sense.”
7) “Abramoff personally did not give any of his own money to Democrats, but he’s charged with giving them other people’s money. That’s what Dean’s hiding behind. He’s quite a guy, isn’t he? Ridiculous? I think so. But as always, I could be wrong.”
8) “The Bush administration has made too many mistakes. I’m praying it all works out, but they’ve made too many mistakes. But he’s not a hypocrite, Bush. He told you exactly what he was going to do, and he did it.”
9) “But it doesn’t take a brilliant genius to know two fundamental things: A woman can do better at getting women’s votes against a woman than a man can, and a black can do better at getting black votes than a white can. Duh.”
10) “If you want to punish the Palestinian people for practicing democracy, then the American administration should punish Americans for choosing President Bush. Please remember that you were the one who created the Palestinians’ crisis.”
And the answers are …
1) Rush Limbaugh, Jan. 23 broadcast, EIB network
2) Rush, same broadcast
3) Oops, Rush AGAIN from the same Jan. 23 show. He was hot THAT day.
4) Limbaugh from his Feb. 2 radio show
5) uber conservative author Ann Coulter, speaking Jan. 26 at Philander Smith College
6) Ford employee Rufus McWilliams, concerning a ban of non-Ford cars and trucks from the parking lot of its Dearborn (Mich.) Truck Plant, Jan. 26
7) Bill O’Reilly, The Radio Factor, Jan. 25
8) O’Reilly, same show
9) Consultant Dick Morris on O’Reilly’s The Radio Factor, Jan. 26
10) Khaled Mashaal, Hamas leader, Jan. 27
Hope you did well this time around.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Super Bowl; commercial reviews
Let’s first dispense with the formalities of the 40th Super Bowl, a poorly played game that Pittsburgh won (actually, it was a game Seattle lost by failing to convert scoring opportunities).
Here is my review of the package of Super Bowl commercials, also, for the most part, disappointing and nondescript.
The first best commercials were:
5) FedEx “prehistoric.” I laughed, which was rare during the breaks.
4) Hummer “little monster.” Clever interaction between classic Japanese cinematic monsters. So that’s why we have all those gas guzzling tanks on the road?
3) Budweiser “card section.” Well done. You could see the punch line but it was a pleasure getting there.
2) (tie) Budweiser “young Clydesdale colt,” and “streaker.” The streaker was the funniest commercial on the night.
and 1) ABC’s own promotion, “Addicted to Lost.” It was the cleverist spot, with the best use of editing, best use of rock music, best use of enticement to the viewer.
Hands down the individual winner.
Career Builder.com and Budweiser had the best grouping of commercials. Budweiser was far better than its partner, Bud Light, whose commercials were mostly crude and rude. In fact, I hope people think there’s as much “crude” in ANWR as was shown on screen Sunday night.
I like Career Builder because … monkeys ARE funny.
Bud Light lacked wit and Cedric the Entertainer. His presence was notably absent.
Other notable things were the return of old familiar faces (Leonard Nimoy for … Aleve? and Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver for Mastercard) and the fact that there is better rock music in these commercials than can be programmed on any classic rock station.
And just HOW many razor blades does it take to shave a guy? FIVE?
The Diet Pepsi/P Diddy spot was far too hip for old guy me.
Of the movie previews, I thought “Mission Impossible 3,” “V for Vendetta” and the Pixar film, “Cars” looked promising. But Paul Newman doing animated stuff? Is that NOT another sign that the apocalypse is approaching?
Here is my review of the package of Super Bowl commercials, also, for the most part, disappointing and nondescript.
The first best commercials were:
5) FedEx “prehistoric.” I laughed, which was rare during the breaks.
4) Hummer “little monster.” Clever interaction between classic Japanese cinematic monsters. So that’s why we have all those gas guzzling tanks on the road?
3) Budweiser “card section.” Well done. You could see the punch line but it was a pleasure getting there.
2) (tie) Budweiser “young Clydesdale colt,” and “streaker.” The streaker was the funniest commercial on the night.
and 1) ABC’s own promotion, “Addicted to Lost.” It was the cleverist spot, with the best use of editing, best use of rock music, best use of enticement to the viewer.
Hands down the individual winner.
Career Builder.com and Budweiser had the best grouping of commercials. Budweiser was far better than its partner, Bud Light, whose commercials were mostly crude and rude. In fact, I hope people think there’s as much “crude” in ANWR as was shown on screen Sunday night.
