President Obama Must Fire General Stanley McCyrstal

President Barack H. Obama is the Commander-in-Chief and his Afghan Theatre Commander is General Stanleyt McCrystal.

General Stanley McCrystal swore a soldier's oath when he entered West Point.

General McCrystal has served his Country, the Constitution and his Commander-in-Chief with Honor, until he decided to allow an interview with a free-lace writer for Rolling Stone , no less a silly rag, and let off some steam.

Kids in my neighborhood serve under General Stanley McCrystal and President Obama.

These words broke faith with them:

"Even though he had voted for (President Barack) Obama, McChrystal and his new commander-in-chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn't go much better. 'It was a 10-minute photo-op,' says an adviser to McChrystal. 'Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his f-ing war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed.'"

– "Last fall, during a question-and-answer session following a speech he gave in London, McChrystal dismissed the counterterrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as 'shortsighted,' saying it would lead to a state of 'Chaos-istan,' The remarks earned him a smackdown from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force Once. The message to McChrystal seemed clear: Shut the f- up, and keep a lower profile. Now, flipping through printout cards of his speech in Paris, McChrystal wonders aloud what Biden question he might get today, and how he should respond. 'I never know what's going to pop out until I'm up there, that's the problem,' he says.

Then, unable to help themselves, he and his staff imagine the general dismissing the vice president with a good one-liner. 'Are you asking about Vice President Biden?' McChrystal says with a laugh. 'Who's that?' 'Biden?' suggests a top adviser. 'Did you say "Bite Me?"'

– "In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk s- about many of Obama's top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a 'clown' who remains 'stuck in 1985.' Politicians like (John) McCain and (John) Kerry, says another aide, 'turn up, have a meeting with (Afghan president Hamid) Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows. Frankly, it's not very helpful.' Only (Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal's inner circle. 'Hillary had Stan's back during the strategic review,' says an adviser. 'She said, "If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.'"

– "McChrystal reserves special skepticism for (Richard) Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban. 'The Boss says he's like a wounded animal,' says a member of the general's team. 'Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous. He's a brilliant guy, but he just comes in, pulls on a lever, whatever he can grasp onto. But this is COIN (counterinsurgency), and you can't just have someone yanking on s-.'"

– "By far the most crucial - and strained - relationship is between McChrystal and (Karl) Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador. According to those close to the two men, Eikenberry - a retired three-star general who served in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2005 - can't stand that his former subordinate is now calling the shots. He's also furious that McChrystal, backed by NATO's allies, refused to put Eikenberry in the pivotal role of viceroy in Afghanistan, which would have made him the diplomatic equivalent of the general.

"... The relationship was further strained in January, when a classified cable that Eikenberry wrote was leaked to The New York Times. The cable was as scathing as it was prescient. The ambassador offered a brutal critique of McChrystal's strategy, dismissed President Hamid Karzai as 'not an adequate strategic partner,' and cast doubt on whether the counterinsurgency plan would be 'sufficient' to deal with al Qaeda. ... McChrystal and his team were blindsided by the cable. 'I like Karl, I've known him for years, but they'd never said anything like that to us before,' says McChrystal, who adds that he felt 'betrayed' by the leak. 'Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so.'"

General Stanley McCrystal should resign and that failing President Obama must fire him.

President Obama's Polls Will Limbo Under Congress Approval Ratings

How low will President Obama's Approval Numbers Limbo?

Lower than whale poop in the Marianas Trench

Lower than a snakes belly in a wheel rut at the bottom of the New Madris Fault

Lower than MSNBC's Nielson Ratings

Lower than Hog Futures in Israel

Lower than the taxes paid by Bob Creamer

Lower than the editorial skills of the Huffington Post

Ah, but do mind the cuteness of me , Flann O'Brien was wont to say! President Obama went all in with chips that did not belong to him. Them chips is ours - the Taxpayers' Chips.

If you are not a tax-payer, or have gulped enough SEIU Kool Aid, you are as happy as a clam about Obama Care. Another urban Democrat like myself, Mike Goodwn of the New York Post writes this -(click my post title for more)

Either you believe America is different and should play a unique role in expanding individual liberty, or you believe we should trim our freedoms to fit international norms, as embodied by centralized authorities and global organizations like the United Nations.

It's clear where Obama stands.

As he said in response to a question in Europe nearly a year ago, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I imagine that Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism and the British believe in British exceptionalism."

Though he said he was proud of his country, the answer was unmistakably no, he's not a believer. On that day and so many others -- remember his apologies and bows to foreign potentates -- he demonstrates he doesn't subscribe in the tradition of his predecessors and most of his countrymen.

His health-care obsession, with industry tentacles reaching 17 percent of the economy, reveals his vision. There is little dispute the industry has big flaws, yet Obama passed up a bipartisan chance to fix most of them.

He opted for a sweeping expansion and takeover that would put Washington in charge of every aspect, from levels of care, to cost, to mandates, to jobs and taxes.

President Obama pushed all in and will be History's Goat* - the worst President in American History he will plunge past Carter (34) and boost James Buchanan (40).


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

President Obama's Saturday Address

Good morning, and thank you for joining me. Many of you in this room are my friends. Many of you in this room know me. Many of you have cheered for me or you’ve worked with me or you’ve supported me.

Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.

. . .( pause) I am also aware of the pain my behavior has caused to those of you in this room. I have let you down, and I have let down my fans. For many of you, especially my friends, my behavior has been a personal disappointment. To those of you who work for me, I have let you down personally and professionally. My behavior has caused considerable worry to my business partners. . . (pause -Manly Stare) . . But still, I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you. I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did. I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position. . . .( Pause -Winsome smile) . . . I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I’ve done. My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before. It’s now up to me to make amends, and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I’ve made. It’s up to me to start living a life of integrity. . . .( pause -Heroic toss of the Head) . . . I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, the Dalai was here Thursday. . .nice guy . . . Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught. The Dalai was here you know.

As I move forward, I will continue to receive help because I’ve learned that’s how people really do change. Starting tomorrow, . . . maybe not . . .

Finally, there are many people in this room, and there are many people at home who believed in me. Today I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again.

Thank you. Gibbs, is this thing on?

Most of the text of this fictional address and more can be read by clicking on my post title. God, I love to cut and paste! I gotta stop eating the stuff . . .playing hell on my old teeth.

President Jimmy Obama Insults the Constitution " With all due deference."

Our adjunct Constitutional Law Lecturer from University of Chicago elected President in 2008 has become Jimmy Carter. Who is scripting our President?

Last week the Supreme Court of United States jolted America out of an anesthetized coma, induced by frauds and political rhetoric for more than one hundred years, and validated Free Speech.

Last night, President Jimmy Obama must have had MSNBC or Mother Jones apparatchiks write his State of the Union speech.

Obama had taken the unusual step of scolding the high court in his State of the Union address Wednesday. "With all due deference to the separation of powers," he began, the court last week "reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections."

Alito made a dismissive face, shook his head repeatedly and appeared to mouth the words "not true" or possibly "simply not true."

