Well, I think orientation’s done. For us, anyway. Kate’s program goes into day three, but I’ll be picking her up this morning. Upside: She’ll be registered, propagandized and basically ready to begin school in September. And I’ll know what laptop I need to buy for her.
I came away from the experience believing that college sure is different these days. Of course, when you’re standing on the brink of spending a fortune, would you want to go into it half-prepared? The program was excellent overall, answering every question either parents or incoming students could possibly have. There was a session about how to succeed academically, talking about study habits and the zillion resources students have at their fingertips. There were talks about stress, counseling services, academic advising, safety, housing, health care and more I’m probably forgetting. We talked about their feelings. We talked about our feelings.
And we learned the fight song. The best line of the session came from the housing guy, who was very funny, and pointed out that Michigan’s fight song is the only one that doesn’t exhort the team to fight and win, but just assumes they’ve already done so.
“You’ve gotten your kids into this school! You’ve won! You’re the leaders and best!” We heard that a lot. I’m sure the new freshmen did, too. And so you see why people who attend Michigan State say that AA stands not for Ann Arbor, but arrogant assholes.
And yes, to all who asked — laundry machines now operate with a card swipe. You load them up with Blue Bucks, and it goes down the drain as suds.
So now the summer unfolds before us. Graduation is later today. I plan to have a cocktail after.
Not much bloggage because I wasn’t online, but here’s this: The First Lady’s increasing outspokenness on race and FLOTUS-hood.
Mrs. Obama has often been open about personal experiences and race in speeches that went unnoticed by the news media, but rarely more so than in the speech at Tuskegee, where she recalled the New Yorker cover depicting her with a large Afro and an assault rifle. “Now, yeah, it was satire, but if I’m being really honest, it knocked me back a bit,” she said. “It made me wonder, just how are people seeing me.”
She noted that a fist bump with her husband was referred to as a terrorist fist jab. “And over the years,” she said, “folks have used plenty of interesting words to describe me. One said I exhibited ‘a little bit of uppity-ism.’ Another noted that I was one of my husband’s ‘cronies of color.’ Cable news once charmingly referred to me as ‘Obama’s Baby Mama.’ ”
…But outside that room, it stirred debate. To some critics, it sounded as if Mrs. Obama was complaining about a privileged life, and as if she were bitter and resentful. Ron Christie, who served as an aide to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, said that as an African-American he was proud that the Obamas live in the White House.
“I just wish the Obamas would recognize the historical significance of that rather than say racism is driving everything down or that America is inherently racist,” he said. “America is not this mean, angry, racist place that sometimes I think the first family in the form of Michelle Obama would like you to believe.”
It wasn’t that long ago that someone first brought my attention to a conservative blogger named Matt Walsh, and ever since, it appears he’s everywhere. One of my Facebook friends is always posting his long, long, lightly edited screeds about this and that, and he’s gotten quite the readership, I gather. If you’ve never heard of him, I think this Gawker explication is about right:
Walsh, a 28-year-old married father of two from the Baltimore area, writes with a level of arrogance that makes Bill O’Reilly look like a monk. As the mighty defender of the majority, he offers a much-needed perspective for heterosexual, white, American men. Walsh is the cool Christian millennial for oppressed conservatives everywhere. He drinks! He smokes! He has tattoos! He’s not like those other stuffy right-wingers. If you feel like today’s conservative Christian pundits are just too kind and tolerant, don’t worry: Walsh thinks Christians should be more judgmental.
Pandering to the masses of right-wing fundamentalists, Walsh responds to current issues with a degree of moral outrage that asserts the stupidity and wrongness of anyone who disagrees with him, regularly touting that “liberals” and “progressives” are the ultimate enemy against God and country. Wait, what if you’re a Christian and a progressive? Don’t raise your hand, because Matt Walsh doesn’t think you really exist: he’s fully prepared to determine whether you’re a Christian or not. But his perspectives aren’t actually based in theological truth, much less Christian love.
Finally, now that’s what I call…disgusting.
Cap! Gown! Let’s do this!
