Toward the end of [October 1920], hundreds of thousands of voters all across the country found in their mailboxes or slipped beneath the front door a circular addressed TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF AMERICA -- AN OPEN LETTER. It was signed by Dr. W.E. Chancellor, a negrophobic history professor who had devoted months to demonstrating to his own satisfaction that [GOP Nominee Warren] Harding was "not a White man ... not a creole ... not a mulatto, [but] a mestizo," whose election must be stopped in order "save America from international shame and ... domestic ruin." - Geoffrey Ward, A First Class Temperament, p. 547.
1. Buy some trail mix.
2. Dump it in a bowl.
3. Add milk.
(Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp is likely to book a 100 billion yen ($986 million) loss in its high-definition DVD business and post a full-year operating profit of around 250 billion yen, falling short of its outlook, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.
Three American soldiers were killed in a rocket attack in southern Iraq on Wednesday, bringing to 12 the number of soldiers who have been killed in Iraq over the past three days.
With the overall U.S. military death toll in Iraq nearing 4,000, the latest killings mark a significant rise in deadly attacks against Americans.
At least 3,987 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an AP count. The figure includes eight military civilians
U.S. authorities in Baghdad have received five severed fingers belonging to four Americans and an Austrian who were taken hostage more than a year ago in Iraq, officials here said today.
Iraqi police raided strongholds of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday after the militia broke a ceasefire and clashed with security forces a day earlier.
U.S. sees long fight to oust Al Qaeda in Mosul
The tide of the war in Afghanistan is running against the United States and its allies, in contrast to an improving trend in Iraq [ed: D'oh!], a U.S. military official and counter-insurgency expert said on Wednesday.
"Afghanistan (is) in my eyes an under-resourced war, a war that needs a whole lot more advisers, a whole lot more economic aid," Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl told a security conference in Stockholm.
"The Real Winner here in Iowa tonight is Rudy Giuliani"
- Howard Fineman, January 3, 2008
But you know that, don’t you…Geraldine?
And it is a sadly powerful attack that dismisses all the hard work; the years spent biting your tongue, the ass whoopings you chose to hold back and the cussing outs that never happened even though not telling someone about themselves almost caused you physical pain.
Blink.
Pause…sip water…continue.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," Ferraro said. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
Which I translate to mean that you, Geraldine, think Alan Keyes just had bad timing.
John Daly has been cut loose by swing coach Butch Harmon, who said Tuesday he was not going to waste his time with a two-time major champion who is more interested in drinking than working on his golf game.
“My whole goal for him was he’s got to show me golf is the most important thing in his life,” Harmon said from his golf school in Las Vegas. “And the most important thing in his life is getting drunk.”
The White House said it is "very concerned" about record-high oil prices but that there was nothing US President George W. Bush could do...
You can see it all happening again: a Republican charging that the Democrats are defeatist, soft on national security and not to be trusted with the White House. And you can see the Democratic Party heading toward Denver for yet another crackup. This time, instead of McGovern, a genuine war hero (the Distinguished Flying Cross) caricatured as a sissy, the party will put up either a candidate who has been inconsistent on the war or one with almost no foreign policy or military experience.
The New York Times Web site reported the following exchange with a reporter in Iowa in March 2007:
Q: "What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush's policy, which is just abstinence?"
McCain: (Long pause) "Ahhh. I think I support the president's policy."
Q: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"
McCain: (Long pause) "You've stumped me."
When the Bush administration celebrates a 60 percent reduction in overall violence in Iraq, it's easy to forget that this is compared with June 2007, when the sectarian civil war was raging and bombings with scores of victims were a regular occurrence. The surge managed only to reduce the level of violence from apocalyptic to agonizing -- and now even those gains seem to be slipping.
Bush's surge was designed to give the Iraqi government the necessary breathing space for Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds to reach vital compromises. President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki showed their gratitude this month by rolling out the red carpet, literally, for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Bush's Middle East policy is designed largely to blunt the influence of Iran, which seeks a dominant role in the region. So it must have been galling to the White House to watch as Ahmadinejad swept into Baghdad in a ceremonial motorcade and toured the city with fanfare. Never one to miss a chance to stick in the needle, Ahmadinejad questioned the motives of those who "visit this country in a stealth manner."
