President Barack Obama addressed the National Prayer Breakfast at the Hilton in Washington, D.C. today, February 4, 2010. His remarks on civility are worth repeating, although I am only sharing excerpts, with commentary. . The entire transcript appeared in the Washington Post under the title “Politics and Policy in Washington” in an online posting made at 10:55 a.m. on Thursday (Feb. 4, 2010).

After the normal “welcomes” and reference to how “prayer can bring sustenance to our lives” Obama said, “But there is a sense that something is different now; that something is broken; that those of us in Washington are not serving the people as well as we should. At times, it seems like we’re unable to listen to one another, to have at once a serious and civil debate. And this erosion of civility in the public square sows division and distrust among our citizens. It poisons the well of public opinion. It leaves each side little room to negotiate with the other. It makes politics an all-or-nothing sport, where one side is either always right or always wrong when, in reality, neither side has a monopoly on truth…Empowered by faith, consistently, prayerfully, we need to find our way back to civility.”

Obama went on, “Civility also requires relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable…We forget that we share at some deep level the same dreams—even when we don’t share the same plans on how to fulfill them.” The president urged a way “to make an impact in a way that’s civil and respectful of difference and focused on what matters most.

Obama quoted three great leaders in making his point(s) on civility:

1) Abraham Lincoln, who said, on the eve of the Civil War, “We are not enemies, but friends. Though passions may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”

2) Martin Luther King: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

3) President John F. Kennedy: “Civility is not a sign of weakness.”

Obama said, “But progress doesn’t come when we demonize opponents. It’s not born in righteous spite.” He added, “It seems like the very idea (of civility) is a relic of some bygone era. The word itself seems quaint—civility.”

All of the above excerpts from our president’s February 4^th speech are so true and so sad. I have bold-faced the last line, because I think that President Obama may not realize how true it is: civility and politeness are, indeed, values no longer abroad in the land. Civility is a quaint word and a quaint concept in 2010.

It seems that only the older generation—those who grew up in the age of Truman and Eisenhower or before— have even a dim memory of how it used to be in society. Children were taught to be polite; rudeness towards one’s parents, peers or teachers was not tolerated. The longshoreman language we hear spouted by even first-grade students in schools was non-existent in those “happy days.”

In today’s schools at every level, teachers are lucky if they are merely called profane names. Educators are fortunate if they are only assaulted with idle threats and profane insults when things don’t go the students’ way. The teacher is no longer always right. Mom and Dad—if there is one— (and, often, the administration of the school) will very often side with Junior and undercut attempts at enforcing standards of civility and polite discourse. In some noteworthy cases, Junior may become violent, a threat to himself, his teachers, and his classmates. These outbursts, this impolite, dangerous behavior did not happen in the days of civility and polite discourse.

Not just schools and government, but all of our institutions are under attack; none of our institutions are totally trusted any longer. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fireman, a policeman, a teacher or a politician. Whatever form of authority you represent, even if it is simply the owner of a store, handling customer complaints is a nightmare in this age of out-of-control anger and uncivil behavior.

What was most telling, for me, about President Obama’s eloquent words, were the three quotes he selected to illustrate his very valid points about civility in 2010. Obama quoted John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the martyred president of Camelot lost; Martin Luther King, Jr., the murdered Civil Rights leader who preached nonviolence to his followers; and Abraham Lincoln, whose enemies chose to still that Illinois president’s voice of reason with a bullet to the brain

I found the words of President Obama’s speech true and moving.

However, I fear that he is pleading for something that is perhaps gone forever, like the dinosaur, or, if not gone, in very short supply. Quoting three murdered leaders only makes me fear more for our president and for our country, which so badly needs polite and civil discourse and both sides working together in civil harmony, rather than radical rants and unreasonable stone-walling.

Something is broken, Mr. President, not just in Washington, D.C., but also in the United States of America. Can chaos give way to order? Can the bell of rude behavior be unrung when it’s been pealing for decades?

Many things are definitely broken in America. I wonder if they can be fixed?

Ray LaHood’s Remarks To Congress Set off Toyota Tempest

By Connie Wilson

On February 4, 2010

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Local, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

Today’s big gaffe by the Obama administration was made by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood—-coincidentally, my former neighbor in East Moline, Illinois, and a great guy (also, a Republican, most recently residing in Peoria, Illinois and representing that district in Illinois before his decision to retire.)

