In Case You Missed It (v99)

What was shaking at veritable pastiche last week? Here's your recap. 

The week started with It Happened Again, a post referencing the Amadou Diallo murder from the 90s, American Skin (41 Shots), the Bruce Springsteen song inspired by it, and the Jayland Walker murder from last month. 

There were 46 entrance wounds on his 25-year-old body: 

• 17 on his pelvis and upper legs, injuring major arteries to his leg and bladder; his pelvis and both femurs were broken.
• 15 on his torso, injuring his heart, lungs, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, and multiple ribs.
• 8 on his arms and right hand.
• 5 on his knees, his leg, and his foot
• 1 on his face, breaking his jaw.

Adding insult to those injuries? He was handcuffed after he was murdered. 

Is it a gun, is it a knife

Is it a wallet, this is your life

It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)

It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)

No secret my friend

You can get killed just for living in your American skin.

It happened again - and I don't know that I will ever understand why. 

In your Sunday School lesson, we were back in CNN's State of the Union classroom. Host Dana Bash talked with outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) about the Republican Governors Association.

Ducey talked about how the RGA works and how it works to "keep our states red ...but we don't support lost causes." Bash honed in Doug Mastriano in PA, wondering if he was a "lost cause."  Ducey said no decisions have been made yet given it's still early. 

When Bash asked if someone like Mastriano "should be in such an important swing state in the governor's mansion," Ducey said 

I also think this election should be about the future. I don't think we should think for one more moment about 2020. This is about the 2022 election cycle. And, as I said, the job of the RGA is to elect Republican governors, and that's what we're going to do in this cycle.

For your Extra Credit, it was Bash's conversation with Jared Bernstein, a long-time Biden economic advisor, that had left me scratching my head. Bernstein had to explain a couple of things to Bash that, in my opinion, should have been obvious.

...if we're going to talk about the damage that these high energy prices are having on family budgets, I think we have to talk about the benefits for when those prices come down a little.

And, he also had to explain, 

...the president is unequivocal by not calling 'mission accomplished' on any of this. We're talking about a decline that's completely insufficient when it comes to delivering the relief to family budgets that they need. So, that's why he continues to push on every aspect he can of this issue in terms of increasing the supply of global energy to help mitigate that price increase.

And then, a lightbulb: Bash said, "And you're right. The prices have come down, which is a good thing. It's better than them going the other way." BINGO! 

Compared to others in the administration, Bernstein is a breath of fresh air.

Also on Tuesday, I posted Part Three of our Future Tale. Parts One and Two were recapped, which explained why our narrator was in a really weird alley, and found

A revolving door. 

A revolving door? It was so completely out of place, I almost laughed out loud, but caught myself at the last second. Laughing seemed as out of place as the door, after what I had just been through, what I had yet to fully process. Heck, who am I kidding? I hadn't even begun to process what had happened behind me in the alley; I didn't even know where to start, but I knew laughing wasn't it.

I stopped a few feet away from the door, all glass and brass, ornate like the doors you find in classy old hotels, and simultaneously filthy like you find in abandoned ones. I half expected there to be a bellman in the vestibule, but this wasn't a hotel, there wasn't a vestibule. I'm in an alley for Pete's sake, I told myself, not in some old movie. 

My husband, trying to piece things together, said it made more sense when I explained it was part nightmare, part dream, part The Thoughts That Fly Around My Head When I Should Be Sleeping. I'll have more of the story for you later. 

For your Wondering on Wednesday, I was musing about another of those things I'll never understand: the stupidity of the Democrats.

Speaking of listening, I can't help wondering who on earth the Dems are listening to, that they think the answer to winning elections this year is to prop up Trumpers in their GOP primaries? The most recent example comes from yesterday's gubernatorial primary in Maryland, where Trump-endorsed Dan Cox beat actual Republican Kelly Schulz, who was endorsed by her former boss, Gov. Larry Hogan. 

The Democratic Governors Association - a bunch of goofballs, it would seem - spent over a million bucks propping up Cox, thinking he'd be easier to beat in the general election. 

And, of course, Cox is not the only one. They're also propping up Kari Lake, the goofball running to replace Ducey in Arizona. I swear you can't make this stuff up. 