Last night with his numbers and approval spinning down, President Obama gratuitously insulted not only the Supreme Court but the Constitution itself. Does he not read what is put in front of him? President Obama has tanked. He has failed.

Scripted characters like Rep. Weiner of New York can make asses of themselves; the President of the United States can not.

He did.

Desiree Rogers Evaporates and Falls - Vanity of Human Wishes Writ Large

Republican members of the House Homeland Security committee have invited White House social secretary Desirée Rogers to testify Thursday, a committee aide said Monday night, about how a couple from Northern Virginia slipped into the White House last week for a state dinner, despite not being on the guest list.

Rogers acknowledged to the Associated Press last week that no one from her office was at a security checkpoint Nov. 24 to assist Secret Service agents in determining whether partygoers should be admitted to the mansion. Tareq and Michaele Salahi were waved through the checkpoint and later came face-to-face with President Obama in a receiving line.

Washington Post 12/01/2009

Unnumber'd Suppliants croud Preferment's Gate,
Athirst for Wealth, and burning to be great;
Delusive Fortune hears th' incessant Call,
They mount, they shine, evaporate, and fall.
On ev'ry Stage the Foes of Peace attend,
Hate dogs their Flight, and Insult mocks their End.

Samuel Johnson - The Vanity of Human Wishes




Desiree Rogers will go the way of Van Jones and Rev. Wright. They were very public and very mediocre persons. In their immediate tanks or ponds they were big fish; in the scope of history -snail darters.

Like Gerry Faust, who was the single face on the Mount Rushmore of high school football, in scheme of things they are inconsequential people at best and at worst - impediments.

Desiree Rogers is the White House Social Secretary -for the moment. Ms. Rogers has been appointed on the 'recommendation' of powerful people in need of the direct support of Ms. Rogers' ex-husband -Mr. John Rogers, a wealthy and powerful man. John Rogers is huge in Chicago and Chicago Progressive Politics.

Now, due to pooch-screwing that put the lives of President Obama and the Prime Minister of India in hazard at the first Obama White House State Dinner, for which Ms. Rogers played the diva up to and including the arrival of the Salahis, that run of good luck is about to end. Chicagoans know that Ms. Rogers is a privileged hack given her work at Peoples Gas. She is an appointment for boards desirous of John Rogers' good will. Nationally, she has been protected by the Obama Propaganda Machine - CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, NEWSWEEK, NEW YORK TIMES & etc. Americans are getting to know Ms. Rogers as Chicagoans know the woman - Nice House; No One's Home.

Once the Obama White House launches Desiree Rogers she will land on her rump in a very comfy chair, once again padded with six figures. One chap calling himself/herself Hargrove protested my feature of Ms. Rogers. Hargrove cataloged the talking points of a losing argument - Race/Sexism & Racial Sexism.

Thus:

Hargrove said... “Butting” Desiree Rogers, and using a rear photo of her, to make that sexist point; accompanied by a haughty dismissal of her hard won achievements, is sad. I'll bet if she was a white woman, you would be holding her up as a model for what women can achieve!

It seems like your goal is to devalue Ms. Rogers enough for the reader to assent to implicating her in an error, that occurred at President Obama’s first state dinner, which she was not responsible for.

Only in matters of race is one judged by an error, they didn’t commit, without mentioning the task, which they did perform, and which the error is associated with. Perhaps because the task, The Obama First State Dinner, was an eye-popping, gasp worthy success, with ratings ranging from A to A+! But why acknowledge a glowing success, when you can waste your ink belittling an excellent person.

Do not be deceived, Hargrave (sic) is not the only person who can check a guest list! Members of the Secret Service were designated that responsibility, and they made a mistake. If Hargrave was there, she could have made a mistake too! Even she acknowledged that errors in the list were common when she worked for the Bush Administration.

Stop trying to rewrite the book of blame in this, the Secret Service has already acknowledged that IT WAS THEIR MISTAKE!

Desiree Rogers did herself and the Obama Administration proud, by her outstanding work, and creative vision, on behalf of the Obama State Dinner, and she should be given credit for that.

3:54 PM

She has Hargrove; She will. Ms. Rogers has butted her way into sinecures that could fund villages around our happy planet.

One can not diminish Ms. Rogers without, of course so diminishing the very folks who saw fit to place and appoint her to positions on fringes of government. Ms. Rogers is in the very spotlight she so long has pursued.

As dear Fat Dr. Johnson warned, but then again Ms. Rogers no doubt never read or heard-

With distant Voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard, and less the faint Remonstrance falls;
Tir'd with Contempt, she quits the slipp'ry Reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her Seat in vain.
In croud at once, where none the Pass defend,
The harmless Freedom, and the private Friend.
The Guardians yield, by Force superior ply'd;
By Int'rest, Prudence; and by Flatt'ry, Pride.
Here Beauty falls betray'd, despis'd, distress'd,
And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.

Vanity of Human Wishes

Di Di Mao! Anita Dunn Gone!

The Dipwad Goof Mao-Mao-ing Communications Director for President Obama's Original Amateur Hour White House called it Qs!

Dunn also came under attack in recent weeks from conservatives over a speech she gave in which she described Chinese leader Mao Zedong as one of her “favorite political philosophers.” Fox TV host Glenn Beck said Dunn’s comment about Mao, who is considered responsible both for the modernization of China and for the deaths of millions of Chinese, was the equivalent of expressing admiration for Hitler.

A White House official said Dunn’s departure was unrelated to the battle with Fox.

Dunn, whose career in Democratic politics dates back to the Carter White House, served in a top role in Obama’s presidential bid, overseeing policy, communications, and research. Dunn had long been a consultant to Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and stayed on the sidelines until he opted against a run.

Anita Dunn a sparkling nit-wit from the Carter Years ( President Obama's Dumbell Dore - Jimmy Be) who wowed school kids with her Wikpedia Symbiosis of Mother Theresa and Chairman Mao - with the camera's rolling mind you - has resigned, while President Obama goes to Fort Hood to parse the "Man-Made' Disaster by Major Hasan.

These people mock Sarah Palin?

MSNBC's Right Wing Bias Confuses Cute Hoors

E.J. Dionne is a very in-demand columnist of the Washington Post, frequent flyer on MSNBC, NPR and the balance of what he terms 'the right-wing Media.' In today's offering at Real Politics Dionne presents himself as a real Cute Hoor.

E.J. Dionne is what Muhammad Ali Boxing Legend and Freeman of Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, would call " A Cute Hoor*." A cute hoor, in Ireland and among the children of the Spud Diaspora is a dissembler, a hair-splitting sneak.

When the Summer of Hope Dashed hit President Obama just days before the Great National Lesson on Race, Part II ( The Beer Boondoggle) MSNBC, CNN, most of the print media, Hollywood Swingers, and every guy who travelled on a short yellow bus to school in my neck of the woods howled and tore garments about Town Hall Thugs and Tea Bag Militia Men.

That attempt at concerted calumny by the Cute Hoors of America ( E.J. Dionne Life Member)really did not turn out so well for the attempt to throw the high hard one into the American Tax-Payer under the euphemism Health Care(Insurance) Reform.

