First? in a landslide

She knows the schtick after 3 presidential campaign, if she has any brains, and the evidence points toward LOTS of it, she should know better than jump in the lion's pit. I see 2032 as her first opening.

I don't see Chelsea being President until 2025:

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2006/06/bush-clinton-tag-team-dynasty.html

She has her mom's administration and then its Jeb's turn. In a way its a shame she's an only child. There are way too many Bushes around. Besides, I'm waiting for Karenna Gore to throw her hat in the ring.

Chelsea Clinton is a lovely young lady,who is blessed with two loving,intelligent and compassionate parents.The treatment they have recently been shown by the media and the Egobama campaign is deplorable.If this is what they call change they can have my part.Speaking just for myself,I will support Mrs.Clinton as long as she is in the race,no matter what they say.I can see in her the makings of a great President.I have every confidence in her ability to lead my country out of this dark day in her history and back into a prosperous and peaceful time as before.She has the support and the prayers of millions like me.I know in my heart that the Lord will see her through.She truly is a good and decent preson.Envy and hate are terrible things.Those who suffer from such hateful actions will be rewarded by a loving and compassionate heavenly father.Those who inflict their hate upon undeserving people will also have their reward.Make no mistake about this.

NO, NO, No turn for Jeb! Please!

During the parade held for Bill Clinton's first inauguration there were these markers in the reviewing booth to indicate where the new President was to stand. Afterwards, I saw a photograph of Chelsea picking these markers up as a souvenir. I remember thinking that this seemed such a charmingly normal pre-teen thing to do.

And then four years later she showed off her dancer's legs with a rather short skirt. That this is the most scandalous thing I can recall about Chelsea indicates she has done a good job of staying out of the public eye.

But she is all growed up now. Clearly, from what Joel reports, she could really be an asset to her mother's campaign - assuming such an asset is needed after next Tuesday.

RD, I went to the first inauguration for Clinton too. I took my mother and we took the train down from Baltimore. It was so much Fun, I highly recommend it to everyone.

Eggactly, RD. She is the secret weapon of Hillary's campaign. Now if we can just get her dad to zip his lips, Hillary may have a chance.

The first Clinton inauguration was the only one I've sat down and watched in my whole life. I remember Maya Angelou reading a wonderful pome.

Jeb Bush is probably too busy losing money in the Miami real estate market to get interested in politics. At least I think he's in the real estate business.

I get the impression that Chelsea managed to live a reasonably normal, quiet life as First Daughter.

Nannie Turner, I prefer not to hate even the deserving. Hamlet said "Use every man after his desert [i.e., deserving], and who shall 'scape whipping?

Leviticus 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Also,
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Jesus also said:
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

Mercifully, this is a secular election, not a referendum on the state of our souls.

Get ready for a President Neil Bush.

Karl Rove's intern stained the White House with Bush's own children, like a turd blossoming in Texas. Turd is a colloquial Texas term for a piece of s**t.

We need a president who can proudly spice up Prude Nation.

Chelsea Clinton is a lovely young lady who would be an asset to America.

Would she dare recite soliloquies at the risk of stark applause?

Patience tinsel angel, patience perfumed child,
One day theyll really love you, youll charm them with that smile
But for now its just another chelsea monday

Church music is more for participation than for listening, and hymn writers have to cater to those of us with limited vocal range. I suspect that many of them were probably also written to cater to limited literacy. But a good organist/music director undoubtedly helps keep things moving. Plus, of course, hymns are doctrinal statements as much as anything... verse and music fulfilling their original function as mnemonic aids. The right choice of hymns matching the lessons and a good sermon, with the congregation in a receptive mood... makes for a heckuva service. But anyway, to recur to an earlier boodle, I was darned sorry to miss the discussion of "hinterlands," because I was all set to try and get Mudge to tell us all he knows about hinter course. (My apologies if my boodle skimming missed someone's already having thought of this...) But the moment is sadly past.