For #tbt, I revisited this one: Ronald Reagan for President? It started when I, a lifelong registered Democrat (at that time, I was - not anymore) got a call from a survey asking "loyal conservatives" who they wanted for president. Deciding to play along, at least for a while, I asked who the choices were, and the caller told me it was an open question but gave me several of the leading responses, including Ronald Reagan, who passed away in 1989.

Excited that I had such great options, I responded emphatically "Ronald Reagan!" The woman answered, with a chuckle, "Yes, he seems to be a popular choice."  

A dead man is a popular choice to lead the Conservatives forward in their mission to take back America? Really? A dead man? 

I pointed out that it seemed that a dead man (even a dead former president) being a top mention as a 'leader' of the Conservative movement said either quite a bit about their message, quite a bit about loyal local Conservatives, or both. 

Mostly I think it says a lot about the state of affairs in America today. 

I had fun with this one, and so did the caller - and yes, I did confess my Dem status to her.

Friday brought a Quick Take on the bizarre doings at the Federal Election Commission, in particular a hissy fit about a question Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) asked. The FEC is a mess -for one thing, it's equally divided between Ds and Rs, on purpose. For another, there seems to be a commissioner who's a bit judgmental, which led to a Twitter spat.

After the meeting a fellow commish, Ellen Weintraub, tweeted about Trainor's comment, saying in part 

I have never seen a requestor treated so disrespectfully by a member of this Commission. We do not 'pass judgment' on the personal lives of those who come before us asking for guidance.

And, because #thisisus, Trainor responded, misspelling Swalwell's name in the process. 

I've never seen campaign donors treated so disrespectfully! The Republic will persevere even if Swallwell (sic) doesn't get all the junkets he'd like.

To help Trainor our, I was more than happy to share some egregious examples of "campaign donors treated so disrespectfully!" from right here in my own backyard. I'll have more on the FEC for you coming up this week. 

We closed things out with an all good-week  TGIF. The post included a variety of folks involved in some with with the Trump insurrection, including the January 6th Committee's vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

Her closing remarks at the end of last night's hearing? I don't think I'd change a single word. There were many quotable parts, certainly; here are a couple of the most meaningful. 

Here is the worst part. Donald Trump knows that millions of Americans who supported him would stand up and defend our nation were it threatened. They would put their lives and their freedom at stake to protect her. And he is preying on their patriotism. He is preying on their sense of justice. And on January 6th, Donald Trump turned their love of country into a weapon against our Capitol and our Constitution. 

Off the top of my head, I don't know if any Republican could have handled it better. Neither could more Dems, truth be told.

See you back here later for Sunday School.

TGIF 6/17/22

It's Friday again, and time for our good week/bad week lists. As I was gathering notes for today's post, I wasn't sure which list some of these would end up on. 

We learned this week that John Hinckley, the guy who shot President Ronald Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy, and DC Police Officer Thomas Delahanty back in 1980 to impress actress Jodie Foster, had been released from all supervision. 

I was unaware that Hinckley had been working on art and music during his decades of confinement, but it seems he's been trying to sell art on eBay, and he cut a record and scheduled a concert tour, once he knew the date he'd be free of all supervision. (I am not encouraging anyone to look at his art or listen to his music; I include the links so you know I'm not making stuff up.)

Sadly, or thankfully, his concerts are being cancelled, mostly because of strong feelings on the part of people who think it's sick to pay money to a guy who tried to kill the president, or who think it's wrong to make money off a guy who tried to kill the president, or for any number of other strongly held opinions on this. Here's a statement from one venue that decided to cancel Hinckley's performance. In part, it says

So, Hinckley had a good week, based on his release after "41 years 2 months and 15 days," but a bad week because some of us are not willing to accept that he deserves a chance at a normal life? Is that how it works out for him? And the rest of us? Do we make the good week list for keeping him from performing? Or does that put us on the bad week list?

Here's another mixed week mention. The EU "gave its blessing" for Ukraine to become a candidate to join it. That's just the first step - becoming a member can take years, as the article pointed out - and there's no guarantee.

...there are 35 "chapters of the acquis" setting out standards to meet in areas from judicial policy and financial services to food safety...talks have been stalled for years with Turkey, a candidate since 1999.

