Barack the Knife ...

You have to give the President his due. Once again Obama has screwed the GOP. He has named a respected jurist to replace Scalia .... a moderate jurist that Orin Hatch (R UT) recently lauded as a *fine man* ... knowing full well the GOP controlled Senate will not even give Judge Merrick Garland a hearing. This obstructionism by McConnell and the GOP will not play well in November when many vulnerable Senate Republicans face the electorate.

Republicans say Obama is in his last year in office and should not nominate anyone to replace Scalia. The truth is that conservatve icon, Ronald Reagan, nominated Justice Kennedy in November 1987. Kennedy was then confirmed during Reagan’s final year of office in February 1988.

We elect presidents until their terms expire. Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court warrants the same consideration Reagan's received. The GOP is confident Americans will lose interest in this critical appointment. In this age of Facebook and Twitter, I'll take that bet.

Judge Garland Merrick deserves a hearing and Americans must demand that he have one ... quickly.

Judge Garland

I Am Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist. That’s enough for the ignorant on both sides of the aisle to condemn him.I find that somewhat odd cosidering socialist principles have been infused into our society from the beginning.

Consider This

The US Constitution is filled with references to the common good and even establishes a post office … a prime example of a socialist principle.

Through the efforts of Horace Mann, public schools funded by tax dollars began in Massachusetts in 1827. Each state followed the model … Mississippi coming on board 67 years later.

Want more? Teddy Roosevelt ... yes, a Republican ... established 100s of millions of acres as public lands. Eisenhower ... yes, another Republican ... built the Interstate Highway System. 

More? FDR brought forth Social Security in 1935. Truman later proposed a national health care law but was shouted down by the conservative rabble of his day. Thirty years later LBJ got it partly done and signed Medicare into law.

Bernie Sanders wants the next logical step, Medicare for All. His penchant for speaking truth to power ... a rare quality among politicians ... does not endear Sanders to the established players ... Republican or Democrat.

Opposition

Conservatives fight each and every socialist program beneficial to everyday Americans but strongly support socialism for corporations. Socialist subsidies for Big Oil & Big Ag are fine but don't dare speak of free education & Medicare for all as Sanders does.

For daring to speak truth to power,Sanders is assailed by today's Conservative rabble and, somewhat unexpectedly, by Democrats too ignorant and robotic to consider the breadth of his views. 

My Thoughts

If Hillary Clinton wins the democratic nomination, I will support her fiercely. She's an establishment candidate ... and far too cozy with Wall Street ... but is far more preferable than any Republican offered for our consideration.

Bernie first ... then Hillary … and never another Republican in the White House.

Twitter Dogs

"Jan, quantum physics isn't really all that hard. Pay attention and let's try it again." #easyforyoutosay

"Cheer up. She can't possibly eat the whole turkey AND a five pound ham, can she?" #yep

"There's a bottle of tequilla on the counter. Would you mind?" #hairofthedog

"I call it, *Disarray* ..." #artbyizzy

"Whewwwww! So, that's a treadmill ..." #dogtired

"No, don't soft pedal it. The vet distinctly said suppository." #twicedaily

"He should not be wearing those shorts ..." #justsayin

"One toke over the line, sweet Jesus ... one toke over the line ..." #alltogethernow

"You know full well I'm going to win. Just hand over the treats and let's move on ..." #everytime

"Vegan? Are you out of you mind?" #notofuforyou

"Sacred cow my foot ..." #moreplease

"Really? You're criticizing my reading material. The woman who has 27copies of Shades of Grey is criticizing my reading material?" #busted

"Belonged to your nana, huh?" #ohwell

"Three French poodles and three bottles of scotch ..." #themorningafter

In Memoriam

 This handsome guy is Chubs. He is missed ... #bestfriendsforever

The Turner Chronicles

The Turner Chronicles

The Coming of Tanis

This is not a traditional vampire novel. Vampires create the struggle that builds the tension good novels have but there is far more to consider.

I'm proud of this book. There are no awkward sentences and no slow moving paragraphs. Much of today's prose is poorly written. Readers skip entire sections to move the story forward. You will not skip a word of this book.

About the Book

Set in the Appalachian Mountains in the late 1800's the initial book of The Turner Chronicles (The Coming of Tanis) details the mountain peoples’ struggle against the vampires who rise every seven years.

