Democratic National Committee - The Marthas of America

Everyone is blaming Martha Coakley for the Scott Brown Mass. Kicking of the Democratic National Committee - it is not Mrs. Coakley' Fault. The DNC ( George Soros Productions, General Electric, Hollywood Gueverras, SEIU, ACORN, ACLU Enterprises et. al.) are Martha.

Nationally, my Party, formerly the Democratic Party, has become the Marthas.

Last night, Howard Dean went all Martha on the voters on MSNBC - on MSNBC: “We’ve got to be tougher. I’ve said Democrats haven’t been tough enough…I don’t think this was a backlash on health care reform, I think it was a backlash on Washington.”

Oh, Martha!

Dr.Camille Paglia Explains Hijacking of Democratic Party by Snobs

I have long been an admirer of Dr. Camille Paglia*, one of America's most authentic voices in the Canon of American Letters. Paglia writes for a lefty Cheering Squad - Salon - and with each column 'Deconstructs' the fatuous, phony and fawning voices that comprise the American cultural, social and political elite.

As a Catholic (though rarely, if ever, hits the pews anymore), Paglia honors the beautiful and community forming nature of literary truths and defends the exacting nature of literary inquiry in an age that parses and puffs up frauds and charlatans in academics and public life.

Paglia is at heart the tough Philly Italian kid and seems as bewildered by the hijacking of the Democratic Party as we urban, close-knit ethnic (Catholic & Jewish), second and third generation children of the world-wide diasporas.

Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans? Though they claim to speak for the poor and dispossessed, Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite, top-heavy with journalists, academics and lawyers (one reason for the hypocritical absence of tort reform in the healthcare bills). Weirdly, given their worship of highly individualistic, secularized self-actualization, such professionals are as a whole amazingly credulous these days about big-government solutions to every social problem. They see no danger in expanding government authority and intrusive, wasteful bureaucracy. This is, I submit, a stunning turn away from the anti-authority and anti-establishment principles of authentic 1960s leftism.

How has "liberty" become the inspirational code word of conservatives rather than liberals? (A prominent example is radio host Mark Levin's book "Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto," which was No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly three months without receiving major reviews, including in the Times.) I always thought that the Democratic Party is the freedom party -- but I must be living in the nostalgic past. Remember Bob Dylan's 1964 song "Chimes of Freedom," made famous by the Byrds? And here's Richie Havens electrifying the audience at Woodstock with "Freedom! Freedom!" Even Linda Ronstadt, in the 1967 song "A Different Drum," with the Stone Ponys, provided a soaring motto for that decade: "All I'm saying is I'm not ready/ For any person, place or thing/ To try and pull the reins in on me."

But affluent middle-class Democrats now seem to be complacently servile toward authority and automatically believe everything party leaders tell them. Why? Is it because the new professional class is a glossy product of generically institutionalized learning? Independent thought and logical analysis of argument are no longer taught. Elite education in the U.S. has become a frenetic assembly line of competitive college application to schools where ideological brainwashing is so pandemic that it's invisible. The top schools, from the Ivy League on down, promote "critical thinking," which sounds good but is in fact just a style of rote regurgitation of hackneyed approved terms ("racism, sexism, homophobia") when confronted with any social issue. The Democratic brain has been marinating so long in those clichés that it's positively pickled.

Thanks Doc!

*Camille (Anna) Paglia (born April 2, 1947 in Endicott, New York) is a social critic, author and feminist. She is University Professor of Humanities and Media Studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.


Paglia is an intellectual of many apparent contradictions: a classicist who champions art both high and low, with a Hobbesian view that human nature is inherently dangerous, and yet who also celebrates dionysian revelry in the wilder, darker sides of human sexuality.

Paglia came to attention with the publication of her first book, "Sexual Personae", in 1990, when she also began writing about popular culture and feminism in mainstream newspapers and magazines. In early 1991, she was the subject of a New York magazine cover story, "Woman Warrior". She reached the height of her fame in 1992 with the publication of Sex, Art and American Culture, which was much read on college campuses. Her next book, Vamps and Tramps (late 1994), was a collection of short pieces along and new material such as a theoretical manifesto about sex, "No Law in the Arena". In 1998 she published a short volume about Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" in the British Film Institute Film Classics series.

She is currently writing a study of poetry for Pantheon Books as well as a third essay collection for Vintage Books. She was a columnist for Salon.com for six years from its first issue and is now a contributing editor at Interview magazine. She continues to write articles and reviews for media and scholarly journals, such as her long article, "Cults and Cosmic Consciousness: Religious Vision in the American 1960s", published in the classics and humanities journal Arion in Winter 2003.

Her significance in the 1990s intellectual world was two-fold:

The seventies had seen the rise of a particularly rigid, doctrinaire "feminism" that many were finding stifling but only a few were challenging (e.g., the "sex positive" S/M lesbians, perhaps typified by Susie Bright).
The left was pushing for a change in the traditional focus of western universities on western culture (sometimes derided as the study of "dead white males"). For example, Stanford University was dropping its well-regarded undergraduate requirement of a year-long course in "Western Culture" in favor of a more broadly-focused study of "Cultures Ideas and Values" or CIV.
Against this backdrop, Camille Paglia appeared on the scene as a female intellectual who enjoyed challenging the left-wing position in these areas, but far from being the usual stodgy conservative, she did so by arguing from an unusual, flashy position that also embraced homosexuality, fetish, and prostitution. She describes herself as a "libertarian," as she speaks out in favor of individual freedom, which may help explain the apparent contradiction, and the consternation she causes in crossing back and forth between the dominant political camps. She is also an atheist, though she thinks comparative religion should be at the center of world education.

Books
Sexual Personae: The Androgyne in Literature and Art (Dissertation: 1974)
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (1990)
Sex, Art and American Culture: Essays (1992)
Vamps and Tramps: New Essays (1994) ISBN 0679751203
The Birds (BFI Film Classics) (1998)

Biography
Camille Anna Paglia was born April 2, 1947, at 6:57 PM in Endicott, New York. She was the first child of Pasquale and Lydia Anne (Colapietro) Paglia, who was born in Italy, and was raised in an Italian immigrant family.

(The name "Paglia" specifically describes the color of the straw that is produced in Italy, the same color that George Eliot had in mind in Daniel Deronda when she wrote of "the pale-golden straw scattered or in heaps.")

The Paglia household had little money, but the parents exposed their daughter to the best of Western art and culture. She has said that the first music to leave an impression on her was Bizet's Carmen, an opera which, in her words, "struck me with electrifying force." She was three when she heard it. That same year, she also became enamored with the witch in Walt Disney's Snow White, a character she later described as elegant and imperious. Throughout her childhood, she would be drawn to several charismatic and powerful figures in art, popular culture and history, setting a precedent for her adult career as culture critic and scholar. She studied them, emulated them and even dressed as them for Halloween (she dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland at the age of four, followed by Robin Hood at five, the toreador Escamillo at six, a Roman soldier at seven, Napoleon at eight and Hamlet at nine.) When she was four she became fascinated with the Egypt collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Later that year, her father visited France to study at the Sorbonne and returned with a copy of Art Treasures of the Louvre, a book which puzzled her with its numerous depictions of nude figures. Around this same time, she saw the movie Show Boat (1951), and fell in love with Ava Gardner.

Her primary school years were spent in Oxford, New York, a farming community where, at the Oxford Academy, her father taught high school students. At the age of nine she tried to produce the play Hamlet (based on the Classics Comic Books) in school but became frustrated because some of her classmates hadn't learned their lines. The experience taught her that she couldn't depend on other people, and she soon became a rather aggressive child.

Her family moved to Syracuse, New York, where her father entered graduate school at Syracuse University and then taught as a professor of romance languages at Le Moyne College. Paglia attended the Edward Smith Elementary school,T. Aaron Levy Junior High and William Nottingham High School.

During the summers, Paglia went to Spruce Ridge Camp, a Girl Scout facility in the Adirondacks. She spoke of it many years later in the New York Observer as a "prelesbian heaven. It was just so romantic. I had mad crushes on all the counselors." She took different names when she was there, including Anastasia, [her confirmation name, inspired by the Ingrid Bergman film]], Stacy, and Stanley. In one formative experience, she exploded the outhouse by pouring in too much lime. She said, "It symbolized everything I would do with my life and work. Excess and extravagance and explosiveness. I would be someone who would look into the latrine of culture...."

The year 1959 was an especially important year in Paglia's development, as it was the year her family got both a telephone and a TV set. It was television which exposed her to the movies of the 1930s for the first time, especially those of Katharine Hepburn, who made a big impression on her. She also fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor, and obsessively collected every photograph of her that she could lay her hands on. In 1961 when Taylor won for Best Actress at the 1960 Academy Awards for Butterfield 8, Paglia's reaction was "feverish excitement the whole next day at school."

While in high school, she began research on Amelia Earhart. The research lasted three years, ending when she was 17. She said, "I spent every Saturday in the bowels of the public library going through all these materials, old magazines and newspapers, before microfilm. Everything was falling to pieces. I probably destroyed the whole collection! I was covered with grime." She planned to write a book on Earhart, but the project never came to be.