Dexter said on June 11, 2015 at 1:32 am
I know Kate will do well at UM. My college days were few and divided between IU classes in Fort Wayne and Bloomington after my army days, but I ran out of money and went to work, and later when I moved to Bryan, Ohio, I found the town was split right down the middle, OSU Scarlet & Gray and UM Maize and Blue. It was right in the middle of the Ten Years War between old cantankerous Woody and our own Ohio man, right from the “cradle of coaches”, Miami U, the lovable one with the bad heart, our Bo. I always rooted for Michigan on TV ever since I was a kid, and in the seventies I jumped right in, making a couple hundred trips to Ann Arbor and eventually attending 101 home games and about thirty road games over many years. I used to work hellish hours and when I had a fat paycheck sometimes I’d send money for various requests from UM, and I have a personalized brick in the walkway on the Section 31 Plaza at M Stadium. Why, I get mailings from the M Alumni folks inviting me to travel on these god-awfully expensive guided trips to everywhere on the globe. Hey it’s fun to read them, but these $17,000 trips are a tad over my budget.
Some of you read nance’s friend Eric Zorn in the Trib..he grew up in A2 and lived near Burns Park, which is where I always parked and then cycled wherever I was going in town, to a game or just shopping or taking a nice ,long bicycle ride.
Maybe if I believed in reincarnation, then I’d believe in a former life I was a for-real Wolverine student…it feels like it, my heart’s there now anyway. Yeah-yeah, sappy, right? But when the game was over, win or lose, and the few remaining fans moved down low to be nearer the band, and they closed the day with this song, it was beautiful.
http://www.lib.umich.edu/files/libraries/music/yellow.pdf
Best of luck Kate, Go Blue.
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Brandon said on June 11, 2015 at 3:25 am
“Finally, now that’s what I call…disgusting.”
Apparently Pizza Hut was looking to make something even more caloric than its stuffed-crust pizza.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 11, 2015 at 6:47 am
Congratulations, Derringer family. Even if we’re up to 80% of kids doing so, high school graduation is an achievement. For everyone involved!
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alex said on June 11, 2015 at 7:07 am
Pizza Hut has also come out with a bunch of “gourmet” pizzas with balsamic reduction swirls and exotic foo-foo toppings. They don’t look any more appealing than that hot dog pie.
So, what do we have… a millennial hipster right-wing demagogue and a Cheney Administration Uncle Tom. In addition to the unpalatable foodstuffs that are sure to be a flop, I’d say we’ve got us a unified theme here.
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beb said on June 11, 2015 at 8:25 am
Both the FLOTUS and the POTUS have been very circumspect about the endless amount of racism thrown their way. You wonder what kind of a autobiography the president is going to write after he leaves office. Will he lower the boom on all the racists he had to deal with? That would be interesting but in all likelihood he’ll continue to suppress how he really feels until the end of his days.
I like how the writer of the Gawker article about conservative yakker, Matt Walsh, says up front that he’s not a good christian. It’s important to push back on hate-filled speech which claims to represent Christ.
Matt Walsh reminds me of Ann Coulter. Coulter used to drive me crazy with books like Treason, and How to Talk to a Liberal … if you must. But then one day I had an epiphany… Coulter’s shtick was to say the most outrageous things imaginable. It doesn’t matter what she believe in, or if what she writes have any logic to it. she’s a grifter who’s particular grift is faked outrage.
And speaking of shady grifters, I see where the Duggars were visited by Child Protective Services but would not let the investigators talk to their children… Principled reponse according to their religion, or do they something more to hide?
Congrats to Kate for surviving high school. On to college!
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Jeff Borden said on June 11, 2015 at 8:41 am
I’d never heard of Matt Walsh before and will do my level best to assure he remains unknown to me. There are enough hate mongers out there already. Some of them sincere, some of them like Ann Coulter, who I agree saw a chance to cash in on the hordes of stupid folks and took it. No doubt she is an entitled rightwing asshole. She grew up rich in Connecticut –daddy was a union-busting attorney– and attended Cornell and Michigan. But I think she’s more World Wrestling Entertainment than William F. Buckley. She’s trying desperately to retain some relevance, so she’s diving into the terror of Mexican immigrants among the right for her latest tome.
I hope the Obamas lay it out in their memoirs. The treatment they’ve received from too many of our fellow citizens is egregious.
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coozledad said on June 11, 2015 at 9:06 am
Walsh responds to current issues with a degree of moral outrage that asserts the stupidity and wrongness of anyone who disagrees with him, regularly touting that “liberals” and “progressives” are the ultimate enemy against God and country.
What we know now about the god of the Republicans is he’s a pedo enabler and an ass crawler to power. It’s a craven, ugly religion.
He’s the only God who would have appeared on the cover of Cigar Afficianado.
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coozledad said on June 11, 2015 at 9:19 am
Yup. Awfully shitty value system:
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/mike-huckabee-has-a-brand-new-child-molester-problem-the-co-author-of-his-books/
Arkansas, like the Republican party itself, is run by a cabal of child molesters. Power isn’t merely the aphrodisiac, it’s the way they do sex.