I like Career Builder because … monkeys ARE funny.
Bud Light lacked wit and Cedric the Entertainer. His presence was notably absent.
Other notable things were the return of old familiar faces (Leonard Nimoy for … Aleve? and Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver for Mastercard) and the fact that there is better rock music in these commercials than can be programmed on any classic rock station.
And just HOW many razor blades does it take to shave a guy? FIVE?
The Diet Pepsi/P Diddy spot was far too hip for old guy me.
Of the movie previews, I thought “Mission Impossible 3,” “V for Vendetta” and the Pixar film, “Cars” looked promising. But Paul Newman doing animated stuff? Is that NOT another sign that the apocalypse is approaching?
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Who Said What? - Part 3
Another week and another peek at our favorite new game (that doesn’t have the word “poker” in it), Who Said What?
And here are today’s contenders … Vanna?
And here are your answers …
1) Commentator Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Jan. 11, 2006
2) Judge Samuel Alito, during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings,Jan. 12, 2006
3) Dr. James Dobson, on his broadcast, Focus on the Family, Jan. 12, 2006
4) 89-year-old Walter Cronkite, during the recent Winter TV Press Tour 2006 on Sunday, Jan. 15, reiterating his famed 1967 telecast editorial about the Vietnam War
5) Texas writer Larry McMurtry in winning the Golden Globe for co-authoring “Brokeback Mountain,” Jan. 16, 2006
And here are today’s contenders … Vanna?
1) “Don’t you have to be a real ideologue, a real partisan to believe that one party’s more crooked than the other? In terms of - not in terms of ideas or of philosophy, but taking cash home with you and stuff like that?”
2) “The president, like everybody else, is bound by statutes that are enacted by Congress, unless the statutes are unconstitutional, because the Constitution takes precedence over a statute.”
3) “I wish the - not only the Democrats - but the Republicans would - begin to take stock of what they're doing to the family. You know, it’s been over a year now since the presidential election and Republicans have been in power in the House and the Senate and in the White House, and there is very, very little along the lines of what we’re talking about to show for it. There’s very little that has been accomplished that relates to social - conservative social issues: the pro-family agenda; the pro-moral agenda; the sanctity of life. There’s just nothing going on, and I know there are a lot of people out there that are pretty irritated at both parties, frankly, for that.”
4) “To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion … It is increas¬ingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and did the best they could.”
5) “Most heartfelt, I thank my typewriter. My typewriter is a Hermes 3000, surely one of the noblest instruments of European genius.”
And here are your answers …
1) Commentator Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Jan. 11, 2006
2) Judge Samuel Alito, during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings,Jan. 12, 2006
3) Dr. James Dobson, on his broadcast, Focus on the Family, Jan. 12, 2006
4) 89-year-old Walter Cronkite, during the recent Winter TV Press Tour 2006 on Sunday, Jan. 15, reiterating his famed 1967 telecast editorial about the Vietnam War
5) Texas writer Larry McMurtry in winning the Golden Globe for co-authoring “Brokeback Mountain,” Jan. 16, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Volunteer firemen - the front line of needed defense
When you live in small-town, rural Texas, you depend on your neighbors for many things, including personal protection. The police force often sleeps in a single bed and the local fire engine sits idly until awoken when needed.
The signal is the air siren that calls like the ancient Hebrew shofar during the High Holy Days. Night or day, when the shrill piercing voice of the fire department is activated, men and women from across the town drop papers, utensils and farm implements and race to the local fire house in order to determine the need for their services.
Within moments of hearing the emergency notification from a central dispatcher, lights are flashing, engines are revving and volunteers, not getting a dime and little more than a well-cooked barbecue dinner once a year, are speeding toward that moment’s disaster-in-wait.
As I said, these people don’t get paid for their efforts; it is done out of community service, pride and need. Today, it is your neighbor’s field, or house. Tomorrow it could be you. It is the way of life in small-town, rural Texas; those communities which actually outnumbered the large population centers of Texas. And those rural departments are responsible for more acreage than the far-better-financed units in places like Plano, Frisco, McKinney, etc.
When I owned a community newspaper in such a small-town, rural Texas town, I joined the local volunteer fire department out of sheer professional need. They needed publicity; I needed news. I was never in the proper shape to do things like battle house fires, which requires specific and intense training at places like the Texas A&M Fire School (one of the hidden gems in this state).