He was referring to the fact that Bush has to fly into Iraq unannounced and can stay for only a few hours. It would be far too dangerous to let citizens know in advance that their liberator was coming to check on their welfare.
So violence seems to be creeping back, the Iraqi government is showcasing its developing friendship with Iran, and -- oh, yes -- these achievements are costing American taxpayers around $12 billion a month, according to a new book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War," by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and co-author Linda Bilmes. The authors estimate that by 2017, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost the nation between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion.
Eight U.S. service members were killed in two attacks today in Iraq, making it the deadliest day against the military this year, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. At least 11 Iraqis also were killed Monday in a surge of attacks throughout the country.
Five of the Americans died when a suicide bomber walked up to a foot patrol in Baghdad and self-detonated. The others died while on a patrol in Diyala province, the official said. He asked not to be identified as he isn't an official spokesman.
The rash of attacks against a spectrum of targets raised new questions about whether the U.S. can draw down its presence from the current buildup to levels of about a year ago.
Just saying those two words has Chinese officials angry with Bjork, who performed recently in Shanghai.
A statement by China's Culture Ministry said Bjork's outburst "broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people's feelings."
Do we need a cookie?
I bet the Tibetan people could use some food. And political independence. Little side dish of free expression could not hurt either.
Tucker Carlson's 6pmET show Tucker is getting the axe, but Carlson stays on as a political contributor to all MSNBC shows at least through the 2008 election. The official announcement, expected tomorrow, will include details about who will replace Tucker at 6pmET as well as other political programming additions. Sources say the network is going to beef up its schedule with more NBC News talent.
In recent days, Jossip, as well as other blogs, ratcheted up the talk that Tucker would be replaced "for a new project." In its 33-month run, Carlson's show has had two names, four time slots and multiple formats. At 6pmET, it builds on its Harbdall lead-in on some days, but loses audience on others.
Carlson is expected to host the show through next week, with his new role and title to take effect March 17. We're told he'll also be reporting from the campaign trail.
After the jump, the Tucker Carlson time warp...
Carlson first came to MSNBC in June, 2005 as host of The Situation With Tucker Carlson at 9pmET. That show originated from MSNBC's New Jersey headquarters. In August 2005, the show was moved to 11pmET. In July 2006, the show was renamed "Tucker" and moved to 4pmET (with a repeat airing at 6pmET). In July 2007 the 4pmET hour was scrapped and it aired live at 6pmET only.
Sounds like the guy has a tough time getting an audience to us...
Here is what is going on with the Supreme Court by 2016, assuming the winner of this election gets two terms.
Roberts has health issues.
Stevens would be 96 if alive.
Scalia would be 80
Kennedy would be 80
Souter would be 78
Ginsburg would be 83
Breyer would be 78
What prompted Jon Stewart, on “The Daily Show,” to ask, “Has John McCain’s Straight Talk Express been rerouted through Bullshit Town?”?Answer -- and the rest of the quiz -- here.
(a) McCain decided to speak at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University six years after calling Falwell and Pat Robertson “agents of intolerance.”
(b) McCain claimed that the Confederate flag flying over the South Carolina capitol symbolized “heritage,” although he was on record as having called it “a symbol of racism and slavery.”
(c) McCain said of George W. Bush, “I support him. I am grateful to him. And I am proud of him.”
A female suicide bomber blew herself up outside the house of an Iraqi tribal sheikh, killing him and three others on Monday in the restive province of Diyala, an army officer told AFP.
The bomber arrived early Monday at Sheikh Ghadban al-Karkhi's house in the town of Kanan, north of Baquba, the provincial capital, Brigadier General Rageb Al-Omeri said.
...the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book
Insiders tell TVNewser Tucker Carlson's 6pmET show Tucker is getting the axe
Condi wears her best Shower Curtain and Canvas Car Cover to the proceedings
(Photos By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
But Bush had the last word; make that song. With a gang of Busharoos, he crooned about his future back in Texas, singing: "I spend my days clearing brush, clear my head of all the fuss, like that big fuss you made over Harriet and Brownie. Down the lane I look and here comes Scooter, finally free of the prosecutor. It's good to touch the brown, brown grass of home." He even paid the news media a compliment: "When you are not writing stories, you are not half bad."
I'm glad the press had a chance to take a break from all those grueling days spent transcribing press releases, granting anonymity to high ranking administration members at official press conferences, attending cocktail parties and fancy lunches.