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Icarus said on June 11, 2015 at 10:51 am
“It wasn’t that long ago that someone first brought my attention to a conservative blogger named Matt Walsh,”
apologies, it might have been me. I read him to keep up with what the other side is up to and I agree that he is simply a Panderer to the ignorant masses of right-wing fundamentalists, and says things for shock value than real value.
I would love it if it turns out his twins were in vitro!
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alex said on June 11, 2015 at 11:13 am
I would love it if it turns out his dick was in ano.
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Sue said on June 11, 2015 at 11:26 am
Whoa, serious thread win at #10. No others need apply.
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brian stouder said on June 11, 2015 at 12:10 pm
I’ve been pondering, anew, a thing which is really nothing more than common sense, but striking nonetheless. The book I’ve been reading, about the history of the Republican Party, illuminates how human beings with lots of money tend to dominate the political process, for the sake of securing and increasing their wealth; and when the kitchen gets too hot, they simply change labels and keep on keepin’ on. In the immediate post-Civil War era, “Republicans” shifted fairly radically (so to speak) from “radical” ideals of using government power to help everyone generally to rise, toward the interests of the bankers and speculators and landowners of the east and south, the better to take the votes of disaffected white male electorate that the race-baiting Democrats of the day had co-opted for the benefit of the few.
Meanwhile, incoherence reigned (or indeed, poured!). The anti-government/anti black Democrats of the day began pointing to the cowboys in the west as their American ideal; rugged individuals who made their living on the land, and who roamed free, blah blah blah blah….this despite that the cattle drives of the day were fueled by government demand for meat for the army, by the government’s wildly popular Homestead act, and heavily government-aided railroads (including the transcontinental railroad)…the idealized cowboy himself was always really a living, breathing, romantic-but-real example of the success of a myriad of government programs!!
There is only cold comfort that all the arguments we have today are as old as America; and that all that ever changes – and indeed, we’re talking about 180-degree changes – are the party labels we put on our better impulses, and our lies to ourselves.
But, I digress. If you want a palate cleanser, and if you pull on my finger, I’ll share today’s email from our kiddo in Guatemala…!
PS – agreed about the thread-win, too!
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Ann said on June 11, 2015 at 12:13 pm
I think the guy I ran into in the parking lot at the fabled Mickey-Lu-Bar-B-Q in Marinette must be a Matt Walsh listener. Maybe 70, driving a minivan, asks as we’re both heading into the restaurant “What’s that 2012 bumper sticker about?” Since it said “2012 Obama” it was pretty obvious, but I said I supported Obama in the 2012 election. He replied “would have been a good thing if someone had killed him in 2012 and then we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.” I’d like to think it was a flash of embarrassment I saw on his wife’s face, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. In my arrogant liberal way I changed the subject to what great millage we’re getting on our Prius. But anyway, I can’t imagine a situation in which I would go up to a stranger with a bumper sticker supporting a candidate I didn’t like and say I wish their candidate had been killed.
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Icarus said on June 11, 2015 at 1:25 pm
just found this
http://whatismattwalshwrongabouttoday.com
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Bitter Scribe said on June 11, 2015 at 2:30 pm
The thing that kills me about Pizza Hut’s stuffed-crust pizza, the father of the current abomination, is that it was developed, and licensed to Pizza Hut, by the USDA. That’s right, the same government agency that is always putting out food pyramids, or plates, or whatever, telling us about proper nutrition.
USDA researchers came up with stuffed-crust pizza as a way to increase cheese consumption. That’s because one of its main goals is to increase consumption of subsidized commodities–in this case, milk and the corn that feeds the cows that produce it–to help farmers (and taxpayers, by reducing the need for farm subsidies).
Of course, this is a flat contradiction of supporting good nutrition, which is another of its supposed goals. This is why I think nutrition advocacy should be taken away from USDA and given to Health and Human Services, or some other government department that can put health first.
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brian stouder said on June 11, 2015 at 3:12 pm
And as a total non-sequitur, my heart goes out (a little bit) to that crossed-up woman at the New York prison.
Presumably she did a lot to affect the escape, up ’til she stood those guys up at the sewer cover.
Clearly, if these escapees hurt or kill anyone, it’s on her, too; but if the Good Guys can catch them without anyone else being hurt, maybe the judge can go a little easy on her – while the folks running the prison answer more questions – not least of which, concerning employees bringing in power tools (or whatever else!)
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Deborah said on June 11, 2015 at 4:39 pm
“would have been a good thing if someone had killed him in 2012 and then we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.”
