Comments on: You can’t fire me…

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:00:42 +0000

Oops. Principle.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:00:28 +0000

FISA: I want to smack Democrats about this, not Republicans. Geez, what is the matter with these people. Of course, I also want to salute my class-act senator, Russ Feingold, man of principal and (so far) a restrained and effective politician.

By: MichaelG

MichaelG — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:05:09 +0000

I don’t know if Mr. Eason is independently wealthy or not, but you don’t get rich working for the state. With all due respect, Dexter, I emphatically disagree with you that his protest is “is just plain weak”. He paid with his job. I hope he does have a place to go. Fifty one is too young to retire. He won’t get squat from his state retirement system going out at that age. I agree with your admiration of the two young men who protested the Vietnam war, but I have to note that it’s lots easier to start one’s life over in one’s twenties than in one’s fifties.

By: derwood

derwood — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:49:02 +0000

Dexter,

That is now a Quality Inn. Truckstop is still there.

By: Gasman

Gasman — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:53:49 +0000

Three cheers for Mr. Eason. For far too long Helms and the conservatives of his ilk bullied and steamrolled their way through Washington. The secrets of his success? He was so f*cking petty, mean, and vindictive and loved pissing contests. That, and he had access to piles and piles of PAC cash that he freely doled out to those who were sycophantic enough to kiss his slimy redneck ass. As minor as Mr. Eason’s actions may seem, I think that it still took huevos elephante to do what he did in the Land O’ Jesse. There are still quite a few inbred ridge-runnin’ mental pygmies in positions of power in NC who likely view Jesse as some kind of demigod. Mr. Eason, I’ll drink a toast in your honor and just for fun, I think I’ll also make donation to Obama in the name of Jesse Helms.

By: Dexter

Dexter — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:11:09 +0000

…and it should be noted that Senator Edward Kennedy returned to the Senate floor to cast a vote yesterday!! HURRAH!

By: Dexter

Dexter — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:04:56 +0000

Some people fight for what they believe in, and to hell with their job, their responsibilities, and so forth.
The guy is 51…of all people, he surely knew he could not “fight City Hall” … he worked for the state, he did not work for himself, and he forfeited his job for a point that will be forgotten tomorrow. He had a point of valor, though, so I salute him as he heads off to retirement and probably a job in private industry.

Some may remember Jeff Gibson, from Fort Wayne , who was in the news for a few months 37 years ago.
Gibson , who was supported at his court appearances by the Fort Wayne Vietnam Veterans Against the War, of which I was media spokesman, was ordered to report to the US Armed Services , and he refused to comply. Gibson was no coward … he was a brilliant student of philosophy and his personal belief system would not allow him to participate in war or any war machine.
Gibson was simply processed through the local court and sentenced to six months at Pendleton, to the best of my recall abilities.
My current best friend lives in Connecticut, he actually joined the US Army and then refused Vietnam service, and spent six months in the Fort Dix stockade after protesting the war in front of the UN Building in New York City.
The North Carolina manager? His protest pales in comparison to the two cases I relate to here, I believe. He should have protested Helms when Helms was alive—maybe he did—but his protest now that Helms is dead is just plain weak.
Oh…in the Fall of 1968 the south Holiday Inn was built and opened for business. I was the first day porter, which is what they called me, but I was really a bell boy and a room service waiter.
I also was the flag boy.
The dumb fucks that installed the three poles really messed it up. The pole for Old Glory was the center pole, and on each side flew the Indiana flag and the Holiday Inn flag. They made the Old Glory pole two and a half feet shorter than the lesser-importance poles.
I ran the flags up and some old veteran dude came and demanded to see the manager, who told me to just run the 2 lesser flags up 5 feet short of the top, which confused people…why the hell was the Indiana flag and the Holiday Inn flag flying at half-mast? And they never fixed the problem.
(The motel is called something else now…it’s visible from I-69 and is near the location of the old Fortmeyer’s truck stop, which I have no idea as to whether that truck stop still exists.)

By: alex

alex — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:49:13 +0000

Delighted at Jesse Helms’ passing. Here’s hoping for a bumper crop of skank love children claiming a piece of the estate.

By: coozledad

coozledad — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:56:13 +0000

MichaelG: Because it’s brutal, that’s why. Even in the middle ages farmwork ceased in the heat of the day and began again once things had cooled off. You can likely chalk that death up to some foreman’s losing sight of anything but money.
The guy who sells me the lumber for my outbuildings is eighty years old, and still in shape. He tells me this time of year he begins sawing at five and knocks off at 10:30am.

By: MichaelG

MichaelG — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:31:39 +0000

Shit. I just saw a story on the news about a 64 year old farm worker who died of heat stroke while harvesting squash in hundred degree plus temps. In California.

I’ll be 64 in Oct. I don’t know why, but for some reason I broke into tears. I must be getting weak in my old age.