tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86029342024-03-23T14:16:15.984-04:00clark stooksburyClarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comBlogger802125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-71258525950003080882020-10-11T20:43:00.032-04:002023-07-06T20:08:14.600-04:00Down the Rabbit Hole . . .<p> During the summer of 2010, I wondered down a YouTube "<a href="https://medium.com/swlh/understanding-the-youtube-rabbit-hole-4d98e921eabe">rabbit hole</a>" while searching for songs that I hadn't heard in a long time. I came across a video of someone playing "<a href="https://youtu.be/hobQPu8GxCo">Baker Street</a>" on a turntable. It looked kind of cool, so I started looking for others playing records on YouTube. It didn't take long for me to find people who were spinning old 78 rpm records. <a href="https://youtu.be/G8XaBXN_yBE">Howlin' Wolf</a> is more suited to my taste these days than Gerry Rafferty. Finding these videos made an impact on me as I <a href="https://reason.com/2013/10/19/meet-the-vinyl-community/">wrote</a> about in <i>Reason</i> in 2013:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><blockquote>The man holding the Howlin' Wolf 78 is Rich Hynes, owner of the
Underground Record Shop in Indianapolis. I discover that he has posted
many more clips as well. Sometimes they feature artists I've enjoyed for
years, such as Muddy Waters and Johnny Cash; sometimes they introduce
me to great musicians I've never encountered before, such as the Alabama
Jug Band and the rockabilly pioneer Lattie Moore.</blockquote> <p>Looking for and listening to old records, I soon learned about how little I knew about American music. For a long time, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues">Blues</a> was my favorite genre and I had the good fortune to see performers such as Koko Taylor, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and John Lee Hooker perform live in the 1980s. My interest and knowledge of the genre went back as far as Robert Johnson, but no further. I had seen <a href="https://wirz.de/music/yazoo.htm">Yazoo</a> reissues of artists like Blind Blake and Charley Patton but I figured that sort of old-timey thing wasn't for me. I eventually discovered how wrong that assessment was by listening to Barbeque Bob, Bessie Smith, Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, <a href="https://youtu.be/Qq5NX5zrDY4">Lewis Black</a> as well as Blake and Patton. </p><p>The same is true with Country, also known as "Hillbilly" or "Old Time Singin'." I knew of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rogers, but not the Allen Brothers or Charlie Poole or <a href="https://youtu.be/zi7PU_9UYN4">Buddy Baker.</a> I also learned to put less emphasis on genre—I look for music that I like, which often may be characterized as "Pop" or "Vaudeville." Occasionally "???" is good a description as any. My policy is that if a record is cheap and looks interesting, I will probably give it a home. </p><p>When I first started looking for 78s, I skipped over Hawaiian records—and they are pretty common— until I by chance took one home and listened to it. Now, if you want to hear a 100+ year old July Paka record on YouTube, my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/clarkstooksbury">channel</a> is your only <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB0COusQE3A">source</a>. Picking up various "ethnic" records introduced new (to me) instruments—like the <a href="https://youtu.be/dNd47AZdHFs">tambouritza</a> (very scratchy) and reintroduced the familiar, as when I spun an old Italian record and said to myself: "It's that <a href="https://youtu.be/uMlt4nAyIbo">song</a> from the <a href="https://youtu.be/kmW3xVYQcPE">Godfather</a>!"<br /></p><p></p><p>After years of record collecting, and <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/america-at-78-r-p-m/">writing</a> on the <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/songs-of-prohibitions-poison/">topic</a>, I was about to fall down yet another rabbit hole. It bothered me that I had so much interest in music, but I couldn't play any instrument more challenging than air guitar—having failed to master the other kind in my youth. The music that I like the most tends to be made with stringed instruments—guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, etc.<br /></p><p>After giving the subject some thought, I decided to get a ukulele. They are smaller, lighter, less expensive (though one can drop a <a href="http://www.nationalguitars.org/instruments/ukekoa/koa.html">lot</a> of money on a <a href="https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/ukulele/5k-uke/">uke</a>) and easier on the fingers than a guitar or banjo—both of which I was tempted to try. A ukulele, however, is not a toy and it takes practice and skill to play well. In the right hands, it can work magic. Some talented guitarists such as <a href="https://delreyplays.com/">Del Ray</a> and <a href="https://ledkaapana.com/">Ledward Kaapana</a> also show their skill on the ukulele.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4Ff166dIN0k" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>I've played for more than four years now, and I am competent, but not as good as I'd like. While I may never match the finger-picking skills of Kaapana, playing the uke has both increased my respect for talented musicians on all <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chordophone">chordophones</a> and my interest in the history of the instruments, which in the case of the ukulele—an offspring of the Portuguese <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete_%28musical_instrument%29">machete</a>—is <a href="http://www.ukulelemag.com/stories/the-birth-of-the-ukulele">fascinating</a>. </p><p>While collecting old records led me down the path to playing the ukulele, playing the uke has influenced my taste in music and caused me to seek out old records featuring the instrument. Once again, I am discovering new (to me) artists such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamtree_Harrington">Hamtree Harrington</a>. You never know where you end up when you start falling down rabbit holes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BynjeDl-SAw" width="320" youtube-src-id="BynjeDl-SAw"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-13925239896316578572018-07-01T15:42:00.003-04:002018-07-01T15:42:52.363-04:00Jelly-Roll King!<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_McKay">Claude McKay</a>:<br />