Wow, I can’t imagine anyone saying that much less to a complete stranger.
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Charlotte said on June 11, 2015 at 4:46 pm
Lot of U of M folks out here in Livingston Nancy … especially among the writers (Tom McGuane, Elwood Reid, Jamie Harrison Potenberg, Doug Peacock) … it’s like a little colony of them. And astonishing how even all these years later, Elwood can still dine out on having played football for them. Great school, I hope she has a wonderful experience …
In breaking news, a Cleveland judge looks like he’s decided there is probable cause to charge the cop who killed Tamir Rice with murder. No charges yet, but interesting …
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adrianne said on June 11, 2015 at 4:50 pm
Nance, WTF is going on in Michigan? The gov. just signed another backlash bill, this one allowing “faith-based” adoption agencies to reject gay parents.
http://www.law360.com/articles/666365
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David C. said on June 11, 2015 at 5:32 pm
I once heard someone speaking about one of the Ivys, I think, that with its endowment it was really a hedge fund with an education division. I imagine that applies to Michigan as well, except Michigan has a professional sports division (with slave labor, which probably is what the other hedge funds have in mind for the rest of us).
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Deborah said on June 11, 2015 at 5:50 pm
You know what’s really sad about those backlash bills against gay adoptions is that the people who are hurt are the children that don’t get adopted because of it. A gay couple that are really good friends of ours in Chicago have adopted 2 children and they are the luckiest kids in the world. One dad is French so the kids are being raised bilingual and they’re moving to Barcelona soon, so now they’ll get to learn and use Spanish. They are so loved and have amazing opportunities because both the dads are extremely involved in their care. The kids are half siblings both have the same mom but they were hard to adopt because of some early health issues. The girl, Lily, was adopted first as an infant and when the birth mom became pregnant again 2 years later she asked the agency if they would see if the couple who adopted the daughter would also adopt the little boy, Victor. They’re both absolutely healthy now, sweet and adorable as can be. They are African American and the dads are white. The French dad took lesson’s in how to fix Lily’s hair, he was quoted in an article in the Trib that had the cutest photo of him working on a mannequin’s hair. The photo doesn’t seem to be available anymore but here’s the article http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-04-10/news/ct-met-afro-hair-20110410_1_black-children-white-parents-evanston-based-adoption-agency
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LAMary said on June 11, 2015 at 7:37 pm
The consensus in my household is that the current Pizza Hut and most fast food hamburger chain commercials make one not want pizza or hamburgers for a while. There’s a hamburger which has a hot dog and potato chips on it.
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David C. said on June 11, 2015 at 8:33 pm
Stadium food is getting quite ridiculous too. For instance, the poutine hot dog at Comerica Park.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20140319/BLOG003/140319841/forget-pitching-hitting-and-injured-shortstops-comerica-park-will
Poutine is wonderful thing, if made by the Quebecois or an Ontarian in an emergency, but on a hot dog.
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Deborah said on June 11, 2015 at 8:53 pm
Brian, I for one would love to read your daughter’s latest email about her experiences. Pulling your finger.
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MichaelG said on June 11, 2015 at 8:59 pm
I second Deborah. Also I second Mary. Some of that stuff is truly gagworthy.
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brian stouder said on June 11, 2015 at 10:14 pm
OK – finger pulled! Here is our lovely daughter’s update. (The accompanying photos were quite impressive, also)
Well, we’ve made it past the hump of the week. I am extremely sore and exhausted. I’m even having troubles walking when I sit down for too long. But its all worth it, bettering the community of Pana. Today I took wheelbarrows of dirt from the trenches up a hill, and then dumped it down the hill. It was harder than I anticipated. Later I helped some of the workers from Pana cut the reebars(I think that’s how you spell it) and after thatI played with my buddy Danielle. I actually broke Diegos rule and gave him some food during break, and turns out I wasnt the only one. Sean, “accidentally,” dropped his cookies by him, amd Tracy sneaked him a banana. But i could tell he was hungry, and I couldnt stand letting him stay like that. He helped at the work site and played with us, and we got a big plate of food and he didn’t. Anyways, rant over, I just had to get that out because it bothered me lol. Tonight we went to town to eat dinner, and rode Tuc-Tucs there. It was actually pretty scary. There’s virtually no doors and we hit every bump in the road. Before eating, we perused the marketplace and walked down to the lake. At dinner, the owner talked to us, who is am indigenius Mayan. He talked about the culture, the predjudice against Mayans, and how thankful he was for us helping. Overall it was a busy, good, and tiring day. See you in four(ish) days!