She was an excellent and devoted student at Nottingham High. Carmelia Metosh was her Latin teacher for three years, and in 1992 recalled that "She always has been controversial. Whatever statements were being made (in class), she had to challenge them. She made good points then, as she does now. She was very alert, `with it' in every way." Paglia thanked Metosh in the acknowledgements to "Sexual Personae," and in January, 2000, described her as "the dragon lady of Latin studies, who breathed fire at principals and school boards."

In many ways, 1963 was the beginning of her career. For her birthday that year, she received a copy of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex from a Belgian colleauge of her father's, Josphina van Hal McGinn. The book had a tremendous influence on her and furthered her resolve to be an important feminist writer. On July 8 of that year, Newsweek published her letter about equal opportunity for American women. And on November 24, she appeared in Syracuse's Herald American in a short profile about her outstanding achievements as a student.

College Years
She graduated high school in 1964 and began attending SUNY Binghamton, Harpur College. There she became friendly with Bruce Benderson (who had also attended Nottingham High School), Stephen Jarratt and Stephen Feld, three gay men who would have a big influence on her. During a summer break, she worked the night shift at St. Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse as a secretary in the emergency ward.

One semester at college she was put on probation for committing 39 pranks. When she was 19, she hit a drunken young stranger in the teeth with her right fist, protecting a small woman whom he and a friend were groping on the street. Andy Warhol's "Chelsea Girls" was released that year. Paglia saw it and was particularly taken with actress Mary Woronov. She later remarked that "She was one of the most original, stylish, and articulate sexual personae of the royal House of Warhol. I never forgot her, and I followed her subsequent movie career with great fascination." Many of Paglia's memories of the '60s are linked to movies. For instance, in 1968 she and her friend Stephen Jarratt saw Joseph Losey's Secret Ceremony, and Valley of the Dolls, and continued to write about the experience years later.

She graduated from college in 1968, valedictorian of her class. She's repeatedly noted she was publicly out as a lesbian at Yale Graduate School, which she began attending in 1968. One day in New York that summer, she happened to run into Catherine Deneuve on Fifth Avenue and found herself "stalking" her through Saks Fifth Avenue. Paglia ran into the St. Regis Hotel and phoned her friend Stephen Jarratt, then working at a laundromat in Binghamton, to tell him about it. In her book Vamps & Tramps she wrote that it was "The first major incident I had to endure without my gay legionnaires...." She was a lesbian and alone.

Just a few months later, as a student at the Yale Graduate School she attended a party in the home of R. W. B. Lewis, one of her teachers, and she was insulted by a prominent Yale psychiatrist named Robert Jay Lifton and his wife for being a lesbian. Lifton, at that time, was the Foundations' Fund Research Professor in Psychiatry at Yale, a position he held until 1984. His attack seems to have emboldened her to not only be out as a lesbian, but to be in everyone's face about it. She has insisted that she was the only openly gay student at Yale for the four years she was a student. Paglia quarreled with "a then darkly nihilist Rita Mae Brown, who came to the Yale University campus for an early feminist conference", and she fought with the New Haven, Connecticut Women's Liberation Rock Band because they dismissed the Rolling Stones as "sexist."

Her study of sexuality in Western literature continued to develop with her reading of D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love and Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene. Several of her closest friends, Benderson, Jarratt and Feld all moved to San Francisco. Paglia recalled that she "had two close encounters with Kate Millett (author of "Sexual Politics") just after she became famous, in New Haven, Connecticut, and Provincetown, Massachusetts, but she was too morosely self-absorbed to notice." Because of what she saw as Millett's "careless" attitude toward scholarship, Millett became a person Paglia began to define herself against.

In 1971 she discovered Kenneth Clark's The Nude while browsing the shelves of Yale's library. "If ever I was in love with a book, it was with this one," she wrote in Sex, Art & American Culture; and in an article for Women's Quarterly in 2002, she called it "The best introduction by far to representation of the human figure in art." She wrote, "Students who read Clark will be safely inoculated against the worst excesses of feminist theory, with its prattle about objectification and the male gaze -- terms cooked up by ideologues with glaringly little knowledge of or feeling for art." The book influenced her writing in her Yale dissertation and subsequent works.

Of the dissertation, her mentor and adviser, Harold Bloom found one fault in the draft he read in 1971. He cautioned in the margin that one passage was "Mere Sontagisme!". Paglia later wrote, "It saddened me, but I knew Bloom was right. Sontag, who could have been Jane Harrison's successor as a supreme woman scholar, had become synonymous with a shallow kind of hip posturing." She received a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Yale that year.

In February of 1972 she wrote a letter to Carolyn Heilbrun, asking for information about her forthcoming book on androgyny, and Heilbrun responded with a letter saying that her book would not be able to deal with all available material on that subject. When the book came out, Paglia gave a thoroughly negative assessment of it in an anonymous review for the journal the Yale Review the following year, 1973. It was the journal's policy for reviews to be published without attribution.

Later in 1972, she toured Washington D.C. with her mother, where she saw Edward Brooke. She later described the black Republican senator from Massachusets as "a glamorous, lordly male who, from my one passing encounter with him as he sauntered elegantly down the Capitol steps in 1972, had a distinctly roving eye." She also saw Barry Goldwater on the Senate floor. "After knowing him only in the twisted, demonic form projected by the liberal Manhattan media, I was stunned at his simple, natural dignity and air of integrity," she later recalled. "He was the most charismatic man I have ever seen off a movie screen. With his unexpected height, solid physique and flowing white hair, he had the regality of an aging lion."

Teaching Career
In the fall, she began her first semester teaching at Bennington College. There she met James Fessenden, a philosophy instructor from Columbia University, who started teaching at the same time as Paglia. In January 1997, Mark W. Edmundson, now a professor at the University of Virginia, recalled attending Bennington while Paglia was there. "She was appointed as my faculty advisor in her first term. I went in for my advisorial visit and she was entirely herself, talking very fast about many things I knew nothing about. I ran in fear. Alas, I was too puzzled to take any of her classes, which seemed to be full of very sophisticated people from LA and from New York."

In 1973, her paper, "Lord Hervey and Pope," was published in the journal 18th century Studies. A Times Literary Supplement cover story on Lord Hervey, November 2nd, praised the paper as "brilliant." On April 9th, she traveled to see Susan Sontag at a lecture at Dartmouth and later invited her to Bennington. Sontag spoke there on October 4th, an event that caused much controversy at Bennington since she read a short story instead of giving a cultural lecture, as she had agreed to. Paglia later commented, "I was stunned because I thought she was going to be a major intellectual," and then wrote about the meeting at length in a dishy essay, "Sontag, Bloody Sontag", first published in "Vamps & Tramps".

Another intellectual disappointment was Marija Gimbutas, who published The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe in 1974. At the same time, Paglia launched "a detailed attack on an exhibit at Bennington's Crossett Library, 'Matriarchy: The Golden Age,' which used appallingly shoddy feminist materials alleging the existence of a peaceful, prehistoric matriarchy, later supposedly overthrown by nasty males."

Through her study of the classics and her reading of the scholarship of Jane Ellen Harrison, James George Frazer, Erich Neumann and others, Paglia had developed a theory of sexual history that was in opposition to the ideas in vogue at the time, which is why she was so critical of Gimbutas, Heilbrun, Millet and others. She laid out her ideas on matriarchy, androgyny, homosexuality, sadomasochism and many other topics in her dissertation Sexual Personae: The Androgyne in Literature and Art, which she completed in December of 1974, at the age of 27.

At the time she completed her dissertation and was awarded her Ph.D. by Yale, her friend James Fessenden, "after being forced out of Bennington," returned to New York. Likewise, her friend Bruce Benderson, who had also become a writer, moved to New York from San Francisco. But gay culture had changed since the '60s, and Paglia found that she was no longer allowed to go into gay bars with her male friends, a situation which infuriated her.

In March of 1965, Paglia drove from Vermont to Albany to see Germaine Greer speak. She was disappointed, reporting later that "During the question period, I nervously raised my hand from the crowd and asked if Greer, a former English professor, would be writing on literary subjects again soon. Her reply was stern and swift: 'There are far more important things in the world than literature!'" Another time while visiting Albany, Paglia "nearly came to blows with the founding members of the women's-studies program at the State University of New York at Albany, when they categorically denied that hormones influence human experience or behavior. These women (whose field was literature) attributed my respect for science to 'brainwashing' by men."

Similar sorts of fights with feminists, lesbians, chauvinists, homophobes, and academics would continue for years, reaching a high point in 1978. While at Bennington, Paglia had two girlfriends. The second one, a theatrical young woman named Patty, was a former student. The couple went to a school dance one evening when a rich student from Chicago came out of nowhere and physically attacked them. Paglia spoke about this to Heather Findlay in a cover story for Girlfriends magazine. She said, "I went to the police and filed a report. Then her parents went ballistic. There was an enormous to-do from her rich parents telling the administration, 'Open homosexuals shouldn't be employed by a college. We're not sending our daughter to a place where there are gays like this on the faculty.'" After a lengthy standoff with the administration, Paglia accepted a settlement from the college and resigned a year later. The relationship with Patty ended the following year. Karen Young's song "Hot Shot" became a disco hit during this time, a fact Paglia noted decades later when she pointed out that this "classic high disco... was created at the Queen Village Recording Studio" near the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She didn't know it at the time, but the University of the Arts in Philadelphia would become an institution of tremendous importance to her life in the following decades.