<br />
"Then Banjo keyed himself up and began playing in his own wonderful wild way.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
'Old Uncle Jack, the jelly roll king,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just got back from shaking that thing!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He can shake that thing, he can shake that thing</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
For he's the jelly-roll king. Oh shake that thing!'"</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-64528079263101161812015-05-31T16:42:00.001-04:002015-05-31T16:42:49.181-04:00Subject, Not a Citizen<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Dixon">Willie Dixon</a> was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915, and in the years after World War II, he would become an important figure in the development and growth of Blues, Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll. After performing with a succession of R&B groups, Dixon would work for Chess Records in Chicago, starting in 1951, and except for a brief period in the late 1950s, he would stay for two decades. Don Snowden, Dixon’s co author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306804158/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0306804158&linkCode=as2&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkId=DZFMI4Q5IEO2F2LX">I Am The Blues</a> described his role there. “Dixon was a full-time employee after 1951—producing, arranging, running the studio . . . His role was so crucial that Leonard Chess would later describe him as ‘my right arm.’” His greatest impact was as a songwriter. He would pen “Hoochie Coochie Man” for Muddy Waters and “My Babe” for Little Walter. In the 1960s, his music would be recorded by The Rolling Stones (“Red Rooster”) and Led Zeppelin (“I Can’t Quit You” and others).<br />
<br />
But before the fame and success came along, Willie Dixon was a subject of Jim Crow Mississippi. While still in his teens, Dixon was jailed in the Magnolia State for hoboing and the experience marked him. <i>I am the Blues</i> detailed the horrors, including his witness to a murder. “They beat this guy until blood was running out of his mouth at the cage. He died right there in his own blood and that dirt would be so hot and that dust so thick that it would burn your feet through your shoes. After they beat him, they drug him over to the side and a little breath was still life was still left in him. Where he had been bleeding out of his mouth and nose, you could see a little, bloody-colored bubble coming up from where he was breathing there. After awhile, you didn’t see them no more and they’d tell you, ‘Go bury this nigger.’”<br />
<br />
This sort of experience was doubtless in his mind when he started receiving draft notices in 1941. Congress enacted a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Training_and_Service_Act_of_1940">draft</a> in 1940 as the country drifted towards entering World War II. Dixon decided that he would refuse to serve, and he was eventually arrested while performing in Chicago. “They came on the stage down at the Pink Poodle when the Five Breezes were playing one night, when we came back the second time. This was during the time that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and they picked me up and put me in jail. I told them I was a conscientious-objector and that I wasn’t going to fight for nobody. . . I said I wasn’t a citizen, I was a subject. I was telling them about the 14th and 15th Amendment[s].”<br />
<br />
After nearly a year in jail, Dixon was released and declared unfit for service. His memoir lists his classification as “5-F” which probably should have been <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_System#Classifications">4-F</a>.<br />
<br />
I don’t know how widely (if at all) this type of protest was made by other black men during World War II, but Dixon wasn’t the only person to feel the way he did. Harlem Renaissance journalist and Black No More author, George Schuyler also opposed African American participation as Oscar R. Williams wrote in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572335815/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1572335815&linkCode=as2&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkId=ZVZHMBTJDB7J5U67">George S. Schuyler: Portrait of a Black Conservative</a>. “Schuyler’s reasons for opposing African American participation in World War II were primarily rooted in his firsthand experience with racism while serving in the army during World War I. ‘I saw what was done to the Negro during the last war and I heard a lot more than I saw,’ he wrote. ‘I consider the Negro’s treatment during that period unforgivable and indefensible. I foresee that his treatment during the next war will be the same.’”<br />
<br />
Ironically, this prominent draft-resister’s widest exposure would come during the inaugural celebration George H.W. Bush, after the latter’s vapid Flag Factory/ACLU Card/Willie Horton campaign of 1988.<br />
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Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-54141730674691415712013-03-26T12:46:00.001-04:002013-05-12T21:40:07.142-04:00Records & RaritiesI have owned records for more than forty years now, though I only became a serious collector about three years ago. The longest continuing record in my collection is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LP_album">LP</a> <i>Moonlight Feels Right</i> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbuck_%28band%29">Starbuck</a>, that I bought in 1976. I still purchase and listen to LPs but I "collect" 45 rpm records in the sense that I'm always looking for rare and unusual artists, labels and songs in that format, and I have little difficulty finding them, mostly at a trio of <a href="http://lostandfoundrecordstore.com/">local</a> <a href="http://ravenrecordsandrarities.com/main.html?src=%2Findex2.html">records</a> <a href="http://www.wildhoneyrecords.com/">stores</a> in Knoxville.<br />
<br />
The embedded playlist below has videos of a few of my favorite rarities. Some of them feature recognizable songs, including one co-written by Merle Haggard and another made famous by Jim Reeves. A few of them were from labels based in East Tennessee and presumably received only a regional release. <br />
<br />