Chelsea's *27*?!

I used to work near where she went to High School, and would see her in some of the local eateries. Even stood in line with her a few times while we ordered food, and exchanged some pleasantries to pass the time, though she was usually in the company of friends and the occasional Guy in Glasses and a Dark Suit. A very nice young lady IIRC.

Oh, and she and her mom dug eating at the local Cheesecake Factory back in the day.

bc

FYI, Jon Stewart just used the phrase, "They're dropping like flies!"

The bunker is fully staffed and open for business. I'm heading there now; I call "dibs" on the sofa; I'm tuckered and gonna sack out. Amuse yourselves how you wish.

bc: I just read the new C/D cover to cover, as is my habit when it hits the mailbox. The Tesla is reviewed, along with the CTS-V and a story of a 27K, 440HP Caprice station wagon. The latter is something I'd like to have in the drive. Too bad that the publishers crammed the magazine with more ads than readable articles.

The former President has been rather quiet for the past three days, and now an item regarding Ms. Clinton's role in the campaign. Calm before the storm, or a change in strategy? As the commercial once said: "YOu make the call!"

BTW, a headline on the front page refers to "...Trooop Cuts", the result of a keyboarding technique right from jack's school of typing.

Wilbrod - I've been to the islands... I know a thing or two about "serving divers lusts and pleasures"!

Chuck Norris threw his chops behind Mike Huckabee.

Sly Stallone came out punching for John McCain. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger flexed his muscles for McCain just this evening, throwing the weight of his endorsement behind McCain.

Who went to the mat for Obama today? None other than Hulk Hogan.

Now if Lynda Carter would just twirl in to save the day for Hillary, the world would just about be perfect.

Slightly more to Nannie Turner's point - Like you, I also respect Sen. Clinton (I'm not sure that she wishes to make it easy to actually be fond of her. Sorta like an ex-president living in the basement of someone we sorta know!), and I'll be quite pleased to support her in her works as long as she strikes me as attempting to be productive. I long ago became really annoyed with the current POTUS because it seemed to me that far too much time and energy was being expended in pissy power games, and I'll have very little patience for that habit with anyone else.

I think that I'd feel a little more comfortable with the Honorable Sen. Clinton if I was more aware of advisors & staff members around her who I trusted to have the country's best interests at heart as much as I trusted her predecessor in the Senate seat which she currently occupies.

In a tangential aside, I'll note that Pat Moynihan's widow has endorsed Sen. Obama.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/moynihans-widow-endorses-obama/

Thanks for reminding me, jack.

dmd, thanks for that Rick Mercer ice racing link from earlier today. Some friends of mine do that up in Michigan, and they've been bugging me for years to come up there and drive one of their cars. It looks like fun. One of these days...

And Scotty thanks for that link to the Shelby (not Carroll) Aero. That looks like a heck of a ride.

jack, I'm curious to read about the Tesla, and I loved the old Caddy CTS-V. Can't wait to try a new one. A friend of mine has a '63 Plymouth Savoy wagon with a 600 hp 440, it's a Bad Ride. Heck, I've got an old Dodge Omni that I share with some friends that used to make about 400 hp with all the knobs turned up to 11, and that was with a 4 cyl. engine. We took it apart a couple of years ago to upgrade it and we've never managed to get it back together yet... it sits in a corner of the garage under a tarp, potential just waiting.

Come to think of it, that turbocharged, nitroused 5-speed Plymouth Voyager minivan my friends and I used to knock about in was a hoot, too. Can't tell you how many times I heard someone thrash on their car trying to make it faster while muttering, "I can't believe I'm losing to a @#$*ing *minivan*!"

Made me laugh every time.

On a side note, I don't read C/D anymore, not since all that unpleasantness with Brock Yates went down. He and his family have always been good to me, and I don't feel right about reading it.

