Spatter

This 'n That

The deer have already been tasting our raspberries.  A neighbor suggested we put dead deer bones around the beds to keep them out.  They have a bone graveyard where they throw the bones that their dog brings back from the woods and they offered to give us some.  Judy decided to give it a try. I can barely stand to go down there now because one is particularly gruesome.

My preferred blog theme is still out of commission. Typepad promises it'll be back soon.  In the meantime I'm not liking what the purple-ish cast is doing to my photos. 

Rain was promised, but did not come.  Is this going to be a repeat of last year?

My friend Carla gave me a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc before leaving Chattanooga last weekend telling me that it's a white wine I might like: not as sweet as Pinot Grigio and not as heavy as Chardonnay.  After drinking it this week, I've decided I prefer Chardonnay to it and I prefer most any red to Chardonnay.

And last, but not least...

I'm so ready to not have to see my president doing this: 

 

  

Money Money Money

I never liked that the presidential races started so early this cycle. Not only does campaigning keep  politicians on the road instead of in their office tending to business, but campaigning takes money...lots of it...that could be spent on better things. 

In the aftermath of Clinton's victory in Pennsylvania, the pundits were noting that the future longevity of her campaign depends on her ability to keep money coming in. They went on to say that campaign costs for the candidates run about 1 million dollars a DAY!  My jaw dropped. 

It's no wonder that our system has been corrupted...perhaps to an irreversible point. I'm pained to watch it happening.

Enough!

No matter who you back for president, can we not agree that the press does a disservice to us by carrying on about lapel pins and sniper fire instead of spending the time discussing the depth of an issue and the candidate's position on it? Character does count, but these supposed "crimes" of character pale in comparison to the real crimes that have occurred over the past eight years.  Show and tell us once if you must, but then, move on to do the work we count on you for.  And while I'm ranting, why isn't the "liberal media" asking the same sort of questions to John McCain?  Here's what it might sound like:

And Then There Were None

As we move closer to November, the political fear mongering is getting louder and, as usual, it's all dressed up in patriotic garb.

Blacks, Muslims, Gays, and Jews have always been popular targets to pin our woes upon, but I think the Hispanics have moved to the top of the list this cycle.  Out of a job? It's all those damned illegal immigrants! Medical costs are skyrocketing? It's all those damned illegal immigrants! You get the drift. I'm not saying that illegal immigration doesn't have its problems, but let's remember who made this "bed"...and for that matter, who's making our bed at many hotels.

Alas, this type of bashing isn't new.  It's been going on as long as man has walked the earth and is the stuff of wars and riots and murder.  I like to cite 19th century America and the Nativist movement as an example because the targeted group wasn't any of the typical targets. The Nativists and their Know Nothing party bashed Catholic immigrants.  Yeah, all those damned immigrants from Germany and Ireland. It didn't matter that that immigration was legal. The economy was hurting and the blame had to be put somewhere.

People naturally drift toward a zero sum posture: If you have, then I don't. Of course, nobody much gives any thought to reversing the equation.  After all, possession is nine/tenths of the game is it not?  They don't stop to think too often about the larger picture. It's way too complex...so much easier to call upon thinly veiled prejudices than to look ourselves and our government in the mirror.

Let's remember Germany and the rise of the Nazis. Its economy was reeling from the aftermath of WWI.  People were desperate. Why? The policies of the Communists and the business practices of the Jews, of course. And while we're at it, we'll throw in a few other undesirables like the Gypsies. If they could just be deported...removed...eliminated...killed, our country would right itself. Each word made the next less objectionable until everyone was drinking the Kool-Aid and anything could and did happen.

If you've not  ever read the Stuttgart Declaration Of Guilt, you should at least skim through it as its message is still relevant.  A more well known piece of writing was penned by one of its co-signers - Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Socialist.
Then the came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

Think about it the next time you hear someone ranting about how good their world would be without...fill in the blank. Perhaps instead, we should focus our anger and energy toward stopping the war.  Now there's something that really has an impact on the economy!