My favorite part of sharing these records on YouTube is receiving feedback from viewers, especially those for whom the old records have sentimental value. I have heard from the daughter of one artist and from a persistent gentleman who bugged me until I sold him a record that he hadn't seen or heard in more than forty years.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="158" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLomXf13loy28DCVDSIdqdPt-M3b8vLGTt" width="280"></iframe>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-85339808859187815272013-01-21T08:42:00.001-05:002013-01-21T08:42:50.004-05:00RIP MLKThe January/February issue of <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/">The American Conservative</a> will soon be out with my review of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307388239/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307388239">Manufacturing Hysteria</a>. It is appropriate that it come out near the Martin Luther King holiday as the FBI' <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO">COINTELPRO</a> harassment of King was one of my topics. I wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The most famous target of Hoover and the FBI was Martin Luther King. The investigation of King was based the assumption that some of his associates were Communists, but the FBI’s level of attention suggests a more personal motivation. Hoover intervened to keep Marquette University from granting King an honorary degree and was especially agitated at King’s winning a Nobel Peace Prize. The bureau’s most egregious abuse of power in this case was a crude attempt to wreck King’s marriage by sending him illegally recorded tapes of his marital in"infidelities, accompanied by a crudely forged letter encouraging him to commit suicide before his “filthy, abnormal fraudulent self is bared to the nation.”</blockquote>
Writing in the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/21/king-obama-drones-militarism-sanctions-iran">Guardian</a>, Glenn Greenwald discusses King's opposition to militarism and the Vietnam war, which should be highlighted along with his views on racism, poverty and civil rights:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
King argued for the centrality of his anti-militarism advocacy most
eloquently on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City -
exactly one year before the day he was murdered. That <a href="http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html">extraordinary speech</a>
was devoted to answering his critics who had been complaining that his
anti-war activism was distracting from his civil rights work ("Peace and
civil rights don't mix, they say. Aren't you hurting the cause of your
people, they ask?"). King, citing seven independent reasons, was adamant
that ending US militarism and imperialism was not merely a moral
imperative in its own right, but a prerequisite to achieving any
meaningful reforms in American domestic life.</blockquote>
Here is audio of one of speeches on the war:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="264" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b80Bsw0UG-U" width="352"></iframe>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-78127669364903175772012-11-24T06:52:00.000-05:002012-11-24T06:52:14.542-05:00800 Pound Gorilla . . .Somehow <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/">Glenn Reynolds</a> and <a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/author/michael-barone">Michael Barone</a> talk about polling and the election for more than thirteen minutes and never get around to discussing <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/">Nate Silver</a>:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="180" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/94UZ4iedZ-8" width="320"></iframe>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-61514088494779674452012-09-17T22:33:00.002-04:002012-09-17T22:33:51.585-04:00More Damaging Romney Footage . . .This won't help the Romney campaign:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="240" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/81Nl7VYFEaI" width="320"></iframe>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-37013292454902028042012-09-09T16:47:00.000-04:002012-09-09T16:48:57.620-04:00Operation Shift BlameIn the near term, at least, Barack Obama is a solid <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/08/us-usa-campaign-poll-idUSBRE88619X20120908">favorite</a> to win the 2012 election. Since the economy is weak and the president is a KENYANSOCIALISTCHICAGOALINSKYITEMARXIST, his rightwing critics are straining for reasons that he is in the lead.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/09/why-is-this-election-close.php">John Hindraker</a> (via <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/120908/p29#a120908p29">Memeorandum</a>) thinks he has found it, and apparently, the fact that Republicans brought about the disaster in the first place and people don't trust them has nothing to do with it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am afraid the answer may be that the country is closer to the point of
no return than most of us believed. With over 100 million Americans
receiving federal welfare benefits, millions more going on Social
Security disability, and many millions on top of that living on
entitlement programs–not to mention enormous numbers of public
employees–we may have gotten to the point where the government economy
is more important, in the short term, than the real economy.</blockquote>
I would give his argument more credence if he defined his terms and used hard data—how much "over 100 million" and what does he mean by "welfare"? The term "public employee" is reasonably precise, but as Paul Krugman <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/government-employment/">notes</a>, government payrolls have shrunk under Obama.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/09/operation-demoralize-is-working-just-as-planned/">William Jacobson</a> sees another cause—a Liberal Media Conspiracy to demoralize Republicans and conservatives:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It’s November 7. Barack Obama has won. The Republican presidential
strategy has failed. The media is jubilant. The right-blogosphere is
going through a serious introspection. The left-blogosphere is dancing
on our graves and shoving it down our throats. Four years of fighting
the Obama agenda was for nothing.