Shelby
As this week has progressed, I’ve occasionally been tempted to express to Pam how much of a relief it will be when she’s back home again, but that impulse sets off the “stupid remark” idiot lights in my brain; surely no human being can miss a kiddo more than that kiddo’s mom! So two decades-plus of matrimony have taught me at least a thing or two, eh?
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Jill said on June 11, 2015 at 11:04 pm
Deborah, the adoption agency referenced in the article you cited is fantastic. The Cradle is pretty widely regarded as head and shoulders above many others. They handle adoptions for all kinds of families and provide lifelong support for all parties.
Brian, I love reading Shelby’s notes. What a good experience for her.
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MichaelG said on June 11, 2015 at 11:53 pm
Brian, she sounds like a very steady kid with a very open mind. Wonder who she has to thank for that. Pam also sounds like a wonderful woman. More reports please.
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Dexter said on June 12, 2015 at 2:02 am
Orange is back, and Hank weighs in: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/orange-is-the-new-black-slow-days-at-litchfield-as-season-3-marks-time/2015/06/11/796ee7e8-0fb0-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html?hpid=z1
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Pam said on June 12, 2015 at 5:54 am
Well, I don’t know . . . but this looks pretty disgusting too! http://rewind1057.com/peep-cake-picture/ I don’t know if it tops a hot dog/pizza though. Joe said that someone at his office made one of these and brought it in for everyone to have a slice. He declined, but everyone was surprised that he didn’t want to eat it and the cake maker was a tiny bit offended.
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alex said on June 12, 2015 at 7:28 am
Poutine must be the latest fad. I’ve seen it popping up on some revamped local restaurant menus, replacing an unpopular bulgogi (another passing fad) at one. I saw it up close and personal the other night and it looked like slop. And everyone around the bar referred to it jokingly as “poontang.”
I was already burned out on my favorite local restaurants when my partner, who’s between jobs, decided to pick up a few hours a week at a place owned by some friends. After hearing about the sorry state of their kitchen and some other unappetizing stories I can’t bring myself to eat there anymore. I had assumed that the lesions all over the face of one of the cooks was from cooking meth when she wasn’t cooking food, but I was assured by the owner it was only impetigo.
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Dorothy said on June 12, 2015 at 8:55 am
Oh Ann – I can’t imagine what that must have been like to hear someone say that. I like to think that I would have been brazen enough to stop in my tracks, look him right in the eye and ask him if he makes it a daily habit to wish for someone to be killed? Lord almighty but that was just wrong on a million levels. I hope his wife gave him a good lecture on NOT saying things like that in public ever again.
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Joe K said on June 12, 2015 at 9:36 am
Wishing death on this president is flat out wrong, but surprisingly I remember death being wished on the previous president and especially his Vice President, or do I remember wrong?
Pilot Joe
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Jolene said on June 12, 2015 at 9:47 am
Yesterday, I read an article about Michelle Obama serving as the guest editor of More magazine, a magazine for and about women over forty. I read, perhaps, twenty of the comments on the article , and every single one was horrid. Such a benign activity and such awfulness. I just couldn’t put it together.
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LAMary said on June 12, 2015 at 9:49 am
The LA Times posted a story about the new food items available at Dodger Stadium and showed a picture of vegan nachos. The temptation to comment that it looked like it had been eaten once already was very strong. I looked like barf with corn in it.
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coozledad said on June 12, 2015 at 9:50 am
Calling for President Cheney and his beard George Bush to be shackled and sent to the Hague for war crimes is protected speech: however, this was sufficient to get a visit from whatever Barney Fife the local police department might dig out of its ass. Cops salted agents provocateurs among antiwar demonstrations at the behest of Bush. I was at the demonstrations in Raleigh. Dumbfuck numbnuts undercover cops and their cop shoes everywhere.
Bush suspended Habeus Corpus. You were either “with
usBush or against US.”Read your fucking Constitution, before your party finishes torching it.
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Dorothy said on June 12, 2015 at 10:03 am
Wishing someone would go away and never raise his stupid-ass head again (Cheney) is not the same as wishing someone were dead. And if you thought someone was wishing either of them dead, Joe, I don’t believe it was here that you read that. Haven’t you learned anything over all the years of many of us contributing here that we ALL agree it is wrong to wish someone dead just because you don’t agree with their politics?!
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coozledad said on June 12, 2015 at 10:18 am
He only comes here for the love.