That said, as Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president said,

Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream."

If nothing else, it's a symbolic step for the Ukrainians, still caught in the very ugly war with Russia, but it's hard not wondering how much of a Ukraine will be left to try and meet the onerous requirements. Does that make this news, like the Hinckley story, a candidate for both lists? 

Axios is reporting a number of police crime reporting failures, saying that "nearly 40% of law enforcement agencies nationwide...failed to report their 2021 crime data to the FBI. Agencies that failed to send some or all their data included the LAPD and the NYPD, as well as several significantly smaller law enforcement organizations across the country.  

The report, from a partnership between The Marshall Project and Axios Local, noted

The FBI's annual data set is the country's foremost way to understand how crime across the U.S. is changing, measuring things like how many murders or rapes took place last year or how many people were arrested. It's going to be really hard for policymakers to look at what crime looks like in their own community and compare it to similar communities," Jacob Kaplan, a criminologist at Princeton University, told The Marshall Project.

The FBI switched to a new system last year, but it shouldn't have been a surprise; the transition was "announced years ago, and the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars" to help departments switch over to the new system. Many agencies that didn't submit data blamed "staffing shortages and technical issues. You can see an interactive map of who didn't report in the Axios article.

I don't know about you, but to me this seems like a bad week for LEO agencies, and for the FBI, and for policy makers. And, I'd have to add, for the hundreds of political candidates who are running on a platform of fighting crime in their communities. We know they make stuff up, and talk out of their hats half the time, but without accurate data, it's hard to fact-check their nonsense, and that's bad for all of us.

Here's what I think is, hands down, a good week list story: we'll have COVID vaccines for the youngest among us.

U.S. regulators have authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers. That paves the way for vaccinations for children under 5 to begin next week. The Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization Friday follows a unanimous recommendation by its advisory panel. The kid-sized shots are made by Moderna and Pfizer.

I've read and listened to enough interviews with medical professionals - researchers and doctors and nurses alike - who believe that this is a very good thing, and who have said they'll vaccinate their kids as soon as the vaccine is available, to convince me this is a good thing.

And it's also a good week list thing that states have pre-ordered doses of the vaccine, so that they'll be widely available where they're needed. Except Florida, of course. The alleged Sunshine State is the only state that didn't pre-order by the deadline. Why, you ask? 

Because Gov. Ron Bad Week DeSantis.

I would say we are affirmatively against the Covid vaccine for young kids. These are the people who have zero risk of getting anything

Residents will be able to get the shots from a pharmacy, or from their pediatrician, assuming there's enough quantity to go around. 

And, finally, today is the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. I offered some thoughts on that earlier today - and I'd have to say, Richard Nixon would have ended up on the good week list, which is hard to imagine under normal, scandalous circumstances.

TGIF, everyone.

Sunday School 1/30/22

I wandered into ABC's This Week classroom yesterday. Here are some highlights. The segment that got the most press, from what I could see, was the George Stephanopoulos interview with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Very Concerned) and what she didn't say. But let's start with what she did say. 

Collins appreciates adding diversity to the Supreme Court, but says the "clumsy at best" process around Biden's promised nomination of a Black woman "adds to the further perception that the court is a political institution like Congress when it is not supposed to be." And, she disagreed with George that this was the same thing President Reagan did during the 1980 campaign.

Actually, this isn't exactly the same. I've looked at what was done in both cases. And what President Biden did was as a candidate, make this pledge. And that helped politicize the entire nomination process. What President Reagan said is, as one of his Supreme Court justices, he would like to appoint a woman.

I'm very concerned with the senator's research skills - because Reagan did not say he "would like to appoint a woman." He went much further than that.

I am announcing today that one of the first Supreme Court vacancies in my administration will be filled by the most qualified woman I can possibly find, one who meets the high standards I will demand for all court vacancies. 

Not only that, but thanks to some great research and documentation, we now know Reagan did it for exactly the same reason Biden did: to secure votes from a specific demographic in order to garner his party's nomination. 