In the early 1980s, Paglia finished her book but couldn't get published and was supporting herself with visiting and part-time teaching jobs at Yale, Wesleyan, and other Connecticut colleges. She taught night classes at the Sikorsky Helicopter plant. Her paper, "The Apollonian Androgyne and the Faerie Queen ," was published in ELR, Winter 1979, and her dissertation was cited by J. Hillis Miller in his April 1980 article "Wuthering Heights and the Ellipses of Interpretation," in Journal of Religion in Literature, but aside from that, not much was happening with her academic career at a time when her peers were moving on to important positions at major universities. In a letter of March 1993 to Boyd Holmes, she recalled: "I earned a little extra money by doing some local features reporting for a New Haven alternative newspaper (The Advocate) in the early 1980s. There was an article on the historic pizzerias of the town and also one on an old house that was a stop on the Underground Railroad."

In 1984 she got a teaching job at the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, which merged with its next-door neighbor, the Philadelphia College of Art, to become the University of the Arts in 1987. The completed manuscript for "Sexual Personae" was rejected by seven publishers and five agents, until it was finally accepted by Yale University Press and published in February 1990. Paglia had no romantic relationships during this period and has described her "endless frustration" in trying to meet women in bars. However, she met Alison Maddex, then living in Washington, D.C., in 1993, and the two have been together ever since.

In March of 1985, an interesting letter of hers about the Liberty Bell was published by the Philadelphia Inquirer. An article concerning the conservation of the Liberty Bell appeared in the New York Times, March 27, quoting from her letter ("Philadelphia deserves a classier display of its heritage.") In April, she copyrighted a children's book, The Grocery Store Wars, with drawings by her sister Lenora. A chapter of Sexual Personae, "Oscar Wilde and the English Epicene," was published in the journal Raritan. In 1986, her essay "Nature, Sex, and Decadence," was published in the book Pre-Raphaelite Poets, edited by Harold Bloom; and her essay, "Christabel," was published in Samuel Taylor Coleridge, also edited by Bloom.

For the next few years, she continued to teach while perfecting Sexual Personae for its eventual publication, and releasing a few additional portions of it in other journals and books. Her essay "Oscar Wilde and the English Epicene," was published in 1988 in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, edited by Bloom; Sex and Violence, or Nature and Art, was published in 1988 in Western Humanities Review; and "Sex," was published in the Spenser Encyclopedia, by A. C. Hamilton in 1989.

In the early '90s, her friends Stephen Jarratt and James Fessenden died of AIDS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Paglia

Barbara Boxer on Hard Ball - Sartor Resartus

Here are two photos of the Town-hall Health Care protestors taken over the last week. One, presents the Green Bay, WI Fashionistas and on the other are Tea-baggers from Raleigh, NC sporting haute couture . Click my post title for the Spartan Sack-Cloth of Senator Barbara Boxer damning these snappy boulevardiers as they exercise their Patrician First Amendment Rights. "Damn their, eyes!"


MSNBC and the Boiled Beets Progressive Universe is a-howl with objections that these well-turned-out-clothes horses are the paid hirelings of the Insurance Blackguards and the GOP. The Republicans as far as I have experienced could not lead a parade of drunks to an open bar. Hey, I'm a Chicago Democrat, what can I tell you.

The Democrats have split their britches and America is laughing at them and well they should. The Tailor needs re-tailoring.

"The gladder am I, on the other hand, to do reverence to those Shells
and outer Husks of the Body, wherein no devilish passion any longer
lodges, but only the pure emblem and effigies of Man: I mean, to Empty,
or even to Cast Clothes. Nay, is it not to Clothes that most men do
reverence: to the fine frogged broadcloth, nowise to the 'straddling
animal with bandy legs' which it holds, and makes a Dignitary of? Who
ever saw any Lord my-lorded in tattered blanket fastened with wooden
skewer? Nevertheless, I say, there is in such worship a shade
of hypocrisy, a practical deception: for how often does the Body
appropriate what was meant for the Cloth only! Whoso would avoid
falsehood, which is the essence of all Sin, will perhaps see good
to take a different course. That reverence which cannot act without
obstruction and perversion when the Clothes are full, may have free
course when they are empty. Even as, for Hindoo Worshippers, the Pagoda
is not less sacred than the God; so do I too worship the hollow cloth
Garment with equal fervor, as when it contained the Man: nay, with more,
for I now fear no deception, of myself or of others."

Thomas Carlyle - Sartor Resartus, Chapter VI Old Clothes.

The Party Line is cut from some very flimsy cloth. Watch Senator Barbara Boxer's patchwork with needleman Chris "Milky" Matthews on MSNBC - click my post title.

The Democratic National Committe has long been in the hands of Goofs ( Howard Dean is a Champion Goof) and goofs are essentially delicate intellects with very bad tempers who require complete attention for their points of view. While they demand attention, they loudly shout down and insult any one or any idea that threatens their point of view. Thus, Health Care and Government Run Health Care. Bad idea.


http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/5/1051/1051.txt

One Night on MSNBC - Howard Dean Became Mel Brooks

Last Night on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann but actually Governor Howard Dean!


Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: Meeting adjourned. Oh, I am sorry, sir, I didn't mean to overstep my bounds. You say that.
Governor Howard Dean: What?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: "Meeting is adjourned".
Governor Howard Dean: It is?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: No, you *say* that, Governor.
Governor Howard Dean: What?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: "Meeting is adjourned".
Governor Howard Dean: It is?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: [sighs, then gives the governor a paddleball] Here, sir, play with this.

Ruth Ann Dailey of Pittsburgh Post Gazette Has Obama's and DNC's Number - Watch Out Now!

The Race Card was shuffled and dealt months ago by the Obama Camp - The former King and Queen of Hearts, Bill and Hillary Clinton were trumped hard in the Primaries. When questioned about Rev. Wright back in February, Obama decided to lecture America on Race, without ever explaining his twenty years at the feet of the now disgraced and Obama Bus Thumped Gamaliel ( he was the dude who taught St. Paul to be a Community Activist and name picked by Saul Alinsky for the subsequent parsing of the term) - Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

CNN's resident nut-job Jack Cafferty tossed out the Race Card during the waning days of summer, when Kid Hope was slumping. MSNBC has David Schuster fountain-mouth his 'say-it-don't spray it' musings with the regularity of a tornado warning on Missouri Cable Channels.

From battleground Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh to be exact comes one of the best articulation of the Hope or Die agenda by Obama that warns of race riots and other 'makes my heart hurt' dire prognostications to one and all.

The Democrats' perversion of the race issue has gotten so brazen that someone who merely points out the undeniably true -- like Mr. Obama's controversial ties to radicals or felons of any race or nationality -- is accused of racism. Left-wing politicos have opined that racism motivates even Democratic voters who don't support Mr. Obama (as if ideas don't matter), while James Carville, the Dems' talking head from the House of Slytherin, fears rioting if Mr. Obama loses.

And the Republican Party elders, to the chagrin of us younger conservatives, have accepted the Democrats' rules of engagement. Apparently, racial absolution will have to wait another decade.

For demographers, a generation may span two decades, but in culture and politics, generational characteristics seem to move in 10-year cycles. I belong to the group born at the tail end of the baby boom, the group who came of age just in time to vote for Ronald Reagan.

We burned the Iranian flag, not the American one, on the steps to our peaceful, already integrated schools. We who grew up in the homes of Eisenhower Republicans didn't hear racist language or thought and have no cause for shame.

But we watched the kids eight or 10 years ahead of us don their ratty denim uniforms of non-conformity and jump on the tail end of a historical movement they'd paid no price to further, noisily congratulating themselves for being superior to their narrow-minded parents.

We watched the party of segregation now pushing social policies soon demonstrated to be destructive and enslaving to a new generation of blacks.

And as adults we've watched blacks who dared to be conservatives get symbolically lynched by the likes of Teddy Kennedy and Joe Biden (who, like their media counterparts, have finally found a black man they can respect!).

Perhaps older Republicans and their political operatives are silent in the face of the left's racial exploitation because they were present for and complicit with the racially divisive "Southern strategy."

Not so for us younger folk. There's a whole generation of us who have clear consciences and cheerfully defiant attitudes. For us, this presidential campaign is not a traveling revival tent, nor the ballot box an altar at which we expunge our alleged sins. It's just politics. It always was.

Nicely stated Ms. Dailey.

McCain/Palin: Obama V - We Few. . .We Happy Few . . Now, That's Elite! Again Court Speech on November 4th! I Lose; WE Sue!

Howard Dean. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day, because we have tanked in the polls since Columbus Day!