There are no stereotypical images here of the Appalachian region or of cold, clammy vampires. This is a story of enlightenment and growth through struggle.

The Turner Chronicles is beautifully written and there are important things to consider. 

Have a look inside the book and buy it in paperback or Kindle. Here's the link.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517457068?ref_=cm_sw_r_tw_awd_XlBhwbMDKHSDR   

Euphemisms by Daniel & Cletis

The extreme right wing has always been good at euphemistic language. States' rights was the favored code word justifying slavery 150 years ago and Jim Crow 100 years later. Religious freedom works well for denying women's right to control their own health care and doubles as justification for denying people's right to marry whom they choose. Voter suppression magically becomes about protecting electoral integrity.

Another euphemism in the news recently is right to work. Like states' rights, religious freedom and honest elections, right to work sounds like a good thing. It isn't. Right to work is nothing more than a cynical euphemism for union busting.

Trust me. What's good for the global economy is generally bad for workers. Corporations now have the whole world to find the cheapest available labor in their never ending pursuit for higher profits.

Unions won some early rounds but they've lost every round for the last forty years to an increasingly globalized economy. Can you spell NAFTA CAFTA and TPP?

Capitalism has no conscience. People are expendable. The environment is expendable. Reviving labor unions may well be the only thing standing between the American middle class and extinction.

Not Your Grandfather's GOP

Republicans have not always been totally crazy you know. Here are a few quotes from prominent members of the Grand Old Party you will not hear these days ... 

* “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

* “Labor is prior to ... and independent of ... capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration.” Abraham Lincoln

* “I believe there should be a very much heavier progressive tax on very large incomes, a tax which should increase in a very marked fashion for gigantic incomes.” Theodore Roosevelt

* “Today’s so-called ‘conservatives’ don’t even know what the word means. They think I've turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right. It’s not a conservative issue at all.” Barry Goldwater

* “While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to live in a clean and pollution-free environment.” Barry Goldwater

* “We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate.” Ronald Reagan

Now, contrast these words with those of Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, or any of the other cave dwelling troglodytes who constitute today's GOP leadership ...

The Yellow Rose of Texas

I grew up in Kentucky and am well aware Stephen Foster did not write “… the people are gay” in his masterpiece, My Old Kentucky Home. He wrote “… the darkies are gay” which was changed some years back. However, until this morning when I was jumping around in Wiki, I did not know the fascinating story behind The Yellow Rose of Texas.

Here it is in brief:

Interestingly, the Yellow Rose alluded to in the song was most likely a mulatto woman named Emily D. West who was born a free woman in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1835 Emily indentured as a housekeeper for a year and was taken to Texas where, not long after, she was kidnapped by Mexican cavalry and forced to travel with Santa Anna’s army. 

In 1842 an Englishman, William Bollaert, wrote in his journal that Santa Anna was in bed with Emily when his forces were routed by Sam Houston's army at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836.

Bollaert's story grew and after his journals were published in 1956 Emily's legend became more widely known. Apparently, the original lyrics of the Yellow Rose were a tribute to her skin tone and great beauty. Like My Old Kentucky Home the lyrics have been changed over the years and no reference to Emily’s color remains.

Here are the original, handwritten lyrics of the Yellow Rose dated 1836 and archived at the University of Texas. No authorship is claimed. 

A Spock would say, "Fascinating."

 ... There's a yellow rose in Texas, that I am going to see/No other darky knows her, no darky only me/ She cryed so when I left her it like to broke my heart/And if I ever find her, we nevermore will part.

Chorus: She's the sweetest rose of color this darky ever knew/Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew/You may talk about your Dearest May, and sing of Rosa Lee/But the Yellow Rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

When the Rio Grande is flowing, the starry skies are bright/She walks along the river in the quite summer night/She thinks if I remember, when we parted long ago/I promised to come back again, and not to leave her so.

[Repeat Chorus]

Oh now I'm going to find her, for my heart is full of woe/And we'll sing the songs together, that we sung so long ago/We'll play the bango gaily, and we'll sing the songs of yore/And the Yellow Rose of Texas shall be mine forevermore.

[Repeat Chorus] ...

This is not the original but it is very early .... 1858