Action Speak Louder Than Words

 

Three Guys and No Baby

Three of the four living ex-presidents attended John Lewis’s funeral.  The other ex-president, Jimmy Carter, was too sick to travel.  Trump, the president announced he was not going.  I did not hear a reason.

Today, from his own lips, he explained why he chose not to go:  John Lewis did not attend his inauguration. 

That reminds me of a time my friend Van and I got into a scuffle.  Mrs. Miller heard both sides of the story and told us to go sit down, and added, “I’m not sure you two are mature to be promoted to the 4^th grade.”

Donald and Me, Not First Responders

Donald Trump said he was at Ground Zero after "it" happened but does not consider himself a First Responder.  Of course not.  So, why did he even mention it?


Above are some pictures of Ground  Zero I took in December 2018, seventeen years and three months later.  I don't consider me a First Responder either.

Ms Lillian, Plains, Georgia

November 1976

After Jimmy Carter was elected president, in November 1976, we drove to Plains, Georgia, to check out the President-to-be's stomping ground.   We saw his mother, Ms Lillian herself walking across the street.  With her long legs she was walking fast.  Some people had a hard time keeping up with her.  In the Train Station she had a chair and desk whee she was signing autographs.   She was very nice and graceful until a woman reached out to hug her and she recoiled like a caged animal.  She said something of the effect, "Do not touch me!"

After all, she was a nurse. 

Unbalanced Scales

This past weekend I heard Mitch McConnell say that it is the president's Constitutional right to nominate a Supreme Court Justice,

It is?

Then why did he and other Republicans refuse to accept President Obama's Supreme Court Justice nominee near the end of Obama's term?

HAPPY CHECKERS DAY!

Today is National Checkers Day.  Nixon’s dog Checkers came to mind.  September 23, 1952, Nixon gave his famous “Checkers speech”.  Nixon was then a candidate for vice-president and found himself in hot water because he was accused of improprieties of campaign funds.  His approval ratings were losing points.

He called a press conference and said some people were critical of him accepting  the dog Checkers as a gift.  He said they named it Checkers.  He went on to say how cute Checkers was, and Pat and the girls loved it.  And regardless of criticism he gets, They were going to keep it.

It was a stroke of genius of feeling the public’s pulse.  Checkers had nothing to do with the campaign funds.  The public fell for the heart-warming story.  The public loves dogs.  His approval ratings went up and he was elected vice president.  I think his running mate Ike probably privately shook his head.

I think Trump needs to get a dog.

I'm Scaring You! Boo!

*

I noticed several politicians are blaming the crime problem on liberals, illegal immigrants,  and sanctuary cities.  They have three scapegoats!  That should put the fear in the minds of the voters.

I was wondering what percent of the people arrested are illegal immigrants.      I Googled that very question and got many wishy-washy vague answers.

The closest facts and figures answer I could find is this:

In 2015, the prison population in the United States 4% of the prisoners  were not citizens.

4% is scary.

But what is even scarier is the other 96% being ignored in this scare tactic.

* promote still from  O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

"Not Me!"

Remember when Presidents took the responsibility of their position?

Larry McDonald Posing in the 4th Of July Parade

This is Congressman Larry McDonald (1935-1983) in an Independence Day Parade on the 4th of July about 1980.  I was using my 35mm Minolta with a barrel 200mm zoom lens.  Larry stopped the parade and posed so I could get some good shots.  I suppose with that shotgun looking lens he might have thought I was the press.

Surprise!

As we know the Korean Airlines  plane he was flying in September 1, 1983, was shot down by Soviet Interceptors for violating air space. 

I just noticed that the flight number was 007.  As in Bond, James Bond.  Ironic isn't it?

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em!

Watching Governor Chris Christy smiling and endorsing Donald Trump reminds me of the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

It also reminds me of a scene in the movie "O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?"  when Governor "Pappy" O'Daniel" , played by Charles Durning, see the  crowd go wild over the band "Soggy Bottom Boys", a group of outlaw fugitive from the chain-gang, makes an instant decision to hop on their bandwagon. and pardon them.

Plains, Georgia, November 1976

A Sampling of my Wares

Jimmy's Brother Billy Carter on the move.

Billy Carter's Service Station

Jimmy's Mother "Miss Lillian" Carter on the move

Miss Lillian Carter in the Railroad Depot autographing. 

Miss Lillian was very congenial and polite to all the gawkers  around her.  But she had to snap at a couple of people who reached out to shake her hand.  Apparently she did not want to touch anybody's germy hands.  I'm sure being a nurse for any years taught her that humans are natural carriers of germs.

In November 1976, after Jimmy Carter was elected President, Anna and I drove down to Plains, Georgia.  I took a lot of pictures of the town.  I took on the role of a rude unscrupulous prying paparazzi  photographer.  

About 30 years later when I started my blog Chicken-fat in a desperate search for material I remembered my Plains pictures and  published them on the blog.  There are some pictures of Mrs. Lillian Carter signing autographs;  some of Billy Carter; and some buildings.  Actually, just after I took a picture of Billy in his vehicle he shot me a bird- he caught me with my camera down.... I miss the best shots sometimes.

