George Bush is no Gene Kelly

I think I had seen reference to the letter Patricia Ward Kelly, widow of Gene Kelly, sent to the New York Times, but hadn't gotten around to finding the letter and reading it once I got home from work. Thankfully, I was just reminded by this post at Crooks and Liars. Ms. Kelly's letter was prompted by this Maureen Dowd column, in which the columnist stated:

The dollar’s crumpling, the recession’s thundering, the Dow’s bungee-jumping and the world’s disapproving, yet George Bush has turned into Gene Kelly, tap dancing and singing in a one-man review called “The Most Happy Fella.”

Anyway, as Nicole Belle remarked at Crooks and Liars, there "are some smackdowns that are just better than others."

When Gene was compared to the grace and agility of Jack Dempsey, Wayne Gretzky and Willie Mays, he was delighted. But to be linked with a clunker -- particularly one he would consider inept and demoralizing -- would have sent him reeling.

Graduated with a degree in economics from Pitt, Gene was not only a gifted dancer, director and choreographer, he was also a most civilized man. He spoke multiple languages; wrote poetry; studied history; understood the projections of Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes. He did the Sunday Times crossword in ink. Exceedingly articulate, Gene often conveyed more through movement than others manage with words.

Sadly, President Bush fails to communicate meaningfully with either. For George Bush to become Gene Kelly would require impossible leaps in creativity, erudition and humility.

Patricia Ward Kelly
Los Angeles, March 16, 2008

Oh, snap.

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Black church and community

When I wrote Here is the church earlier this week, one thing that didn't even occur to me is the historical significance of the church in the African American community. So I am grateful to Booman for doing a front page post this morning addressing this issue. His post featured an excerpt from rikyrah, of Jack and Jill Politics. I include that same excerpt here, as it addresses this issue much more effectively than I ever could.

Black people do not change churches like they do purses. I am in my 30's, and outside of school, I've had exactly 2 church homes in my life. It took nearly 2 years to find the second one, but I found it. Commitment to a church isn't something that's done fly-by-night. It's not some fleeting commitment. It is a given that you will find something that you don't like about any church you attend; which is why it is the general COMMUNITY that will ultimately make that decision.

The Black Church is the ONLY institution, in the history of The United States of America, which, from its conception,

Validated, Supported, Incubated, and Treasured.

BLACK HUMANITY.

Period.

Don't think I'm correct, then name me another institution which has done so.

The attack on Trinity is seen as an attack on the Black Church, and thus, by extension, an attack on the Black Community as a whole.

During times of slavery and Jim Crow, the Black Church was what reinforced Community.

Post Civil Rights and Integration, the Black Church is now what brings Community together, considering that the Black Community, like the rest of America, is becoming more stratified along the lines of class. The Black Church is really the only place in Black America where you will consistently find the doctor and welfare mother in the same building, with the same purpose. It's the place to break down those walls of class that are building up.

To disown Wright and Trinity would be to disown the Black Community itself, which is why Obama said in his speech he couldn't. He understood that fundamentally about the Black Community, and he understood that political expediency would mean the doubting of the existence of his soul by the Black community. Obama would never be trusted again by Black folk if he had disowned Wright & Trinity. Even Black folk that don't go to church understand that you don't mess with the Black Church - it's just not done.

Update: I think that showing the people of Trinity some love is a good idear. If you agree, please pass it on.

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NATIONAL NURSE RESOLUTION PASSES VERMONT HOUSE!

wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt! wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt! wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt! wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt!

A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF
AN OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL NURSE
PASSED THE VT HOUSE TODAY!


THIS JUST IN FROM MY REP. BILL FRANK! ~

Yea!!! The resolution was just presented on the floor by Rep. Patty
O'Donnell and passed on a voice vote. Later today the House Journal
will be posted on the Leg web site, where this will show up.


http://www.cafepress.com/nationalnurse.28937656 

wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt! wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt! wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt! wOOt!  wOOt!  wOOt!

COMMENTS

It's Kitten Time!

It's always Kitten Time at The Daily Kitten. Scroll down to read the very interesting entry for March 24.

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Here is the church...

The latest from Hillary Clinton...

"You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."

*Shakes head*

Oh, Hillary, what are we going to do with you? You have been saying for months that you're "ready on day one". But, you remember that saying about how "everything I needed to know, I learned in kindergarten"? I think maybe you were absent for an important lesson.

Here's the church, and here's the steeple
Open the door and see all the people.

All the people, Hillary. Not just the pastor. Setting aside for a moment the concepts of forgiveness and redemption, and, oh, I don't know, choosing to stay with someone who's made a mistake of some sort, disagreeing with one's pastor is not necessarily reason enough to leave one's church home.

As Deborah Brown said at Street Prophets this afternoon

To me, all these folks who yell sanctimoniously about Obama NOT leaving the church when he heard something he didn't like are only showing their true colors as people who have never been meaningfully involved in a church family.

Your church is, or should be, so much more than a single pastor-- it's the people, philosophies, works and programs that make up a combined spiritual home and physical place to be the hands and feet of God.

More here.

Just an aside, by the way. People are free think whatever they want about the value or harm of organized religion. But I believe we owe it to ourselves and each other to try to understand the relationships and contexts of people's lives through their eyes, and not just through the lens of our own biases.

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CBS video contradict's Hillary's Bosnia tale

Actual mainstream media coverage

CBS News Video from Hillary Clinton's 1996 visit to Bosnia as first lady contradicts a more dramatic description the Democratic presidential candidate gave in a recent campaign speech.

More media coverage here.

Also, in Metanarratives and Hillary's Honesty Gap, Greg Saunders points out how easily Hillary's "misstatements" could become this year's "invented the internet".

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This and that

I posted the following over the weekend at My Left Wing...

Since Hillary Clinton has been pushing the idea that she has "crossed the commander-in-chief threshold", I think it's reasonable that we should examine the evidence to see if it supports that assertion. Actually, I believe that the 24-hour news channels should be examining that evidence. But hopefully they'll catch up to speed on that after they squeeze the last few drops of sensationalism out of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons. In the meantime, bloggers are doing what they can to get this story the attention it deserves...

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." --Hillary Clinton, speech at George Washington University, March 17, 2008.

Let's take a peek at this harrowing experience Hillary bravely endured, with the sniper fire and what have you.

Wait a second...that doesn't look nearly as life-threatening as what Hillary described! It's almost like she was exaggerating, or something.

For more, see Hillary in Tuzla: The Tale of Bosnian Sniper Fire (TRAILER) at The Jed Report.
.....
Since the time I posted that diary, the Clinton campaign has apparently said that they may have "misspoke". Carville, tool that he is, has stood by his "Judas" remark. Making Hillary, who, exactly? Sadly, a supporter of Obama brought up "the blue dress", making it even harder to keep any kind of spotlight on offenses committed by the Clinton campaign.

Dammit! Have I mentioned how freaking sick I am of all of this? I want to walls to start oozing stuff that tells Hillary to GET OUT. Wherever she goes.

Bottom line, though, I've had a long day, and need to stay away from the political stuff. So I'm going to post some links about Peeps, and then try to find my happy place, and hang out there for a while.

It's a new movement: Peep art
Columbus Dispatch "Pimp My Peep" contest
Washington Post Peeps Show
Chicago Tribune Peeps Dioramas
Peep Research

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END OF EASTER DAY ~ HERE'S TO SPRING!

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