For perhaps most of the members of Mindsay, the answer is, "Nowhere--yet." OK, fine. You missed a lot of good years and several not so good ones.
But I was a teen in 1965. So was Mitt Romney, he being a couple years older than me. One day that year I went into a local department store with my friend, Mike, and we wandered about in the sporting goods section looking at fishing gear.
Mike and I liked to fish together and, being just a kid in high school with no job, I had precious little money to spend on extras. But I also appreciated a well-made fishing lure, so I picked up a Rebel jointed minnow, a wooden replica of a small shiny fish that bass liked to bite, and I placed it in my pocket and we continued to walk around looking like aimless customers with time on our hands.
Down one aisle and the next and back again, we were "just looking." I barely noticed the large guy in the suit jacket who was also shopping in all the same aisles we were. If I turned left and went down there, he followed. If I stopped to check something out or show it to Mike, he stopped, too, and seemed just as interested in shopping.
Oh, well, I've seen enough. Let's get out of here. I head up the escalator and toward the front door which, back in 1965, didn't have scanners on the left and right to go off when it detected unpurchased merchandise. That's why Jacket Man was there--he was the detector--and he put his hands on me as I got to the door and asked me to empty my pockets.
Long story short, I wasn't arrested that day. But they called my parents and I had to go home and face them. And I was told never to return to the store. I never did, but they later folded anyhow.
So why the story? Well, apparently if I were a presidential candidate today (aren't you relieved, CS, that I'm not?), I would be having to answer for this ridiculous afternoon adventure that happened nearly a half century ago. A $2 fishing lure, way back just 3 years after the assassination of JFK, before the ramp up in Vietnam, before The Great Society, before Sgt Pepper, before Medicare, before the assassinations of MLK and RFK, before the moon landing, the Charles Manson murders, Woodstock (the real one), and Watergate.
I'm talking a LONG time ago. But some would have you think what Romney did--or maybe didn't do--that long ago is relevant to his candidacy today. Unless he was in prison for murder (and many people who actually did go to prison in 1965 for murder are free today), I wouldn't care.
What I would care about is seeing the media--just once--be as interested in Obama as they are in Romney. If they can print a story about a hair-cutting incident in 1965, you'd think they could manage to obtain Obama's university records, his passport records, his law school records....something other than the fact that he's had more than one name or one Social Security number.
But Obama will be the eternal Mystery Man. Win or lose in November, he'll see to it you know more about Babba Booey than about him.
jacksez
Eroding your own support
President Obama will have a fight on his hands come November, unless Romney is caught with a dead girl, or a live boy, in his bed. In other words, he can't afford to scotch whatever supporters are still holding out for "hope and change."
But today, he managed to paint himself further into his shrinking corner by alienating a sizable portion of his primary constituency, black voters, by "coming out" (excuse the pun) in favor of gay marriage. Blacks are not known for throwing in with that too much. Not much at all.
Even though they tend to vote overwhelmingly democratic, many blacks are quite traditional/conservative in their worldview. The black church isn't going to be
naming any new building programs after him now. I don't think Mr. O did himself any favors with this decision, which was really not a surprise. But his VP, ol' Joe "Loose Canon" Biden, sort of forced his hand with his remark over the weekend that he was OK with "men marrying men." (Even the Democratic leadership was reportedly wincing at Joey's words. But this is deja vu, isn't it?)
Well, we'll see how this plays out. If 13% of the population is black, and only about half of those are of voting age, and only half of those actually vote (I'm speculating), then perhaps the number of blacks he's turned off will about equal the number of gays he attracted. Of course, the gays were his already, so maybe it's a net loss.
One thing is good: He and Joe finally are on the same page--for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health. They make a fine couple.
But today, he managed to paint himself further into his shrinking corner by alienating a sizable portion of his primary constituency, black voters, by "coming out" (excuse the pun) in favor of gay marriage. Blacks are not known for throwing in with that too much. Not much at all.
Even though they tend to vote overwhelmingly democratic, many blacks are quite traditional/conservative in their worldview. The black church isn't going to be
naming any new building programs after him now. I don't think Mr. O did himself any favors with this decision, which was really not a surprise. But his VP, ol' Joe "Loose Canon" Biden, sort of forced his hand with his remark over the weekend that he was OK with "men marrying men." (Even the Democratic leadership was reportedly wincing at Joey's words. But this is deja vu, isn't it?)
Well, we'll see how this plays out. If 13% of the population is black, and only about half of those are of voting age, and only half of those actually vote (I'm speculating), then perhaps the number of blacks he's turned off will about equal the number of gays he attracted. Of course, the gays were his already, so maybe it's a net loss.