I do subscribe to AutoWeek, though. I prefer the weekly doses rather than one big monthly chunk. Note: I did overdose on the New Yorker, though. Just too much for me...

bc

It seems very unlikely that anyone cares too much about my musings upon Metro's problems, but I'll repost this bit that I had tossed onto the tail end of the last 'boodle:
---

So, the Washington Metro system needs $150 million for "urgent repairs". - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/30/AR2008013001810.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Ummm, the last time I checked, Metro ridership was well over (I mean WELL over!) half a million trips per day on weekdays (let's do some math - 500,000 trips x 250 workdays = 125 million trips per year) The interest on a $150 million loan for 20 years at 7.5% (they should be able to borrow at least that cheaply, right?) is around $125 million. Let's assume that inflation, delays, corruption, and incompetence will double all of the numbers, and throw in some extra just for the fun of it. Let's say that the eventual amount to be repaid on the loan is somewhere within spittin' distance of $750 million.

So, over the next 20 years, the (very conservatively estimated) two and a half BILLION trips would only need to contribute an extra thirty cents per trip to pay for this urgently needed outlay. Well, crap! They just raised the rates. Why didn't they build this in? Bear in mind that all of my estimates above were almost insanely conservative (except for the allowance for corruption & incompetence), and the actual per-trip cost of paying for the repairs is probably well under ten cents per trip. Toss in some tax money, and I'm wondering why these fools haven't already sold some bonds and started the repair work.

I truly do understand that I'm mostly babbling to myself, but I feel that I should have included this link in the Metro post above. It's got the verification for my ridership numbers:

http://www.wmata.com/riding/viewReportList_update.cfm

Florida needs more drunken snakehandlers-Carl Hiaasen on the "Colbert Report."

Oh, by the way - I wasn't unaware of the topic of the Kit. It's just that I've come to realize that it's considered (not entirely without justification) to be a bit unseemly for men of my age to seem too enthusiastic about young women of Chelsea Clinton's age.

She seems like a very cool, neat-o, groovy kinda chick. She's had lots of different kind of stress that many folks don't have to confront, and seems to have dealt with them pretty well. I'm guessing that her parents helped give her the tools to deal with the stress (as well as providing many of the stresses themselves), and that speaks well (and not-so well) of her parents. I certainly wish her the best in all of her endeavors.

Boko - Hiassen! Now THERE'S someone for whom a dude of my age is allowed to express adulation (within certain constraints) without running the risk of seeming too creepy.

It is, of course, Mr. "Hiaasen". There was a time when I could spell!

Loomis - I'm grinning here! I kinda read right by it initially, but I really liked your wrap-up of the celebrity endorsements: (Loomis | January 30, 2008 11:22 PM)

Presumably, it was The Flash who spoke up for Fred Thompson.

You said it well and non-creepily, Bob S.

That said, Chealsea has benefitted from her family's connections in her career and probably does not need "luck".

From Wiki: In 2001, she graduated with distinction from Stanford; her undergraduate thesis topic was her father's mediation of the 1998 Northern Ireland peace agreement. She went on to earn a Master's degree at University College, Oxford, in international relations.

In 2003, Clinton joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in New York City, reportedly earning a low six-figure salary; she was the youngest person hired in her class, hired alongside those holding MBAs.

In the fall of 2006, she left McKinsey and went to work for Avenue Capital, a hedge fund run by Marc Lasry, a loyal donor to Democratic causes generally, and heavy supporter of the Clintons.

-------

Bob, I'm sure the Fed workforce helps keep things stable for Metro, particularly with the transit benefits we get. Not everyone can afford a rate increase, though, so it'd be a wonderful thing to see Va., Md., and Congress all pony up a dedicated funding source. I ain't holding my breath.

*POSTING AT HOME NOTE* shrieking, if you think the recent CNSC kerfuffle was bad, you wouldn't want Kucinich in the White House. *rolling my eyes*

*having-trouble-waiting-for-Super-Sunday Grover waves* :-)

Good morning, friends. Just wanted to check in. Haven't had the time to go back and read, but will.