But I could stand on the back of a “fast attack” first responder truck that could pour an initial dressing of water on a highway grass fire, while waiting for the big boys to appear. Since my office was 30 yards from the fire house, I was able to get a first-hand report of fire activity.
Of course, back in the day, some of us were younger and better able to handle the rigors of the job. I’m sure today’s standards would preclude any further participation from specimens like me; which is just as well.
One day, the fast attack was dispatched to a major blaze in an open field where the smoke could be seen for miles. In all, we spent four hours fighting the fire until it was gone (or controlled enough to return home). We bounced across fields of broken mesquite stumps, ruts created by mud and cows grazing, and the rocky terrain known as the brush country. Yet it seemed like only a few minutes, going around in literal circles to keep ahead of the fire line and stop it from advancing to homes or other property.
I will never forget the smell; the aroma was like a hindquarter in a South Texas smokehouse, undergoing barbecuing treatment for a week. No amount of showering could erase the memory.
According to the Dallas Morning News, a survey conducted by the Texas Forest Service found that only one-third of Texas firefighters are paid. There are more than 30,000 active volunteer firefighters out there helping their neighbors. But, as seen recently, these are the warriors on the front lines in places most suburbanites have never heard about. All they see is a raging threat and ask for a successful conclusion.
These departments need more financial assistance from the folks in Austin and Washington. The public needs to recognize the contribution and dedication of these volunteers. Their duty is indescribable, their mission is undeniable.
Their equipment must be state-of-the art; their dedication is already state-of-the-heart.
The signal is the air siren that calls like the ancient Hebrew shofar during the High Holy Days. Night or day, when the shrill piercing voice of the fire department is activated, men and women from across the town drop papers, utensils and farm implements and race to the local fire house in order to determine the need for their services.
Within moments of hearing the emergency notification from a central dispatcher, lights are flashing, engines are revving and volunteers, not getting a dime and little more than a well-cooked barbecue dinner once a year, are speeding toward that moment’s disaster-in-wait.
As I said, these people don’t get paid for their efforts; it is done out of community service, pride and need. Today, it is your neighbor’s field, or house. Tomorrow it could be you. It is the way of life in small-town, rural Texas; those communities which actually outnumbered the large population centers of Texas. And those rural departments are responsible for more acreage than the far-better-financed units in places like Plano, Frisco, McKinney, etc.
When I owned a community newspaper in such a small-town, rural Texas town, I joined the local volunteer fire department out of sheer professional need. They needed publicity; I needed news. I was never in the proper shape to do things like battle house fires, which requires specific and intense training at places like the Texas A&M Fire School (one of the hidden gems in this state).
But I could stand on the back of a “fast attack” first responder truck that could pour an initial dressing of water on a highway grass fire, while waiting for the big boys to appear. Since my office was 30 yards from the fire house, I was able to get a first-hand report of fire activity.
Of course, back in the day, some of us were younger and better able to handle the rigors of the job. I’m sure today’s standards would preclude any further participation from specimens like me; which is just as well.
One day, the fast attack was dispatched to a major blaze in an open field where the smoke could be seen for miles. In all, we spent four hours fighting the fire until it was gone (or controlled enough to return home). We bounced across fields of broken mesquite stumps, ruts created by mud and cows grazing, and the rocky terrain known as the brush country. Yet it seemed like only a few minutes, going around in literal circles to keep ahead of the fire line and stop it from advancing to homes or other property.
I will never forget the smell; the aroma was like a hindquarter in a South Texas smokehouse, undergoing barbecuing treatment for a week. No amount of showering could erase the memory.
According to the Dallas Morning News, a survey conducted by the Texas Forest Service found that only one-third of Texas firefighters are paid. There are more than 30,000 active volunteer firefighters out there helping their neighbors. But, as seen recently, these are the warriors on the front lines in places most suburbanites have never heard about. All they see is a raging threat and ask for a successful conclusion.
These departments need more financial assistance from the folks in Austin and Washington. The public needs to recognize the contribution and dedication of these volunteers. Their duty is indescribable, their mission is undeniable.
Their equipment must be state-of-the art; their dedication is already state-of-the-heart.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Apples and oranges for coaches pay
Please, do not get the issues confused between what we pay our teachers and what we pay head football coaches.