Now, to the attention-grabbing part. George asked Collins about president Trump's hint that he'd pardon January 6th insurrectionists if he gets elected in '24, and whether she could  "imagine any circumstances where (she) could support his election." Collins said Trump shouldn't have said that; she thinks we "should let the judicial process proceed." And when George pushed her on not ruling out supporting Trump, here's what she said.

Well, certainly it's not likely given the many other qualified candidates that we have that have expressed interest in running. So, it's very unlikely.

It's also very unlikely she'll commit to anything, if she can't even commit to this. 

The panel this week included political animals Donna Brazile, Donna Shalala, and Chris Christie, and Reihan Salam, president of the conservative Manhattan Institute.

Here's Brazile on SCOTUS, after noting that 108 of the 115 Supremes have been white males, some of whom "were extraordinary..."

But the fact is, 55 years after Thurgood Marshall was put on the court, 31 years after Clarence Thomas, 13 years after Sonia Sotomayor, this is a moment when the country can finally say equal justice under the law applies to everybody. It's an extraordinary move by the president. I welcome this appointment. And I'm going to fight with everything I have, to make sure that this extraordinary woman gets confirmed.

Here's Christie after noting that "elections have consequences."

...it wouldn't have been the way I would have approached it, by pre-announcing something like that, but Joe Biden won the election. He gets to make the choice. And every one of the 100 senators has a right then to scrutinize this person's background, experience, and decide whether or not they deserve lifetime tenure.

And Shalala, on both the prospect of a Black woman joining the Court and on polling showing most American just want the most qualified person. (I don't believe that for a NY minute, I've gotta tell you, but I digress). 

Well, it brings someone with a different experience, a black woman's experience. It makes the court look like America. It makes it look fairer. And I'm not surprised the majority of Americans think he ought to just pick the -- the qualified candidate. That's, in fact, an advancement, that we ought to pick the qualified candidate. But a black woman on the court, it will make a difference.

And, here's Salam, after noting he thought Biden's promise "was a mistake," because it limited his options 

... I think that one thing to keep in mind is that the Democratic coalition is awfully diverse along many different dimensions. Donna Shalala mentioned that there's such a thing as a black women's experience. When you look at the four leading contenders, as far as news reports go, these are people with dramatically different experiences and actually some subtle differences in ideological sensibilities as well... So I think that recognizing the distinctions among black women and recognizing that there are many other kinds of diversity one could bring to the bench is a good and valuable thing. And Democrats ought to keep it in mind.

Perhaps the most remarkable comment of this discussion was about the politics of the whole thing, and it came not from a panelist, but from the host. Christie set it up.

...But on the politics of this, George, for the midterms, when you have inflation where it is, when you have crime where it is, the things that affect people's everyday lives, they don't see the Supreme Court affecting their everyday lives in the same way that inflation, crime, and foreign policy crises do. So, I think it may have some small effect, but nowhere near a determinative one.

Here's the comment from Stephanopoulos.

It has rarely been a big - a big voting issue in either presidential or midterm elections...

Um, really, George? I'm Susan Collins-level very concerned with your failed memory of the 2016 and 2020 elections. The Supreme Court was one of the keys to Trump's victory in the former, and he also used it in the latter. Sheesh - everyone knows that.

I was going to end the post there, but instead I'll close with thoughts about Rs not wanting to stick a fork in a Trump 2024 run. Here's Salam's take on it.

Well, I think that it makes sense for people to want to preserve freedom of action. You do not know how the environment might change. There are a lot of Republicans, a lot of conservatives who said at the very beginning of the 2015-2016 campaign cycle that they wouldn't support Donald Trump. But then things changed. And we could condemn them. We could praise them for that. But the reality is that, you know, politics, the environment moves very, very quickly.

And, here's Brazile.

I can't imagine President Trump saying he will pardon the very same people who injured 140 policemen. I can't imagine President Trump saying at a rally that he would pardon people who said, kill Mike Pence, assassinate Nancy Pelosi. There's -- there's -- there's no place in our politics for that type of rhetoric and that type of action and leadership. So I hope the Republicans reject Donald Trump so that they can move past this movement and we can try to figure out how to bring the country together. 

From where I sit, 'bringing the country together' remains a Herculean, or even Sisyphean task, but one can always hope. I encourage you to join me in not holding your breath on this one.