Eating Our Own

Can we all just take a breath?  I mean it. The tenor of this presidential campaign has gone totally south. The mudslinging, the spats...I cringe with every blow. 

It's bad enough we're eating up money before the general election, but do we have to "eat our own" too?  Do we have to give the Republicans ammunition to add to the arsenal of slander they have waiting for us?  Do we have to  become so bitter that many may not have the heart left to turn out in November?

I don't care who hit who first.  Just stop it. There's too much at stake to risk being beaten up so badly that McCain steps right over the bloodied bodies and into the White House.

   

Friday Fact- Political Mascots

I actually got a Friday Fact topic request! That was fun.  This first request was for me to write about the origins of the two major political party mascots. So here it is.  I write it with some trepidation, knowing full well that EHP at History Is Elementary would be the more knowledgeable author on this topic.  EHP, if you're reading, feel free to add to or correct the record.    

Let's start with the Democrats. Just so you know, initially the Democratic Party was known as the "Republican Party". The name "Democrats" came later, when these Jeffersonians were  labeled "Democratic" by the opposition Federalists in the hope of stigmatizing them as purveyors of democracy and mob rule. 

As for its mascot, the Democratic donkey was actually never officially adopted as such by the party itself.  The origins of this symbol aren't known for sure, but according to one theory the donkey...in its original form of jackass...was born in the intense mudslinging that occurred during the presidential race of 1828 in which Andrew Jackson was sometimes called a jackass by his opponents. Surely you didn't think partisan politics just started! 

Anyway, in 1828, Jackson co-opted the "jackass" and turned the donkey's stubbornness, strength, and unpolished manners into political virtues.  Then, in 1870, famous political cartoonist Thomas Nast  published a cartoon in Harper's Weekly using that donkey to symbolize the Democrats. As a result, the symbol stuck.  Nast used  the donkey motif in subsequent cartoons, and by 1880 it was widely recognized as the unofficial mascot of the Democrats.  Here's that cartoon:

Here's a bit of trivia for you:  in the early 20th century, the traditional symbol for the Democrats in the mid-west was not a donkey, but a rooster (juxtaposed against the Republican eagle).  In fact, this symbol still appears on Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Indiana ballots.  Here's more: for most of the 20th century, Missouri Democrats used the Statue of Liberty as their ballot emblem. This is why when the Libertarian candidates received ballot access in Missouri in 1976, they couldn't use the Statue of Liberty as their national symbol.  As a result, the Libertarians chose to use the Liberty Bell.

Now for the Republicans.  As noted above, the original Republican Party were today's Democrats.  What we know as the Republican Party was only established in 1854 by a coalition of parties that had been on the political scene: the Whigs, Northern Democrats, Liberty Party, and the Free Soilers. 

The new party's founding members chose the name "Republican Party" in part as an homage to Thomas Jefferson...echoing republican values of opposition to aristocracy and corruption.  Wait...wasn't Jefferson sort of affiliated with the first Republicans who turned Democrats?  Yes, but by this time these folks thought they had strayed from the originating principles...there was this little thing called states rights and slavery being talked about and the Democrats were pretty much in favor of both.   

Like the donkey, it was Nast and Harper's Weekly that dubbed the elephant as the Republican Party mascot.  This time in 1874.  Nast depicted a Democratic donkey wearing a lion's skin frightening other "political animals", including an elephant. Nast used the elephant in later cartoons, and eventually, the Republicans adopted it as its official symbol. Here's the cartoon:

And that's a Friday Fact!

Post Note

Let me extend the invitation to everyone: if there's something you want me to make into a Friday Fact, just say so.

Just Words

Blunders...especially made by Bill...are making it hard for the Clinton campaign to stay afloat.  He needed to cool it long ago.  I thought he'd stay in the background more after South Carolina, but he didn't.  It's been suggested that he just can't help it. Well then, Hillary should have seen to it. I think he's detracted from her candidacy...a lot. 