The state regulates the base salaries of teachers - including athletic coaches. Texas is fifth from the bottom because the state of Texas wants it to be that way. That is a battle to be fought in the Legislature and will not be won until the current Tom Craddick-Kent Grusendorf anti-education leadership is removed!
Football coaches are supplemented on a local, district-by-district, basis. That is a school board decision, in the same way that superintendents get paid more than $225,000 a year (such as Plano ISD) -- FAR higher than the pay scale just 10 years ago.
As I said, don't confuse the two issues since each has a different battleground.
Of course, in Collin County, since the GOP controls EVERYTHING, including city and school government, there is a tie that binds.
The state regulates the base salaries of teachers - including athletic coaches. Texas is fifth from the bottom because the state of Texas wants it to be that way. That is a battle to be fought in the Legislature and will not be won until the current Tom Craddick-Kent Grusendorf anti-education leadership is removed!
Football coaches are supplemented on a local, district-by-district, basis. That is a school board decision, in the same way that superintendents get paid more than $225,000 a year (such as Plano ISD) -- FAR higher than the pay scale just 10 years ago.
As I said, don't confuse the two issues since each has a different battleground.
Of course, in Collin County, since the GOP controls EVERYTHING, including city and school government, there is a tie that binds.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Who Said What – part 2
Gosh, how times flies when you’re having fun. So it is that we once again play America’s most popular game, “Who said what?”
Just identify the quotes with the person, or people, who uttered them, and, as Don Rickles is fond to say, you win a cookie.
Good batch of quotes this round. And here are the answers:
1) Kevin Madden, Tom DeLay spokesman
2) anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist (quoted by the National Journal in 1995)
3) admitted felon/lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in a May 2, 2001, article in the Hill newspaper, as reported by Melanie Fonder (“Lobbyists Approve of Bush’s Businesslike Style”)
4) Ed Gillespie, then chairman of the Republican National Committee, on an Oct. 15, 2003, CNBC broadcast
5) Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), seeking to replace Tom DeLay as House Majority Leader
6) Rev. Rob Schenck, founder and president of the National Clergy Council? (quoted by AgapePress, a news service operated by the American Family Association, on Jan. 4 after the West Virginian coal mining tragedy)
7) President George W. Bush upon returning to New Orleans for the first time in three months (Jan. 11). However President Bush did not meet with any of the people actually displaced by the hurricane, estimated by FEMA at 2 million.
Did you win? Did you know? Did you connect the dots?
I hope so.
Just identify the quotes with the person, or people, who uttered them, and, as Don Rickles is fond to say, you win a cookie.
1) “Mr. DeLay always makes decisions with the best interests of his constituents in mind.”
2) “What the Republicans need is 50 Jack Abramoffs. Then this becomes a different town.”
3) “The Bush team’s careful and deliberate approach to leadership is the exact opposite of the Clinton team. The feeding frenzy which started even before Clinton was inaugurated, and continued to the final pardon, was perhaps best exemplified by the reckless and unprofessional handling of his responsibility to appoint honorable public servants.”
4) “I know Jack Abramoff. They (Abramoff and another unnamed lobbyist) are Republicans; they were Republicans before they were lobbyists … I think they want to see a Republican re-elected in the White House in 2004 more than anything.”
5) “Do I have K Street friends? Yes, I do. Do I have relationships with them? Yes. And every one of them is an ethical relationship.”
6) “We often turn to God only when we feel like nothing else can be done. And, in the Bible, God rebuked nations who only turned to Him in their most extreme moments of need. That has been our tradition in the United States. When¬ever we find ourselves in a situation where we get to the end of our own resources, we turn to God.”
7) “I will tell you, the contrast between when I was last here and today … is pretty dramatic. It may be hard for you to see, but from when I first came here to today, New Orleans is reminding me of the city I used to visit.
“It’s a heck of a place to bring your family. It’s a great place to find some of the greatest food in the world and some wonderful fun.”
