“I love to watch people who can do something really well. You love to see a homerun hitter hit a homerun. You like to see Michael Phelps swim. Bill Clinton knows how to make a political speech.”
Bob Schieffer, CBS
While the nitworks and cable news channels keep yammering about what someone will say or what they meant when they said it, the speeches and other events proceed. Two speeches Wednesday evening that didn’t get much coverage but deserve your attention were Major Tammy Duckworth and Senator John Kerry.
No, really, that John Kerry.
The highlight of the evening for this 10-year vet of parochial schools was the benediction when Sister Catherine Pinkerton came out, started to begin, then without a word, just stared at the delegates and crowd until they became quiet. Then Sister began her fine prayer. I’ve been on the receiving end of that stare a million times.
Thursday, Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson will lead the Pledge of Allegiance and Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson will sing the National Anthem. You can see it all on C-SPAN, no ads, no commentary, no interruptions.
The conclusion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech in Washington 45 years ago today (and worth reading every year).
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!” And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring — from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring — from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring — from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.Let freedom ring — from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring — from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that.
Let freedom ring — from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring — from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring — from every hill and molehill of Mississippi,
from every mountainside, let freedom ring!And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
“Free at last, free at last.
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”
Billmon says what I am feeling as well.
I dunno, I guess that’s when it hit me — the enormity of what I’d just seen. It may not mean as much to you youngsters (get off my lawn!) but for someone of my age, who grew up in the dying days of segregation, who still remembers the colored and white drinking fountains and the monochrome lunch counters, who saw Washington DC burn the night Martin Luther King was killed — who, in some sense, has essentially spent his whole life living in the shadow of American racism, it was completely mindblowing. The party of Jefferson Davis and George Wallace (but also of FDR and Bobby Kennedy) had just chosen a black man as its standard bearer — and God willing, as the country’s leader.
As always, all of what Billmon writes deserves attention, not just this excerpt.
The Edge of the American West says it all.
The New MexiKen for President WebSite
Once it loads, click on the start arrow.
Thanks J.D.
WOLF BLITZER: If Obama has his way, you would spend another $701,885 in taxes. $700,000 above and beyond – you pay a lot of taxes right now if you’re making millions of dollars a year as you are. How do you feel about that?
CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I think that if you’re rich — I thank God I’ve been very successful — if you’re rich, you’re always going to be rich. If we pay more in taxes, I got no problem with that. If you’re making that kind of money, a couple hundred thousand dollars here or there are not going to change your life.
Let’s be realistic. I’ve been very fortunate and blessed. I did a great job of saving my money. But I got no problem if I’m making that type of money, paying more in taxes to be honest with you.
According to Altercation, yesterday CNN analyzed the tax changes proposed by McCain and Obama. Here’s the four wage brackets they used:
Over $2.9 million
$603,000 and up
$227,000-$603,000
$161,000-$227,000
Notice anything missing?
[Answer: The 95% of Americans who earn less than $161,000.]
Lewis Black suggested in one of his comedy routines a better way to select the president.
As soon as the next American Idol is chosen, blindfold them and have them throw a dart at a map of the U.S. Then take a monkey, put a parachute on him, and drop him from a plane at the spot where the dart hit. The first person the monkey takes by hand, that’s the president.
Works for me.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, was born 100 years ago today. He died, at age 64, in January 1973.
William Least Heat-Moon was born as William Trogdon 69 years ago today. He’s the author, among other works, of Blue Highways, an excellent travel memoir published in 1982. (The roads in blue on highway maps go to the out-of-way places Least Heat-Moon wrote about.)
Daryl Dragon, the Captain of the Captain and Tennille, is 66 today.
Once-upon-a-time sex kitten Tuesday Weld is 65. According to IMDb, “At nine years of age she suffered a nervous breakdown, at ten she started heavy drinking. One year later she began to have affairs, and at the age of twelve she tried to commit suicide.” Weld turned down the role of Lolita and of Bonnie in Bonnie and Clyde.
Paul Reubens, Pee-Wee Herman, is 56.
Chandra Wilson of Grey’s Anatomy is 39.
Insofar as neoconservatives do not understand this, and cannot understand this, they are a clear and present danger to the security of the West. Their unwillingness to understand how the US might be perceived in the world, how a hegemon needs to exhibit more humility and dexterity to maintain its power, makes them – and McCain – extremely dangerous stewards of American foreign policy in an era of global terror. They are diplomatically and strategically autistic.