Barack Obama V. What's he that wishes so?
My Chairman Dean? No, my fair Chairman;
If we are mark'd to try, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour - we just file with the ACLU and go WIG on the Tube!
MSNBCs will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Rove, I am not covetous for gold - we got millions!
Nor care I . . ' let me be clear . . . Um, who doth feed upon my ACORN;
It yearns me not if men my SEIU did not register;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires - that's the pitch.
But if it be a sin to covet honour, Where's the Teleprompter?
I am the most offending soul alive - Man I want this Gig!
No, faith, my Chair, wish not a man from England er, Germany.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an election
Because we have tossed the Race Card and Michigan is in play
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Howard Dean, through my host Barbra Steisand,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of St. Charles Borromeo* ( November 4th) by all them racist Catholics.
He/she/it that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Borromeo.
He/she that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Charles Borromeo.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Election day - a hanging chad got me.'
Old men forget; Joe? Joe Biden! Get over here, You are not Sick and No Hillary is not taking your place! yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages ( he made some great contacts and Blackberry swag,
What feets he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Barack the Hope, Biden and Wexler,
Olbermann and Maddow, Wright and Ayers-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good gender non-specfic will teach their adopted son;
And Barack Borromeo shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we elite;
For he to-day that votes with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so white,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed because there is that six hour time difference
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That vote for me Saint Charles Borromeo's day.
Cry Present and Let Slip the Dogs of Woe!


*November 4

St. Charles Borromeo

(1538-1584)



The name of St. Charles Borromeo is associated with reform. He lived during the time of the Protestant Reformation, and had a hand in the reform of the whole Church during the final years of the Council of Trent.
Although he belonged to a noble Milanese family and was related to the powerful Medici family, he desired to devote himself to the Church. When his uncle, Cardinal de Medici, was elected pope in 1559 as Pius IV, he made Charles cardinal-deacon and administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan while he was still a layman and a young student. Because of his intellectual qualities he was entrusted with several important offices connected with the Vatican and later appointed secretary of state with full charge of the administration of the papal states. The untimely death of his elder brother brought Charles to a definite decision to be ordained a priest, despite relatives’ insistence that he marry. He was ordained a priest at the age of 25, and soon afterward he was consecrated bishop of Milan.

Because of his work at the Council of Trent he was not allowed to take up residence in Milan until the Council was over. Charles had encouraged the pope to renew the Council in 1562 after it had been suspended 10 years before. Working behind the scenes, St. Charles deserves the credit for keeping the Council in session when at several points it was on the verge of breaking up. He took upon himself the task of the entire correspondence during the final phase.

Eventually Charles was allowed to devote his time to the Archdiocese of Milan, where the religious and moral picture was far from bright. The reform needed in every phase of Catholic life among both clergy and laity was initiated at the provincial council of all his suffragan bishops. Specific regulations were drawn up for bishops and other clergy: If the people were to be converted to a better life, these had to be the first to give a good example and renew their apostolic spirit.

Charles took the initiative in giving good example. He allotted most of his income to charity, forbade himself all luxury and imposed severe penances upon himself. He sacrificed wealth, high honors, esteem and influence to become poor. During the plague and famine of 1576 he tried to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people daily. To do this he borrowed large sums of money that required years to repay. When the civil authorities fled at the height of the plague, he stayed in the city, where he ministered to the sick and the dying, helping those in want.

Work and the heavy burdens of his high office began to affect his health. He died at the age of 46.

Comment:

St. Charles made his own the words of Christ: "...I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me" (Matthew 25:35-36). Charles saw Christ in his neighbor and knew that charity done for the least of his flock was charity done for Christ.

Quote:
"Christ summons the Church, as she goes her pilgrim way, to that continual reformation of which she always has need, insofar as she is an institution of men here on earth. Consequently, if, in various times and circumstances, there have been deficiencies in moral conduct or in Church discipline, or even in the way that Church teaching has been formulated—to be carefully distinguished from the deposit of faith itself—these should be set right at the opportune moment and in the proper way" (Decree on Ecumenism, 6, Austin Flannery translation).

McCain/Palin: The Race for Stupid - Jack Cafferty Sprints Past MSNBC - 'Its All Racism, I Tells Ya! Where's My Car?''

The Race does not always go to the swiftest - Jack Cafferty is Living Proof. Race is the Place with Helpful Hard-Bore Man! It is not all Race, Jack! What about Gay/Lesbian/Transgender/ and Sexual Predator Issues? Look at what's going on in Oregon! Jack it is a Rainbow of Self-Interest and Victimhood Issues! Remember, Jack, it is not all about black and white! What about Red, Brown, Yellow and Chartreuse (dry drunks of America)?

Remember, Jack Cafferty? Me either. He's on CNN, I guess. I never watch it. Wolf Blitzer creeps me out worse than the Burger King and Ronald McDonald -get night terrors. All of a sudden Jack Cafferty is Drudge Worthy by using the Race Card! Get noticed -Cry Race!

In the Race for the White House Race is the Only Card to Play!

From CNN's Jack Cafferty


Will race be the factor that keeps Obama from the White House?
Race is arguably the biggest issue in this election, and it's one that nobody's talking about.

The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn't be more well-defined. Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is a part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy. Yet the polls remain close. Doesn't make sense…unless it's race.

Time magazine's Michael Grunwald says race is the elephant in the room. He says Barack Obama needs to tread lightly as he fights back against the McCain-Palin campaign attacks.

When MSNBC-The Tool Shed seemed to have the lock on stupid, Jack Cafferty vaulted high over the bar! Jack, stop by Keegan's Pub! The economy, kids from the neighborhood in Iraq and Afghanistan, redistribution of wealth scams being touted by the DNC, Catholic school tuition rising along with more taxes for public school idiot mills, abortion, and no newspapers to read, really has the gang down-in-the-mouth. Pop in for a few on me and give out with some stupidity, it will do wonders for some great, but hurting middle class Americans. Heck, maybe you can get a Race Riot Going!

Democrats Mouthpiece Steve McMahon: Even KOS Hates Him: Too Proud to Honor Our President?

Getting Clare dinner before St. Cajetan's Basketball - I caught Howard Dean wizard Steve McMahon proving that the Democratic Party needs a high colonic;

I voted Republican twice in my life. The first time was in 1972, when the Democratic Party was high jacked in Miami and again, this February when I proudly voted for John McCain.

McGovern allowed the worst elements in our Party hold its soul hostage, only to be released when Mayor Richard J. Daley was brought back in to elect Jimmy Carter. Carter craw fished back to the worst elements and was himself tossed. I stayed loyal.

I worked and voted against President Bush twice. The same with his old man. I never held a political job in my life.

I caught Steve McMahon and now I may go off the reservation altogether. I did not vote for president Bush but I honor both the Man and the Office. The Democratic Party is no longer Andy Jackson, Harry Truman, Scoop Jackson or Daniel P. Moynihan. The Democratic Party is now Steve McMahon, a pasty faced Irish gobshite, who would make a great addition to a Federal Prison Farm.

Listening to this jerk mock the Man and the Office - The President of the United States makes me ashamed of my Party, as much as the callow disregard for children and arrogance of the American Bishops in pedophile scandal make me ashamed of my Church - not my Faith only the institution.

The Church will right itself. It has done so many times over the last 2,000 years. Maybe, the Democratic Party will do so once again. John McCain and Sarah Palin embody the very qualities that once were the Democratic Party. Now, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow do just that.

The Democratic Party is Michael Moore, who prayed that Gustav would come and visit disaster upon suffering New Orleans.

The Democratic Party is CNN, Time-Warner, Billy Ayers, Tom Hayden, Group Think and MSNBC. Democrats no longer fight like men. They parse; play gotcha; equivocate; and compromise. The DNC is the death of the Democratic Party. They were murdered like the nephews of Richard III - in their sleep. Killing children is OK with the DNC. They had Pink T-Shirts made to that effect when my boy Kerry got his rump gnawed upon.

Local Democrats can count on me. They will have my vote, because they share my values. Not any DNC sponsored candidate. When men like Tennessee's Harold Ford take control -give me a call. Until then, I will never vote for another Democrat at the National Level.

Americans are served by the President of United States.

On the Denver Parthenon: Obama's Olive Hat

Chorus: DNC Nutbags; MSNBC; Daily Kos; Huffington Post; Moveon.org; The guy who sleeps in the Amana Refrigerator Packing Case along the Tracks at 113th & Rockwell - Chicago, IL; Obama Acolytes everywhere)

With loyalty we lead you; proudly go,
Night's childless children, to your home below!
(O citizens, awhile from words forbear!)
To darkness' deep primeval lair,
Far in Earth's bosom, downward fare,
Adored with prayer and sacrifice.
(O citizens, forbear your cries!)
Pass hitherward, ye powers of Dread,
With all your former wrath allayed,
Into the heart of this loved land;
With joy unto your temple wend,
The while upon your steps attend
The flames that feed upon the brand-
(Now, now ring out your chant, your joy's acclaim!)
Behind them, as they downward fare,
Let holy hands libations bear,
And torches' sacred flame.
All-seeing Zeus and Fate come down
To battle fair for Pallas' town!
Ring out your chant, ring out your joy's acclaim!
(Aeschylus -Libation Bearers)

ANTIPHON: (All the rest of us)

'America is Voting for John McCain!'