Good batch of quotes this round. And here are the answers:
1) Kevin Madden, Tom DeLay spokesman
2) anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist (quoted by the National Journal in 1995)
3) admitted felon/lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in a May 2, 2001, article in the Hill newspaper, as reported by Melanie Fonder (“Lobbyists Approve of Bush’s Businesslike Style”)
4) Ed Gillespie, then chairman of the Republican National Committee, on an Oct. 15, 2003, CNBC broadcast
5) Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), seeking to replace Tom DeLay as House Majority Leader
6) Rev. Rob Schenck, founder and president of the National Clergy Council? (quoted by AgapePress, a news service operated by the American Family Association, on Jan. 4 after the West Virginian coal mining tragedy)
7) President George W. Bush upon returning to New Orleans for the first time in three months (Jan. 11). However President Bush did not meet with any of the people actually displaced by the hurricane, estimated by FEMA at 2 million.
Did you win? Did you know? Did you connect the dots?
I hope so.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Getting 'Goosed' over Hall of Fame vote
OK, so only reliever Bruce Sutter was elected into the Hall of Fame (only the fourth relief pitcher) and Rich “Goose” Gossage is pissed off.
Good, he should be … because he belongs. As does Jim Rice and Andre Dawson.
What is puzzling to us die-hard baseball fans over 40 is HOW the 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, the group that decide this thing, can actually keep some of the deserving men out of the august shrine.
Here’s one answer: bias. Gossage played for San Diego and the White Sox but made his biggest splash with … the Yankees. Rice was a lifer with … the Red Sox. Dawson starred for Montreal but was Most Valuable Player for … the Cubs.
Could there be a backlash against these teams by West Coast and Midwest/Southern writers? Sure, in the same manner as there is an obvious bias against Dallas Cowboy nominees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and FOR San Francisco and Pittsburgh. It’s not admitted but it is there.
So when will Rice, Dawson and Gossage have a chance? In 2-3 years, but not in 2007.
Here are the HOP eligibles for the next four years:
2007: Harold Baines, Derek Bell, Dante Bichette, Bobby Bonilla, Jeff Brantley, Jay Buhner, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Eric Davis, Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn, Darryl Hamilton, Pete Harnisch, Charlie Hayes, Glenallen Hill, Ken Hill, Stan Javier, Wally Joyner, Ramon Martinez, Mark McGwire, Paul O’Neill, Gregg Olson, Cal Ripken Jr., Bret Saberhagen, Jeff Shaw, Kevin Tapani, Devon White, Bobby Witt
2008: Shawon Dunston, Travis Fryman, David Justice, Mike Morgan, Tim Raines, Randy Velarde
2009: Mark Grace, Rickey Henderson, Dean Palmer, Dan Plesac, Matt Williams
2010: Andres Galarraga, Edgar Martinez, Robin Ventura.
Out of all those players, only Ripken, Gwynn and Henderson are shoo-ins. McGwire SHOULD be elected, but there will be a tremendous backlash against him for his (perceived) misleading comments about steroid usage although no one has proven a Goddamn thing. He might have to wait until 2008.
You could argue over beers about whether Saberhagen belongs (if HE does then Bert Blylevan does), or whether a steady player like Paul O’Neill, Harold Baines or Edgar Martinez should be elected. If any of those players get in, then the voters need to immediate induct the likes of Dawson, Rice and Dale Murphy – no questions asked. How can you keep a back-to-back MVP out (that’s Dale Murphy, as dominant and feared a power hitter in the day as there was)?
The preceding conversation is why baseball is such a wonderful fan’s sport. And pitchers and catcher report in a month …
Life will begin again.
Good, he should be … because he belongs. As does Jim Rice and Andre Dawson.
What is puzzling to us die-hard baseball fans over 40 is HOW the 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, the group that decide this thing, can actually keep some of the deserving men out of the august shrine.
Here’s one answer: bias. Gossage played for San Diego and the White Sox but made his biggest splash with … the Yankees. Rice was a lifer with … the Red Sox. Dawson starred for Montreal but was Most Valuable Player for … the Cubs.
Could there be a backlash against these teams by West Coast and Midwest/Southern writers? Sure, in the same manner as there is an obvious bias against Dallas Cowboy nominees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and FOR San Francisco and Pittsburgh. It’s not admitted but it is there.
So when will Rice, Dawson and Gossage have a chance? In 2-3 years, but not in 2007.
