September, 2015 archive
Satanic Writes 0
A copy of The Clansman, written by a Baptist preacher often described as the “Billy Graham of his day” in terms of his popularity, resided on my parents’ bookshelf. I don’t know that they ever read it. Likely they had inherited it, but no doubt they knew of it. It was probably a fixture in many Southern white households of a certain day.
I was never tempted to read it, I can’t say why. My hand hovered over it many times, but I did not pick it up.
It’s a book that still influences today. It was the source for D. W. Griffith’s vile movie, Birth of a Nation*, a propaganda piece for Jim Crow created by scions of the Secesh. Many of today’s images of freed slaves and their descendants (think watermelons and fried chicken) can be traced to that book and movie.
Yesterday, I listened to the podcast of last Friday’s Another View, which featured a discussion of Birth of a Nation. You should listen too.
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*The “nation” in question was the terrorist organization called the Ku Klux Klan, which D. W. Griffith thought was a Good Thing. ‘Nuff said.
St. Ronald of Reagan 0
I was no fan of Ronald Reagan, who managed to be simultaneously genial figurehead and duplicitous scoundrel extraordinaire, but Michael Smerconish reminds us that, unlike today’s Republican Party, St. Ronald of Reagan was not completely nucking futs.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
He forgot that the polite do it in the back seat.
“It looks like (the shooting was a result of) an accidental mishandling* of a firearm. All of the evidence appears consistent with that determination,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Bob Bromage said Sunday.
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*Yet another report in which “fondling” is misplet.
Field of Dweebs 0
Daniel Ruth is somewhat unimpressed by the Republican candidates. A nugget:
Admit it. If you are of a certain age, every time Donald Trump opened his mouth Wednesday night during the Republican presidential debate, didn’t you expect him to crack a joke about the Slauson cutoff?
Facebook Frolics 0
The resident curmudgeon of my local rag, whose default operating position is that “other people can’t have nice things,” occasionally gets one right.
Legacy, Bushie Style 0
And, in more news of the Bush leagues . . . .
(Some bloggers use a term I have so far refrained from using from respect for Bush paterfamilias, who I believe tried to display an simulacrum of integrity as President: “Bush Crime Family.” I am beginning to think that I have been, as my old boss used to say, “in error,” and that they may be on to something.)
Image via Job’s Anger.
The Several States as “Laboratories for Democracy” 0
The Bangor Daily News reports on how one experiment is turning out.
Behind the Syrian Exodus 2
Der Spiegel tries to make sense of what’s happening in Syria and concludes that it’s a mess. Here’s a bit; if you want a better understanding of who the players are and what’s happened so far, follow the link.
Bikeways 0
When I ride my bicycle around the neighborhood, I freguently find myself overtaking joggers who are jogging on the wrong side of the road (that is, with the traffic rather than against it) while their ears are stuffed with noise-cancelling earbuds. Even though I shout, “Passing,” as loud as I can, I worry that they will drift in front of me because they, frankly, are being stupid and selfish.
Afterthought:
I have certainly mentioned this before, but, as my old coworker used to ask, “Did you ever see a smiling jogger?”
That Conversation . . . . 0
We don’t need “that conversation.” We have had enough damned “conversations.”
We need racist white folks–not the ones who wear hoods and proudly claim their racism, but the ones who chat oh so politely at their country club gatherings about “those people you know who I mean”–to stop lying to themselves and each other and the rest of us about their own racism and the hypocrisy attendant thereto and see themselves for what they are.*
Image via Job’s Anger.
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*No, I don’t think it’s going to happen either.