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nancy said on June 12, 2015 at 10:29 am
There’s also the fact that this guy Ann ran into didn’t say he wished Obama were dead, he wished someone had KILLED him. Big difference.
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Jeff Borden said on June 12, 2015 at 11:38 am
I am guilty of wishing Dick Cheney would die sooner than later. I won’t apologize for this emotion, either. When someone like Ornette Coleman dies, I find myself thinking, “Why him and not Cheney?” The bastard doesn’t even have a heart, just some kind of a pump that keeps his lizard blood circulating. The country and the world is a far worse place because of this prick. I wish I believed in the afterlife so I could enjoy the thought of him howling in agony for all of eternity. But I’ll settle for him becoming worm food.
When that occurs, I will buy an 18-year-old Scotch and toast his demise.
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Jolene said on June 12, 2015 at 11:52 am
A minor point: Dick Cheney does have a heart. He had a heart transplant in 2012.
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Sherri said on June 12, 2015 at 12:13 pm
I recall wanting to repossess Cheney’s mechanical heart, but that was after he was no longer VP. I have a problem with the millions spent to keep Cheney alive while his party works so hard to prevent some many others from accessing even basic healthcare.
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Sherri said on June 12, 2015 at 12:17 pm
PS – My problem with the millions spent is that Cheney has taxpayer funded health insurance.
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LAMary said on June 12, 2015 at 12:36 pm
I definitely wished Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld would be recognized as the war criminals they are, but I never wished they would be killed.
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coozledad said on June 12, 2015 at 12:56 pm
Why would you wish someone dead when what they deserve is to spend every waking minute thinking of the people they condemned to death; waking from their sleep in a sweat after dreaming they’ve been shredded all to hell by the monsters they created.
Knowing they can’t leave the US. Knowing the look on a stranger’s face that says You worthless bowl of powerdrunk fuck. You filthy traitor. You murderer.
It’ not much, but fuck no. Don’t let them sleep.
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Jolene said on June 12, 2015 at 1:28 pm
Unfortunately, cooz, I don’t think Bush and Cheney spend much of their time thinking along those lines.
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Dexter said on June 12, 2015 at 1:42 pm
Since Dresden happened before I was born, I think the worst US/allies crime against humanity in my lifetime was the Christmas bombing of Vietnam in 1972, which was infamous for the Bach Mai Hospital destruction…what could be more eternally damning than the targeted destruction of a children’s hospital, just to show them “we mean business!”?
Don’t even try to tell me this was ‘accidental’ as I have studied the facts and I know US bombers targeted that hospital.
Richard Milhous Nixon personally ordered that bombing, and since his mad handling of that entire operation happened during my time of service, I fell into the massive “hate Nixon” sub-culture.
I used to grit my teeth and promise myself than when that monster finally croaked off, I would go to his grave and 1) PISS on it, 2) spit on it, or 3) at least flick a few drops of urine from a tiny vial onto it.
Nixon died 21 years ago and I passed on my chance my last trip to California. Time mellowed me.
Now my internal pilot light is igniting the gases again, as now it’s Obama who is playing like Kennedy and sending 400-some “advisers” back into Iraq. Remember the Beirut fiasco in 1983 when US Marines were sent in as “peacekeepers” and found themselves in intense, constant firefights with heavy casualties, and yet they kept being told to not engage in combat by Washington heavies. That was Reagan and old Caspar Weinberger. See how easy it is to hated all these mofos?
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brian stouder said on June 12, 2015 at 2:14 pm
I’m still chuckling over Alex’s “I was assured by the owner it was only impetigo” restaurant story!
Aside from that, I really must say that when it comes to ‘opinion leaders’ (or whatever we call media types who get themselves onto the national stage) – Horace Greeley must be ranked one of the very worst Americans of all time.
I knew he was inlined to veer here and there ideologically; but post-war Greeley was a terrible influence on the political train-wreck that was ‘reconstruction’.
I would rate him as much worse for the country than Rupert Murdoch himself, let alone hate-surfers like shit-for-brains-Sean Hannity, or OxyRush could ever be
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Dorothy said on June 12, 2015 at 3:18 pm
Speaking of ‘Brainwashed’, I’m curious what you all think about this wackadoo woman: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/12/spokane-naacp-president-rachel-dolezal-may-be-white/
The way she tries to avoid answering questions directly or acknowledging that she was born from TWO WHITE PARENTS just seems to be a minor blip on her own personal off kilter horizon. Who does she think she’s kidding?! She kinked her hair and declares herself “black” (in the interview she said she prefers not to call herself African American). She lied on the application to serve on the citizen police ombudsmen commission. And now she can’t explain her behavior.
