Shirley Chisholm, American Patriot, 1924-2005

The S.O. occasionally likes to pick up People magazine, I hate the damn rag, but usually end up reading it at some point. Actually I would not call it reading so much as flipping through the pages to see if they could possibly stuff anymore pictures of Lindsay Lohan into the damn thing. Today however, I discovered within the news of the passing of the First Black woman to be elected to congress.

I remember seeing Shirley on TV as a young kid, and remember how odd it seemed to see someone who looked something like my mother on the TV screen. I remember the way she carefully and forcefully articulated any point she made. In some ways I found her mesmerizing to listen to, though at the time, everything she was talking about sailed right over my head, but I knew that it was important. I also remember seeing her during a congressional hearing seated in the midst of a group composed mostly of, Scowling, Fat, White, Men.

These are the extent of my memories, (which is actually pretty embarressing considering that I was in High School by the time she served her last term) but it is possible that watching her may have contributed to my belief that at some point down the road that I, might one day become the President of the United States (at least until the realization hit that folks like me usually end up in the crosshairs of a sniper rifle, if we get to close to power).

Clarence page offers the following in remembrance in a Newsday column.

And she prided herself on making herself a pain in the neck - even to her allies, if they tried to make her sit on the sidelines and wait her turn like a nice little lady, as many tried to do. People called her crazy, but only at first. She had a habit of getting what she wanted or, at least, making the path easier for those who would come later. As Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), who knew her well, recalled, "For her to succeed, she had to be a little strange - and certainly extraordinary." Indeed, Harlem's black political club bosses like Adam Clayton Powell, Basil Patterson, Percy Sutton and Rangel didn't know what to make of this former day-care center director and educational consultant who got herself elected to the New York State Assembly from Brooklyn in 1964, without much help from Brooklyn's tough political machine.

She also ran for president in 1972 collecting 152 delegates and later had this to say about her run for the highest office in the land, "The next time a woman runs, or a black, a Jew or anyone from a group that the country is 'not ready' to elect to its highest office, I believe he or she will be taken seriously from the start. The door is not open yet, but it is ajar."

Let's hope it stays that way. Shirley, if there is a heaven, I know that you are bending Gods ear and let us hope that he listening.

McCarthy Rennovation Project, or, "Excuse me, while I adjust my enormous package".

My friends, many strange winds are blowing these days, and somewhere during the end of the year outrage dump, and in the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, a circuit breaker was tripped, and my brain decided to take a leave of absense.

I am not sure that she (my brain) has clocked in for full time work, but something I saw on tv as soon as I woke, triggered the blogging instinct so here we go.

Now in a day when you have a couple of fools (Malkin and Pipes), beating the drums for Re-Neducation camps to secure us from practitioners of Islam, Republican Rockettes tap dancing around a justification of torture, and the certification of another questionable election result in the favor of the Asterix presidency, I wake up to find the show 20th Century with Mike Wallace on the History Channel, the 1999 episode titled McCarthy Reconsidered (predating Coulter's ode to McFellatio, "Treason" by 3 or 4 years).

It Turns out that there was a communist and KGB presence in the US before during and after the second World War. and therefore McCarthy might have been on to something, but maybe his tactics could have been better, and anyway we will have to leave it up to the Historians to fill in the blanks, 'cause well 45 or so years is not yet enough time to evaluate the situation. OK so I paraphrase, but it is accurate as to the summary of the show.

So if you haven't noticed, the Whitewash of History and the stalinization of the historical record continues apace. In fact just a few moments ago on the History Channel I learn that the A-10 Warthog may have been consigned to the dustbin of History, but for the grace of God, Saddam invaded Kuwait (without of course, any of the "a wink is as good as a nudge to a blind bat" mexxed missaging sent by our diplomatic core prior to his invasion -- "'tsOK really, we don't care, yeah slant drilling is a bitch") and the A10 with her big-assed scary guns performed admirably and was given an extended lease on life.

As the show continues, I find it remarkable the way the producers of this show, anthropomorphize this Dog of war, as we follow the arc of its story through Afghanistan, and after commercial break, into Iraq part deaux "Weapons of Mass destructive, bad bad man, deadenders and fight 'em there, Flypaper Justification activities. A veritable WarPornucopia of excuses. What is most charming about this show is when they interview the close freinds of this venerable aircraft, who are giddy when discussing It's Killing prowess, but also of the adventures they have shared. Transcribed excerpt follows:

Pilot: "..and I was able to lock this thing up and fire that missle and it came screaming off the rail"

Narrarator:From over 17,000 feet, the long range 300 lb launch and lead Maverick missle travels to its target, For Yehanowitz, the seconds seem to go on forever"

Pilot: "I'm waitin' and I'm thinkin' Oh Man, the missle went stupid -ya know- it went flyin' into Iran, it should have hit by now, and uh Ohmy god, I'm in trouble, It just felt like an eternity."

The reason I chose to transcribe this bit is emphasized....WTF, you know. Think about that for a second........ I guess some of the high tech weaponry we employ, the result of the finest breeding, sometimes produces suboptimal results. "Went Stupid...flyin' into Iran....." Can we get a missle IQ testing regime started stat, or is it just the unholy, preternatural, plate techtonic shifting, magnetic-field disrupting powers of the Clenis™ that cause smart bombs to go stupid.

In the end of this episode of the show called Heavy Metal (which should be subtitled the "Hagiography of weapons of remarkable destructive capabilities" the pilots gush in admiration of the "feel of the plane", Its 'haberdashery' "it's just an awesome weapons platform that fills a specific niche and does it really well", and its strength "able to keep flying with battle damage that would cripple many other designs....."

Folks I feel a stirring in the loinage, I think I may be in love.

Who is that other cat?

The funny thing about these pictures are that Jack and Tain generally regard each other with much suspicion, It would appear that Jack lives in the bliss of ignorance, while Tain seems to have just become aware of Jacks existance.



From another angle.