Not to even mention having to attend barbecues as the guest of a Presidential candidate they are allegedly covering.
A US missile strike in Somalia, aimed at a man described by the Pentagon as a "known al-Qa'ida terrorist", succeeded only in hurting six civilians and killing three cows and a calf, the IoS has learned.
Among the disclosures made by Feith in "War and Decision," scheduled for release next month by HarperCollins, is Bush's declaration, at a Dec. 18, 2002, National Security Council meeting, that "war is inevitable." The statement came weeks before U.N. weapons inspectors reported their initial findings on Iraq and months before Bush delivered an ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Feith, who says he took notes at the meeting, registered it as a "momentous comment."
...since journalistic standards in Great Britain are so much dramatically lower than they are here, it's a little much being lectured on journalistic ethics by a reporter from the "Scotsman," but I wonder if you could just explain what you think the effect is on the relationship between the press and the powerful. People don't talk to you when you go out of your way to hurt them as you did in this piece.
"You know what might work this time? Another round of bombing."
Except when you're not. NYT:The dismal jobs report released Friday showed overall employment to be lower than it was three months ago. Every time such a slump has occurred since the early 1970s, a recession has followed — or already been under way.And about that job:
And if the good times have really ended, they were never that good to begin with. Most American households are still not earning as much annually as they did in 1999, once inflation is taken into account. Since the Census Bureau began keeping records in the 1960s, a prolonged expansion has never ended without household income having set a new record.
Over the last year, the number of officially unemployed has risen by 500,000, while the number of people outside the labor force — neither working nor looking for a job — has risen by 1.3 million.And the experts are perplexed:
Employment has risen by 100,000, but even that comes with a caveat: there are also 600,000 more people who are working part time because they could not find full-time work, according to the Labor Department.
“The decline in the unemployment rate,” said Joshua Shapiro, an economist at MFR, a research firm in New York, “should not be viewed as good news.”
For a variety of reasons that economists only partly understand — including technological change and global trade — many workers have received only modest raises in recent years, despite healthy economic growth.But if you ask for a raise
The median household earned $48,201 in 2006, down from $49,244 in 1999, according to the Census Bureau. It now looks as if a full decade may pass before most Americans receive a raise.
In an article titled “Hothead McCain,” for the upcoming issue of The Nation, Robert Dreyfuss quotes Col. Larry Wilkerson (Ret.) — former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell — saying that with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “[n]o dissent, no opinion to the contrary, however reasonable, will be entertained.” Wilkerson added that McCain is “hardheaded,” “arrogant,” “hubristic,” and “too proud for his own good.” Referring to McCain’s foreign policy advisers, Wilkerson said: They “scare me.” “Scare me.”
Daily Kos has an important post that we all need to think about. While the post has received some attention, we really need to make certain that this possibility is fully investigated.
We are all familiar with the serious problems of direct, confrontational racism. The kinds of racism which is inescapable in the harm it causes. Racism that is deeply embedded into our culture from violence and assumptions of supremacy. There are increasingly -- though -- forms of racism that rise which are more hidden and obscure. I do not mean the company refusing to hire someone because they write a code, such as AA (short hand for "All American" which means white) on the form. No, this is the kind of racism that transcends institutional racism.
More and more often people in American society hide ugly racism by believing they are doing the right thing for a cause that justifies their actions. They know they cannot come right out and use words or phrases that were harmful in the past and remain a stain today. They do not seem themselves in a negative light and frequently say (over and over) that they do not "hate" anyone.
Oh no, this kind of racism comes with the recognition of the need to hide the true intent. For example, one would never call a candidate "uppity" (which has a clear code when used again people of color). Instead you say "whinny" or "demanding." But these words are but nothing more than mere old fashioned racism dressed up in a new suit. And the ends do not justify the means.
Or of course, someone who harbors or uses racism to advance their causes may talk openly when they are around people that they feel comfortable with. This so-called Backstage racism is present in our lives as many of us face it with co-workers, colleagues, even unfortunately some family and friends whom we often believe that we can change (and I, for one, will never give up trying to change them).