Here are the HOP eligibles for the next four years:
2007: Harold Baines, Derek Bell, Dante Bichette, Bobby Bonilla, Jeff Brantley, Jay Buhner, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Eric Davis, Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn, Darryl Hamilton, Pete Harnisch, Charlie Hayes, Glenallen Hill, Ken Hill, Stan Javier, Wally Joyner, Ramon Martinez, Mark McGwire, Paul O’Neill, Gregg Olson, Cal Ripken Jr., Bret Saberhagen, Jeff Shaw, Kevin Tapani, Devon White, Bobby Witt
2008: Shawon Dunston, Travis Fryman, David Justice, Mike Morgan, Tim Raines, Randy Velarde
2009: Mark Grace, Rickey Henderson, Dean Palmer, Dan Plesac, Matt Williams
2010: Andres Galarraga, Edgar Martinez, Robin Ventura.
Out of all those players, only Ripken, Gwynn and Henderson are shoo-ins. McGwire SHOULD be elected, but there will be a tremendous backlash against him for his (perceived) misleading comments about steroid usage although no one has proven a Goddamn thing. He might have to wait until 2008.
You could argue over beers about whether Saberhagen belongs (if HE does then Bert Blylevan does), or whether a steady player like Paul O’Neill, Harold Baines or Edgar Martinez should be elected. If any of those players get in, then the voters need to immediate induct the likes of Dawson, Rice and Dale Murphy – no questions asked. How can you keep a back-to-back MVP out (that’s Dale Murphy, as dominant and feared a power hitter in the day as there was)?
The preceding conversation is why baseball is such a wonderful fan’s sport. And pitchers and catcher report in a month …
Life will begin again.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
It's time to play 'Who said what?'
Hello, boys and girls. It’s time to play “Guess who said what?”
Here are today’s quotes and you need to guess … who said what?
1) “You can support the troops, but not the president.”
2) “Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years?”
3) “Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?”
4) “[The] President … is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”
5) “American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy.”
6) “If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.”
7) “I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning ... I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”
8) “I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today.”
9) “Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
OK, who said what? Here are the answers:
From the mouth for former GOP House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) were uttered quotes 1, 5 and 8.
Quote number 2 was said by then-Republican congressman Joe Scarborough, now a host of his own cable TV talk show on MSNBC.
The third quote was said by Sean Hannity, on his Fox News Channel talk show.
Number 4 was said by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), who is seen by some as a possible Republican presidential nominee in 2008.
Number 6 was said by Karen Hughes, when she was working for then Gov. George W. Bush and who is now part of the U.S. State Department and a key Bush strategist.
Number 7 was spoken by former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
Number 9 was George W. Bush, when he was governor of Texas.
All quotes were made during the Clinton Administration when he formally committed troops to Bosnia.
Hypocrisy anyone?? Interesting when the shoe is on the other foot, no?
And that’s who said what!
Here are today’s quotes and you need to guess … who said what?
1) “You can support the troops, but not the president.”
2) “Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years?”
3) “Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?”
4) “[The] President … is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”
5) “American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy.”
6) “If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.”
7) “I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning ... I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”
8) “I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today.”
9) “Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
OK, who said what? Here are the answers:
From the mouth for former GOP House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) were uttered quotes 1, 5 and 8.
Quote number 2 was said by then-Republican congressman Joe Scarborough, now a host of his own cable TV talk show on MSNBC.
The third quote was said by Sean Hannity, on his Fox News Channel talk show.
Number 4 was said by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), who is seen by some as a possible Republican presidential nominee in 2008.
Number 6 was said by Karen Hughes, when she was working for then Gov. George W. Bush and who is now part of the U.S. State Department and a key Bush strategist.
Number 7 was spoken by former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
Number 9 was George W. Bush, when he was governor of Texas.
All quotes were made during the Clinton Administration when he formally committed troops to Bosnia.
Hypocrisy anyone?? Interesting when the shoe is on the other foot, no?
And that’s who said what!
The beating of Tom-Tom
Saturday’s not-so-surprising announcement by Republican Congressman Tom DeLay that he would abandon all hope of regaining his position as House Majority Leader is just part of the continuing self-destruction of one of this country’s political leaders. His reign of legislative terror is essentially over as the man called “The Hammer” who loved posing on the Capitol steps cracking a bullwhip.
The announcement did not mean he was quitting the House – far from it. He is running for re-election, but with four Republican challengers in the March primary and a major Democratic challenger, former Congressman Nick Lampson who got gerrymandered by DeLay and his cronies out of office two years ago.