<br />
Oh, I’m sorry. Let me correct that. It’s <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/120909/h1050">September 9</a>, not November 7. The rest of the paragraph above can remain as originally written.</blockquote>
The most absurd part is Jacobson's assumption that right-blogosphere is capable of "serious introspection."<br />
<br />
I don't know how the election will come out, but I'm becoming more confident that Obama will prevail and I'm certain that far from introspection, the rightwing will become more detached from reality and blame the Liberal Media, or Hollywood or fraud: anything but their own failings.<br />
<br />Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-36575658280752280472012-07-30T07:52:00.001-04:002012-07-30T07:52:41.738-04:00Gotta Have Somebody Serve . . .I read Michael Brendan Dougherty's article on <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/obamas-right-wing/">Obama's Right Wing</a> with interest. I would qualify as a member of that category except for the fact that I didn't vote for Obama in 2008 and I doubt I qualify as a conservative anymore.<br />
<br />
I came close to voting for Obama in 2008 (I opted for Nader) and I favored his victory. This fall, I plan to vote for the President, which will be my first presidential vote for a Democrat and my first for a major party candidate since Reagan in 1984. I have little doubt that I will regret my vote, assuming that he wins, like I did after voting for Reagan.<br />
<br />
The Obamacons Dougherty interviewed cite a variety of reasons for their apostasy but I was disappointed that none of them discussed the state of the broader conservative movement. I can think of many terms to describe the right-wing in the age of Obama, but the ones that spring to mind are "repulsive" and perhaps "insane." This applies to the leadership of the Republican party at the top, down to the creeps who at <a href="http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/29/mooch-takes-swipe-at-romney-while-leading-u-s-olympic-delegation/">Weasel Zippers</a> who think that Michelle Obama is some sort of fat cow.<br />
<br />
Republicans amply demonstrated that they are terrible at governing between 2001 and 2008, and have attempted to make the country ungovernable in the Obama years. Since Mitt Romney seems to have no fixed beliefs other than that the rich are better than you and I, it's difficult to predict how he will govern. I suspect that Romney will prattle about abortion, etc. just enough to placate the rubes and will appoint the most conservative judges confirmable; but his primary concern will be the care and feeding of corporations. The only upside of a Romney victory will be that Republicans will stop actively trying to destroy the country. <br />
<br />
<br />Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-74509601700778327922012-07-18T07:30:00.001-04:002012-07-18T07:30:23.414-04:00Stabbed in the Back!The cultish nature of modern conservatism is <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-language-of-a-cult/">obvious</a>. Dan Riehl's <a href="http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2012/07/nro-caves-on-romney-over-tax-return-issue-stabs-him-in-the-back.html">response</a> (via <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/120717/p111#a120717p111">Memeorandum</a>) to NRO's call for Willard to release more tax returns is simply example # 1,387,176 or so. For Riehl, <i>National Review</i>'s editorial isn't simply a tactical error, but a betrayal:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Next time you opt to <i>stab a GOP candidate in the back</i>, how about having the balls to put your name on it? I don't think that's too much to ask. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I really, really want to play nice with everyone on our side, but when I see this high minded BS from people who've never even run for anything, it smokes my butt. . .And don't give me this, well, we can disagree BS, either. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You aren't even on any team you're a got damned cheerleader on the sidelines and right now you look silly in that frilly skirt you're wearing. So STFU if you don't have anything good to say, or just go the hell away. It isn't like anyone would miss most of NRO if it did, frankly. (emphasis added)</blockquote>
Get it NRO?—Mitt is now Leader of the Cause and the Cause must be served.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-41422741661113519882012-07-12T07:14:00.000-04:002012-07-13T07:59:13.604-04:00Now Who's Being Naive?I don't normally think of <a href="http://spectator.org/blog/2012/07/11/mitt-romney-and-the-naacp">Jim Antle</a> or <a href="http://theothermccain.com/2012/07/11/mitt-romney-scrappy-underdog/">Robert Stacy McCain</a> as being naive, but I can't otherwise understand their praise for Mitt Romney's non-pandering before the NAACP. Antle wrote that, "Romney isn't exactly known for his willingness to communicate
unpopular truths. He deserves credit for doing so here."<br />
<br />
That's only true if you assume that the people in the room with Romney were his intended audience. I suspect that the NAACP crowd were simply props and Willard was pandering to the Republican base. And seeing some of the reactions; such as the <a href="http://spectator.org/blog/2012/07/11/mitt-romney-and-the-naacp#commentcontainer">comment</a> from Skippy on Antle's post that "anyone belonging to the NAACP is a racist, or <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78402.html">Rush Limbaugh's</a> (via <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/120711/p142#a120711p142">Memeorandum</a>) idiotic ravings, it would appear that his pandering worked.<br />
UPDATE: Antle <a href="http://spectator.org/blog/2012/07/12/naivete-and-the-naacp">replies</a>.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-22691826261772529832012-07-01T08:31:00.002-04:002012-07-01T14:10:30.166-04:00It's Not A Lie . . . If You Believe It . . .The <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/06/obama-plans-long-weekend-at-camp-david/1?csp=34news#.T_Aczb-DBO8">USA Today</a> reports that the President plans to host an Independence Day barbecue for military families. Admittedly, it is not a particularly exciting story, but Glenn Reynolds is telling <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/145860/">Instapundit</a> readers that the president plans to celebrate the 4th " <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2012/06/29/Obama-European-campaign-July-4">with a fundraiser in Paris.</a><i>"</i><br />