This Backstage racism has come to the light of day on occasion. Sometimes it is recognized for what it is and sometimes not. A few examples can help us. It occurred most dramatically during the O. J. Simpson case when there were manipulated photos of Mr. Simpson that was used by Time Magazine:
And racial manipulation most often occurs to create an impression that while not entirely negative does play on a form of racial reasoning:
Notice the young man in the back? (over the woman in white sweatshirt's shoulder) He is not there. He's not even a student of that university. The makers of the magazine added him.
Now, we are faced with a serious dilemma of possible Backstage racism this political season:
Yes, it is what it appears to be. There may be evidence that some members of the Clinton campaign may have manipulated photos of Barak Obama in order to make him appear darker. One has to wonder who thought this was a good representation of the Illionis senator? But accuracy is not the intent with the final two pictures, is it?
We need to know if these pictures are accurate representations of what some in the campaign have made? We need to know if there is an effort to attack Senator Obama by using this less obvious form of racism. Pay attention to pictures of Obama that run in newspapers and magazines. Keep an eye on the lighting that is used on him from television coverage.
There are some continued discussion at KOS that there was not any conscious manipulation, that screen capture darkens the image. Perhaps, but that does not necessarily explain why consistently darker images were used -- why some members of the campaign did not more carefully screen what was used. Campaigns screen everything and consider the representations and repercussions, do they not? We must continue to be vigilant about racism.
And we need to remember that racism comes in many forms.
Due to the unusual system in Texas there appears to be increasing evidence that Obama won the Texas caucuses which erases Clinton's slight edge in the primary. Leave it to Texas to continue to muddy the waters.
As Lisa Pease wrote yesterday:
But there was one big problem. A Texas-sized problem.
The election results from the Lone Star State’s caucuses had only just started coming in.
Texas is the only state in the union that allows people to legally vote twice: once in the primary, and once in their local caucus, or, as they are called in Texas, “precinct conventions.”
Roughly two-thirds of the pledged delegates (126) are determined by the outcome of the primary, and the remaining delegates (67) are determined by the results of the caucuses.
Only those who have already voted in the primary are allowed to vote in a caucus.
When the media proclaimed Clinton the victor in Texas, the caucus results were simply not part of the equation. But now that more than 24 hours have passed, something fascinating is happening.
Obama appears to be winning Texas.
There's only so many stories you can write, and we're running out of them.
- Ana Marie "Famous for writing about Butt Sex" Cox
@attaturk: I probably deserve everything you're pointing out and the scorn that comes with it. My comments to Kurtz were intended to be a little self-mocking and ironic -- and I did try to emphasize how, ultimately, I'm thrilled to be covering, as you put it, democracy in action. But one's feelings about one's job and how it relates to history and to your own situation are complex and difficult to reduce to quip in a style piece. I did the best I could but that clearly wasn't good enough.
The Bush administration yesterday advanced a new argument for why it does not require congressional approval to strike a long-term security agreement with Iraq, stating that Congress had already endorsed such an initiative through its 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force against Saddam Hussein.
The 2002 measure, along with the congressional resolution passed one week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks authorizing military action "to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States," permits indefinite combat operations in Iraq, according to a statement by the State Department's Bureau of Legislative Affairs.
Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey T. Bergner said that authority exists with or without a U.N. mandate. In addition to the resolutions, he wrote, "Congress has repeatedly provided funding for the Iraq war." Democrats have failed in several attempts to curtail funding for the Iraq war.
At the end of an extended conversation, Mr. Brodie [PM Harper's Senior Staffer] was asked about remarks aimed by the Democratic candidates at Ohio's anti-NAFTA voters that carried serious economic implications for Canada.
Since 75 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S., Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton's musings about reopening the North American free-trade pact had caused some concern.
Mr. Brodie downplayed those concerns.
"Quite a few people heard it," said one source in the room.
"He said someone from (Hillary) Clinton's campaign is telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt. . . That someone called us and told us not to worry."
NFL Network announces 30 hours of Brett Favre programming
NYT: McCain, Clinching Race, Will Receive Bush's BackingAs Hillary Rodham Clinton broke her streak of losses to Barack Obama, John McCain prepared to accept President Bush’s backing at the White House.
Senator McCain was scheduled to meet with President Bush in Washington on Wednesday to receive an endorsement from his onetime political rival. The president is rolling out the red carpet for the senator, who has been accused by some Republicans as being insufficiently conservative.