'68 Re-Enactors Keeping It Real; Keeping It 'In The Streets!' Where'sthe PortaJohns?

Folks who want to add a dimension of 'other world' to their lives find meaningful weekend entertainment as Re-Enactors - living the dream on the weekends and at gatherings through the summer. There Are of course Revolutionary War Re-Enactors, Civil War Re-Enactors, WWII Re-Enactors, and now gathered in Denver for the DNC 2008 - 1968 Re-Enactors! Depends and PortaJohns did not attend the 1968 Democratic Convention - leave them at home! Cops acn't eve use 'Night Sticks' anymore -'Them's for More Than Parades, Rookie!' Make Do!

Debra Sweet, national director of The World Can't Wait/Drive Out the Bush Regime, said many would-be protesters have been "demobilized" by Democrats' thus-far unfulfilled promises to wind down the war. She also blamed "the police state" for suppressing Sunday's crowd.

Jackson said the city has prepared for protests on a par with Chicago in 1968 and Seattle in 1999, which resulted in widespread violence and arrests. Chicago's Democratic convention in 1968 is best remembered for its police crackdown on demonstrators, as is Seattle's World Trade Organization conference in 1999.

Click My Post Title for the full Magilla!

So You Want to Be A Re-Enactor?

The first thing you will need to do is choose the side you will fight for, or if a civilian impression might be what you want to do. I would highly recommend actually finding the unit you wish to join before buying anything! Most units will have a person in charge, or at least a list, to instruct new recruits on what to purchase and where to purchase it. If you go out and buy a lot of equipment that is not right for the particular unit you will be representing, you will have wasted a lot of money. Hopefully, you will want to be as authentic as possible and wearing a uniform or carrying equipment that is incorrect will ruin your impression.

http://www.cwreenactors.com/recruits.htm

For Authentic '68 Street Theatre Please Note Well:

There are two ways to apply the term "wannabe hippies". One is a derogatory meaning, that they try to look and act like hippies but really don't have a clue as to what it's about. To them it's just a fashion statement, nothing more.

Then there's the more positive meaning, indicating that the person(s) wants to be a hippy, but just hasn't learned and experienced enough yet to truly understand where we are coming from. These individuals are attracted to various elements they've seen and are really turned on to the underlying message. These people will soon join the new generation of hippies, which is a very real phenomenon.

Unfortunately the first definition is the prevailing one, used to put down those who really aren't interested in what hippies really think and aren't interested in rejecting the existing system, just in looking the part because it's cool. They usually realize their mistake by the time they're in high school. Yes, this is a teenybopper phenomenon and is totally meaningless in the scheme of things.

But the Next Generation of Hippies, is indeed real, and important. And their numbers are growing daily. They are idealistic and committed to changing the world, even if only by changing themselves, as you wish to do. Yes, that is the first step.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
- Mahatma Ghandi

Authentic Hippies and Their Enemies - To Be Like Them You Must Will To Be Them:

Famous Hippies, Friends and Enemies.

The following list of people includes those who influenced or were part of the hippy movement as well as those who sought to repress it. Some of these outstanding individuals have devoted much of their lives to causes that benefit everyone. Many have suffered as a result of their beliefs and actions. We list some musicians here, but for more music go to the Hippy Music with a Message chapter!