And now, even Hillary's come out with something that got my head to shaking: her "just words" comment about Obama's rhetoric. Hillary certainly understands the importance of words, so when she came out with that one, it seemed like...to use a football analogy...she was throwing a fourth quarter "hail-Mary" pass...and a failed one at that. She failed with her words in trying to dismiss his.    

You see, we're a people who've been feeling disgusted, saddened, helpless, and hopeless. Until now. Now, someone has awakened the hope in us...with words. And as  already noted by Obama, words do matter:

"These are the times that try men's souls..."  Thomas Paine used these words to give the Continental Army hope and inspire them to keep on fighting for a cause larger them themselves.

"We hold these truths to be self evident..."  Our founding fathers used these words to define who we are.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." Franklin D. Roosevelt used these words to console us when we thought our world was caving in on us.

"Ask not what your country can do for you..." John F. Kennedy used these words to stir us to action.

"I have a dream"... Martin Luther King used these words to give us hope.

There's a reason these words are immortal:  they move us and they remind us of who we are...who we can be.  Obama's words are conveying the same message. And we're listening. We're listening because we want desperately to be more than we've been these last twenty years.  We're listening because we want desperately to believe things can be different. And we're listening because we want desperately to have hope, for without hope, there's nothing. 

Hillary Clinton would be a competent, hard working President. Of that, I'm sure.  And if she wins the nomination, I'd have no qualms voting for her over McCain.  Her positions are in sync with mine and she knows the issues inside-out. But is that enough?  We need a new direction from Bush/Cheney policies, that's for sure...but I think we also need a change in our internal compass, and it may just take words to do it.   

 

McCain Mutiny

I used to think John McCain had some integrity.  But he's not the man he used to be.  He's been going through this metamorphosis for a few years...now it's complete.  This week he did something I would never, ever have thought possible: he voted against the torture ban.  Yes, the former POW who was tortured is now unable to stand against it. Yes, the man who in 2006 sponsored a bill (The 2006 Detainee Treatment Act) that prohibits the use of any cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment by the military, has now voted against a bill that would extend that same ban to the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

This mutiny comes less than four months after he rebuked Rudy Giulani on the topic.  When Giulani could not be certain if water-boarding was torture, McCain said: "All I can say is that it was used in the Spanish Inquisition, it was used in Pol Pot's genocide in Cambodia, and there are reports that it's being used against Buddhist monks today". He went on to say that he believed torture is ineffective because its victims will say anything to make it stop.  McCain had stood alone among all other Republican candidates with this stance. But alas, not any more.

Is he that desperate to win the favor of his party's conservative wing that he would turn his back on what had been unequivocal and eloquent condemnation of torture?  Evidently so.  This is about as repugnant an example of political pandering as I've ever seen. 

 

Super Tuesday

It's "Super Tuesday"...Judy's birthday, that is.  Actually, yesterday was her birthday but we're heading up to her sister's for a little celebration today: a luncheon with a few close friends.  As for the other "Super Tuesday"...well, it's going to be a long day.

On the Democratic side, I think when all the dust is settled, the delegate count will be even enough so as to not be able to tag anyone as the nominee.  Still, there's likely to be a "winner" based on momentum. 

As for the Republicans, I think McCain will solidify his standing as front runner...this despite the fact that conservatives really dislike him, even after  he's wooed them with a changed view on making the tax cuts permanent. It's too little, too late.

Fasten your seat-belts!

A Man Of Color

Obama's endorsements are growing each day.  He's getting them from nouvelle Democrats on college campuses, from old school Democrats in Washington, and...here's the real kicker...from Republicans. Yes, Obama's proving to be a man of color...the color purple.

Here's  a link to the Washington Post endorsement of Obama by life-long Republican Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Dwight Eisenhower. 

Wow. If that's not purple, I don't know what is.

Post Note
Click here to watch a video made on behalf of Obama. Trust me, it'll move you...or should.