Tuesday, October 26, 2010
It's not 1998...
...but I still have hope that sane people will vote next Tuesday. This election will go down as one of the most complicated in our history. The polls are wack, the political parties have lost control of the process, the media is more concerned with entertaining than informing, a huge number of people will vote against their interests and not realize it.
You knew I would have something to say...
...I am not sure why I have been taken to the "Pitt" again...but here I am. As usual Katrina gets to sleep on the couch and I have to stay on the floor.
Jane keeps saying we are going on a trip but I am not sure where. I am evidently leash impaired. I got to go jogging (yes, Jane is jogging...pant) and I just cannot control myself. Bolting is my thing and no one seems to like it. I have to say that I am really tired of hearing Jane moan about her arm sockets. And she continues to gripe about my Mom's refusal to train me to walk on a leash correctly.
Well, the trip was to a wedding in Atlanta. I think that's where I used to live. Cool!! Pat put the seats down in the back of the car and Katrina and I had a really big space to lie down. But you guessed it, Katrina sprawled out right in the middle and I was crushed up against the side the whole trip.
I guess my Mom was doing all the wedding stuff since I did not see her until Sunday. Jane and Pat kept leaving us and when they would come back there was always talk about being over served...what the heck? When I am over served I don't rub my head and moan.
It must have been a good weekend because I heard Jane say "What a great diner, even though I didn't get a barn star". "It was really good to see everyone, they all looked great" while I gobbled down my breakfast and Katrina's too...he, he.
Jane keeps saying we are going on a trip but I am not sure where. I am evidently leash impaired. I got to go jogging (yes, Jane is jogging...pant) and I just cannot control myself. Bolting is my thing and no one seems to like it. I have to say that I am really tired of hearing Jane moan about her arm sockets. And she continues to gripe about my Mom's refusal to train me to walk on a leash correctly.
Well, the trip was to a wedding in Atlanta. I think that's where I used to live. Cool!! Pat put the seats down in the back of the car and Katrina and I had a really big space to lie down. But you guessed it, Katrina sprawled out right in the middle and I was crushed up against the side the whole trip.
I guess my Mom was doing all the wedding stuff since I did not see her until Sunday. Jane and Pat kept leaving us and when they would come back there was always talk about being over served...what the heck? When I am over served I don't rub my head and moan.
It must have been a good weekend because I heard Jane say "What a great diner, even though I didn't get a barn star". "It was really good to see everyone, they all looked great" while I gobbled down my breakfast and Katrina's too...he, he.
Brink & Emily T do Virlie's
A fine time was had in the "Pitt"... Brink and her pal Emily made a pit stop in THE "Pitt" on their way to Atlanta. Natch, Millie was left for us to take care of (I am sure she will have something to say about that later). Brink refused to drive Em by the really picturesque parts of town like the Wash & Fold but we did take in Virlie's for a fine breakfast. "I'll have a sausage biscuit, hash browns, and a biscuit", Em told the waitress who stared at her with a puzzled look...we just acted like all was normal.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The Clarence Thomas "thing"
Back in the Fall of 1991 when classrooms were not "cableized", I thought it was a great idea to take my US History classes to the library, oops.... media center, to witness the confirmation hearing for Clarence Thomas. Several other teachers joined in and to the media center we went....
It was a great opportunity for students to see the confirmation process as it happened. The Senate Judiciary Committee was discussed, the Constitution was consulted, i.e the students were prepared to understand what they would be observing.
It must be pointed out that the empty seat on the Court was that of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Justice. Marshall had made a major contribution to society in his role as an attorney for the NAACP when he argued Brown v Board of Education before the Court in 1954. It seemed that he should be replaced by an equally talented and intellectual individual. George Herbert Walker Bush was President and it was taken for granted that the appointment would be an individual whose mind was to the far right of center. Woe was them...the Judiciary Committee was controlled by the Dems...Biden, Kennedy, et al. They would balk at a conservative appointment, but if Bush nominated the one Black conservative, the liberals would be in a conundrum. After all, how could they vote against a Black man? Intellect and judgement played no role in the appointment of Clarence Thomas...he was after all Black the Republicans reasoned. The American Bar did not recommend Thomas, virtually no one and no group proclaimed him qualified to fill one of the 9 most important positions in the free world.
You are wondering about taking the kids to the media center...oh yeah. Well, a woman who had worked with Thomas at the Federal Office of Economic Opportunity, Anita Hill, was testifying when we arrived and you all know what happened...coke cans, Long Dong Silver, pubic hair. YIKES! What were their parents going to say? I was freaked out but the students seemed unfazed. They watched and the committee was not swayed by Anita's testimony accusing Thomas of sexual harassment especially after a poll showed a slim majority of Americans believed Thomas over Hill. Thomas was confirmed by a very narrow majority and I realized that we had entered a new phase of decency when it came to TV. Well, the point of this is that Clarence Thomas' wife, Virginia, left Anita Hill a message on her office phone on October 9, 2010 (Hill is now a professor at Brandeis) asking Anita to apologize for what she had done to Clarence 21 YEARS AGO! What the heck? Oddly enough, on the same day, the New York Times ran a front page story about Virginia Thomas' active participation in the Teaparty movement and how absolutely unusual this is...or rather how unethical this is...or inappropriate...or how no one can recall a spouse of a Supreme Court Justice being a political activist.