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brian stouder said on June 12, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Dorothy, I think I’ll read her (inevitable) book!
The plot thickens halfway though the article, when we learn that her childhood Montana home also included African American young folks, who were adopted by her birth parents.
I suspect her heart is in the right place, regardless where her consciousness and self-image are
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Dorothy said on June 12, 2015 at 4:13 pm
Her heart might be in the right place but she’s also lying her ass off right and left and has painted herself into a corner with those lies.
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brian stouder said on June 12, 2015 at 5:03 pm
Dorothy, that IS a fact! Another woman who has my sympathy is the one in New York state who helped spring the two murderers – assuming nobody gets killed between now and when they catch the escapees. She’s rightly in trouble, but I hope she doesn’t get scape-goated all to hell. Clearly, the two chuckleheads shoulda drawn attention from the guards at some point, as they cut steel and threw sparks and made noise and created smoke. Certainly, the woman is a key element in the escape, but I want to hear about the guards and the leadership at that facility….
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Deborah said on June 12, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Brian,
Thanks for sharing your daughter’s travel experiences with us again last night. I’m just getting around to saying this, it’s been one of those busy days. She reminded me of how exhausting it was when I took that building class in upstate NY a couple of summers ago, but how exhilarating it was too. And of course your daughter is a whole lot younger than me, as were all the other people who took the same class I took. I was definitely dragging my ass some of the time, but I held up pretty well for an old broad if I do say so myself. It’s so great that your daughter is getting that experience early in her life, you’re such a good dad.
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MarkH said on June 12, 2015 at 5:09 pm
What Dorothy said @51. She is even in CNN identifying another black man as her father. And has identified one of her adopted brothers as her own son on her facebook page. No matter how liberal or sympathetic you are, or that the Spokane chapter of the NAACP is backing her. At what point do we come to the realization that the truth matters. White people have always attended Howard University. People of all colors are welcome to join and support the NAACP. Why the charade?
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Brandon said on June 12, 2015 at 6:32 pm
http://hellobeautiful.com/2015/06/12/askrachel-black-twitter-rachel-dolezal/
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 12, 2015 at 6:47 pm
Adios, y’all, for the next two weeks. I’m not sure how much internet access I’ll have, or want to use . . . but I may be passing through Abiquiu in another week or so! I’ll wave in Deborah’s direction. Going to Philmont Training Center for a week and five days of slowly meandering down the Rio Grande valley back to Abq. Taos, Chimayo, Santa Fe and the cathedral, and through Abiquiu to a bit of the Chama Valley, all working out of Los Alamos and Bandelier (a too often missed NPS site).
Y’all be kind to one another!
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David C. said on June 12, 2015 at 6:52 pm
I’ve always thought changing attitudes about marriage equality comes from even the most conservative people having children who come home and say “mom and dad, I’m gay”, but attitudes don’t change about race because nobody’s children ever come home and say “mom and dad, I’m black”. Guess I was wrong.
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Suzanne said on June 12, 2015 at 8:24 pm
Good thing I was not drinking anything when I read that, David, as I would have spit it out.
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Sherri said on June 12, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Enjoy your trip, Jeff(tmmo)! We’ll look forward to your return!
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Deborah said on June 12, 2015 at 8:36 pm
Jeff tmmo, if you have time to get together, let me know. Would love to meet you face to face sometime. I realize you’re probably going to be busy. My email is dbeckett dot 1950 At gmail dot com.
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Deborah said on June 12, 2015 at 9:01 pm
Weird when the current principal of your highschool makes national news. Times have changed, when I went there we had maybe 4 black kids in the whole school with a population of 3,500. Now it’s predominantly black/Hispanic. http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/North-Miami-Senior-High-School-Principal-Alberto-Iber-Loses-Job-Over-Post-on-Police-Incident-in-McKinney-Texas-306816711.html
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LAMary said on June 12, 2015 at 9:38 pm
That sounds like a wonderful trip, Jeff. I’m envious.
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alex said on June 12, 2015 at 9:55 pm
A great time to dust off the stellar Slate piece on Ronald Reagan’s fabled welfare queen. A mistress of disguise who was never outed and she makes Rachel Dolezal’s duplicity look like a relative cakewalk and totally benign. Linda Taylor’s southern cracker family tried to out her, but the media weren’t interested in hearing about it. And nobody explains how she managed to pull off her artistry every day while in custody and on trial.