One thing is good: He and Joe finally are on the same page--for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health. They make a fine couple.
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Now it's a crime
OK, let's run this down step by step.
First, we're told too many people in this nation are overweight. Kids are getting fat before they're old enough to ride a bike.
Then we're told it's an epidemic. We must act before it's too late.
Then Michelle Obama gets involved. She ramps up the issue by encouraging healthy school food. Fine; eat better, everyone. And brush your teeth while your at it. Even floss. Great.
Then at least one school (there may have been more, but one at least one) actually confiscates a young schoolgirl's bag lunch and points her to the cafeteria food because her mother's offering was deemed insufficiently nutritious. (The school's lunch was chicken bites of some kind).
And now we have the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Education actually banning--read it again, BANNING--bake sales because they typically sell rather high calorie treats to raise money. They have made bake sales ILLEGAL. Bake sales. Can't do it. Against the LAW.
No, Michelle Obama was not behind that. She didn't consult with her husband and conspire with the governor of Massachusetts to pass a law banning bake sales. But this is another example of government overreach and intrusion into the lives of everyday Americans going about their lives and minding their own business being told how to live.
And you know what? The next presidential election is going to hinge, to a large degree, on just such a question: Are we all capable of running our own lives, or do we need them run for us by more and more regulations coming out of state and national offices?
When a state can ban bake sales, they can ban--or require--just about anything. Consider carefully your vote next November. You may have fewer choices available in the future, depending on which lever you pull.
First, we're told too many people in this nation are overweight. Kids are getting fat before they're old enough to ride a bike.
Then we're told it's an epidemic. We must act before it's too late.
Then Michelle Obama gets involved. She ramps up the issue by encouraging healthy school food. Fine; eat better, everyone. And brush your teeth while your at it. Even floss. Great.
Then at least one school (there may have been more, but one at least one) actually confiscates a young schoolgirl's bag lunch and points her to the cafeteria food because her mother's offering was deemed insufficiently nutritious. (The school's lunch was chicken bites of some kind).
And now we have the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Education actually banning--read it again, BANNING--bake sales because they typically sell rather high calorie treats to raise money. They have made bake sales ILLEGAL. Bake sales. Can't do it. Against the LAW.
No, Michelle Obama was not behind that. She didn't consult with her husband and conspire with the governor of Massachusetts to pass a law banning bake sales. But this is another example of government overreach and intrusion into the lives of everyday Americans going about their lives and minding their own business being told how to live.
And you know what? The next presidential election is going to hinge, to a large degree, on just such a question: Are we all capable of running our own lives, or do we need them run for us by more and more regulations coming out of state and national offices?
When a state can ban bake sales, they can ban--or require--just about anything. Consider carefully your vote next November. You may have fewer choices available in the future, depending on which lever you pull.
I remember that. Not!
Marilu Henner, the hottie from "Taxi" and other productions, has an ability that very few have: She can recall--in vivid detail--virtually every day of her life since early childhood.
Do you know what you did or what happened in your life on June 5, 1977 (if you were around then)? Or what the weather was on Sept 16, 1998? Or the date you obtained your first driver's license? She can tell you. It's called "Highly Superior Biographical Memory", and only a handful of people have been found who are either blessed or cursed with it, depending on your take. Being able to recall everything means it all comes to mind--pleasant and unpleasant, tears and joys.
By contrast, I can't recall major sections of my life, except for snippets. I went to high school many years ago, but I can only recall pieces of it. I took the bus to school, but I can't recall now what corner I stood at to board, or what route we took. Was it early in the run, or later? Was the bus crowded by the time I got it, or more empty? Don't know. I do remember the driver, Willie, a rotund black man we all loved. But I can't picture standing at the stop or who was there standing with me, even as I know who should have been there because they were neighbors of mine.
Even college is just pieces. I went to two schools and a few things happened at each that I recall, like a physics professor who wrote so many equations on the board at once that he kept an eraser in one hand and chalk in the other, so I needed to get them down fast before he wiped them off.
But the majority of events I couldn't come up with now. Four years and most of it is gone. I've been married for a long time, and my wife mentions things we've done that I don't have any recollection of: We've been there? When? We saw that movie? You weren't with me. I had one of those? Who gave it to me?
I think I'd love total recall, like Henner has. I think I would. But I don't really recall if I've said that before.