Busy day yesterday, as it always is. Didn't make the Center, but hit all the other spots.

Will try to check back in later, but today is kind of busy too. And all that without a car. *sigh*

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Mornin' all...

After reading the bit about Chelsea's resume and her ability to easily speak in paragraphs about complex issues, I then thought of the Bush twins.

Oh, the irony!

The child of those crazy, evil Clintons turns out to be quite the intelligent and professional young lady. On the other hand, we have the twin children of "I get my orders from God" George and his conservative school marm wife partying in South America with Fabio.

Just an observation. Read into it what you will.

Ah, well... time for another mug of Earl Grey and then off to my balmy 10F workshop.

Peace :-)

Hey Martooni!! You got mentioned in the Post today!!!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/30/AR2008013003804.html

6th graf, to be precise.

Hey Cassandra! Good to see you! *HUGS*

:-)

I think in honour of that 6th graf we should henceforth refer to Martooni as "Martooni, Lovey".

LOL scotty... you had me all excited. I was thinking maybe someone on the Home and Garden front had mentioned my fairy doors as a "must have" accessory for the upcoming gardening and yard beautification season.

btw... I came up with a new design a few days ago -- the "Lucky Leprechaun Door".

Check it out at http://weefolkoutfitters.bigcartel.com/product/lucky-leprechaun-door

byoolin... trust me, I'm anything *but* lovely.

Furry? Yes. Covered in sawdust? Yes. Known to cause little old ladies to hold onto their purses more tightly? Yes. Lovely? Mrs. M says "only if you like grumpy garden gnomes".

martooni, now I'm *LOL* at the idea of wee folk outfitters being part of a big cartel... :-)

It's all in the attitude, Martooni, Lovey: you have to SELL it.

byoolin, I have a sneaking suspicion Mrs. M will be saying "Lovey" a lot more now...

:-)

Scotty... I *do* sell worldwide, y'know. ;-)

Speaking of which, I spent a few hours the other day setting up a Google map to show the locations of all the doors I've shipped (most of them, anyway... I'm not a very good record keeper). You can see it on my spanking new blog at http://weefolkoutfitters.blogspot.com. The geographic concentrations of sales are interesting.

oops... it doesn't like that period after the ".com"

http://weefolkoutfitters.blogspot.com

"NO, NO, No turn for Jeb! Please!"
I know to say that it would be deplorable would be an understatement. It couldn't be any worse though, could it? Doubtful another Bush will get to the white house regardless. Of course, four years ago I said "There is no way people are stupid enough to vote for this guy again." How naive of me to think so highly of our population.

Anyway...I like Ms. Clinton just as much as I do Mr. Obama. I may even go so far as to say she'd be a better president. Two things make me lean toward the Obama ticket. 1. I fear Bill would be unable to keep his grubby hands off her presidency. 2. The vitriolic reaction by excessively mean republicans will bring them out of the wood work. If she was able to win the general election, it would be very close because of those fools that proudly consider themselves right-wing nut jobs. She may well lose because of said nut jobs.

Morning Boodle! MN Public Radio is running a report from International Falls on reaction to needing either a passport or driver's license+birth certificate (basically proof of citizenship) before being allowed to enter the US from Canada. Woody of Woody's Fairly Reliable Guide Service had the best quote about how the change affects border cities, "this is like the border between North and South Korea."

Martooni-this may be a stupid question, answered long ago. Do your fairie doors have working hinges? We will be cutting a hole in the bottom of a door (like the old mouse holes in Tom 'n Jerry cartoons) and would like to leave it open when we want the Frostcats to be able to go in and out.

Off to start the Chinese New Year cooking marathon. Menu and recipe updates later.

Frosty... the current designs don't open, but I could make something custom for you that does. Email me approximate dimensions and any preferences and I'll get back to you: sfulk[at]zoominternet[dot]net.