Agnew, Spiro: Vice President during Nixon's reign, he antagonized almost everyone, but especially liberals with his pompous verbal ranting. He claimed the antiwar movement was the work of "an effete corps of impudent snobs." He survived a bribery scandal but was convicted of income tax evasion. He was forced to resign much to everyone's delight. Recently declassified FBI files show Agnew did receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks as Governor and Vice President.
Baez, Joan: Singer, songwriter, antiwar activist, called the "Queen of Folk". Joan was arrested for her participation in antiwar rallies, and her ex-husband David Harris spent several years in jail for draft resistance.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh: Also know as OSHO. Controversial Indian guru who had a large American following. In his ashrams (communes) in Poona, India and Oregon he taught liberation through the release of personal inhibitions. His methods included gestalt therapy and sexual freedom. Cult members showered wealth upon Rajneesh and he had dozens of Rolls Royces.
Brand, Stewart: A hard working, future looking hippie who blends philosophy with activism. Brand produced the Whole Earth Catalog, The Trips Festival, founded The WELL, the Point Foundation, Global Business Network, the Long Now Foundation, the Co-Evolution Quarterly. He's on the board of directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Browne, Jackson: Songwriter, singer, record producer, activist. Browne is a prolific songwriter and has written tunes for The Eagles, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as well as several very successful solo albums like The Pretender, Running on Empty, and Lives in the Balance. He also was involved in organizing rock concert fundraisers for the anti-nuclear movement.
Bruce, Lenny: As a standup comedian in the '50s, Lenny felt nothing was sacred. So he joked about racism, drugs, homophobia, nuclear testing, and abortion. What made him famous was his unmitigated use of profanity. He was arrested many times, for obscenity and narcotics. He paved the way for others to exercise free speech, and inspired just about every comic since.
Burroughs, William S.: Beat author wrote autobiographical books like "Junky" and "Queer" about his life as a drug addict, murderer and homosexual. His controversial, cut-up style "Naked Lunch" is his most famous work. Burroughs' thing was personal freedom. To him this meant breaking all the rules, which he did whenever he could. Burroughs' talent is undeniable. Despite (or because of?) being a junkie, he was able to convey what it's like to be living on the dark edge of reality. His intake of all sorts of drugs obviously inspired some people to experiment. Many beats and hippies can relate to Burroughs' life situation as a social outcast from mainstream American society (remember much of this happened in the 50's). Burroughs wrote about those things that no other writer of his time (except Allen Ginsberg) would consider suitable subjects. Indeed the publishing and subsequent banning of Naked Lunch turned into a landmark case for free speech in America. Burroughs influenced many around him including other authors and musicians.
Captain Beefheart: Singer, songwriter, sculptor and painter. Beefheart (Don Van Vliet), has had an unusual musical career making very strange music. His extraordinary vocal range includes a deep raspy voice as shown on Frank Zappa's "Hot Rats".
Carlin, George: Comedian. George Carlin turned us on with his "Let's Get Small" routine. He pushed the envelope with his "Seven Dirty Words" and ended up in court on obscenity charges. He's still doing his shtick, and stirring up controversy.
Cassady, Neal: The inspiration for Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's On The Road and The Dharma Bums, Neal linked the beat generation with the hippies by joining Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters on their Bus trip across the U.S. (as the driver!) in 1964. He was part of the famous "Acid Tests." Neal sought the freedom of the open road and could rap endlessly in stream of consciousness style about everything.
Castaneda, Carlos: An Anthropologist at UCLA, Carlos wrote a series of books about the shamanic tradition of the indigenous people of Mexico. His apparently first hand accounts of life as a sorcerer's apprentice ignited decades of controversy as to their reality. His portrayal of himself as a bumbling student of Don Juan, the powerful brujo, are now literary classics. The journeys he took on the path of the warrior through the world of spirits inspired many to seek out what lies beyond our perceptions. His books include: A Separate Reality, Tales of Power and The Eagle's Gift.
Chavez, Caesar: Chavez was the charismatic leader and founder of the United Farmworkers Union. He championed the underpaid, underrepresented migrant farm worker. Chavez organized the five-year grape boycott. Chavez helped to inspire Chicano activism of the 1960s and 1970s, combining the lessons of the civil rights movement and nonviolent protest with Mexican-American traditions and values.
Cheech & Chong: Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong hit it big with their comedy act on several recordings and movies. Their stoner humor made us laugh hysterically, particularly when we too, were stoned. By laughing at them, we laughed at ourselves and for awhile life seemed less serious.
Cleaver, Eldridge: Author of Soul on Ice, written during his nine years in prison. After his release he joined the Black Panthers and became their Minister of Information. Involvement in a gun battle forced him into a seven-year exile.
Coyote, Peter: Actor, author, member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, one of the original Diggers. His new book Sleeping Where I Fall, tells of his days in S.F.
Cronkite, Walter: Uncle Walt was considered the most believable broadcaster in U.S. history. In 1968, he broke the code of neutrality among major newscasters, by opposing the Vietnam War in a national television broadcast. His integrity is still unquestioned.
Crumb, Robert: Famous cartoonist of the '60s and '70s, Crumb introduced the world to his somewhat depraved, yet humorous visions via Zap Comics, Mr. Natural, and Fritz the Cat. His inspired and unique style captured the essence of the times. Always the social critic, Crumb used his art to convey the anti-establishment sentiment that swept the country.
Dass, Ram: also known as Dr. Richard Alpert. Author of Be Here Now and Grist for the Mill. Worked with Timothy Leary at Harvard on LSD studies. Alpert was so changed by the ingestion of LSD, he left his post and wandered through India, where he met his Guru and changed his name. Finding enlightenment he returned to write several books and do the lecture circuit.
Davis, Angela: Radical black teacher at UCLA. She was dismissed from UCLA in 1969 due to her radical politics. She was a Black Panther and made the FBI's most wanted list in 1970 on false charges. She became an icon as an intelligent, outspoken radical young black woman.
Donovan: aka Donovan Leitch. With his song "Mellow Yellow", Donovan made the music scene in the '60s. His sensitive voice, spacey lyrics, and unusual arrangements evoke a very hippie feeling. Other hits include Sunshine Superman, Hurdy Gurdy Man and Wear Your Love Like Heaven.
Dylan, Bob: Dylan exploded on the music scene in Greenwich Village in the early '60s. His blend of rock and folk ballads took everyone by storm, and in turn inspired just about every rock musician who was to follow in his footsteps. His early songs "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They are A-Changin'" took the protest song and gave it an edge.
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers: Gilbert Shelton's popular comic about the adventures of three stoned out hippies.
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence: Poet, publisher and owner of the City Lights Bookstore in North Beach, San Francisco. Part of the beat scene in San Francisco, Ferlinghetti published Allen Ginsberg's controversial poem "Howl" in 1957, which landed him in jail, but lead to a landmark decision upholding free speech.
Fonda, Jane: Actress daughter of Henry Fonda, Jane made a name for herself as a political activist when she married Tom Hayden, one of the Chicago Seven. Jane was also outspoken and made a controversial trip to Hanoi, North Vietnam during the war. Now married to CNN creator Ted Turner.
Gandhi, Mahatma: Once a lawyer in South Africa, Gandhi came to India and fought British oppression through the pioneering use of non-violent protest. His methods were adopted in the '60s by the civil rights and antiwar movements. The confrontative, yet passive techniques are now the standard for peaceful protest.
Garcia, Jerry: Musician, songwriter, artist. Jerry was a founding member of the Warlocks and Grateful Dead. His varied musical influences including Blue Grass, Rock, and Jazz enabled him to establish his own genre of music. With the Dead, the ultimate hippie band from San Francisco, he became a cult figure and was worshipped by fans. His laid back attitude and lifestyle was a sharp contrast to the lives of many egotistical rock stars. For thirty years Jerry Garcia and his faithful band brought hallucinatory music to their legions of fans.
Gaskin, Stephen: Stephen gained famed for his Monday night classes at San Francisco State where he talked about hippy values. When he took to the road his students followed and soon there was a caravan of wandering gypsies, 400 people in 60 vehicles. He eventually settled down with them and started The Farm, an ongoing Tennessee commune which pioneered organic and alternative methods of agriculture, education and social interaction.
Ginsberg, Allen: Controversial Beat poet from the '50s who wrote about following your instincts and free love. "Howl" (1956), is one of Ginsberg's most famous poems. Along with his friends Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, he helped define and document the activities of the Beat Generation. Ginsberg was active in the anti-war movement appearing at rallies and also the Human Be-In. Ginsberg is credited with coining the term "Flower Power".
Graham, Bill: Rock impresario whose Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, and Fillmore East in New York highlighted the best rock acts of the sixties including the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, the Jefferson Airplane and more.
Gregory, Dick: Comedian, author, black activist survived more than 100 hunger strikes to protest discrimination, the Vietnam War, and drug addiction. His autobiography "Nigger" sold a million copies. Lately he is involved in promoting nutritional solutions to world hunger.
Grimshaw, Gary: Very prominent graphic artist well known for his posters and flyers of rock bands that passed thru Michigan in the late 60's-early 70's. His body of work reads like a who's who in the 60's music/counter-culture scene.
Guthrie, Arlo: Son of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, Arlo made a name for himself with his record Alice's Restaurant. Arlo's folk rock style combines protest and storytelling.
Harrison, George: Beatle, musician, activist. George was responsible for bringing the eastern influence into the Beatles. He got them to meditate with the Marharishi, use sitar in their recordings, and gave the group a more spiritual focus. George has been active in many causes including the Concert for Bangladesh which tried to raise funds for the flood victims.
Hayden, Tom: Political activist, one of the Chicago Seven, ex-husband of Jane Fonda. Now he's a congressman from California.
Havens, Richie: A unique style of rhythm guitar combined with his passionate vocals makes for an unforgettable experience. At Woodstock he sang 'Handsome Johnny' and 'Freedom' to open the event.
Hendrix, Jimi: The greatest guitar player ever. Jimi could coax sounds from his axe that no one had ever heard before. His guitar mastery has impressed every great musician since. His on stage persona and charisma is unmatched. Jimi gave legendary performances at Monterey Pop, Woodstock, and the Fillmore. He died at the peak of his career. Jimi was a great soul who soared so high he was able to take us along for the ride of our lives.
Hoffman, Abbie: Co-founder of the Yippies. Author of "Steal This Book." One of the Chicago Seven. Outspoken advocate of anarchy, Abbie challenged authority every chance he could. By his outrageous actions he tried to highlight the hypocrisies inherent in the system.
Hoffman, Albert: Sandoz company scientist who inadvertently discovered the mind transporting properties of LSD.
Hoover, J. Edgar: Infamous Director of the FBI who kept an enemies list in the '60s. Included just about everyone active in the counterculture, even politicians and musicians. If your name was on that list, the FBI was spying on your activities. Hoover ordered many illegal acts to fight the antiwar, black power, and other movements that sought change and a redistribution of power.
Huxley, Aldous: Author of the famous science fiction novel, Brave New World, and the ground breaking Doors of Perception, Huxley explored the inner realms of the mind. His thirst for the insightful psychedelic experience led him to LSD, which he ingested as he lay on his deathbed.
Joplin, Janis: Blues singer extraordinaire. Janis could belt out the blues like no one else. Her performances at The Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock were legendary. With Big Brother and the Holding Company they blew everyone away with their psychedelic blues. Cheap Thrills, their debut album featured a classic cover by Robert Crumb and the hits Summertime and Ball and Chain. Janis' grief stricken life came to an end with a drug overdose in 1970.
Kerouac, Jack: Beat author wrote "On the Road" and 'The Dharma Bums', about the freedom of living each day as it comes. He inspired a whole generation to get backpacks and take to the road. His beat friends Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady appear in his works. Kerouac coined the term "Beat Generation" to describe his friends and the phenomenon.
Kesey, Ken: Famous author, Merry Prankster, Ken wrote: "Sometimes a Great Notion" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." His famous Acid Tests were the first LSD parties with music and light shows. His legendary 1964 psychedelic cross-country trip in a brightly painted bus inspired many hippies to do the same.
King, Martin Luther: Leader of the Civil Rights movement, Dr. King was a firm believer in non-violent protest to achieve the goals of integration and economic, political and social equality for all people.
Krassner, Paul: Humorist, founding member of the Yippies, and publisher of the Realist newspaper, he's been called the founder of the underground press.
LBJ - Lyndon Baines Johnson: He became President of the United States upon the death of John F. Kennedy. Was elected in 1964 and served another four years. This Texas democrat was responsible for the buildup of forces in Vietnam and was in office during the bloodiest fighting. Along with the next president, republican Richard Nixon were considered the epitome of the government run by the military-industrial complex that prospered during the Vietnam war. These two presidents highlighted the generation gap as they found it impossible to see the world from a youthful perspective.
Leary, Timothy: The psychedelic guru, acid impresario, prolific author, unchallenged hero of the free your mind movement. "Turn-on, tune-in, and drop-out." Those words inspired a generation to experience the mind-expanding capabilities of LSD. Leary's determination to experiment and turn on people got him kicked out of Harvard and Nixon called him "The most dangerous man in America."
Lennon, John: Beatle, poet, artist, activist, singer, musician. One of the great figures of the 60s. Controversial, he once said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus (he was right at the time). He sang about love and peace and his music inspired millions. He was murdered outside his apartment building in 1980.
Leopold, Aldo: Naturalist, conservationist, author of "The Sand County Almanac," a classic in ecology. He helped found the Wilderness society and wrote about preserving the 'balance of nature'.
Maharaj-ji: Also know as Neem Karoli Baba. Famous Indian guru who established over 100 temples in India. Thanks to Ram Dass, his disciple, many westerners made the pilgrimage to visit this holy man.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Famous guru to the Beatles, Beach Boys, and other famous personalities. First everyone went to visit him in India, then he bought his teachings to the U.S. Emphasizing the power of meditation, he drew a huge following among the hippie generation.
Manson, Charles: Convicted along with his followers of the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and the La Biancas. Manson had created his own cult out in the California desert. In his warped mind, he believed that John Lennon's song "Helter Skelter" was a call to war and mayhem. He used mind control to get his followers to do whatever he wanted. He is still serving his life sentence.
Marley, Bob: Rastaman supreme. The charismatic Bob Marley and his band the Wailers burst onto the music scene in the early 70's bringing Reggae into the world. His music about love, Jah (God), freedom and equality touched so many people and inspired many hippies to become rastas.
Max, Peter: Hippie artist famous for album covers, movies, paintings, advertising. His colorful, flowing style graphics had a great influence on art in the 60s.
McGovern, George: Democratic candidate for president in the 1972 elections. He lost out to Richard Nixon. McGovern was supported by liberals and hippies. We can only wonder, what might have been...
McKenna, Terence: Ethnobotanist and author of the book Food of the Gods, about organic psychedelics. Terence is a popular speaker and visionary who likes to focus on discovering our place in the universe, our reason for being here, and the future of mankind.
Mitchell, Joni: Famous Canadian singer, composer and songwriter. Joni's excellent vocal range is evident in music that varies from folk to blues to rock to jazz. One of the great songwriters, her constantly evolving style has resulted in varied success on such albums as "Blue", "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" and "Mingus". Most famous for writing the song "Woodstock" which CSN made into a hit.
Morrison, Jim: Poet, anarchist and debaucher, Morrison was a passionate, if somewhat psychotic visionary. See the psychedelic shaman section for more about Jim.
Mountain Girl: Aka Carolyn Adams. One of the Merry Pranksters. She lived with Ken Kesey, and had his child, then married Jerry Garcia.
Nixon, Richard M.: Republican President of the United States from 1968 until his resignation in 1973, after the Watergate scandal led to an impeachment vote. Nixon provoked the anger of hippies with his dirty tricks, refusal to deal with protesters peacefully, ordering the spying upon leaders of the antiwar, black power and other counter cultural movements, as well as the deeds of his cronies.
Owsley: Owsley Stanley, also known as Bear, manufactured LSD for the first acid tests in San Francisco in the 60's. Colorful Owsley acid is legendary for its purity. Bear was also the original soundman for the Grateful Dead.
Pryor, Richard: Considered the black Lenny Bruce, Pryor was famous for his standup comedy and movies replete with four-letter words. His humor attacked racial stereotypes. His crack cocaine addiction nearly killed him.
Rubin, Jerry: Co-founder of the Yippies, one of the Chicago Seven. He and Abbie Hoffman pulled outrageous stunts to poke fun and make serious statements about our society. One such stunt was throwing dollar bills onto the floor of the NY Stock Exchange, disrupting trading as brokers got down on the floor to pick up the money.
Russell, Bertrand: British philosopher, anti-nuclear and antiwar activist, logician, essayist, and social critic. In 1954 he condemned the Bikini H-bomb tests. A year later, he and Albert Einstein, published the Russell-Einstein Manifesto demanding the curtailment of nuclear weapons. He was the founding president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958 and designed the Nuclear Disarmament Symbol, now called the "peace symbol."
Shankar, Ravi: Famous sitar player from India. He wooed the crowd with his mastery at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival and got a very long standing ovation and thus became a legend. He taught George Harrison how to play the sitar in 1966.
Simon, Carly: Singer and songwriter once married to James Taylor. Carly had hits with "You're So Vain", "Anticipation" and 'That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be".
Smothers Brothers: Famous comedians and musicians of the 60s, Tom and Dick Smothers had a top rated TV variety show until it became too controversial and was canceled by CBS. Seems they spoke their minds too often, usually protesting the Vietnam War, police brutality and racism.
Sinclair, John: A dude from Michigan who got put in prison for ten years for selling two joints to an undercover cop. His conviction was overturned thanks mainly in part to John Lennon and seven others who organized a movement to set him free. Lennon even wrote about him in a song: "It ain't fair, John Sinclair..."
Snyder, Gary: Beat Poet, Buddhist, professor. Snyder is perhaps most famous for influencing Jack Kerouac and the Beats and turning them on to Buddhism.
Spock, Dr. Benjamin: His baby book was The Bible to mothers of the hippy generation. He was against spanking children, and his non-violent stance carried over when those same children were sent to war. He spoke and marched at many peace rallies and counseled draft evaders. For this he was sentenced to two years in jail.
Steinhem, Gloria: Feminist author, founder of Ms. Magazine.
St. Marie, Buffy: Singer, songwriter, activist. Since the early '60s, Buffy has been writing protest songs about war ("Universal Soldier"), Indian Rights and the Environment. Her song "Up Where We Belong," sung by Joe Cocker, won an Academy Award.
Taylor, James: Singer, songwriter. Taylor's "Sweet Baby James" album was a big hit. He was married to Carly Simon.
Tiny Tim: Famous for his one hit record, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." With his shrill falsetto he became a cultural icon of the hippy movement. Popular but unattractive, the mini-ukelele playing Tim eventually found love, Miss Vicki, and got married.
Twiggy: English model who made being anorexic popular in the '60s. Twiggy modeled the latest colorful, psychedelic fashions on her extremely thin boy like frame. Her slender build, big sad eyes and short haircut set her apart from other models of the day. Today she is an actress and has filled out a bit.
Warhol, Andy: Pop artist supreme, Andy was a scene himself. He took the icons of popular culture and turned it into art. Some of his most famous works feature Campbell's Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe. Andy filmed several low budget films of questionable quality including: Trash and Frankenstein (in 3D).
Wavy Gravy: aka Hugh Romney, Merry Prankster, Hog Farm leader, clown, Acid Test Graduate, and so much more. A person who embodies the hippy spirit especially helping his fellow man. Now a flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. At Woodstock '69, the Hog Farm helped feed the assembled multitude. Wavy Gravy announced from the stage, "What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000."
Winwood, Steve: Talented songwriter, singer, keyboardist, Steve played with Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith before going on to a successful solo career. Steve was also a session man and sat in with Hendrix and B.B. King
Yogananda, Pramahansa: Founder of Self-Realization Fellowship, guru, author. Yogananda taught Bhakti (devotional) Yoga and has quite a following. His book "Autobiography of a Yogi" is very inspirational.
Young, Neil: Canadian musician got his big break writing and singing with Buffalo Springfield. His popularity soared when he teamed up with Crosby, Stills & Nash. Neil went on to produce his own great solo recordings including After the Gold Rush and Harvest. Neil's style ranges from hard rock, blues, folk ballads to country. His heavy rock is credited with inspiring grunge music. Some call him the grandfather of grunge. His slightly off key vocals don't appeal to everyone, but when he's singing with CS&N, he fits right in!
Zappa, Frank: Famous musician from the 60's and 70's. His group The Mother's of Invention's first album, entitled "Freak Out" was very popular and way out, even for it's time. Zappa's music was a very wild, creative, but dissonant satire on society. Zappa coined many expressions and became a icon of the lack of respect for the establishment. A popular college poster from the 60's showed Zappa with his long, wild and stringy hair sitting naked on a toilet. The title was Phi Zappa Crappa. Frank's children Dweezil (son) and Moon Unit (daughter) have dabbled with music too. Despite Zappa's outward persona, his real personality was far different and at one point he became a vocal opponent against drugs.