This is the case of a big oak tree being whittled down a branch at a time and now the lumberjacks are going for the base to knock it down all together. And DeLay, through his arrogance and action, have brought the saws upon himself. He was once the GOP’s bastion of moral conservatism, but like all things, and people, who put themselves on pedestals, they become targets to be knocked down.
And no one was holier than thou than Tom DeLay.
I’ve heard far too many talk show hosts, politicians and read too many columnists who think the DeLay brouhaha, and the guilty pleas and revelations from lobbyist Jack Arbamoff, are a tempest in a tea pot. Oh how wrong they are!
If I were a Democratic strategist, I would construct a simply 30-second commercial to be run in every market where a Congressional seat or U.S. Senate seat, held by a Republican, is being contested. I would put Abramoff’s mug on screen and then the Republican in question on the other side and just start listing contributions made from one to the other.
“What did he buy and when did he buy it?” I would ask. I’d smack the incumbent with the flypaper that is Abramoff and make them disprove a negative – the hardest thing to do in politics. In Louisiana, former Gov. Edwin Edwards (himself serving time for accepting bribes), “The only rule in politics is not to get caught with a dead woman or a live boy in bed with you.” Add Mr. Abramoff to that list.
I usually dismiss what conservative commentators have to say because of their self-serving interests, But, Here are the words of a conservative I respect, Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News, off that newspaper’s editorial board blog last week:
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
DeLay is no shoo-in to win re-election in his Sugar Land district outside of Houston. But his career is essentially over and it’s HIS fault. He asked the lumberjacks to chop him down … like termintes.
The announcement did not mean he was quitting the House – far from it. He is running for re-election, but with four Republican challengers in the March primary and a major Democratic challenger, former Congressman Nick Lampson who got gerrymandered by DeLay and his cronies out of office two years ago.
This is the case of a big oak tree being whittled down a branch at a time and now the lumberjacks are going for the base to knock it down all together. And DeLay, through his arrogance and action, have brought the saws upon himself. He was once the GOP’s bastion of moral conservatism, but like all things, and people, who put themselves on pedestals, they become targets to be knocked down.
And no one was holier than thou than Tom DeLay.
I’ve heard far too many talk show hosts, politicians and read too many columnists who think the DeLay brouhaha, and the guilty pleas and revelations from lobbyist Jack Arbamoff, are a tempest in a tea pot. Oh how wrong they are!
If I were a Democratic strategist, I would construct a simply 30-second commercial to be run in every market where a Congressional seat or U.S. Senate seat, held by a Republican, is being contested. I would put Abramoff’s mug on screen and then the Republican in question on the other side and just start listing contributions made from one to the other.
“What did he buy and when did he buy it?” I would ask. I’d smack the incumbent with the flypaper that is Abramoff and make them disprove a negative – the hardest thing to do in politics. In Louisiana, former Gov. Edwin Edwards (himself serving time for accepting bribes), “The only rule in politics is not to get caught with a dead woman or a live boy in bed with you.” Add Mr. Abramoff to that list.
I usually dismiss what conservative commentators have to say because of their self-serving interests, But, Here are the words of a conservative I respect, Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News, off that newspaper’s editorial board blog last week:
“Some of my colleagues over at National Review’s blog think the Abramoff scandal is a big snooze. Not me. I think Abramoff is a very big deal, and I believe Republicans, and conservatives, dismiss or downplay it at our peril. What this guy did was disgusting, as I’m sure we all can agree. But it’s important morally and politically because Republicans came to power in 1994 largely because the public was sick and tired of the way the Democrats used their institutional power for corrupt ends. Andy Ferguson identified the importance in this Weekly Standard article, especially in this passage:
The Republican takeover--which is to say, political success--dealt the mortal blow [to reformist, idealistic conservatism]. Conservative institutions, conceived for combat, have in power become self-perpetuating, churning their direct-mail lists in pursuit of cash from the orthodontist in Wichita and the Little Old Lady in Dubuque, so the activists can continue to fund the all-important work of . . . churning their direct-mail lists. The current story of Jack Abramoff’s lucrative self-dealing, involving as it does such movement stalwarts as Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist, may seem lunatic in its excesses, but the excesses aren't the point. The point is the ease with which the stalwarts commandeered the greasy machinery of Washington power. Conservative activists came to Washington to do good and stayed to do well. The grease rubbed off, too.