"Please don't let him ask me to pose for pictures. Please don't let him make a statement. Please don't let him hug me. Please don't let him touch my head. For Christ's sake, don't let him kiss me. Please keep this under five minutes. No, no: keep it under two minutes! That's reasonable, right? RIGHT?! Please don't let him call me his 'heir apparent.' And for God's sake, please don't mention Iraq!"
Political commentary switched off for a moment...
Dr. Slammy has a terrific albeit too brief discussion of the influence that obscure bands, such as Big Star and Joy Division, have had on the nature of music that we hear today.
I would argue that influence is far longer lasting than popularity. And far more important to the health of music. Because the flavor of the week comes and goes. How many people want to be in a band because of the current hit single?
How many people want to play jangly guitar like Alex Chilton? Or play the drums like Bill Berry? Or how many of us want to possess the raw don't care punk rock attitude of The Replacements? Wouldn't we all kill for the energy and irregularity of an Iggy and the Stooges performance? Don't people want just one ounce of the cool of a Lou Reed?
Popularity is brief and fleeting for most musicians and bands. However, to be truly inspired by a song, musician, or sound is transcendent. Regardless of the genre or style.
Sales make a song or band present. They become inescapable whether the song is inspiring or a piece of throw away sonic crap. The song that sells that is played on mainstream radio dominates because of the organization of the recording and radio industry, not because it inspires.
Influence derives from the feeling that music leaves with you. You want more, you desire more... yes, yes... it fulfills you. A great song that speaks to you fills that powerful need within you. True inspiration does not just come from what is selling.
Pure influence makes you want to pick up your instrument -- whatever it is -- and play. And sing, regardless of your ability to sing. It leads you to write your own stuff, record your own sound. To do! To act with or without musical precision.
Too bad the music industry does not remember that.
Switch back on...
President George W. Bush will meet Wednesday with Sen. John McCain, R.-Ariz., the man the Republican voters hope to send to the White House in November.
The White House announced late Tuesday that McCain will join Bush for lunch in the White House. The president will make a statement with McCain in the Rose Garden at 1:15 p.m. EST Wednesday.
As far as I can tell, there is more than enough stupidity out there to go round. When it's a writer with a dumb idea for a column, the idea is that an editor will exercise better judgement. I'm not an oversensitive feminist. But as a rule, "women are really stupid" columns aren't funny even when written by women.
BAGHDAD — A three-judge panel dropped charges on Monday against two former high-ranking Shiite government officials accused of using the Health Ministry to run death squads and enrich themselves.
The charges and the two-day trial were the most prominent judicial attempts to confront the factional violence that has whittled away at the government’s credibility.
But the judges found there was insufficient witness evidence to find the defendants guilty of the murder, kidnapping and corruption charges against them — a decision that shook up Sunnis and troubled some Shiites as well...
Feeding doubt about the trial’s fairness, many of the prosecution’s witnesses had been intimidated and ultimately refused to appear in court.
[Palestinian national-security adviser Muhammad] Dahlan says he warned his friends in the Bush administration that Fatah still wasn’t ready for elections in January. Decades of self-preservationist rule by Arafat had turned the party into a symbol of corruption and inefficiency—a perception Hamas found it easy to exploit. Splits within Fatah weakened its position further: in many places, a single Hamas candidate ran against several from Fatah.
“Everyone was against the elections,” Dahlan says. Everyone except Bush. “Bush decided, ‘I need an election. I want elections in the Palestinian Authority.’ Everyone is following him in the American administration, and everyone is nagging Abbas, telling him, ‘The president wants elections.’ Fine. For what purpose?”
The elections went forward as scheduled. On January 25, Hamas won 56 percent of the seats in the Legislative Council.
Few inside the U.S. administration had predicted the result, and there was no contingency plan to deal with it. “I’ve asked why nobody saw it coming,” Condoleezza Rice told reporters. “I don’t know anyone who wasn’t caught off guard by Hamas’s strong showing.”
“Everyone blamed everyone else,” says an official with the Department of Defense. “We sat there in the Pentagon and said, ‘Who the fuck recommended this?’”