Here is what Cute Hoor Dionne tries to parse:

There is an overwhelming case that the electronic media went out of their way to cover the noise and ignored the calmer (and from television's point of view "boring") encounters between elected representatives and their constituents.

It's also clear that the anger that got so much attention largely reflects a fringe right-wing view opposed to all sorts of government programs most Americans support. Much as the far left of the anti-war movement commanded wide coverage during the Vietnam years, so now are extremists on the right hogging the media stage -- with the media's complicity. (emphasis my own)

Over the last week, I've spoken with Democratic House members, many from highly contested districts, about what happened in their town halls. None would deny polls showing that the health reform cause lost ground last month, but little of the probing civility that characterized so many of their forums was ever seen on television

E.J. Dionne, if you told that to a deaf mule, he'd kick you to death. Imagine what Muhammad Ali, good man that he is, would do to you!


* Cute Hoor -

Someone who tricks other people without being discovered. Clever or sneaky.

I heard this term used in conversation long before I REALLY understood what was being said. I thought the insinuation was one that compared a trickster to a prostitute. Then I saw it written as the subtitle on a poster for Margaret Mckenna Mullan’s play, The Sleeveens, and realised it was pure slang.

As to the origins of this phrase, I’d imagine that “cute” is being used in its old meaning as “small.” A cute hoor in Ireland doesn’t do anything truly harmful - it’s almost an affectionate term for someone who’s a bit of a chancer, given the opportunity.

“So I told the doorman I’d lost my wristband and he let me in without paying. Then, I drank for free at the bar because I convinced the staff I was the owner’s son returned from Australia.”

“Ya cute hoor, ya!”

Abortion Had a Friend in Ted - Planned Parenthood Says Goodbye to Camelot Catholics

Ted Kennedy Loved the Ladies and the Gals of Planned Parenthood loved him back!

Kennedys did not cower before the Catholic Church. Old Joe Kennedy sneered at Commandments and Cardinals with a bootlegger's glee and movie mogul's appetite for combat with convention. He defty lobotomized a daughter, like any one else would peel an apple. Joe wanted it done and it By God got done. Kennedy's don't cry; they create myths and foundations. Politics was Rome. When it spoke it was always ex cathedra.

Abortion has been a growth industry in America since Great Depression and Planned Parenthood is the corporate headquarters that doles out millions of dollars to politicians in need.

Ted Kennedy could go to Mass, receive the Eucharist and celebrate the culture of Catholicism.

Like many politicians, the need to win elections and garner support usurps the conscience that makes cowards of the rest of us. Ted Kennedy, according to MSNBC Soupy-Salesman Chris Matthews, is not the last Kennedy Brother. President Obama is the Last Kennedy, which may come as a surprise to the other Camelot Survivors - hither and yon.The Gals of Planned Parenthood offer this great send-off to the top of their ticket, but they still have the President. Abortion continues to be the growth industry that makes dowagers feel like real women and kills innocent children. Hey, what would Old Joe do?

"Senator Kennedy was a pioneer champion of health care reform. He understood that in order to live the American dream every American first needs to be healthy, and that access to affordable, quality health care is critical to that goal. He was also a true champion of women's health and rights, believing strongly that women should have equal access to opportunities including education, jobs, and health care.

"Senator Kennedy's absence at this time in our nation's struggle to ensure all Americans have access to the health care they deserve is profound. We will miss his heartfelt commitment to reform, his leadership in our effort, and most of all his friendship."

JFK Confronted Nikita Khrushchev in 1963 -BHO "The Last Kennedy" -Confronts Mulligan White House 2009

Jeez, all JFK had to contend with was Old Warts and Baldy, The Beard and a Bunch of Missiles. President Obama has a thick cavalcade of much creepier former acolytes, now turning on him like mad dogs. One of the creepiest is Nobel Economics Winner Paul Krugman. They must dole out Eco-Nobels like cheap candy on Halloween. At least, Saul Bellow and Seamus Heaney actually produced something lasting and community forming with their efforts. Today Maynard G. Krebs of the New York Times writes:

It's hard to avoid the sense that Obama has wasted months trying to appease people who can't be appeased, and who take every concession as a sign that he can be rolled.

Indeed, no sooner were there reports that the administration might accept co-ops as an alternative to the public option than GOP leaders announced that co-ops, too, were unacceptable.

So progressives are now in revolt. Obama took their trust for granted, and in the process lost it. And now he needs to win it back.

No Mulligans with Progressives I guess. Well, look what happened to old Leon Trotsky when he vacationed in Mexico. That had to hurt.

Abortion is Health Care Reform:"We are God's partners in matters of life and death," Obama said to the Rabbis

Abortion is not a 'faith based initiative.' It is in the planned and pushed Health Reform Package and it will stay tucked in there until Illinois atheist Rob Sherman starts doing the collections at Sacred Heart 10:30 Mass on Sunday.

President Obama told a group of Rabbis,"We are God's partners in matters of life and death"
From Politico's Ben Smith:

A reader points out that President Obama's call with the rabbis today — as recorded in Rabbi Jack Moline's and other clerics' Twitter feeds — freights health care reform with a great deal of religious meaning, and veers into the blend of policy and faith that outraged liberals in the last administration.

"We are God's partners in matters of life and death," Obama said, according to Moline (paging Sarah Palin...), quoting from the Rosh Hashanah prayer that says that in the holiday period, it is decided "who shall live and who shall die."

The president ended the call by wishing the rabbis "shanah tovah," or happy new year — in reference to the High Holidays a month from now.

Shanah tovah - unless you happen to be the kid the womb.

Yep, President Obama is as beholden to the gals of Planned Parenthood as he is to the Purple Gang of SEIU and Brazilian Oil Tycoon Georgie Soros. It's the Chicago way to remember and do the bidding of your Chinaman (plural in this case).

Catholics voted heavily for President Obama and politicians gave them the will to do so and so did many trades unions and the old school operation of politics. It is very understandable.

I voted for many politicians who are beholden to Planned Parenthood - Dick Durbin, John Kerry, and many more. Now, it does not seem right to do so. There are too many Catholic public servants like Rep. Kevin Joyce, Sen. Ed Maloney and others who refuse to take the abortion coin and they are good Democrats. These gents stay true to their faith.

The fact is that abortion is and will remain a very important virtue of the President's Health Reform push.

I read these six points at American Papist.

1. The House bill specifically includes it. The Capps amendment explicitly allows abortion coverage in the public health plan and subsidizes health plans that cover abortion. (Passed 30-28 in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, July 30)

2. Senate Democrats admit it. "[The health care bill] would include, uh, it would include, uh, Planned, uh, Parenthood clinics." (Sen. Barbara Mikulski, July 9, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions-HELP-Committee meeting-Planned Parenthood is the No. 1 U.S. abortion chain.)

3. Senate Democrats refused to ban it. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah): "Madam Chairman, would you be willing to put some language in [about] not including abortion services? Then I think you would have more support."Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.): "...No, I would not, uh, be willing to do that at this time." (July 9, Senate HELP Committee meeting)

4. The mainstream media confirms it. ("Government insurance would allow coverage for abortion," Associated Press, August 5, 2009).