Arcadia Press is releasing  a book about Plains, and Jimmy Carter.  The editor, Bobby Buccallato searched and found my Plains pictures on Chicken-fat.  He emailed me and asked for permission to use some of them in his book and I said sure.

Today the book JIMMY CARTER IN PLAINS will be released.  The launching site is the Carter Center in Atlanta.  We were asked to be there this evening.  We probably will.

Al Capp the Prophet

click on image to make bigger and readable but not believable, but it is true anyway.

Al  Capp, creator of LI' ABNER knew how business and politics worked hand in hand.  This was a Sunday LI'  ABNER strip many years ago, at least 50, and it holds true today. 

MEMO:

To Whom It May Concern:

If you look down on the working class it is best  not to show it when dealing with individuals of that class.   You may be dealing with a raving firecracker nut and not know it.

Did Democrats and Republicans Put Aside Partisan Politics For a Joint Cause?

I am curious.  I heard a tale the other day and I wonder if it is true or not. 

If the tale is true it would mean the political  leaders of both parties have finally did something non-partisan.  That sounds good doesn't it?  In a non-partisan way they decided to rob the American public, for the good of the country, of course.

The tale went something like this:  A man was  on vacation in Europe.   I don't know if he brought along his family or not, it doesn't matter.   To tour Europe better he rented a Volkswagen.  He was surprised just how great mileage he got on the VW.  He hardly had to put any gas in it.

He wrote down the Volkswagen model, number, and what other important information and when back in the states he  went to a VW dealer and told them he would like to place an order for that certain kind of car.  They quickly told him that car was not available in the United Sates.   The car was banned from the United States.  The  more he investigated the more he found other makes of cars, European manufactured, were also banned for the same reason,:  They got too good gas mileage.

Here is the bottom line:  Getting better gas mileage would cause less gasoline to be bought thus less fuel tax would come into the government.  The government really depends on that gasoline    tax to run the government.  It has been going on through several administrations, both Democrat and Republican. 

John Q. Public, or Bill the Plumber, could cut a lot his living expense a lot with these new fuel efficiency cars, but it the U.S. needs his money more than he does, apparently.

This Day In History March 25...

1807 British Parliament abolishes slave trade.  That was official.  But the slave trade kept on running.  I think they found legal loopholes.

Speaking of loopholes, that is what the Georgia Legislation is doing now, trying to create an Ethics law so gifts from lobbyists will no longer be legal.  The basic law is about a sentence long.  But all they are working on all the legal loopholes which is taking days.  At least they are being creative.

Americans' Love - Hate Relationships

HAPPY PRESIDENTS'S DAY!!  The Post Office will be closed.

Who Will Win the Debate Tongiht?

The answer is in the eyes and ears of the beholder.

If you are a die hard Republican you will know feel Romney won the debate even before he opened his mouth.

And if you are a die-had Democrat you will know Obama won without a question.

The debate is less than one hour away and you already know, in your heart, who won the debate.

As a matter of fact, they don't even have to show up.  The results are already in.

How BABY RUTH Candy Bar Was Named

Woody Allen was not the first person to marry his adopted daughter. President Grover Cleveland did too.


I am currently reading SECRET LIVES OF U.S. PRESIDENTS.

Grover Cleveland's good friend and law partner Oscar Folsom had a daughter named Frances.  When Frances was age 11 Oscar died.  Grover adopted her.  She still lived with her mother, but offically Grover was her legal gardian.  When he became president she and her mother visited Grover at the Whitehouse often.

Grover's first wife had died.  When Frances and her mother visited Grover often at the Whitehouse the press thought they were seeing the future Mrs. Cleveland, and they were, but it wasn't the one they thought.  It was the daughter.  The President married Frances Folsom at the Whitehouse when she became 21.  It is the first and only, so far, Presidential Wedding in the Whitehouse.

Grover and Frances had a baby named Ruth.  She was known as Baby Ruth.  And that inspired a candy company to name a candy after her and the rest is history.

PANTS ON FIRE!?

The other day on TV a political analyst talked about Paul Ryan's speech at the Republican Convention.  The analyst said his speech was good and very well received; he is the new Republican hero.  And then the poltical analyst quickly added, "He just needs to deal with 'the pants on fire' thing."

3 CHEERS FOR JOHN MCCAIN!

It takes a honest and fair man to tell well-known members of his own political party that are making untrue and unfair statements about an individual.  This is not the first time John McCain went against his fellow Republicans to defend a non-Republican.  I applaude him.

Michele Bachmann said we have a Muslim in the State Department that has questionable connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.  Thank you Michele for a bit of nostalgia - it carried me down Memory Lane and reminds me of the good old days when Senator McCarthy said there were card toting communists working in the state department.

Michele was referring to Hilary Clinton's assistant Huma Abedin who is Muslm.  Muslim is like any other religion - they pray to an Almighy and each religion has mislead extremists willing to kill.