See you around campus.

OrangeVerse XXVI: Mar-a-Lago Musings (pt 2)

When we left the president and Michael S. Schmidt, the NY Times reporter, chatting in the Grill Room as Trump's private club, the president had just declared that West Virginia's Joe Manchin was all talk, no do.

As we pick up, the conversation has moved past West Virginia (the president saved coal, he created jobs...) and on to being the head of the Republican party.

President Strangelove

I was for Strange

and I brought Strange

up 20 points. 

Just so you understand.

When I endorsed him

he was in fifth place.

He went way up.

Almost 20 points.

But he fell

a little short. 

But I knew

what I was doing.

Because I thought that

... If you look at my rhetoric

I said the problem with Roy Moore

is that he will lose the election.

I called it.

But as the head of the party

I have a choice: 

Do I endorse him or not?

I don't know.

Um.

(andbythewaywhenIendorsedhimhewentup)

I feel that I have to

endorse Republicans

as the head of the party.

So I endorsed him.

It became a much closer race

because of my

endorsement.

In case it wasn't clear that Roy Moore is a loser and Trump is a winner, he hammered the point home again.

The Problem is You Got it Wrong,... I Said

The problem with Roy Moore

and I said this

is that he's going to lose

the election. I hope

you can straighten that out. 

Luther Strange was brought way up

after my endorsement

and he almost won. But. ...Almost won...

He lost by 7 points, 7 or 8 points

And he was way behind.

Because of two things, 

you know, what happened...

But I never thought Roy

was going to win the election

but I felt...I never thought Roy

was going to win the election

but I felt... And I said that very clearly. 

And I wish you would cover that

because frankly, I said

If Luther doesn't win Roy

is going to lose the election.

And then, he tackled Ronald Reagan - and won.

Ronald Reagan Couldn't

Ronald Reagan

wanted to take deductibility away

from states.

Ronald Reagan

years ago, and

he couldn't do it.

Because New York

had a very powerful group of people.

Which they don't have today.

Today, they don't have

the same representatives.

You know, in those days

they had Lew Rudin and me...

I fought like hell for that.

They had a lot

of very good guys.

And then, there was more winning, can you stand it?

I'm More Bigly than Reagan

But, just so you understand,

Ronald Reagan

wanted to take 

deductibility away

and he was unable

to do it. 

Ronald Reagan

wanted to have 

ANWR approved

40 years ago

and he was unable

to do it. 

There's more winning, I've got to tell you. And more bigly stuff than you can even predict.

Two Things. Barney

Two things.

No. 1 I have 

unbelievably great relationships

with 97 percent of the

Republican congressmen and senators.

I love them

and they love me.

That's No. 1.

And No. 2

I know more

about the big bills...

than any president that's 

ever been in office.

Whether it's health care

and taxes.

Especially taxes.

And if I didn't

I couldn't have

persuaded a hundred

congressmen to go along

with the bill.

The first bill 

you know,

that was ultimately,

shockingly

rejected. 

I'll tell you something...

Put me on the defense

I was a great student

and all this stuff.

"Oh, he doesn't know the details"

these are sick people.

But Michael,

I know the details

of taxes

better than anybody.

Better than 

the greatest CPA. 

I know the details

of health care

better than most, 

better 

than most.

And if I didn't

I couldn't have

talked all these people

into doing

ultimately

only to be 

rejected.

I've got to stop and catch my breath, I really must. I promise, I won't leave you hanging too long for more. 

The Inspirational Mario Cuomo

1984 was the third presidential election I voted in.

I didn't have a lot of hope that Walter Mondale would win. He could not match Ronald Reagan's Hollywood appeal and charisma, his easy charm. Mondale also had made the decision to choose a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, as his running mate. I admit to being excited about the possibilities of that choice, but was not surprised with how it played out: the investigation into her finances, her husband's business, her brashness, the whole 'Italian thing' and the potential ties to organized crime, and so on.

The main reason I didn't have a lot of hope for Mondale, honestly, was that he wasn't Mario Cuomo.

Like many twenty-something Democrats (and many older ones as well), I was very moved by Cuomo's convention keynote address, and his vision of America. I loved his passion, and his energy, and his ability to grab and hold people's attention, as he did mine. Cuomo could have tackled Reagan, I thought back then -- I remember talking with my Dad about how we had picked the wrong guy.