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Dexter said on June 12, 2015 at 11:04 pm
Time to catch up with Joni:
http://junkee.com/joni-mitchell-says-she-feels-an-affinity-with-black-men-because-shes-experienced-being-a-black-guy-on-several-occasions/50877
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Dexter said on June 13, 2015 at 1:43 am
The Bryan Times
10JUN15 ·
Bryan Police Log, 3:15 p.m. Thursday: “A resident in 400 block of West Mulberry Street reported someone stuffing grass in her mailbox. Checked, found birds were building a nest in the mailbox.”
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Brandon said on June 13, 2015 at 2:39 pm
“Rachel Dolezal’s duplicity look like a relative cakewalk and totally benign”
Was it benign?
http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2015/06/5-responses-to-rachel-dolezal-faking-blackness/
http://theculture.forharriet.com/2015/06/black-twitter-does-not-mess-around-rise.html#axzz3cy7WoqUi
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Deborah said on June 13, 2015 at 3:56 pm
Wow, Alex that is quite a saga about “the Welfare Queen”. A friend once said that people who can lie like that have to be geniuses, to be able to remember what they said, to whom, and concoct stories at the spur of the moment. Too bad she couldn’t channel her skills in a legitimate way. I knew someone years ago that lied when the truth was perfectly acceptable, it was bizarre.
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Basset said on June 13, 2015 at 4:21 pm
Summer, meanwhile, is here… ate the first red tomato from our plants last night.
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coozledad said on June 13, 2015 at 6:40 pm
I was wondering how deep the right would reach up its ass to make the Dolezal story about something other than a time honored American scam.
Pretty far it seems. All the way up into the stankest reaches of the Palinoid colon.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/sarah-palin-rambles-about-rachel-dolezal-political-correctness-in-loopy-facebook-post/
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brian stouder said on June 13, 2015 at 7:22 pm
This cannot be far from the future ‘historic home’ of two Fort Wayne newspaper people…
http://www.21alive.com/news/local/Home-catches-fire-on-Buell-Drive-307264251.html
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Deborah said on June 14, 2015 at 12:10 am
I went to a party this evening, it was all aging hippies, some Sikhs and the food was mostly vegan. Blah, I’m going to be farting all night. I brought pesto which Little Bird made with fresh basil from the Farmer’s Market, it contained Parmesan which I warned people about in case. I also brought some ciabatta bread that I got at the market too. They had 5 different kinds of cheesecake for dessert with no dairy in it. It was awful.
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beb said on June 14, 2015 at 11:20 am
five kinds of cheesecake made without cheese? Why bother. Seriously, what’s the point of being vegan if all you do is try to imitate non-vegan foods?
I have not read much about the Dolezal story. The one piece I did read implied that she had been active in all sorts of race-related politics. It seemed to me that black or white she was working for the good cause, so aside from the embarrassment of her being white, I can’t see what the deal it.
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MichaelG said on June 14, 2015 at 12:40 pm
I’ve wondered the same thing as beb. What’s with all the veggie and vegan fake meat? Soy burgers and shit like that. There are plenty of wonderful vegetarian meals out there.
I’m waiting for some black guy, obviously black, not someone who could pass, to unilaterally declare that he is now white.
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coozledad said on June 14, 2015 at 2:58 pm
Remember when Paul Ryan faked being a policy wonk? That doghaired ass sniffer couldn’t follow a phone book.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/watch-paul-ryan-repeatedly-refuses-to-tell-skeptical-fox-host-how-the-gop-would-replace-obamacare/
I guess with Republicans, competence is a social construct.
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Sherri said on June 14, 2015 at 4:41 pm
I don’t think Paul Ryan ever faked being a policy wonk so much as the Washington press corps, desperate to find some balance between the parties, anointed him the policy wonk because he put a bunch of words on paper. Never mind that those words didn’t make any more sense than Herman Cain’s Nine Nine Nine plan, there were lots of words, so it was harder to see the nonsense in his plan.
The Republican plan since Reagan has been simple:
1. Tell everybody government is the problem.
2. Destroy government at every opportunity, to make sure number 1 is true.
3. Profit off the result.
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Jolene said on June 14, 2015 at 5:13 pm
Impressively concise, Sherri, and absolutely accurate.
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Deborah said on June 14, 2015 at 5:25 pm
Little Bird and I went to church this morning. By church I mean we drove up into the mountains and walked through the cathedral formed by the soaring aspens. It was heavenly. We were also looking for mushrooms which we have no idea how to do, but we sure enjoyed doing it. We need to do this more often. We say that every time.
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David C. said on June 14, 2015 at 6:29 pm
Amen, sister Deborah.
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