http://www.hippy.com/article-170.html

Dig It!

Obama Crowd PMSing ( President McCain Syndrome - Pernicious Mousey Snearing!

Drudge Report Lists Obama Meltdown and complete collapse due to President McCain Syndrome ( PMS). President McCain Syndrome: the onset of an awareness that an honorable, battle-tested, experienced patriot will be President, instead of an ambitious public speaker, creates a physical, spiritual and emotional milk shake of America's most delicate bi-peds - The Great American Progressive: A sheep-like individual given to hysterical emotions charged by talking points form failed Leftist doctrine. PMS - hurts those of us who love the afflicted, because stifling laughter at their expense is good manners by physically challenging. Try stopping diarrhea without Imodium!

Thus:

Drudge Items for 8/21/2008: Here are indications of the run-away PMS afflicting Camp Obama from Drudge Report alone:

1.McCain unsure how many houses he owns

2.OBAMA AD MOCKS...

3.KAINE: MCCAIN 'COULDN'T COUNT HIGH ENOUGH'...

4.Obama camp lashes out at 'quick-draw' McCain

5.Obama rips FOXNEWS, BOOK...

6.Senate Majority Leader Reid: 'I can't stand John McCain'...

7.Spent More on Ads in July Than McCain Spent on Election...

Wow Here are oonly a few of the symptons afflicting a very small portion of the American Population:
Physical symptoms include:

Breast swelling and tenderness. See Keith Olbermann
Bloating, water retention, weight gain. See Keith Olbermann
Changes in bowel habits. DNC and all committed delgates
Acne. See Rachel Maddow


Aggression. Daily Kos, Huffington Post, MSNBC
Withdrawal from family and friends.
Emotional and cognitive symptoms include:

Depression, sadness, hopelessness. DNC et. al
Anger, irritability.
Anxiety.
Mood swings.
Decreased alertness, inability to concentrate.


This scourge afflicts half-wits as much as it does true believers. Try not to laugh at them - try.

John McCain: A Democrat's Support of John McCain by David R. Carlin

I have been supporting John McCain with my time, treasure and talents, small though they be, since last Spring.

Other like minded Democrats saw in McCain his capacity for leadership and talent for righting the course of America.

A young Democratic (twenty-something) Korean American woman, Lisa Hwang of Chicago's Lincoln Square community admires McCain, but is still on the fence about her vote.

Nevertheless, Ms. Hwang sent along a Commonweal Op Ed essay by Democratic veteran legislator David R. Carlin.