The<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></i>link goes to a Big Government story with a headline reading<i> "</i>Obama<i> Campaign </i>Celebrates Independence Day . . . With Fundraisers in Paris."(emphasis added)<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></i>Big Government links to an article in the <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-clooney-obama-fundraiser-gevena-343580">Hollywood Reporter</a>, that has the real story:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Meanwhile, the Continental branch of the Obama fundraising effort will
kick off next week in Paris with an Independence Day reception at the
Rosenbloom Collection on the chic Rue du Chevaleret. Organizers <b>Forrest Alogna</b>, <b>Pamela Boulet</b>,<b> </b><b>Zachary James Miller</b>, <b>Valerie Picard</b>,<b> Joe Smallhoover </b>and<b> Curtis Young</b> will host an early-evening event whose ticket prices range from $250 to $1,500.</blockquote>
I searched several of those names and I don't think they should be confused with the "Obama campaign," but at least the Big Government story doesn't claim the President himself is going to raise money in France on the Fourth of July, of all days. It is tempting to say that Glenn Reynolds is simply lying, but it is more complex than that. Reynolds, it would appear, needs to believe the worst about his enemies; so a story about some Americans in Paris fundraising for the President's reelection on the Fourth is streamlined into a factoid about how Obama is evil. Reynolds—it would seem— has internalized the wisdom of George Costanza:<br />
<i></i>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
UPDATE-- Costanza, I mean Reynolds makes a rare clarification: " Let me be clear: It’s the Obama Campaign. Obama himself won’t be in Paris."Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-39165308464400249552012-06-24T14:10:00.000-04:002012-06-24T14:18:25.698-04:00The Rifleman’s Stalking the sick and the Lame . . .<object height="207" width="368"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6aELb5ub1oE?version=3&hl=en_US">
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<br />
The above video features NRA executive Veep <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_LaPierre">Wayne LaPierre</a> from 2011 expounding a conspiracy theory about how the Obama administration plans to implement gun control in his second administration: "get
re-elected, and with no
other re-elections to worry about, get busy dismantling and destroying our
firearms freedom." This sort of thinking is totally nuts but it explains the rightwing obsession with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal">Fast and Furious</a> operation that was supposedly part of a nefarious Obama plan to—in David Limbaugh's <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/davidlimbaugh/2012/04/17/katie_pavlichs_fast_and_furious">words</a>—"manufacture 'evidence' for tightening gun control legislation."<br />
I reviewed the Steve Sailer book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578000377/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0578000377">America's Half-Blood Prince</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=clarkstooksbu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0578000377" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> (cobbled together from VDare columns) for <a href="http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/">Chronicles</a> and debunked a similar argument:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sailer suggests that Obama will save his true self for a second term. “In Obama, ambition and caution are yoked. Becoming president is not his ultimate objective. Becoming a two-term president is. . . . Nixon’s first administration was one of the most liberal in American history. There were hints at the beginning of his second term, before Watergate . . .that Nixon, . . . intended to move toward his innate conservatism. That analogy suggests that a second Obama administration might more truly reflect the real Obama.” This is dubious. If Obama has studied recent history he will have noticed that recent second presidential terms have been become mired in scandal.<br />
Sailer is correct that Obama wants a second term—every president does; but if he wants accomplish anything, he needs to act while he has the votes in Congress and the support of the public.</blockquote>
Since the Democrats lost control of the House in the last election, even routine measures such as increasing the debt limit have become near impossible. The whole notion that Barack Obama plans to use a second term—currently somewhat in doubt—to enact some secret radical agenda known only to Wayne LaPierre and other delusional cretins is absurd.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-81026776449236328692012-06-12T19:15:00.001-04:002012-06-12T19:17:06.695-04:00Occam's Bullshit DetectorThe simplest, and most likely explanation for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-african-american-vote-black-north-carolina-2012-6?op=1">this</a> poll result (via <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/120612/p86#a120612p86">Memeorandum</a>) is that it is bogus:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>President Barack Obama </b>is rapidly losing support among African-American voters in North Carolina, a new <a href="http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/06/romney-holds-sma.html#more" target="_blank">poll out today from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling</a> shows.<br />
The poll finds that <b>Mitt Romney </b>would get 20 percent of the African-American vote if the election were held today, compared with 76 percent for Obama.</blockquote>
If I'm confident of anything in the coming election, it is that black people are going to vote overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. Of course, that won't stop people from reading into this outlier pole what they want to see. <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/302610/president-obama-losing-one-fifth-black-vote-north-carolina-maggie-gallagher">Maggie Gallagher</a> thinks that it is about gay marriage. <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/144775/">Glenn Reynolds</a> who spent most of 2008(you know, when the economy collapsed) proclaiming "<a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=dude+where%27s+my+recession+&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Finstapundit%2F&as_occt=any&safe=off&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=">dude, where's my recession</a>," thinks that it is about the economy. I think that it's bullshit.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-70928727840551757122012-06-12T17:46:00.001-04:002012-06-12T17:53:36.889-04:00"Copperhead Paddy"From Chapter iv of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1172644993/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1172644993">The Copperhead</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=clarkstooksbu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1172644993" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I fairly yearned to ask him what this <br />