McCain’s response to the calamities of the past eight years has been to compound them all. It has been to propose a “surge” in Afghanistan, to aggressively embrace open-ended commitment to Iraq (if the Iraqis can be pressured hard enough), and to launch one new hot war against Iran and another cold one – and hot, by proxies – against Russia. And the way in which the question is debated – around asinine concepts of “toughness” or “sissiness” – leads to facile decisions. It also leads to ads like this one: fear-mongering as an argument. It should be noted that Obama’s statement that Iran is “not a serious threat” is so out of context as to be a lie. He said it was “not a serious threat compared to the Soviet Union.” That is a critical, historical point – a way of actually looking at foreign policy outside a box crafted by morons.
While the talking heads on TV were yammering on last night that the Democrats weren’t criticizing McCain enough, Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana was at the podium doing a pretty good job of just that. This should have been the keynote speech.
By the way, CSPAN carries the convention from gavel to gavel with the focus on the speakers, not the know-it-alls in the network booths. I even watched the closing prayer.
I can’t tell for sure, but I think Governor Schweitzer is wearing the mountain states dress up uniform — sports jacket and Levis.
“No way. No how. No McCain.”
Senator Hillary Clinton
Where do I get the bumper sticker made?
“John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush more than 90% of the time…that’s not a maverick, that’s a sidekick.”
“Barry Goldwater ran for president, and he lost. Mo Udall ran for president, and he lost. Bruce Babbit ran for president, and he lost. For this next election, that’s one Arizona political tradition I’d like to see continue.”
From a useful look at past conventions by Eric Boehlert:
Many in the press have portrayed Clinton’s planned convention address, as well as the fact that her name is being placed into nomination, as an unprecedented, heavy-handed power grab.
Fact: It’s not. In years past, Democratic candidates who won lots of primaries and accumulated hundreds of delegates (sorry, Howard Dean and Bill Bradley) have always been allowed to address the convention and very often place their name into nomination. It’s the norm. It’s expected. It’s a formality.
Wolf Blitzer on CNN, Sunday: “You’re looking at live pictures of the Pepsi Center here in Denver, Colorado. Normally, the Denver Nuggets would be playing basketball here. Not this week. The Democrats — they have their convention inside. We’re inside.” [Note to Wolf: the NBA season begins October 28.]
Found at Altercation, where it is pointed out that the NHL Colorado Avalanche also plays in the Pepsi Center, but no one has mentioned them. The Avalanche has been the far more successful franchise (two Stanley Cups since 1995).
“Barack Obama could cure cancer and [Fox News would] figure out a way to frame it as an economic disaster.”
Jon Stewart quoted at Altercation.
We love it when Dems know enough to mention people who work on “the day shift” and “the night shift”—and “military families, who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table.” (On Saturday, Biden specifically cited the “cops” and the “firefighters.”) We love it when Dems know enough to say: We know what real people really do.
But let’s get back to those families. Forget Obama’s Kenyan father; even on his mother’s side, his personal story is very unusual in the American presidential context. No one has ever run for president talking about a decent, lovely, sweet-natured mother who spent years doing doctoral work in anthropology in Indonesian villages. Many American voters have never known anyone remotely like that ….
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
It’s only been 88 years (August 26, 1920).
The truth is that there’s no difference in principle between saying that every American child is entitled to an education and saying that every American child is entitled to adequate health care. It’s just a matter of historical accident that we think of access to free K-12 education as a basic right, but consider having the government pay children’s medical bills “welfare,“ with all the negative connotations that go with that term.
Paul Krugman, first posted here one year ago today.
Of course, Krugman overlooks the fact that many on the right would eliminate public schools as well.
In what might be his most controversial attack ad in a campaign dominated by them, presumptive G.O.P. presidential nominee John McCain today launched a new TV spot attacking Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill)’s two children.
. . .
In the ad, which is being broadcast in key swing states, an announcer intones, “They’re the cutest children in the world – but are they ready to lead?”
. . .
The commercial goes on to blast the Obama children for “smiling and giggling but refusing to state their position on offshore oil drilling.”
While some critics questioned how well the ad would play in living rooms across America, Sen. McCain defended it, telling reporters, “It played very well in all of my living rooms.”
Back in 2004 the media were obsessed with the idea that if the Dems showed any negativity about Bush they’d be doooooooooooooooomed.
Now they’re obsessed with the idea that the Dems aren’t showing enough negativity.
Whatever.
“In order to revitalize its brand image, Microsoft has hired former sitcom actor Jerry Seinfeld as a spokesman. What do you think?”
The Onion – America’s Finest News Source gets three reactions.
On Seinfeld Jerry always used a Mac.
Damn! FunctionalAmbivalent has published NewMexiKen’s photo.
Actually not really. THIS is me at about that age.
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