5. The Obama administration includes it in its definition of reproductive health care. "Reproductive health care includes access to abortion." (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, July 19)

6. Every amendment to exclude it from health care legislation was defeated by the liberal sponsors. The following is a list of pro-life amendments that would have prevented abortion funding or prohibited abortion mandates for covered services. (For vote tallies and details, see our complete list at www.frc.org here)

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0809/We_are_Gods_partners_in_matters_of_life_and_death.html?showall

Dr. Camille Paglia Knows That Sgt. Jimmy Crowley Will Have Another Beer at the White House Before Obama's Public Option Gets Articulated

Salon is a pretentious word for a beer and wine guzzle and gum flap. Its roots are in the Italian neoclassical age ( late 16th century) when everyone who was anyone was agog over Horace, Cicero, Virgil and Catalus.

Groups of people who could read met in a big open room and read Latin poetry and discussed the beauties of the tropes and truths of the sentences. The French went apey over the salone gatherings of the Italians and aped the tradition from the 17th Century on and then the children and grandchildren of Yankee Puritans and immigrant swell-wannabees played Salon. They still do.

I attend a Salon every morning up at Kean Gas where worthies gather to exercise their gums over events and ideas large and small. This gathering includes teachers, lawyers, ComEd workers, Peoples Gas clerks, Cops, Firefighters, Nurses and Ward precinct captains. Invariably my faults and peccadillo's are tossed back upon my positions to poison the well of dispute -nonetheless, my helot's thoughts get free voice. Last Friday, I had the pleasure to 'salon' with Beachwood Reporter and NBC Chicago web-meister Steve Rhodes - a rock-ribbed liberal of the old school and young man with a lode of intellectual and literary gold to mine. I was bested in dispute and at Eight Ball no end by Rhodes and other 'bright young things' - and that is as it should be. It was the best of salons.

Salon ( Clique my Post Title) is also a slick magazine that features agreed upon smart-set contributors and sanctioned opinion-slingers. Ever-weepy and whiny Joan Walsh, an endlessly dull harpy and MSNBC head-shaker, holds this tent's center-post. However, the absolute best writer and only original thinker at this salone ( in deference to the Professor's Italian Heritage) is Camille Paglia.

I know of Dr. Pagila due to my trade as a has-been English teacher. Camille Paglia always extends the context - the breadth and depth of her reading never posts limits on her mind's ability to articulate without cant or bigotry.Dr. Pagila is openly gay yet not given to strident agenda netting. She is a former Catholic who respects the beauty, mystery and majesty of the Faith. She is a feminist who never allows simple-minded association to grab for the broad brush and repaint the house.

This week Dr. Paglia went right to the root of the Obama White House's failure to articulate why Health Care Reform must be accepted by every American without a careful examination of the guts of the agenda. Paglia writes that Obama Care's root problem could be witnessed a few weeks ago in the Gates/Crowley nonsense and distraction. Pagila states,

As a libertarian and refugee from the authoritarian Roman Catholic church of my youth, I simply do not understand the drift of my party toward a soulless collectivism. This is in fact what Sarah Palin hit on in her shocking image of a "death panel" under Obamacare that would make irrevocable decisions about the disabled and elderly. When I first saw that phrase, headlined on the Drudge Report, I burst out laughing. It seemed so over the top! But on reflection, I realized that Palin's shrewdly timed metaphor spoke directly to the electorate's unease with the prospect of shadowy, unelected government figures controlling our lives. A death panel not only has the power of life and death but is itself a symptom of a Kafkaesque brave new world where authority has become remote, arbitrary and spectral. And as in the Spanish Inquisition, dissidence is heresy, persecuted and punished.

Surely, the basic rule in comprehensive legislation should be: First, do no harm. The present proposals are full of noble aims, but the biggest danger always comes from unforeseen and unintended consequences. Example: the American incursion into Iraq, which destabilized the region by neutralizing Iran's rival and thus enormously enhancing Iran's power and nuclear ambitions.

What was needed for reform was an in-depth analysis, buttressed by documentary evidence, of waste, fraud and profiteering in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Instead what we've gotten is a series of facile, vulgar innuendos about how doctors conduct their practice, as if their primary motive is money. Quite frankly, the president gives little sense of direct knowledge of medical protocols; it's as if his views are a tissue of hearsay and scattershot worst-case scenarios.

Of course, it didn't help matters that, just when he needed maximum momentum on healthcare, Obama made the terrible gaffe of declaring that, even without his knowing the full facts, Cambridge, Mass., police had acted "stupidly" in arresting a friend of his, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. Obama's automatic identification with the pampered Harvard elite (wildly unpopular with most sensible people), as well as his insulting condescension toward an officer doing his often dangerous duty, did serious and perhaps irreparable damage to the president's standing. The strained, prissy beer summit in the White House garden afterward didn't help. Is that the Obama notion of hospitality? Another staff breakdown.

Both Gates and Obama mistakenly assumed that the original incident at Gates' house was about race, when it was about class. It was the wealthy, lordly Gates who committed the first offense by instantly and evidently hysterically defaming the character of the officer who arrived at his door to investigate the report of a break-in. There was no excuse for Gates' loud and cheap charges of racism, which he should have immediately apologized for the next day, instead of threatening lawsuits and self-aggrandizing television exposés. On the other hand, given that Cambridge is virtually a company town, perhaps police headquarters should have dispatched a moderator to the tumultuous scene before a small, disabled Harvard professor was clapped in handcuffs and marched off to jail. But why should an Ivy League panjandrum be treated any differently from the rest of us hoi polloi?

Class rarely receives honest attention in the American media, as demonstrated by the reporting on a June incident at a swimming pool in the Philadelphia suburbs. When the director of the Valley Swim Club in Montgomery County cancelled its agreement with several urban day camps to use its private pool, the controversy was portrayed entirely in racial terms. There were uninvestigated allegations of remarks about "black kids" made by white mothers who ordered their children out of the pool, and the racial theme was intensified by the director's inept description of the "complexion" of the pool having been changed -- which may simply have been a whopper of a Freudian slip.

A salon is a big open room. Camille Paglia seems to be the only Salonista willing to welcome the helots who drink coffee with me at Kean.

God Bless, Dr. Paglia.

Beer Summit- Duck Jimmy! "Not Bud White! I Said Bud Light!"

President Obama will drink Bud Light at the Thursday meeting with the African-American professor and white police officer who got in a dust-up earlier this month. Press secretary Robert Gibbs just made the announcement to the press pool on Air Force One

Absolute crap beer for an absolute Bullshit moment. This fine Teaching moment on race( brought to you by the Jackson Family Budweiser Distributorship) , like Obama's Philadelphia Thigh Tingler, where Reverend Wright's idiocies became America's problem, because Young Barry dug his creed, is pure bullshit and yet another nuanced way to avoid a problem of his own making for Barack Obama - not President Obama - Barack Obama - the guy who can not admit a mistake.

Picking Bud Light over a real classy American beer is a just and fitting metaphor. Sgt. Crowley is toast going into, quaffing Bud Light* and coming away from this Race Baiting Tune-up. Sgt. Jimmy Crowley is no Bud White** . . . and I kind of liked that character; so would Professor Gates, when bad guys come a calling.