Mudge-I like the sound of Frosti as "America's Mayor." I vow never to be caught in the amateur proctologist pose. However, you should know I have said "I never met a tax I didn't like" in public and was only half joking. I am also in hot pursuit of pork for our fair city and was a charter member of MACHO (Marxist Anarchist Cowboy's and Horseman's Organization) at the University of North Dakota. However, unlike some oft married mayors I believe both of the former Mr.s F would speak well of me.

SCC: Cowboys' and Horsemen's

Martooni-will measure the cats and think about the design and get back to you. I'm attracted to things with an early 20th century "crafstman" vibe, perhaps with a bit of the Asian influence.

IMO, any day that starts out with Gilligan's Island references promises to be a good one.

Now that the clouds have moved out for a little while, I was able to observe the Venus/Jupiter conjunction before sunrise today.

I find it beautiful, and it should be even more interesting as the crescent Moon moves into the picutre.

As far as Chelsea Clinton moving into public office - I think she'll be quite good at it. After all, she's been around it for her entire life and has probably had an amazing education in that area.

bc

Let's set the record straight about women and education--and advanced education.

Hillary Clinton graduated Wellesley and got her law degree from Yale.

Wilbrod filled us in earlier in this Boodle about Chelsea's educational trajectory.

Martooni called Laura Bush a school marm, a dated term that leaves out important detail. Laura got her B.S. from SMU, and her master's in library science from the University of Texas. Librarian, yes; eductor, yes.

Jenna graduated UT in 2004, while her twin sister Barbara graduated Yale in 2004. No advance degrees (yet) for these two.

Since Joel has given me the opening, I'd like to circle back to the topic when the house gets a bit quieter and you know who goes out the front door.

And, since a snub seems to be in the news...along with a mention of Barbara Bush running for president:

By JOHN TIERNEY; JIM RUTENBERG AND BRIAN WINGFIELD CONTRIBUTED REPORTING FOR THIS COLUMN.
Published NYT: May 23, 2004

Yale's Skulless, Boneless Bush

On the surface, everything looks normal in New Haven this weekend as the Bushes celebrate a new generation graduating from Yale. But before you start calculating when President Bush's daughter Barbara will be running for president, you should know a dark family secret: she does not belong to Skull and Bones. ...

The society was open to women by the time Barbara became eligible for membership her senior year, but instead she joined a newer secret society called Sage and Chalice, members of both societies said. Ms. Bush herself declined to explain her decision, but others offer two competing explanations:

Bones snubbed her. Some members of Bones say that she was not asked to join because she was known less for achievement than for partying, most notably when she and her twin sister, Jenna, who graduates from the University of Texas this weekend, were cited for underage drinking. The society has always styled itself as Yale's great meritocracy, and the 15 members of each class traditionally include star athletes and leaders like John Kerry, who was also president of the Political Union.

Still, there is also a tradition of admitting the well-connected -- George W. Bush was not exactly a campus heavyweight -- so it seems odd not to accept a fourth-generation legacy with a father in the White House. Perhaps her political connections hurt her. Conservatives at Yale have accused Bones and other secret societies of becoming liberal bastions. They have been described as temples of political correctness, with slots once reserved for scions named Bunny now being allotted according to identity-group politics.

She snubbed Bones. Perhaps Ms. Bush was following a different family tradition. Her father, never fond of Eastern elitism, seriously considered joining a different secret society at Yale less known for ancient rituals than for its parties. Although he acceded to his father's wishes, he became a relatively unenthusiastic member who did not even bother thinking up the requisite Bones name for himself. He ended up being called Temporary.

So he might not have cared if his daughter turned down Bones, which is what several of her friends say happened. They say she told them she spurned Bones because it seemed too stuffy.

Let's see, Ms. Clinton isn't running, and besides she's still too young. Mr. Obama isn't running cause he's dead, died in an auto accident in 1982.