something was, and what was the matter <br />
with his face, but it did not seem quite the <br />
right thing to do, and presently he began <br />
mumbling, as much to himself as to me, a <br />
long and broken discourse, from which I <br />
picked out that he had mingled with a group <br />
of lusty young farmers in the market-place, <br />
asking for the latest intelligence, and that <br />
while they were conversing in a wholly <br />
amiable manner, one of them had suddenly <br />
knocked him down and kicked him, and that <br />
thereafter they had pursued him with curses <br />
and loud threats half-way to the tavern. <br />
This and much more he proclaimed between <br />
mouthfuls, speaking with great rapidity and <br />
in so much more marked a brogue than usual, <br />
that I understood only a fraction of what he <br />
said. <br />
<br />
He professed entire innocence of offence <br />
in the affair, and either could not or would <br />
not tell what it was he had said to invite <br />
the blow. I dare say he did in truth richly <br />
provoke the violence he encountered, but at <br />
the time I regarded him as a martyr, and <br />
swelled with indignation every time I looked <br />
at his nose. <br />
<br />
I remained angry, indeed, long after he <br />
himself had altogether recovered his equanim- <br />
ity and whimsical good spirits. He waited <br />
outside on the seat while X went in to pay <br />
for the baiting of the horses, and it was as <br />
well that he did, I fancy, because there were <br />
half a dozen brawny farm-hands and villagers <br />
standing about the bar, who were laughing <br />
in a stormy way over the episode of the <br />
" Copperhead Paddy " in the market.</blockquote>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-86392467439394407512012-06-11T18:51:00.000-04:002012-06-11T22:16:09.270-04:00"Negro Sovereignty in the Republic"From the first chapter of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1172644993/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1172644993">The Copperhead</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Gradually the old blood-feud with the Brit- <br />
isher became obscured by fresher antagonisms, <br />
and there sprouted up a crop of new sons of <br />
Belial who deserved to be hated more even <br />
than had Hamilton and Marshall. With me <br />
the two stages of indignation glided into <br />
one another so impreceptibly that I can now <br />
hardly distinguish between them. What I do <br />
recall is that the farmer came in time to neg- <br />
lect the hereditary enemy, England, and to <br />
seem to have quite forgotten our own historic <br />
<br />
foes to liberty, so enraged was he over the <br />
modem Abolitionists. He told me about them <br />
as we paced up the seed rows together in the <br />
spring, as we drove homeward on the hay-load <br />
in the cool of the summer evening, as we <br />
shovelled out a path for the women to the <br />
pumps in the farm-yard through December <br />
snows. It took me a long time to even ap- <br />
proximately grasp the wickedness of these <br />
new men, who desired to establish negro <br />
sovereignty in the Republic, and to compel <br />
each white girl to marry a black man. <br />
<br />
The fact that I had never seen any negro <br />
" close to," and had indeed only caught pass- <br />
ing glimpses of one or more of the colored <br />
race on the streets of our nearest big town, <br />
added, no doubt, to the mystified alarm with <br />
which I contemplated these monstrous pro- <br />
posals. </blockquote>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-81261556741543882152012-06-10T22:12:00.001-04:002012-06-10T22:30:30.426-04:00Copperhead the Movie: Week One . . .<object width="400" height="225"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6zSSlUZ1rtY?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6zSSlUZ1rtY?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="225" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-34128636388752550922012-06-10T19:21:00.001-04:002012-06-10T20:45:52.859-04:00Closed WindowPerhaps it is time to stop the <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2012/06/09/karzai-us-failed-to-consult-with-afghans-on-airstrike-killing-18-civilians/">insanity</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Tensions have risen between Washington and Kabul, as President Hamid Karzai <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/karzai-us-failed-consult-afghans-airstrike-125048706.html">criticized the U.S. for failing to consult with him on an air raid</a> on an Afghan village killed 18 civilians including 9 children.</blockquote>
I would guess that the window of opportunity to accomplish anything in Afghanistan closed sometime in <a href="http://www.unz.org/Pub/AmConservative-2006jan30-00033">2002</a>, yet we are still there. Does every occupation have to turn into a quagmire?Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-25547997976558607312012-06-10T18:33:00.003-04:002012-06-10T18:37:46.511-04:00Le-gal Dim-bulb-i-tudeLaw professor, half-wit; <a href="http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/06/it-made-you-happy-but-it-was-that-bad/">William Jacobson</a> is mad at people who publicly supported Barack Obama in 2008, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Lee_Ettinger">Amber Lee Ettinger</a> in particular, she of the famed Obama Girl video:<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wKsoXHYICqU?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wKsoXHYICqU?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
From what I gather, Jacobson began blogging because he couldn't understand how anyone could oppose the political party that dragged the country into two foreign quagmire and brought about the worst financial collapse since the Great Drepression.<br />
<br />
Citing an <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/obama-girl-not-excited-2012-won-t-endorse-193610215.html">article</a> stating that Ettinger won't be endorsing anybody this election cycle, Jacobson excretes, "no, you are not excused, fool" even though she didn't ask to be. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HV1JzxhDcY">What an idiot</a>.<br />
<br />Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-1149381850327657692012-06-09T16:17:00.000-04:002012-06-09T16:18:21.431-04:00Masters of War On CoalLonger <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/144588/">Glenn Reynolds</a>: I was against <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/33412/">coal pollution</a> until Obama was, now I am against him: "WAR ON COAL: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_ups2kupdg&feature=player_embedded">New ad targets Lamar Alexander.</a> Not sure what he’s thinking here."