* Bud Light would gag a maggot.
http://lovegoodbeer.com/2009/06/bud-light-lime-is-an-abomination/
**http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/008861.html

Goose Island's Matilda Could Save American Race Relations, or not.

Three great Americans are about to 'tamp down' the Race Mess!

The Beer Summit! This will be dead serious and once again, President Obama will put Race behind us all. Until, about two minutes after the Beer Summit when Robert Gibbs blows off more toes than the Italian Army after El Alamein.


I do not see this as an evening of 'three guys' looking at albums and cranking up Dr. Horse and Mitch Ryder, until Mrs. Obama calls the President into the kitchen and says, "That is about enough. Tell your Buddies good night. The girls have school and you have Health Care Reform."

Nope. This frothy confab may be just as frosty as a mother-in-law's kiss. So, why not have a great Chicago beer make its way into American History.

Might I suggest Goose Island's Matilda!




Matlida - Gooseisland Brewmasters Notes:
Wild in character, with a slightly fruity aroma and a spicy yeast flavor that is as unique as it is satisfying – Matilda is an intriguing choice for beer and wine lovers alike. Dry and quenching, it’s the perfect accompaniment at the dining table or for casually socializing at the bar.
Recipe Information:
Style: Belgian Style Pale Ale
Alcohol by Volume: 7%
International Bitterness Units: 32
Color: Golden Sunrise
Hops: Styrian, Saaz
Malts: 2-Row, Caramel

Serving Suggestions:
Preferred Glass: Wide Mouth Glass
Preferred Serving Temperature: 40º

Food Pairings: Matilda pairs with many foods. Its spicy yeast flavors compliment fresh mussels and contrast rich pork belly.

Pork Belly - Please!

Cheese Pairings: Camembert, Washed Rind Cheeses ( ditch the cheese)
Cellaring Notes: Develops in the bottle for up to 5 years

Obama Favorables Under 50% -Rasmussen Daily Tracking has President's Approval at Rating at 49%

Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Today marks the first time his overall approval rating has ever fallen below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

Yesterday, I predicted President Obama's numbers would sink by Labor Day, but God's Holy Haines!

This Poll was taken prior to the Wednesday night " Cops Acted Stupidly" Press Conference.

Click my post title for the Rasmussen study.

Huge Hat Tip to Pundit and Pundette!

Culture Clash Writ Large - The Academic and the Cop

"I mean, if I was trying to jigger into -- well, I guess this is my house now, so -- it probably wouldn't happen.

"But let's say my old house in Chicago -- here I'd get shot."

President Barack Obama June 22, 2009


President Obama is getting cover for his Stupid Cop remarks from MSNBC, which is going flat-out with faux news tinsel about 'Birth-ers' - the new 'Truthers,' or 'Swiftboaters' supposedly worried that President Obama was born in Kenya. Really? The only place in this vast city of Chicago that I have heard about 'birth-ers' is on my 17" Panavision TV set in the basement - when somehow channel 52 MSNBC on WOW cable trips on and Milky Matthews, Big Ed or Fountain Mouth Schuester, sitting in for Fat Boy Olbermann get a howling.

The balance of the howling deals with Dick Cheney, or Sarah Palin. What's up with that? Cover, Sweetheart. The President is tanking.

The Big Story is President Obama's stupid joke and subsequent smear of the Cambridge, MA Police and Sgt. Crowley in particular.

This incident of Wednesday Night's Presidential Press Conference tells more about the Obama Administration than if T.H. White had written the Making and UnMaking of a President 2008-2009. The President decided when asked by Sun Times White House correspondent Lynn Sweet (who this very morning dedicates her ink to kopping a plea that she had not tanked the question with the White House prior to the News Conference)to slap the helots, rubes and working stiffs by showing the cops his big stick and bully pulpit. Oh, It's On! The President jokingly implied that Chicago Cops would shoot him. Chicago cops are detailed at City of Chicago expense to watch out for his 'old house' in Hyde Park.

Chicago Cops have long been the target of people close to President Obama - lawyers suing Chicago over alleged police abuse, torture and mayhem; most newpaper columnists and TV news readers; editorial boards; academics and old timey 60's radicals in the 'Hood.

What President Obama displayed is the very nature of elitist meanness and small minded will to belittle the broad American middle class. This presentation marks the ground. The Academic and the Cop will be the metaphor in the days to come.

Sgt. Crowley represents the small-town rubes who cling to their guns and religion.

Skip Gates is a resident of the Universal Hyde Park. The folks with whom the President is at home.

Like Skip Gates, President Obama just might have locked himself out of our homes. He had a good night with a hundred or so well-heeled donors. Behind the doors of the American middle class homes millions of Sgt. Crowley-like Americans watched Mark Buehrle reach perfection by doing what American workers do so well - they're jobs.
Those jobs are vanishing, because President Obama's Academic pals, like Skip Gates, want the government to force its will upon all of us doing our jobs. That is the essence of Stimulus Packages and Government Run Health Care.

Americans believe that President Obama was elected to the Presidency on the level.

Americans are learning, rather quickly, that President Obama's plans for them are not on square.

Ask Sgt. Crowley; ask any cop.


http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1680818,w-obama-police-arrest-gates-07.article

http://www.amazon.com/Making-President-Theodore-Harold-White/dp/1568491433

President Obama jokes: But let's say my old house in Chicago - (laughter) - here I'd get shot. (Laughter.)

Here is the president's full answer from the transcript:

Click my post title for the Politics Daily, for whom Lynn Sweet writes, and the video

"Well, I should say at the outset that "Skip" Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don't know all the facts. What's been reported, though, is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house, there was a report called into the police station that there might be a burglary taking place - so far, so good, right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger into - well, I guess this is my house now so - (laughter) - it probably wouldn't happen. But let's say my old house in Chicago - (laughter) - here I'd get shot. (Laughter.)


That should give no end of a boost to the morale of the Chicago Police Department. Mr. President, this was a new low in Presidential Humor, but not nearly as low as your numbers will plunge by Labor Day. Laugh that off.
Here is the rest of the Presidemt's answer to Lynn Sweet -

"But so far, so good. They're reporting - the police are doing what they should. There's a call, they go investigate what happens. My understanding is at that point Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in, I'm sure there's some exchange of words, but my understanding is, is that Professor Gates then shows his ID to show that this is his house. And at that point, he gets arrested for disorderly conduct - charges which are later dropped.

"Now, I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that, but I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact.

"As you know, Lynn, when I was in the state legislature in Illinois, we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in this society. That doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. I am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made.

"And yet the fact of the matter is, is that this still haunts us. And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and oftentime for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause. And that's why I think the more that we're working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody is going to be."

President Obama will be Sub 50% by Labor Day - President goes Small on Cops and Race and Invisible on Leadership- Too Bad

President Obama smeared a Cambridge Policeman and the Cambridge Police Force and then went even smaller. He seemed to imply that here in Chicago, police would have shot him. Not much of a joke, Mr. President - pretty small.