Here is the sum and substance of a Democrat's support for John McCain:

Still, I think the Democratic contenders are wrong and McCain is right about the things that matter most. They’re wrong because they are beholden to the ultras who have seized control of the national Democratic Party. I mean the MoveOn.org wing of the party: people who have good educations, good jobs, good incomes, good neighborhoods, good wine, good coffee, etc., plus a disdain not only for traditional morality and religion but for those Americans-we boobs, nincompoops, and potential fascists-who approve of traditional religious-moral beliefs and values. Obama is more beholden to these folks than Hillary is, but if she becomes president she won’t be able to defy many of their wishes, so great is their power in the party.

But what are the big issues as I see them? For me the single biggest issue is, and has been for many years, abortion. For those who believe, as I do (and as the Catholic religion does), that abortion is unjustifiable homicide, there is no logical way to vote for the presidential candidate of a party committed to the preservation and extension of abortion rights. As for the common argument given by a certain kind of Catholic-namely, that the Democrats are right on so many other things, and together these outweigh abortion-that seems to me to be an argument that is either intellectually careless or downright disingenuous. For how can anything outweigh the slaughter of innocents? Catholics who make this argument may say they believe abortion to be homicide, they may even actually think they believe this; but they can’t possibly believe it. For how could anybody really hold such contradictory beliefs? McCain has a prolife voting record in the Senate, Hillary and Obama have prochoice records. On this count, then, it’s easy for me to choose McCain.

Another important issue is Iraq. I agree with McCain that the 2003 invasion was justified. For me it wasn’t simply, or even mainly, a matter of weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was a chronic and incorrigible troublemaker in one of the most sensitive regions of the world. He had waged a terrible war (with, it must be admitted, U.S. encouragement) against Iran; he had invaded Kuwait; he was a vicious tyrant who oppressed his own people (most notably Kurds in the north and “marsh Arabs” in the south); after being defeated in the “mother of all wars” (the first Gulf War), he repeatedly violated agreements he had made with the victors; he allegedly plotted the assassination of a former American president; again and again he defied United Nations resolutions; and if he did not in fact possess weapons of mass destruction, he gave the proverbial “reasonable man” every reason to believe that he did. Since I don’t believe that every troublesome nation has an inviolable right to sovereignty and noninterference (this perhaps made sense in the good old days of Woodrow Wilson but makes little sense in the days of Rwanda, Bosnia, Iraq, and a few other places), I felt that the U.S. policy of “regime change” in Iraq made sense: a policy adopted, it should be remembered, during the Clinton presidency and implemented during the Bush presidency.

But I also agree with McCain that the postinvasion occupation has been a disaster. This is due to at least two things: a great deficiency in the number of occupation troops (a point McCain has emphasized again and again), and a profound ignorance of Mesopotamian history and culture. During World War II it occurred to somebody in the U.S. government that our occupation of Japan might go more smoothly if we first took the trouble to learn something about Japanese culture. And so the government hired the famous anthropologist Ruth Benedict, who produced her classic study The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, which contributed to the tremendously successful American occupation of Japan. Apparently nobody in the Bush administration had a similar thought about Iraq.

I also agree with McCain that the “surge” has been successful, proving that he was right when he insisted, against Donald Rumsfeld, that many more “boots on the ground” were needed. Rumsfeld deserves grades of A-plus for the invasion and F-minus for the occupation.

Most of all I agree with McCain when he says that, regardless of the merits of having invaded in the first place, the United States cannot afford to be defeated in Iraq. Such a defeat would hand a tremendous victory to Al Qaeda. I realize, of course, that if we “lose” in Iraq it won’t be due to Al Qaeda alone; it will also be due, and even more so, to Sunni-Shiite animosities. But it will be almost universally perceived as a victory for Al Qaeda.

For better or worse, the United States is seen as the world’s number-one “policeman.” We are expected by nearly everyone-even our European friends who love to find fault with us-to take the lead in maintaining international order (remember Kosovo?). If we are driven out of Iraq, it will be a defeat not just for our national prestige but, more important, for the cause of international order. Maybe we should never have accepted the call to be the world’s policeman in the first place, but having accepted it we are not free simply to abandon our post in Iraq, which is what Hillary and Obama want us to do. They believe (or profess to believe) that by doing so we will force the Sunni and Shiites to become friends. This seems to me a stunningly unrealistic expectation.

Then there is McCain’s proven ability to work “across the aisle.” The United States is badly polarized along ideological lines, red-state conservative ideologues versus blue-state liberal ideologues. McCain is not an ideologue, and he has a strong track record of defying the ultras of his own party. Hillary and Obama are not ideologues either. But Obama has no track record of defying Democratic ultras, and Hillary has only a slight record of doing so-I refer to her vote (which she’s been trying to explain away for the last year or two) giving George W. Bush permission to invade Iraq. If elected, neither of the two will be able to do much to mitigate the nation’s ideological divide, for they both have their feet firmly planted on one side of that divide. Obama is likely to lessen the nation’s racial divide, and to do this would be no small achievement; but the racial divide is no longer America’s number-one division.

Finally, there is McCain’s tough-minded patriotism. I don’t doubt that Hillary and Obama are patriots. I don’t even doubt that the upscale secularists who have taken over the Democratic Party are patriots; but theirs is a “soft” patriotism, a patriotism twice diluted, once with the waters of cosmopolitanism, and again with the waters of something tasting of pacifism. McCain, by contrast, is a “hard” patriot, not in the least a pacifist. But isn’t there a danger that a patriot of this stripe will prove to be a warmonger? Yes, some danger. But George Washington wasn’t a warmonger, and neither was Dwight Eisenhower, and neither, I think, is McCain. Retired warriors are willing to fight, but rarely do they yearn for another battle (think of Colin Powell).

At this confusing moment in history, a far greater danger, I submit, is to have the world’s most important nation led by a political sect (the Democratic ultras) whose patriotism is soft and whose commitment to a strong military is dubious. So two cheers for Senator McCain-and three loud raspberries for Democratic ultras!

Click my post title for the full text of Mr.Carlin's great essay.

Thanks Lisa! I hope that your instincts and wisdom will give John McCain another vote!

John McCain: Harold Ford Got It Right - McCain Set the Bar Too High for Obama Last Night

The entire Soros Information Industry is trying to gut former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford. The Democratic Leadership Committee Chair, Ford warned the Obama campaign to study McCain's speech and learn something. The MSNBC Tool Shed giggled and Oafed.

Huffington Post - Hollywood Squares the political train set for coked out movie and TV has-beens, convicted check kiter Progressive theorists and all manner of trendy goofball has its collective panties in a twist because only Harold Ford realizes the power of John McCain's speech.

Atlantic fop-journalist Matt Yglesias - no relation to the singer - spits out this:

I thought it was strange that Harold Ford's on MSNBC right now deliberately sabotaging the Democratic Party, lavishly praising John McCain and McCain's speech. Then I remembered that Ford took over as head of the DLC so boosting the GOP is part of his job.

Well, Cupcake, here is what is very clear to most Americans and Harold Ford tried to wise you dummies up a bit:

Both Senator Obama and I promise we will end Washington's stagnant, unproductive partisanship. But one of us has a record of working to do that and one of us doesn't. Americans have seen me put aside partisan and personal interests to move this country forward. They haven't seen Senator Obama do the same. For all his fine words and all his promise, he has never taken the hard but right course of risking his own interests for yours; of standing against the partisan rancor on his side to stand up for our country. He is an impressive man, who makes a great first impression. But he hasn't been willing to make the tough calls; to challenge his party; to risk criticism from his supporters to bring real change to Washington. I have.

When members of my party refused to compromise not on principle but for partisanship, I have sought to do so. When I fought corruption it didn't matter to me if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. I exposed it and let the chips fall where they may. When I worked on campaign finance and ethics reform, I did so with Democrats and Republicans, even though we were criticized by other members of our parties, who preferred to keep things as they were. I have never refused to work with Democrats simply for the sake of partisanship. I've always known we belong to different parties, not different countries. We are Americans before we are anything else.

I don't seek the presidency on the presumption I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need. I seek the office with the humility of a man who cannot forget my country saved me. I'll reach out my hand to anyone, Republican or Democrat, who will help me change what needs to be changed; fix what needs to be fixed; and give this country a government as capable and good as the people it is supposed to serve. There is a time to campaign, and a time to govern. If I'm elected President, the era of the permanent campaign of the last sixteen years will end. The era of reform and problem solving will begin. From my first day in office, I'll work with anyone to make America safe, prosperous and proud. And I won't care who gets the credit as long as America gets the benefit.

I have seen Republicans and Democrats achieve great things together. When the stakes were high and it mattered most, I've seen them work together in common purpose, as we did in the weeks after September 11th. This kind of cooperation has made all the difference at crucial turns in our history. It has given us hope in difficult times. It has moved America forward. And that, my friends, is the kind of change we need right now.

Thank you.

Harold Ford would be a powerful candidate in 2012. John McCain will have a tough time keeping such a smart and tough man out of the White House.