Do you know what you did or what happened in your life on June 5, 1977 (if you were around then)? Or what the weather was on Sept 16, 1998? Or the date you obtained your first driver's license? She can tell you. It's called "Highly Superior Biographical Memory", and only a handful of people have been found who are either blessed or cursed with it, depending on your take. Being able to recall everything means it all comes to mind--pleasant and unpleasant, tears and joys.
By contrast, I can't recall major sections of my life, except for snippets. I went to high school many years ago, but I can only recall pieces of it. I took the bus to school, but I can't recall now what corner I stood at to board, or what route we took. Was it early in the run, or later? Was the bus crowded by the time I got it, or more empty? Don't know. I do remember the driver, Willie, a rotund black man we all loved. But I can't picture standing at the stop or who was there standing with me, even as I know who should have been there because they were neighbors of mine.
Even college is just pieces. I went to two schools and a few things happened at each that I recall, like a physics professor who wrote so many equations on the board at once that he kept an eraser in one hand and chalk in the other, so I needed to get them down fast before he wiped them off.
But the majority of events I couldn't come up with now. Four years and most of it is gone. I've been married for a long time, and my wife mentions things we've done that I don't have any recollection of: We've been there? When? We saw that movie? You weren't with me. I had one of those? Who gave it to me?
I think I'd love total recall, like Henner has. I think I would. But I don't really recall if I've said that before.
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May Day reveal
OK, it's May 2, and yesterday--from coast to coast--the left was on display in full battle gear. If there were any late-coming doubters as to who the left is, they should have no more question. The masks are off, as are the gloves. Let the show go on.
May Day "Occupy" riots, complete with arrests, smashed store windows, spray painted graffiti, and other manifestations of the modern "progressive movement", are now well documented...though not enthusiastically reported, because to do so would be to point out the vacuous nature of their message. Simple stated it is: "Down with capitalism; down with government; down with haves and have-nots; down with earning your keep; up with 'give to me'; up with 'dependency'; up with redistribution; down with America."
And the most astounding part? El Presidente and his fellow travellers have essentially thrown in with this crowd. Nancy Pelosi--"God bless 'em." President Obama--the Occupiers are understandably expressing "a sense of frustration" with the country and its ways (in other words, "Hail Occupiers"). Van Jones--we're going to see more of this (he predicted, approvingly).
I have yet to hear any high ranking Democrat condemn this wantonly destructive behavior, but let someone from the CBC claim they were spit on when moving through a Tea Party crowd, and it's condemned all day long by them...all without a shred of actual evidence, despite a video of the walk that showed nothing untoward but shouting.
Can you imagine how the MSM would report this story if Tea Partiers had gone on a rampage in even ONE city and threw a single rock at a cop? Every Republican in the Capital would have a mike shoved up his nose and asked if he or she endorsed this action. They would demand that the GOP leadership grovel publicly, that Rush Limbaugh say something, that Hannity be required to strip naked and walk down 5th Avenue because, after all, their "hateful rhetoric" would be responsible for this single rock toss.
But who is the MSM buttonholing about this actual series of riots? Can you say, No one"?
May Day "Occupy" riots, complete with arrests, smashed store windows, spray painted graffiti, and other manifestations of the modern "progressive movement", are now well documented...though not enthusiastically reported, because to do so would be to point out the vacuous nature of their message. Simple stated it is: "Down with capitalism; down with government; down with haves and have-nots; down with earning your keep; up with 'give to me'; up with 'dependency'; up with redistribution; down with America."
And the most astounding part? El Presidente and his fellow travellers have essentially thrown in with this crowd. Nancy Pelosi--"God bless 'em." President Obama--the Occupiers are understandably expressing "a sense of frustration" with the country and its ways (in other words, "Hail Occupiers"). Van Jones--we're going to see more of this (he predicted, approvingly).
I have yet to hear any high ranking Democrat condemn this wantonly destructive behavior, but let someone from the CBC claim they were spit on when moving through a Tea Party crowd, and it's condemned all day long by them...all without a shred of actual evidence, despite a video of the walk that showed nothing untoward but shouting.
Can you imagine how the MSM would report this story if Tea Partiers had gone on a rampage in even ONE city and threw a single rock at a cop? Every Republican in the Capital would have a mike shoved up his nose and asked if he or she endorsed this action. They would demand that the GOP leadership grovel publicly, that Rush Limbaugh say something, that Hannity be required to strip naked and walk down 5th Avenue because, after all, their "hateful rhetoric" would be responsible for this single rock toss.
But who is the MSM buttonholing about this actual series of riots? Can you say, No one"?
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