I watched the highlight reel from that speech again yesterday, after hearing the news that Mario Cuomo had died on the very day that his son Andrew began his second term as New York's Governor.  The most famous parts, good libs can at least paraphrase without much prompting. Here's a look at some of them. Later, I'll look at some of the things that didn't make the video.

On Reagan's "this country is a shining city on a hill" analogy:

The hard truth is that not everyone is sharing in this city's splendor and glory. A shining city is perhaps all the President sees...But there's another city; there's another part to the shining, the city; the part where some people can't pay their mortgages, and most young people can't afford one; where students can't afford the education they need, and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate. 

 In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but can't find it... There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city. In fact Mr President -- this is a nation -- Mr President you ought to know that this nation is more a "Tale of Two Cities" than it is just a "Shining City on a Hill."

On 'trickle down' economics:

President Reagan told us from the very beginning that he believed in a kind of social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. "Government can't do everything," we were told, so it should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest.  Make the rich richer, and what falls from the table will be enough for the middle class and those are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class.

You know, the Republicans' called it "trickle-down" when Hoover tried it. Now they call it "supply side."  But it's the same shining city for those relative few who are lucky enough to live in its good neighborhoods. But for the people who are excluded for the people who are locked out, all they can do is stare from a distance at that city's glimmering towers.

On the difference between Ds and Rs:

It's an old story. It's as old as our history. The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans -- the Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail.  "The strong" -- "the strong," they tell us, "will inherit the land."

We Democrats believe in something else. We Democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact, and we have more than once.  Ever since Franklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees -- wagon train after wagon train -- to new frontiers of education, housing, peace; the whole family aboard, constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge that family, lifting them up into the wagon on the way; blacks and Hispanics and people of every ethnic group, and native Americans -- all those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of America. And remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to forget that. 

On a 'proper government':

We believe in a single -- we believe in a single fundamental idea that describes better than most textbooks and any speech I could write what a proper government should be: the idea of family, mutuality, the sharing of benefits and burdens for the good of all, feeling one another's pain, sharing one another's blessings -- reasonably, honestly, fairly, without respect to race, or sex, or geography, or political affiliation.

We believe we must be the family of America, recognizing that at the heart of the matter we are bound to one another, that the problems of a retired schoolteacher in Duluth are our problems; that the future of the child - -that the future of the child in Buffalo is our future; that the struggle of a disabled man in Boston to survive and live decently is our future; that the hunger of a woman in Little Rock is our hunger; that the failure anywhere to provide what reasonably we might, to avoid pain, is our failure. 

Back in 1984, these words moved me.  They moved me again today.  Rest in peace, Mario.

Ronald Reagan for President?

The other day I answered the phone to hear a recorded voice telling me Dick Morris had an important message for conservatives like me. I stayed on the line and listened to the former Clinton advisor-turned-hater babbling about his new book, about the scourge of the socialist Obama presidency, and about how loyal Conservatives like me can get involved in driving POTUS out of the White House in 2012. 

Now, if you know anything about me, you know I don't typically identify as a Conservative, much less a loyal one.  I was even more confused when a woman came on the phone and advised me she was in Washington DC and was calling local Conservatives with a one-question survey. I think her GPS needs some work.  

But the fun really began with the survey.  The question was "Which of the current Conservative leaders is the one you think is best suited to lead our party" and help save the world, secure our future -- you get the drift. I was kind of surprised that she didn't give me any names, especially since I'm not a loyal local Conservative and am not really up on all of them.  I laughed and asked who the choices were.  She replied "Well, here are some of the answers we're getting in the survey: Michele Bachmann, Chris Christie, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain. ..." and named a few others I don't remember; she may even have mentioned Rush Limbaugh.

Excited that I had such great options, I responded emphatically "Ronald Reagan!" The woman answered, with a chuckle, "Yes, he seems to be a popular choice."  

A dead man is a popular choice to lead the Conservatives forward in their mission to take back America?  Really?  A dead man?  