Translation: the people we conservatives advocated for and voted for got to Washington and in many cases became just as corrupt as the bums they replaced - though the scale of Abramoff’s operation suggests that the Republicans were even worse. Somewhere along the way, Republicans got more interested in maintaining power than in standing for anything - I vote for the moment that Tom DeLay conceived the K Street Project, which in its wretched amoralistic excess recalls the phrase attributed to the Medici pope of the Renaissance Leo X: “God gave us the papacy; let us enjoy it,” (and we know how well things would soon turn out for the Church because of that attitude).
If I were a Democrat, I would flood Red State media markets this fall with the following quotation - yes, I quoted it yesterday, but I just can't get enough of it -- from a memo by Abramoff partner and former DeLay aide Michael Scanlon, explaining how he and his fellow wiseguys made useful idiots of Christian conservatives to serve their clients' interests: "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them. The wackos get their information form [sic] the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet, and telephone trees."
If conservatives cannot work up some authentic moral outrage over what this sorry lot we've helped get elected has done with the public trust and our own trust, then we deserve to lose this fall. Might as well lose public office, as we will have already lost our souls.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
DeLay is no shoo-in to win re-election in his Sugar Land district outside of Houston. But his career is essentially over and it’s HIS fault. He asked the lumberjacks to chop him down … like termintes.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Wal-Mart at it ... again
Damn, just when you thought it was save to back out in public, you discover that your favorite business in the entire world - Wal-Mart – is at it again.
It seems that, according to the Associated Press on Thursday (Jan. 5), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has stopped the system that makes (and creates) the movie recommendations on its shopping Web site. Why do you ask should I care? Well, it seems that the pride of Bentonville, Ark., in the cradle of the Southern mentality, linked a “Planet of the Apes” DVD to films about … famous black Americans, including the late Martin Luther King Jr.
According to AP, “Wal-Mart said it had removed what it called the ‘offensive combinations’ from a walmart.com page advertising a boxed DVD set, Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series. Under a ‘similar items’ section, the DVD set’s page linked shoppers to four films about the lives of King, actress Dorothy Dandridge, boxer Jack Johnson and singer Tina Turner. Wal-Mart later altered the page to link with television show DVDs.”
Smart move. And no one in the company can figure out how it happened. Does the word, “Arkansas,” offer a clue?
“We are heartsick that this happened and are currently doing everything possible to correct the problem,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said in a preapred statement. “Walmart.com’s item mapping process does not work correctly and at this point is mapping seemingly random combinations of titles. We were horrified to discover that some hurtful and offensive combinations are being mapped together. We are deeply sorry that this happened.”
“To further illustrate the bizarre nature of this technical issue, the site is also mapping movies such as Home Alone and Power Puff Girls to African-American-themed DVDs.”.
This is the same Website that has, in the not-so-distant past, sold books that expound white supremacist and neo-Nazi themes.
A little salt with that, cracker?
It seems that, according to the Associated Press on Thursday (Jan. 5), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has stopped the system that makes (and creates) the movie recommendations on its shopping Web site. Why do you ask should I care? Well, it seems that the pride of Bentonville, Ark., in the cradle of the Southern mentality, linked a “Planet of the Apes” DVD to films about … famous black Americans, including the late Martin Luther King Jr.
According to AP, “Wal-Mart said it had removed what it called the ‘offensive combinations’ from a walmart.com page advertising a boxed DVD set, Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series. Under a ‘similar items’ section, the DVD set’s page linked shoppers to four films about the lives of King, actress Dorothy Dandridge, boxer Jack Johnson and singer Tina Turner. Wal-Mart later altered the page to link with television show DVDs.”
Smart move. And no one in the company can figure out how it happened. Does the word, “Arkansas,” offer a clue?
“We are heartsick that this happened and are currently doing everything possible to correct the problem,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said in a preapred statement. “Walmart.com’s item mapping process does not work correctly and at this point is mapping seemingly random combinations of titles. We were horrified to discover that some hurtful and offensive combinations are being mapped together. We are deeply sorry that this happened.”
“To further illustrate the bizarre nature of this technical issue, the site is also mapping movies such as Home Alone and Power Puff Girls to African-American-themed DVDs.”.
This is the same Website that has, in the not-so-distant past, sold books that expound white supremacist and neo-Nazi themes.
A little salt with that, cracker?
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