I believe the title you're looking for J is Senator.

I only post this because I seriously thought you were refering to Chelsea when you wrote Ms. Clinton, and didn't know what make of Mr. Obama.

Glad you cleared that up, K...

*adopting RCA Victor dog pose*

:-)

Morning, all, hey Cassandra. I'm feeling a bit under the weather this morning, having contracted the gastrointestinal bug that has felled Mr. T this week. So I'm popping Immodium and Pepsid like crazy, and hope to be okay tomorrow.

I'm glad Chelsea is getting a role in her mom's campaign. It's good to know that she can talk coherently and put her (well-educated) brains to use. Anybody who can earn a graduate degree from Oxford has my respect. FWIW, C.S. Lewis got his first two degrees from University College.

I just want to be photographer at the next former First and Second Daughter Pajama Party. Sounds like it would be a hoot. Especially when Kristen and Amy get into a pillow fight against Jenna and Babs.

Gosh K, you're just so...what's the word...Oh yeah: ANAL

This story about a contributor to the Clinton library. The contributor was quite generous, but only after being awarded a lucrative contract as a result of the former President's intervention. This sees to be the NYT's way of saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same. I would expect that this story will become increasingly visible as the day wears on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html?hp

Good morning. Cold and snowing here, and I apparently have a cold in the head.

I am rapidly reaching the conclusion that raising a child well, to be a responsible adult, is the most difficult job one can have. To have the child grow up and be articulate, knowledgable, responsible and gainfully employed reflects well on its parents, no matter what their circumstances are. By that measure, Chelsea is a walking recommendation and proof that the Clintons did something right. Good for her. I hope we will see her again, in whatever venue suits her, in public life.

Frosti, I see no reason your fondness for taxes and pork (either kind), both of which I share, as well as your membership in Marxist Anarchist Cowboy's and Horseman's Organization (a.k.a. the Groucho Gauchos) should be an impediment to being America's mayor. You still have my most fulsome endorsement. As for the former Mr. F's, well, we have ways of taking them out, if they get unruly.

Why are we talking about Chelsea?

Martooni, maybe you ought to think about marketing some of those fairy doors to the scriptwriters of "Lost." Those doors are about the only thing that show has been missing. (Thus far, a few of us have been concerned about you being unhinged, but that hasn't applied to your doors, until now. Keep coloring between the lines, if you can.)

Yet another op-ed column I cannot bring myself to read: Novak asking whether McCain is really a Conservative. *sigh.*

I found this item quite persuasive: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/?hpid=news-col-blog

Looks like we may have an alphabet war on our hands.

Speaking of war: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/education_1/?page=quiz100&Quizid=100

10/10 only three I wasn't 100% sure of. Now just how the heck do I know this stuff. Oh yeah: Lots and lots of reading.

Oh, and speaking of Chelsea this AM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1jL11a3r3g

omni, yer such a warmongerer...

8/10

:-)

more on that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Morning

Jack, to paraphrase Claude Raines as Capt. Renault in Curmudgeon's favorite movie, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that influence peddling is going on here!"

Which did you miss Scotty, The #8 and #9 were my toughest. Almost change my answer for #9.

Today is Feast day of St. John Bosco (hint: Mudge and TBG may know what this means)

I just made an intersting discovery: The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, USSR today in 1990.

Soviet Union dissolves one year later.

hhhmmm.

8/10 on the warmonger quiz. I was doing great with one lucky guess until the last two questions.

Because I am a cynical smarta$$ rather than a mushy old romantic, "Casablanca" is not my favorite movie. However it is a very good movie with lots of memorable lines, and the Renault character has many of them-

Captain Renault: Rick, there are many exit visas sold in this café, but we know that you've never sold one. That is the reason we permit you to remain open.
Rick: Oh? I thought it was because I let you win at roulette.
Captain Renault: That is another reason.

Major Strasser: You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American.
Captain Renault: We musn't underestimate American blundering. I was with them when they blundered into Berlin in 1918.