President Obama won a remarkable victory last November. High Hopes and Nowhere to go but up.

Since January 19th, President Obama has been honeymooned and swooned over.

Now, having junketed around the globe to Apologize for America - no one asked him to do that by the way - here or abroad - and fudged Guantanamo Prison, the Stimulus #1, and the Health Care Reform dodge. His numbers dropped significantly.
It'll happen.

However, last night President Obama showed America how small a man he happens to be and still sleep in the White House.

Read this transcript of his Meet the Press with Lynn Sweet over the Skip Gates nonsense.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Wednesday that police acted "stupidly" in the arrest of prominent black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and that despite racial progress blacks and Hispanics are still singled out unfairly for arrest.

"This still haunts us," Obama said.

Obama called Gates a friend, and said he doesn't know all the facts of the case. Nonetheless, Obama said, anyone would have been angry if treated the way Gates claims police in Cambridge, Mass., treated him. Gates, a Harvard University professor, claims he was arrested in his home after showing ID to police who responded to a report of a possible burglary.

"Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof he was in own home," Obama said during a prime-time news conference that otherwise focused on the health care debate.

Gates' arrest followed a report of a possible burglary. A woman apparently saw Gates force the front door and called police. Police came and demanded that Gates show identification. Gates was arrested shortly afterward for alleged disorderly conduct, a charge that was dropped Tuesday.

"What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately," Obama said. "That's just a fact."

That disparity is a reminder that "race remains a factor in the society," Obama said.

The nation's first black president held himself up as testament to what he called the "incredible progress" minorities have achieved.

The police sergeant accused of racism after he arrested Gates insisted Wednesday that he won't apologize.

Police say Gates at first refused to display ID and then accused the officer of racism.

Sgt. James Crowley said he followed proper procedures in arresting Gates.

Standing in the stately East Room of the White House where he now lives, Obama allowed some humor into the discussion.

Obama ticked off the reported facts of the Gates case -- starting with Gates apparently forgetting his keys and jimmying the door. Police responded appropriately at first, Obama said.

"I mean, if I was trying to jigger into ...," Obama began, and then trailed off as reporters laughed. Obama laughed, too. "Well, I guess this is my house, now so it probably wouldn't happen."

Obama said he could understand police responding in good faith if he was forcing his way into his old house in Chicago.

"Here I'd get shot," he joked.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...est=latestnews

Sgt Crowley seems like a professional Law Enforcement officer who gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Boston Celtic Reggie Lewis in 1993. President Obama went small and will see his poll number shrink to sub-50% by Labor Day.
Infact. Sgt Crowley proved himself to be a Bigger Man than his President.

Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley declined today to criticize President Obama for saying Wednesday night that police "acted stupidly" in the arrest last week of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., but he did say it was "regrettable" that anyone would speak without knowing the "whole story" of the confrontation a week ago at Gates's home near Harvard Square

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/cambridge_sgt_d.html

I believed that President Obama was not ready to live in White House, much less lead America. Going small on an issue that will play out badly not only for Professor Skip Gates, but his pal the President of the United States. It is too small for a President. This was not small enough for Barack Obama. Too bad.

I am about the only Hickey in Chicago who did not vote for President Obama. John McCain, it seemed to me did not want to win, in the worst way. Ironically, I am sorry I did not vote Obama as well. I would still be disappointed. We all will be.

"Skip" Gates, Please. Read Neely Tucker on Race, Cops and Common Sense.

Danny Davis pretends that he is driving in Britain, last year, for driving on the wrong side of Kedzie on the West Side (hugely Black Demographic area), gets a ticket, and screams 'Racial Profiling!' Intolerable. Justice.

The Tamil Tigers' and Rev Sun Myung Moon's Congressman Danny K.Davis gets a walk while he pontificates in slow basso profundo tones. Yes, Yes!

The race card is tossed. Years ago Eric Michael Dyson, the academic who equates Tupac to Homer, got a ticket over near Washington Park and devoted a series of his Sun Times columns to the horrors of driving while black.

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, a Black Ivory Tower Academic and pal of the President was arrested at his home when he busted into the house that he had locked himself out of and white woman neighbor thought that Skip's house was being burglarized while he was in China. She called the cops. The cops came and the rest is being played out in Presidential Racial History. Chris Matthews is concerned, 'Hmmyeah." Here is a quote from Skip Gates about the incident.

Gates said he does not think that anything he did justified the officer's actions. He walks with a cane and said he did not pose a threat.
"I weigh 150 pounds and I'm 5-7. I'm going to give flak to a big white guy with a gun. I might wolf later, but I won't wolf then."

John Houseman could not have said it in a more academically rigorous manner. Gown and town, matters, Old Cock! Gaudeamus Igitur! Iuvenentum Summus!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072101771_2.html?sid=ST2009072103463
Washington Post writer Neely Tucker knows racial hostility from both sides as his marriage happens to be one of true minds and two different races.

He writes this:

Like Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., I am interracially married, currently live in a predominantly white neighborhood, have a healthy respect for armed men wearing uniforms, and have had the police come to my house in a confrontational manner, doing the job they're paid to do.

It happened when our house alarm went off at 2 a.m. a few months ago, on a night the electricity was off and the neighborhood was dark as pitch. WANH!! WANH!! WANH!! It sent my wife and me leaping out of bed. I sprinted downstairs with a baseball bat, our Rottweiler and a flashlight to confront any possible intruder. I checked all the windows and doors, the dog yawned, and it quickly became apparent that there was a short circuit from a rear door.

My wife called the alarm company and gave them the code for a false alert.

Then two cops showed up.

The first thing they did was ask me to step outside. The second thing they did was to ask me for my identification, to prove that I lived there. They were demanding and they were not friendly. They kept their flashlights in my face. They did not take my word for it that it was my house, though I was as white as they were.

Once I showed them my driver's license with the address, they asked if anyone else was inside, and then they asked if they could look around the place.

I was irritable in that middle-of-the-night kind of way, but it did not occur to me that they might be picking on us, the salt-and-pepper couple on the block. What occurred to me was that they got a call about a home alarm going off and they had to secure the premises before they could leave. And I was thrilled to have them search the entire house, because my wife's 9-year-old daughter was murdered in a home invasion in Silver Spring six years ago. The police came running then, too, but it was too late.

Read more of this fine essay. Click my post title.

U.S.A.! Utter Silly Apologies - Come on! America is Johnny Ray?

If your heartaches seem to hang around too long
And your blues keep getting bluer with each song
Remember sunshine can be found behind a cloudy sky
So let your hair down and go on and cry

Johnny Ray -Cry 1952

Sing it Sisters! Uncle Sam is now Johnny Ray*! (Click my post title for new National Anthem.)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued the International U.S.A. ( Utter Silly Apologies) Johnny Ray Tour in India the other day with this oily lump of chicken fat:

"We acknowledge now with President Obama that we have made mistakes in the United States, and we along with other developed countries have contributed most significantly to the problem that we face with climate change," she said. "We are hoping a great country like India will not make the same mistakes."