The link is to this ad:
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Reynolds adds, "Maybe there’s something I’m missing here, but it seems to me that Alexander should be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drpL3vmGKSw&feature=youtu.be">emulating Bob Corker.</a>" That link is to a clip from Fox News and features Sen. Corker saying nothing about coal or mercury pollution but instead engaging in generic vitriol against Obama.<br />
<br />
In case the real issue to Reynolds isn't clear enough, <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/144094/">here</a> he is again from a few days ago: "NOW WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120531/OPINION03/305310026/Alexander-wrong-side-Obama-coal?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1">Lamar Alexander Siding With Obama On Coal?</a>" Perhaps he breathes and eats.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-63760578583598409292012-06-03T14:31:00.000-04:002012-06-03T14:46:04.885-04:00People Who Don't Like Me . . .<object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v9obTgRwJPQ?version=3&hl=en_US">
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While searching my name in recent weeks, I discovered that my blogging at <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/blog/author/clark-stooksbury/">The American Conservative</a> has frequently annoyed people.<br />
One <a href="http://thoughtsandrantings.com/2012/03/03/sorry-but-this-is-a-bunch-of-bullcrap/">Charles Patrick Adkins</a>, for example, who took umbrage at my use of the term "rightwinger" in <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/lost-in-the-dithos/">this</a> post. Adkins ranted and raved about me:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Now, I have not the least clue who Clark Stooksbury is, nor do I
quite honestly give two flips really; but this quoted above, is why I
distance myself from the Paleoconservative right. Because they are in
bed with the liberal left. I mean, seriously? “Right-Wingers??!” that
term being used on “The American Conservative?!?” Does anyone else see a
problem with that, besides me?!?!</blockquote>
He produced some non sequitors:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I guess one can expect this from a magazine that is quite known for its Anti-Israel and Anti-Jewish Bias.</blockquote>
He begged:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I have been blogging full time since 2006. First as a "skeptical left of
center" and then as a right-libertarian. Needless to say, in the last 7
years my politics has changed greatly. I have been out of work all that
time. Yes, I do live with my parents. I have to. I am all they have. I
am an only child and they are in their mid-60's. . .</blockquote>
Another critic with a blog called <a href="http://hisvorpal.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/women-haters-how-to-shoot-yourself-in-the-foot/">His Vorpal Sword</a> mentions my post titled <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/hanoi-jane-approximately/">Hanoi Jane Approximately </a>without the benefit of a link and tarred me with a Scarlet "M" for misogyny. I discovered on his <a href="http://hisvorpal.wordpress.com/about/">about</a> page that the blogger, Hart Williams is a very distinguished, "published author, novelist, literary critic and screenwriter. . ." He again notes on the about page " imdb lists him as a screenwriter" and indeed <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930743/">it does</a>. It turns out that Mr. Williams is the distinguished writer of such classics as <i>Gandi</i> and <i>The English Patient</i>. Oops, I meant that he wrote <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124710/">Hard to Swallow</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134495/">Caught from Behind 3</a>, among other classics. I haven't seen any of his pictures, but it was the misogyny watchdog's job to find ways to get <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001913/">Little Oral Annie</a> on her knees and I'm sure he put a lot of thought into it.<br />
<br />
Another mortal enemy resides at the blog <a href="http://theothermccain.com/">The Other McCain</a>. Stacy McCain wrote, in a comment on this <a href="http://theothermccain.com/2012/04/03/tom-maguires-excellent-idea-lets-pretend-we-can-take-rod-dreher-seriously/">post</a>, "don’t get me started on Stooksbury, a guy who got his nose out of joint
over my panning of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400050650/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400050650">Crunchy Cons</a>, identified me as an enemy on that
basis, and never got over it." I think he may have it backwards. It was McCain who was <a href="http://donkeycons.blogspot.com/2006/07/whither-stooksbury_13.html">worked up</a> over my criticism of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595550240/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1595550240">Donkey Cons</a>, which he co-wrote, in <a href="http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/">Chronicles</a>. I dislike (and that's putting it nicely) McCain's politics, but I always assumed that we had a friendlier rivalry—I even semi-seriously <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/replacing-kristol/">suggested</a> that him as a ghost for Sara Palin and McCain offered what appeared to be <a href="http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/01/thanks-clark.html">sincere</a> thanks.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-58059152282303569882012-06-02T18:27:00.000-04:002012-06-02T18:31:14.256-04:00The Trail of Crocodile Tears . . .They must be terrified of Elizabeth Warren. After weeks of obsessing over her claim to be 1/32 Cherokee, <a href="http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1061136010">The Boston Herald</a> has opened up the latest front against her:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="articleBegin">E</span>lizabeth Warren, who has railed