Captain Renault: This is the end of the chase.
Rick: Twenty thousand francs says it isn't.
Captain Renault: Is that a serious offer?
Rick: I just paid out twenty. I'd like to get it back.
Captain Renault: Make it ten. I'm only a poor corrupt official.

Captain Renault: How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that. Someday they may be scarce. You know, now I think I shall pay a call on Yvonne. Maybe get her on the rebound. Hmm?
Rick: When it comes to women, you're a true democrat.

Rick: I stick my neck out for nobody.
Major Strasser: What is your nationality?
Rick: I'm a drunkard.
Captain Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.

Captain Renault: Ricky, I'm going to miss you. Apparently you're the only one in Casablanca with less scruples than I.

Captain Renault: No matter how clever he is, he still needs an exit visa... or I should say two?
Rick: Why two?
Captain Renault: He is traveling with a lady.
Rick: He'll take one.
Captain Renault: I think not. I have seen the lady.

Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

Rick: And remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.
Captain Renault: That is my least vulnerable spot.

Captain Renault: Realizing the importance of the case, my men are rounding up twice the usual number of suspects.

Big Macs are more powerful than bombs. A lesson we could have used about five years ago.

9/10. I got suckered by #8. Scott Ritter would be ashamed of me.

Hi Tooni!

omni, he's the patron saint of chocolate milk. Today is the day he died (reportedly when he choked to death on a chocolate-covered biscoti). His favorite hymn was also one of my old favorites, tune no. 496 in your hymnals, written by the Rev. Estrus J. Brimmelbumler (1818-1879), a.k.a., "the Hoosier John Knox," called "Whither Thou Hast, My Shephard, Lo, in the Bosom of Thy Lillies, Rendered Not Asunder Thy Silly Words and Thy Annointment of Thine Tabernacle." C'mon, you guys all know it: let's sing it one more time for Johnny B., in one-quarter time, pianissimo and brushetta: "Da dee da dum de la do dee...." C'mon, Wilbrod, feel free to sign it along with us....

Ok, maybe we won't sing it, then.

9/10 on the warmonger quiz (got my crazy muslim warlords mixed up). Shame on me.

Much has been made in the last month about the Old Black Guard reluctantly supporting Obama. Much has been made in the last several months about identity politics in the Democratic race where there is an historic first woman candidate and historic first black (multiracial) candidate.

It isn't hard to discern from my posts that I favor Hillary--in all likelihood because I'm four years younger than Hillary, part of the "Old Guard," a witness to the feminist movement in my lifetime. When I read the first chapters of Bernstein's biography about Clinton, especially the details of her family situation, I didn't sympathize with Clinton, I emphathized with her and uber-identified with her.

As Bernstein mentioned at the start of his second chapter of his book, admission to Wellesley even more than the other Seven Sisters colleges in the Northeast, was predicated on the assumption that, after graduation, you were demonstrably brilliant. More importantly, Bernstein points out, when Hillary was ready to head to college in 1965, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown and other traditional Ivy League universities were still all-male bastions.

Hree's Wiki's listing of when Ivy League colleges became co-educational. These are when the doors were opened wide; some, such as Harvard, had admitted a handful of women to advanced degree programs such as medicine and law:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeducation

If women wanted a really outstanding education at the time Hillary graduated from her high school, they would have picked one of the Seven Sisters colleges in the Northeast:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters_(colleges)

On this list, you'll see that Wellesley and Smith were founded only a year apart, in the 1870s. There is one important Loomis relative I haven't mentioned yet--a woman. Sophia Smith, the benefactoress, of Smith College, founded in Northampton, Mass., is a White descendant. As was the custom of that time, she has several lines of White in her genealogy (as described by my distant cousin Stephen Lawson--so helpful to me-- at his website). This is the same White family that included Mary White, married to Joseph Loomis, who settled Windsor, Connecticut, in 1638.