I pointed out that it seemed that a dead man (even a dead former president) being a top mention as a 'leader' of the Conservative movement said either quite a bit about their message, quite a bit about loyal local Conservatives, or both. Mostly I think it says a lot about the state of affairs in America today. 

Either we're so cynical that we'll say anything (like me), or we really long for days gone by (Clinton, Bush I, Reagan but not a lot of Bush II), or political cold callers have a wicked sense of humor. I'm not sure which, but I'm hoping it's the latter.

After our discussion about bad choices on both the left and the right, the woman advised that Dick Morris was going to be paying for full page ads in local papers and was looking for Conservatives like me to have our names included in the ad as supporters, and would I be interested?  After letting her know she was talking to a life-long registered Democrat, we had one more laugh and wished each other a nice day.

A dead man?  Really?

Presidents Speaking to Kids

Some children may have heard President Obama speak today, live; some may be seeing his speech delayed on tape; some may never hear or read his words, which would be a shame.

They may not be allowed to see them, you see, because some people think that our President is not an American citizen, or that he’s a radical Muslim bent on destroying our country, or that he’s a racist trying to make life hell for whitey, or he’s a socialist or a fascist or a communist or a Nazi or some other ungodly creature put here on earth to drive our country into ruins.

What our President really is, is the person that a majority of eligible voters elected following a lengthy campaign and in accordance with the law of the land. He's also a dad who has two girls in school. What he’s not, is the first president to address the nation’s schoolchildren. He’s also not a wizard or some kind of mystical being trying to brainwash American children. That was Ronald Reagan:

But America's world leadership goes well beyond the tide toward democracy. We also find that more countries than ever before are following America's revolutionary economic message of free enterprise, low taxes, and open world trade.

And then there's this one: 

The basic values of faith and family will be just as true when people are living on distant planets as they are today. So, for America to gain the greatest benefit from all the exciting new technologies that lie ahead, we will also need to reaffirm our traditional moral values, because these values are the foundation on which everything we do is built. So, yes, I would encourage you to study the math and science that are at the basis of the new technologies. But in a world of change you also need to pay attention to the moral and spiritual values that will stay with you, unchanged, throughout a long lifetime.

Last, there’s this: 

And, again, I would say that the most important thing you can do is to ground yourself in the ideas and values of the American Revolution. And that is a vision that goes beyond economics and politics. It's also a moral vision, grounded in the reverence and faith of those who believed that with God's help they could create a free and democratic nation. They designed a system of limited government that, in John Adams' words, was suited only to a religious people such as ours. Our Founding Fathers were the descendants of the Pilgrims -- men and women who came to America seeking freedom of worship -- who prospered here and offered a prayer of thanksgiving, something we've continued to do each year, and so that we'll do it again on Thursday of next week.

So much for indoctrination...

Here's a quiz. The statements below came from either President George Herbert Walker Bush or President Barack Obama. Can you tell which comments belong to which President?

(1) I'm not here to teach a lesson. You already have a very good teacher. I'm not here to tell you what to do or what to think. Maybe you're accustomed to adults talking about you and at you; well, today, I'm here to talk to you and challenge you. Education matters, and what you do today, and what you don't do can change your future.

(2) But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

(3) This report (national school report card) tells us a lot about what you know and what you don't know. It gives us something to build on. It shows us our strengths and the weaknesses that we've got to correct. It sets forth a challenge to all of us: Work harder, learn more, revolutionize American education.

(4) I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

(5) So, let's just put it on the line. You've got the brains. Now, put them to work -- certainly, not for me, but for you.

(6) Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

(7) I'm asking you to put two and two together: Make the connection between the homework you do tonight, the test you take tomorrow, and where you'll be 5, 15, even 50 years from now. You see, the real world doesn't begin somewhere else, some time way down there in the distant future. The real world starts right here. What you do here will have consequences for your whole lives.

(8) And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

(9) Let me tell you something, many of you may find very hard to believe this. You're in control.

(10) Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

So, how'd you do? Did you figure out that the odd statements are Bush’s and the evens are Obama’s? 

Here’s a final question: Did we really need to spend a lot of time and effort worrying and arguing about whether Obama should do this speech to kids, or was it just a bunch of nonsense all along?

Bet you can guess my answer.