A.P.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3lGTbp2KLrD4mzkA_ebmlLJFg7wD99HGRG00

India refuses to do Cap and Trade, Hillary. Get up to speed.

However, her boss and former foe has set the Johnny Ray* tone for the New Jimmy Carter Years!



Top 10 Obama Apologies
Excerpted from article by Niles Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation.

1. Apology to Europe: Speech in Strasbourg, France, April 3. “In America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe‘s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.”

2. Apology to the Muslim world: Interview with Al Arabiya, January 27. “My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect.”

3. Apology to the Summit of the Americas: Address to the Summit of the Americas, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17. “While the United States has done much to promote peace and prosperity in the hemisphere, we have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms.”

4. Apology at the G-20 Summit of World Leaders: News conference in London, April 2. “I just think in a world that is as complex as it is, that it is very important for us to be able to forge partnerships as opposed to simply dictating solutions.”

5. Apology for the War on Terror: Speech in Washington, D.C., May 21. “Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. I believe that many of these decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that all too often our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight, that all too often our government trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions.”

6. Apology for Guantanamo in France: Speech in Strasbourg, France, April 3. “In dealing with terrorism, we can’t lose sight of our values and who we are. That’s why I closed Guantanamo. That’s why I made very clear that we will not engage in certain interrogation practices. I don’t believe that there is a contradiction between our security and our values. And when you start sacrificing your values, when you lose yourself, then over the long term that will make you less secure.”

7. Apology for America before the Turkish Parliament: Speech to the Turkish Parliament, Ankara, Turkey, April 6. “The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history. Facing the Washington Monument that I spoke of is a memorial of Abraham Lincoln, the man who freed those who were enslaved even after Washington led our Revolution. Our country still struggles with the legacies of slavery and segregation, the past treatment of Native Americans.”

8. Apology for U.S. Policy toward the Americas: Editorial “Choosing a Better Future in the Americas,” April 16. “Too often, the United States has not pursued and sustained engagement with our neighbors. We have been too easily distracted by other priorities, and have failed to see that our own progress is tied directly to progress throughout the Americas.”

9. Apology for the Mistakes of the CIA: Remarks to CIA employees at Langley, Va., April 29. “Don’t be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we’ve made some mistakes.”

10. Apology for Guantanamo: Speech in Washington, D.C., May 21. “There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America’s strongest currency in the world.” h/t Heritage Foundation

Coming Soon!

Presidential International Apologies for:

1. Thomas A. Edison - "Light Bulbs (Incandescent Candles) are not Sexy and Melt Polar Ice Caps:

2. Henry Ford -" The Assembly Line . . .What can I say?"

3. Enrico Fermi - "Splitting the Atom at the University of Chicago was not the Science I know!"

4. George M. Cohan - " Patriotism is the Last Refuge of Scoundrels!"

5. The Berlin Airlift - " We will never Intrude Again!"

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Ray

Johnny Ray

Career
Inspired by rhythm singers like Kay Starr, LaVern Baker and Ivory Joe Hunter, Ray developed a unique rhythm based style, described as alternating between pre-rock R&B and a more conventional classic pop approach.[1]

Ray first attracted the attention of Bernie Lang, a song plugger, who was taken to the Flame Showbar nightclub in Detroit, Michigan by local DJ, Robin Seymour of WKMH. "We were both excited" Seymour recalls. "We heard two shows that first night."

Lang rushed off to New York to sell the singer to Danhy Kessler, the "Mr. Big" of the Okeh label, which is a subsidiary of Columbia Records. Kessler came over from New York, and he, Lang and Seymour went to the Flame. According to Seymour, Kessler's re-action was, "Well, I don't know. This kid looks well on the stand, but he will never go on records."

It was Seymour and Lowell Worley of the local office of Columbia who persuaded Kessler to have a test record made of Johnnie Ray. Worley arranged for a record to be cut at the United Sound Studios in Detroit. Seymour told reporter Dick Osgood that there was a verbal agreement that he would be cut in on the three-way deal in the management of Johnnie Ray. But the deal mysteriously evaporated, and so did Seymour's friendship with Danny Kessler.[2]

Ray's first record, the self-penned R&B number for OKeh Records, "Whiskey and Gin", was a minor hit in 1951. The following year he dominated the charts with the double-sided hit single of "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried". Selling over two million copies of the 45 single, Ray's delivery struck a chord with teenagers and he quickly became a teen idol.[3]

Ray's performing style included theatrics later associated with rock 'n roll, including beating up his piano, writhing on the floor and crying.[citation needed] Ray quickly earned the nicknames "Mr. Emotion", "The Nabob of Sob", and "The Prince of Wails", and several others.[3]

More hits followed, including "Please Mr. Sun", "Such a Night", "Walkin' My Baby Back Home", "A Sinner Am I", and "Yes Tonight Josephine". His last hit was "Just Walkin' in the Rain", in 1956. He did, however, hit again in 1957 with "You Don't Owe Me a Thing", which reached #10 in the Billboard charts. He was popular in the United Kingdom, breaking the record at the London Palladium formerly set by Frankie Laine.[citation needed] In later years, he retained a loyal fan base overseas, particularly in Australia.


[edit] Later career influences
Ray had a close relationship with journalist and television game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen who gave a boost to his sagging career during his engagement at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1965.[4]

In early 1969, Ray befriended Judy Garland, performing as her opening act during her last concerts in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. Ray was also the best man during Garland's wedding to nightclub manager Mickey Deans in London.[5]

Ray's American career revived in the early 1970s, with appearances on The Andy Williams Show in 1970 and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson three times during 1972 and 1973. His personal manager Bill Franklin resigned in 1976 and cut off contact with the singer a few years later. His American revival turned out to be shortlived. He performed in small American venues such as El Camino College in 1987.[6] Australian, English and Scottish promoters booked him for their large venues as late as 1989, his last year of performing.

Some writers suggested that the reason American entertainment bookers and songwriters ignored him in the 1980s was because they simply did not know who he was, or what his sound was like.[7] His exposure during the new era of cable television was limited to a few seconds in Dexys Midnight Runners' 1982 music video for "Come On Eileen", using archival footage of Ray from 1954. He was name checked in the lyrics to "Come On Eileen" (viz "Poor old Johnnie Ray sounded sad upon the radio / he moved a million hearts in mono").[8]

His other video appearance was in Billy Idol's 1986 "Don't Need a Gun", in which Ray appeared on-camera.


[edit] Personal life
Ray had issues surface regarding his sexuality several times in his career, including two arrests for soliciting men for sex. Ray quietly pleaded guilty and paid a fine after the first arrest, in the restroom of the Stone Theatre burlesque house in Detroit, which was just prior to the release of his first record in 1951.[9] Ray went to trial following the second arrest in 1959, also in Detroit, for soliciting an undercover officer in one of the city's gay bars. He was found not guilty.[9]

Despite these issues, Ray married Marilyn Morrison a short time after he gave his first New York concert, which was at the Copacabana in 1952. The wedding ceremony, attended by New York mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri, made the cover of the New York Daily News.[10] Morrison, the daughter of a Los Angeles nightclub owner,[10] was aware of the singer's sexuality from the start, telling a friend she would "straighten it out."[9] The couple separated in 1953 and divorced in 1954.