Famous Smith graduates whose names we recognize include Julia Child, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Sylvia Plath, Gloria Steinem, Julie Nixon Eeisenhower, Molly Ivins, and one who was important in helping form Hillary Clinton. (Famous Wellesley grads include Madeleine Albright, Cokie Roberts, Diane Sawyer, Nora Ephron, Lynn Scherr.)

Paula Allen, who writes the Sunday San Antonio history column in the Express-News, is a '78 grad from Smith, which is why I (and my husband) went last Tuesday night to the meeting of the San Antonio Historical Association, when they honored her work. As Gail Collins wrote in her book, "America's Women": Margaret Mitchell, the author, was an Atlanta girl who had walked out of a history course at Smith College when an African American student was admitted to the class.

As Bernstein writes in his Hillary biography, Hillary was in her freshman year when Betty Friedan cofounded the National Organization for Women, dedicated to achieving equal opportunity for women. Betty Friedan, a graduate of Smith College, wrote the "Feminine Mystique," based largely on her fellow alumnae's experiences after they graduated Smith in 1942. "Mystique" was published in 1963, and influenced Hillary, although Hillary was hardly one of feminists pioneers or even a firebrand of its second wave, as Bernstein points out.

"By the time of her graduation, she still reflected the traditions of her upbringing, but also had been hugely influenced by the movement's acomplishments, so visible on the two coasts of America especially," Bernstein writes. "Moreover, what was happening in America in regard to women--literally liberating them in a fundamental sense--was consistent with her mother's ambitious aspirations for her daughter. Who better than Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the exemplar of Wellesley's transition? She could toe the line with one foot and drag the institution forward with another."

This is getting long, my intent is to write about the "soft bigotry of low expectations" in my life (a phrase attributed to George W. Bush, although there is some dispute). I'll take a break and circle back to it later, perhaps this afternoon. I want to tell a bit of my story--and my mother's.

Does this mean you won't be joining us in the hymn sing-along, Loomis?

omni, I missed #9 and #10. *hanging head at #10*

:-)

How silly I am. I thought the universe revolved around me!

Ooh I know the shame on #10 because I knew the answer and for split second I was about to pick Grant.

On number eight was somewhat luck it turns out.

Husayn is just another spelling for Husein, so the question is: which Husayn? Not C

I'd heard of Abu Bakr before as the prophets closest friend but not a warrior. Not B

Abd-ar-Rahman III, the III through me off that trail. Not D.

Oops, turns out the III is real. Only 300 years later.

So Take one of my stars away.

k-guy, I was sure this one would make your list:

Rick: I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Insp. Renault: But we're in the middle of the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.

Bertooch, you know what I recently realized is very very wrong about that line? Casablanca isn't in the middle of the desert at all; it's a seaport city on the shores of the Atlantic. Got a major harbor and everything. (I suddenly realized this while reading Rick Atkinson's excellent "An Army at Dawn" about the invasion of North Africa. How could nobody have picked this up in all these years? Poor Louis didn't know where the he11 he was. But of course it explains all that misty ground fog in the final scene.)

8/10. I missed #10, which I shouldn't have.

um, new kit...

I think I'm coming down with something...(cough, cough). I may have to leave work early and go in search of medications, and perhaps a hamburger platter. O if only there was such a dish available for a mere $1.99!! Er, not that I, a loyal gummint drone, am clock-weatching or anything, just because I'm 4 hours and 59 minutes away from relief.

NO MORE KIDS, WIVES, HUSBANDS, BROTHERS, COUSINS, ETC SHOULD INHERIT THE PRESIDENCY. okay? LET THEM GET REAL JOBS AND HAVE REAL LIVES.

sorry i yelled. just sayin....

Say it to the Lord, Butlerguy!

MESSAGE

MESSAGE

MESSAGE

MESSAGE

Actually, I think it's going to be Laura Bush in 2016:

http://www.laurabush2016.com