Happy Fourth of July: Version 232

barbara — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:01:38 -0500

barbara writes

(When in the course of human events the government becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established, it is the Right of the People to alter it and demand restoration of those Constitutional Principles that have so long assured their Liberty, Safety, and Happiness. Therefore, on the anniversary of our Independence, we offer this new declaration for our times.

View video for full declaration and/or read text, compliments of Firedoglake here.)

When I was a kid, back in the Precambrian era, the Fourth of July was a very big deal. America was a very big deal. We had emerged from two horrendous wars into an era of peace and prosperity. Ike showed us that it’s possible to morph from military to civilian mindset. We had not yet succumbed to pervasive fear about the Great Red Menace.

My childhood was arguably an intensely civil time in our country’s history. We were sick unto death of violence and bloodshed and shortages. Even I got that, and I wasn’t especially tuned in as a kid. (Also, I grew up in a Republican household, but that’s a story unto itself.)

The Fourth of July was one of several times each year when Americans showed our colors, sang our songs, and unapologetically went flat-out patriotic. It wasn’t all for show. It wasn’t about dueling extravaganzas (extravaganzae?). We meant it. We felt it.

For a few hours each July Fourth, my taciturn grandfather lay down his protective mantle and became a kid again. He loved this holiday. The parade in his small North Dakota town included . . . well, everyone. Much as Garrison Keillor noted in last week’s monologue about the Fourth in Lake Wobegon, the first parade had everybody in it, and then they did it again so some of them could watch. Please read on.

Cousin Susan Says, "Enough with the Hillary bashing."

susan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:32:40 -0500

Cousin Susan -- who isn't really my cousin, but is my best pal's cousin, ergo goes by that moniker -- recently wrote to the CLB about bashing Hillary vs. recruiting her supporters to help win this election. Barb's busy battling the cancer demon, and I'm busy hosting (healthy, thanks be) children and grandchildren. So voila, a guest posting by Cousin Susan, formerly of Topanga Canyon, CA, now back home in Des Moines, Iowa.
******
I've much enjoyed periodically reading your comments, most of which I find help my wandering mind organize itself at least briefly.

Back here in soggy Iowa, I've been talking with my friends who were early Obama supporters about a woman to woman campaign to bring Hill's Gals back to the Dems.
More!

Wes Clark: Prison Not a Pass to Presidency

susan — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:00:46 -0500

Booyah for Gen. Wesley Clark for calling the emperor naked. Or the POW not presidential. I've been having this same thought about McCain for a long time, but banished it to the basement for its unseemly lack of gratitude, if not downright un-American way of thinking.
Not that McCain didn't endure a horrific imprisonment and not that it was his fault that he was shot down. But I just didn't see how a miserable time in a Viet Cong preison makes him God's anointed leader. And placing my hand firmly on the third rail, I'd rather have the Navy pilot who didn't get shot down as my leader, not the one who did
But war heros are sacrosanct, right? Well, yes and no. Not if they're Democrats. More.

Bless 'em all and thanks!

barbara — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:38:13 -0500

barbara writes

(Please see UPDATE following this post.)

Keith Kennedy is alive!!!

I was schlogging through the net’s miasma of bad, badder, baddest news when I stumbled onto the story, here and here. Instant tears. You, too? More as I write this. It’s an amazing thing, really.

Keith Kennedy is a 25-year-old man who has autism. And this summer, like summers before, Keith was attending an overnight camp in Wisconsin that is geared to people with special needs. One week ago, for whatever reason, he wandered away from camp. May even have been running. His father says Keith loves to run. Not away from, but rather running for joy. A beautiful but nearly deadly thing this time.

Keith’s parents said he speaks only four words. They also said he would be unlikely to respond to the voices of the searchers, even if they called his name. Add to that the fact that he needed daily anti-rejection medication for a decade-old kidney transplant and the odds were stacked heavily against him. Please read on.

It's the Oil, Stupid

susan — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:44:45 -0500

As the resident apologist for the mushy middle and the MSM, I remember saying in the nascent days of the invasion of Iraq that it wasn't entirely about oil.

I was unwavering in my opposition to the invasion, and knew that BushCo was purposely misleading the country, but I thought it was too simplistic to think that our leaders would send young Americans to Iraq to die for oil. "They may have no conscience," I'd say, "and they're liars, but they're not stupid."

Well, I was wrong. It was about oil. And they are stupid. But I was right about the other stuff like the lies. And the lack of conscience. Toss in corrupt and greedy while you're at it. And where's Don Rumsfeld these days anyway?
(I dunno, but read on anyway.)