In the years hence, writers have noted that the marriage occurred under false pretenses,[11] and that Ray had a long-term relationship with his manager, Bill Franklin.[9][12][13] Ray also had a relationship with columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, whom he met following an appearance on What's My Line? in 1956.[9][13][14] Kilgallen was a strong support for Ray during the 1959 solicitation trial.[9][13]

Ray drank regularly and his alcoholism caught up with him in 1960, when he was hospitalized for tuberculosis.[9] He recovered but continued drinking, and was diagnosed with cirrhosis at age fifty.[14]

On 24 February 1990, Ray died of liver failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.[3][14] He is buried at Hopewell Cemetery near Hopewell, Oregon.

For his contribution to the recording industry, Johnnie Ray has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard.

We Have a Problem! Burr Oak Cemetery and Someone Else's Troubles

Father Dan Mallette blesses the desecrated grounds at Burr Oak.


So I asked the undertaker what it took to make him laugh/when all he ever saw is people cryin'

first he hands me a bunch of flowers that he received on my behalf/he said, "Steve business just gets better all the time
Steve Goodman -Somebody Else's Troubles



Max Weismann of the Center for the Study of Great Ideas is an architect and a philosopher.

He designs. Max Weismann thinks. He thinks because he reads and he reads what is great. Max wrote to me in response to the horrific desecration of the dead Americans at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, IL

"We are under Siege!Aside from the plethora of current inequities and iniquities being perpetrated on the citizens of this nation, we have now reached the nadir--Congress now passes massive bills of profound and long lasting consequences, without even reading them.

That said, we are ultimately at fault--whenever something is wrong in our communities, cities, states or country, it's because we let it get that way."

We are responsible. Max Weismann is using the 1st Person Plural in its archaic form. Thanks to Progressive PC obfuscation of the common language ( O, Let's Ban Midget!)The first person plural however now means You. Thanks to Victimhood and Identity Politics. Many thanks. Like the name of that old Hippie/Yuppie bar Fred Holstein's - Somebody Else's Trouble , people like to talk of the revolution that someone else fights and spreading the wealth that someone else pays for.

I grew up in a blue collar world where free lunch ends when Mom stops making it. If someone at the bar buys me a beer, I am duty bound to buy the next one. It all evens out, unless you happen to be the type of louse who stands around caging drinks and smile with your short arms and deeper pockets when the round comes to you. I don't do those things, because I have had my ass kicked repeatedly and with great gusto by my elders and betters. You don't get away with that too much around Western Avenue, though I have seen it done. I called such a person a louse, an insect who feeds on others; but, who's to say? One man's louse is another man's cause celebre.

The bane of my outlook in all things over the last four decades has been a dominance of earnest people who speak in hushed measured tones and affect a look of pained recognition but intolerant disgust with all other people. Joan Walsh a Progressive writer and editor of Salon and all too frequent guest on MSNBC ( the Tool Shed) comes to mind. Joan Walsh and folks like her have a mantra - 'Who's to Say?'

e.g. Michael Jackson was not only the greatest entertainer of all time, the 21st Century Dionysus who danced in a Golden Age; a John the Baptist who announced Barack Obama. Who's to say?

Me. I don't do group think and neither do most Americans. I voted for Barack Obama when he ran against Bobby Rush in my Congressional District - Obama lost. I like Barack Obama.

I worked for John McCain. John McCain lost, because he seemed to want to lose, after September 19th 2008 - the day the American Economy tanked. My Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, Aunts and my hundreds of cousins voted for Barack Obama.

Barack Obama is my President. I still feel that he was no where near ready to be President and that he will be the Jimmy Carter of the New Millennium - too bad. Nice guy.

I belong to the We - 99% of the Hickey/Winters/Brennan/Donahue/Cleary family voted to make Barack Obama Our President. Pronouns matter. Possessive Pronouns really matter. My guy lost, We won. That is America! Thanks be to God!

Who's to say? Me. I read and seem to understand history. I read and seem to understand poetry,drama, fiction and essays. I taught literature with some success for decades. I occasionally even get paid to write something, because I have something to say. Somethings I managed to learn on my own -from great books.
The rest I learned by getting the odd slap when needed, or from the silent treatment for being a jerk.

I work for and with black teenagers at Leo High School in Gresham neighborhood - in fact a black kid was shot over at 1400 W. 78th Place early this morning by a clown in dred-locks firing from the sun-roof of the car in which he was riding. Some mother has a kid at Advocate Hospital in Oak Lawn with his guts shot out and tubes in every orifice - my kids are asleep. This kid could be a Leo Man, I hope and pray not. The Kids at Leo High School are all black, but the guys helping pay their tuition are nearly all white guys.

Race relations issues are talked about by Joan Walsh-like head-shakers on WTTW who never drop a dime to help kids at Leo. Race Relations happen every day and race relations are pretty damn good. Leo High School is a safe place for Black Kids - they study, meet old white guys, play sports and succeed. Their folks pay heavy tuition bills and old white guys buck up plenty to ease their pain.

Gresham District Chicago Cops protect the kids once they are out of the school and help to see that they get home, without some clown throwing shots at them.


Sheriff Tom Dart unearthed the horrific desecration of My Neighbors at Burr Oak Cemetery. We have a problem. We are under siege, as Max Weismann wrote to me with heartbreakingly succinct clarity.

A Joan Walsh can write for Salon and shake her jowls with disgust at all of us, while making a case for Abortion about white on black systemic racism on MSNBC. Great.

The bones of a child are as precious to me as the bones of Emmett Till, Ezzard Charles, Dinah Washington and the hundreds of people who struggled and laughed and provided for their children and were back-hoe-ed by three morons at the bidding of some others.

We have a problem. Sheriff Tom Dart and all of us are now doing something about what was done. We need to start taking care of Someone Else's Troubles by calling out the dopes who continue to say 'Who's to Say?' We Do.

We need to Read what is Great and not just what is rammed down our throats, by Group Thinkers. We can read Dead White Men and still honor the thoughts of living women of color - honor bright; it can happen.

We need to say that killing Children is not a Woman's Reproductive Health Issue; murder is not the result of systemic racism, but an individual act selfish contempt for everyone else; suffering is not Some Else's Trouble; help is not always the result of more taxes.

Who's to say? Me. I don't need to be right; I just need to live like I might be correct.


Go to The Center for the Study of Great Ideas and get some Great Ideas from people who had them.

The CENTER has two primary missions:

One, to help awaken citizens from their moral and intellectual slumbers and to help them understand why philosophy is everybody's business: the possibility of finding sound and practical answers to questions about the good life and good society. And philosophy's ability to answer the most basic normative questions, WHAT OUGHT WE SEEK IN LIFE? And HOW OUGHT WE SEEK IT?

Two, to promulgate the insights and ideals embedded in Dr. Adler's lifelong intellectual work in the fields of Philosophy, Liberal Education, Ethics and Politics. To continue functioning as THE resource for, access to, and the on-going interpretation of his work.