against predatory banks and heartless foreclosures, took part in about a
dozen Oklahoma real estate deals that netted her and her family hefty
profits through maneuvers such as “flipping” properties, records show.</blockquote>
The article lists several instances of Warren buying and reselling property or loaning money to relatives without alleging any wrongdoing or providing much in the way of context. Since she just won the Democratic nomination with <a href="http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/06/02/convention-speeches-begin-with-coy-remarks-tributes/oWq54FAaMVLyzPqgCZdEbP/story.html?p1=News_links">96%</a> of the vote and is within the <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/06/02/elizabeth_warren_on_scott_browns_heels_in_globe_poll/">margin of error</a> (via <a href="http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2012/06/those-effete-elitist-oklahoma-cherokees.html">Steve M</a>.) against Scott Brown, the attacks don't seem to be working.<br />
<br />
For some reason, the <i>Herald's</i> idiocy is worthy of a <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/120602/p8#a120602p8">Memeorandum</a> thread.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-66236955672324910732012-05-30T22:17:00.002-04:002012-06-03T06:25:17.533-04:00Doc Watson, RIP<br />
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UPDATE: <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2012/06/doc-watson-1941">Doc Watson's first recording</a>.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-30779332401968134062012-05-27T09:04:00.000-04:002012-05-28T10:03:24.663-04:00Why, Exactly?<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/liberals-put-the-squeeze-to-justice-roberts/2012/05/25/gJQANa4hqU_story.html">This</a> tendentious George Will column (via <a href="http://www.memeorandum.com/120526/p31#a120526p31">Memeorandum</a>) has its good points, but this is a dumb question: "Why, exactly, would it be less “divisive” for the court to uphold the
broadly disliked Obamacare 5 to 4 than to overturn it 5 to 4?"<br />
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The relatively easy answer that upholding by a 5 to 4 vote maintains the status quo and allows the political branches to decide the issue—if Obamacare is as unpopular as Wills believes it to be, then President Romney and a Republican Congress will have an opportunity to repeal it next year. My guess is that Wills is afraid the either Romney won't win, or even worse, he'll win but the Republicans will fail to repeal.<br />
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If, on the other hand, the Court overturns Obamacare, it will be injecting itself into a hotly contested election in an unseemly fashion.Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602934.post-65460403189160986762012-05-24T07:27:00.001-04:002012-05-28T10:03:50.431-04:00Naught, Save . . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvUMFMAnPbZnTqXqTPiO8gsnsHE9R8hFo8Rno2K6HulB3V65Vz888EarThs1qyrMEmk3edRa_nDtd7Gv463x-3Xuor7G7KxvQquYL1C9DjoILclzi1P1n56UfoAr3ZIpsIhe2UA/s1600/124872-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvUMFMAnPbZnTqXqTPiO8gsnsHE9R8hFo8Rno2K6HulB3V65Vz888EarThs1qyrMEmk3edRa_nDtd7Gv463x-3Xuor7G7KxvQquYL1C9DjoILclzi1P1n56UfoAr3ZIpsIhe2UA/s1600/124872-M.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Literary historian, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Fussell">Paul Fussell</a> has <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/acclaimed-literary-scholar-paul-fussell-dead-at-88/2012/05/23/gJQANefelU_story.html">died</a> at age 88. He wrote several books, the best known are <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195133323/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195133323">The Great War and Modern Memory</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UP9AYS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=clarkstooksbu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004UP9AYS">Wartime</a>.<br />
One of my favorite sections of <i>The Great War and Modern Memory</i> is a brief discussion of elevated, heroic language:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The tutors in this special diction had been the boy's books of George Alfred Henty; the male-romances of Rider Haggard; the poems of Robert Bridges; and especially the Arthurian poems of Tennyson and the pseudo-medieval romances of William Morris. We can set out this "raised," essentially feudal language in a table of equivalents: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A friend is a <i>comrade</i><br />
Friendship is <i>comradeship</i>, or <i>fellowship</i><br />
A horse is a <i>steed</i>, or <i>charger</i><br />
Danger is <i>peril</i><br />
To conquer is to <i>vanquish</i><br />
. . . <br />
Warfare is <i>strife</i><br />
. . .<br />
Nothing is <i>naught</i><br />
Nothing but is <i>naught</i>, <i>save</i><br />
. . .</blockquote>Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04496378286694267020noreply@blogger.com