You know,” says [Khalid Jaberi, a commander with Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades], “since the takeover, we’ve been trying to enter the brains of Bush and Rice, to figure out their mentality. We can only conclude that having Hamas in control serves their overall strategy, because their policy was so crazy otherwise. […]
Now that it controls Gaza, Hamas has given free rein to militants intent on firing rockets into neighboring Israeli towns. “We are still developing our rockets; soon we shall hit the heart of Ashkelon at will,” says Jaberi, the al-Aqsa commander, referring to the Israeli city of 110,000 people 12 miles from Gaza’s border. “I assure you, the time is near when we will mount a big operation inside Israel, in Haifa or Tel Aviv.”
"Oh, just wait until you find out what the Republicans will do to "X" if they are nominated."
"Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about whatLee isRepublicans are going to do. Some of you always seem to thinkhe isthey are suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what are we going to do ourselves, instead of whatLeethe GOP is going to do."
The Winner
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today announced that Tehran and Baghdad have signed seven pacts in areas such as industry, trade and transport.
'We have discussed 20 programmes during the course of the visit, and these meetings have been carried out in a positive atmosphere. We have signed seven memorandums of agreement today,' Ahmadinejad said at a news conference in Baghdad.
The seven agreements are related to 'the development of relations and cooperation in the fields of insurance, customs, industry, education and transportation,' he said.
A parked car bomb killed at least 15 people and wounded 38 in central Baghdad on Monday morning, police and hospital officials said.
The bomb detonated in the Bab al-Mudham area of the capital. The car was parked on a road leading to the Housing and Municipality Ministry located in that the area, police added.
The dead included one police officer. The Bab al-Mudham district is a commercial area on the eastern side of the Tigris River.
“It’s going to be a national security election,” Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol told a group of Oregon Republicans last night. “It’s going to be an election about our next commander in chief. History suggests that when we’re fighting a war, Americans tend to favor the more hawkish candidate.”
I'm not ordinarily a gambling girl, but over cocktails last evening, I bet the most cynical man I know (a/k/a "The Russian") $100 that BHO would win in November were he the nominee. Two questions:When he was still in his early twenties, Bert Walker set up G. H. Walker and Company, one of the first investment banking firms in the Midwest. He flourished as a speculator, losing several fortunes, but winning several more, and helping to finance the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Bert was rowdy, profane, and generally obnoxious. Even an approved family history describes him as “coarse.” At a friend’s boisterous birthday party, he grabbed a bass drum from the orchestra and led a drunken parade through the St. Louis Club. Rather than apologize to the board, he resigned to form the Racquet Club, whose motto was “Youth Will Be Served.” Bert liked to plaster his name around — on his companies, his houses, and his children. As president of the U.S. Golfing Association, he founded an Anglo-American tournament known, of course, as the Walker Cup....Who is Bert Walker?
In the family, Bert Walker is described as a bully and a boor, or worse — a violent tyrant who pummeled his sons in a boxing ring set up in his house in hopes of toughening them into professional athletes...
Bert Walker’s success on Wall Street also supported a small army of Negro servants at the ten-thousand-acre hunting lodge he bought in South Carolina and named Duncannon. The current owners have preserved the bullet holes left in the dining room ceiling when Bert fired at a wasp that stung him....
The Walker kids were raised to believe they were crap in any case, and would have a chair waiting for them at the G. H. Walker & Co. office in St. Louis.
Does this become good news?
An outpouring of negative economic and financial reports soured the mood on Wall Street Friday as banks and other lenders further tightened credit in their struggle to contain damage from losses on mortgages, business loans and related debt.
Can't we all imagine the exchange:
Flunkie: "Mr. President, we have simply horrific signs that the economy is slowing and it is getting harder for people to make ends meet."
Bushlite (just waking up from his nap): "Why I'h can make my ehnds meet." He puts his hands together. "See it taint hard at all."
Bushlite: "Why I'hm gonna do ta da economitie thangie what I'hm a gonna do to Saddam!"
Flunkie: "Sir?"
Bushlite: "Why I'hm gonna destroy that evil econohumuncluses!"
Flunkie: "Mr. President?"
Bushlite: "I'hm the decider. I'hm the war time preznit! I am the glory..."
One Flunkie to another: "Who forgot to give him the damn meds again!!"
In the background, Bushlite makes wrestling poses while the secret service detail looks at their watches. All the while the American people continue to suffer.
Don't all of the candidates take money from the occasional creep? Is this really such a big deal? Or does it speak to a lack of convictions?
Rising Hegemon