We followed this confirmation in class and one of the students was the niece of Virginia Thomas. Thomas is a nonentity on the court. He has never asked a question in open court. He has ALWAYS voted with Scalia and Alito...he should never have been confirmed. Anita Hill will not apologize.
It was a great opportunity for students to see the confirmation process as it happened. The Senate Judiciary Committee was discussed, the Constitution was consulted, i.e the students were prepared to understand what they would be observing.
It must be pointed out that the empty seat on the Court was that of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Justice. Marshall had made a major contribution to society in his role as an attorney for the NAACP when he argued Brown v Board of Education before the Court in 1954. It seemed that he should be replaced by an equally talented and intellectual individual. George Herbert Walker Bush was President and it was taken for granted that the appointment would be an individual whose mind was to the far right of center. Woe was them...the Judiciary Committee was controlled by the Dems...Biden, Kennedy, et al. They would balk at a conservative appointment, but if Bush nominated the one Black conservative, the liberals would be in a conundrum. After all, how could they vote against a Black man? Intellect and judgement played no role in the appointment of Clarence Thomas...he was after all Black the Republicans reasoned. The American Bar did not recommend Thomas, virtually no one and no group proclaimed him qualified to fill one of the 9 most important positions in the free world.
You are wondering about taking the kids to the media center...oh yeah. Well, a woman who had worked with Thomas at the Federal Office of Economic Opportunity, Anita Hill, was testifying when we arrived and you all know what happened...coke cans, Long Dong Silver, pubic hair. YIKES! What were their parents going to say? I was freaked out but the students seemed unfazed. They watched and the committee was not swayed by Anita's testimony accusing Thomas of sexual harassment especially after a poll showed a slim majority of Americans believed Thomas over Hill. Thomas was confirmed by a very narrow majority and I realized that we had entered a new phase of decency when it came to TV. Well, the point of this is that Clarence Thomas' wife, Virginia, left Anita Hill a message on her office phone on October 9, 2010 (Hill is now a professor at Brandeis) asking Anita to apologize for what she had done to Clarence 21 YEARS AGO! What the heck? Oddly enough, on the same day, the New York Times ran a front page story about Virginia Thomas' active participation in the Teaparty movement and how absolutely unusual this is...or rather how unethical this is...or inappropriate...or how no one can recall a spouse of a Supreme Court Justice being a political activist.
We followed this confirmation in class and one of the students was the niece of Virginia Thomas. Thomas is a nonentity on the court. He has never asked a question in open court. He has ALWAYS voted with Scalia and Alito...he should never have been confirmed. Anita Hill will not apologize.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Is there a dramatic misalignment of the planets????
I have tried not to think too hard about the current political situation due to the likelihood that my head would explode...but I cannot remain silent any longer. What in the hell is going on!!!??? Christine O'Donnell makes Sarah Palin look like a Rhodes Scholar. As Christine said to her opponent Chris Coons during the Senate debate in Delaware..."The First Amendment? Separation of church and state is in the First Amendment? The First Amendment"? She has claimed in every speech she has made that she is an expert on the Constitution and will make ALL her decisions as a Senator based on the Constitution. Who is this person? And more importantly who are the people who vote for her? She defeated an intelligent, rational Republican who would have represented the interests of Delaware in the Senate.
Joe Wilson, the Alaskan Republican candidate for the Senate, has a posse of thugs to "guard" him. A journalist was "arrested" by this posse at a public school where Wilson was hosting a town hall. The implication here is that a politician can have people who wish to ask questions of a candidate ARRESTED and detained...maybe in China, maybe in some banana republic, maybe in Iran. And , oh by the way, he thinks the East German solution to immigration/emigration problems during the Cold War (aka THE BERLIN WALL) is a great idea for the US to adopt.
Sharron Angle, Republican running against Harry Reid, told a group of young latinos that some of them looked Asian to her....huh?
People better wake up before election day or they could wake up on November 3rd and find the government turned over to border line maniacs.
Joe Wilson, the Alaskan Republican candidate for the Senate, has a posse of thugs to "guard" him. A journalist was "arrested" by this posse at a public school where Wilson was hosting a town hall. The implication here is that a politician can have people who wish to ask questions of a candidate ARRESTED and detained...maybe in China, maybe in some banana republic, maybe in Iran. And , oh by the way, he thinks the East German solution to immigration/emigration problems during the Cold War (aka THE BERLIN WALL) is a great idea for the US to adopt.
Sharron Angle, Republican running against Harry Reid, told a group of young latinos that some of them looked Asian to her....huh?
People better wake up before election day or they could wake up on November 3rd and find the government turned over to border line maniacs.
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