Ray was testifying before Congress about the sticking pedal on certain Toyota models, a number of which have been recalled by the company for fixing. The problem seemed to be that Ray was not speaking officially…or he didn’t think that he was, at the time he was testifying…but the man-in-the-street heard Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, telling them to quit driving their Toyotas and drive immediately to the nearest Toyota dealership for a fix of the problem. (Oh, oh.)

In Ray’s defense, he corrected himself within 2 hours and admitted he had “misspoken,” but the harm was done. In Florida, where I am now, various channels had Floridians from all walks of life saying things like, “How will I get home from work?” (I’m not making this up, Folks. One of the interview subjects actually told the reporter this, with a very worried look.)

I am the proud owner of 2 Toyota Prius vehicles (I’ve written on this subject on AC before). I also owned a third, which is now in my son’s possession in Chicago. Of course, currently I’m not in Illinois, where my green Prius (the grasshopper) is sitting in the garage, waiting for me to make the final five payments to say that I own it. But I can assure you that I would not be panicking at the thought of driving that car home from work (if I had work to drive home from, that is.)

I read, elsewhere, that the co-founder of Apple says that his Prius will automatically escalate up to 97 mph when he uses his cruise control. [My answer to that would be, “Don’t use the cruise control.”]

Where has common sense gone in all the hoopla over the really unfortunate, although isolated, incidents involving (some) Toyota vehicles? The Lexus accident that precipitated the recall (of floor mats, initially) was truly horrifying, and it did take an inordinate amount of time for Toyota to own up to the fact that there was something going on with their vehicles, but things seem to be getting out of hand.

As I type this, I’m watching a satirical take-off on “American Idol’s” auditions on Jimmy Kimmel. I watched the young man talk about how his father was eaten by an alligator (leg shown sticking out of alligator’s mouth) and, on the way home from the funeral service, someone threw a bucket at his mother from a bridge overpass as she drove underneath in a convertible. She had to be buried with the bucket on her head. (Okay…questionable taste and graphic there, but it was Jimmy Kimmel, not me.)

Given the panic that a simple misstatement by our current Secretary of Transportation (Ray LaHood) caused on February 3^rd after his inadvertent remark before Congress, the Toyota Tempest caused by Ray’s remark today (not the need for a fix for a real problem, but the foot-in-mouth comment) is ripe for a “Saturday Night Live” skit. I can see it now:

First, a shot of LaHood telling people not to drive their Toyota vehicles, but to take them immediately to dealerships.

Next, a shot of hordes of screaming villagers jamming the entrances to Toyota dealerships, nationwide, demanding the chip or floor mat or whatever it is that is supposed to end this madness, and demanding it RIGHT NOW! Maybe some of them could be carrying torches. Or, failing that, discarded rubber floor mats.

Next, a scene depicting those wusses who are still at work as the hour grows late, sitting there staring timidly at their parked Toyota vehicles but too afraid to climb in and drive 3 blocks home.

I’m obviously watching too much television while on vacation in the Sunshine State, where a shark ate a surfer today. (New Smyrna Beach is “the shark bite capital of the United States.”) To quote David Letterman, “Hep me! Hep me! I been hip-no-tized!” watching this Toyota Tempest play out on television.

And, Ray: I mean no disrespect. You’re doing a great job. Just get us that railroad paralleling I-80 (Chicago to the Quad Cities to Des Moines) and all is forgiven. I’ll even ask “Saturday Night Live” to call off the skit.

By Connie Wilson

On February 4, 2010

In Uncategorized

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s Testimony Before Congress Sets Off Toyota Tempest
Commentary on Ray LaHood’s (Secretary of Transportation) comments to Congress on February 3, 2010.
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Clarification of Review Below

By Connie Wilson

On February 3, 2010

In Books, Reviews

In response to a reader’s comment, I wanted to clarify that the review of Hellfire and Damnation (www.HellfireandDamnationtheBook.com) that appears below, it was sent me by the reviewer, Adam Groves, who agreed to review the book in electronic format (early). As he states, it is posted on his his blog at this time, where you can (also) see it.

REVIEW of “Hellfire & Damnation” (www.HellfireandDamnationtheBook.com)

By Connie Wilson

On February 2, 2010

In Books, Local, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Reviews

Just letting you know that my review of HELLFIRE AND DMANATION is now up at http://www.fright.com/edge/HellfireAndDamnation.htm

I liked the book a lot–hopefully my review will help spread the word!

–Best,
Adam Groves
On&off Productions

HELLFIRE & DAMNATION
By CONNIE CONCORAN WILSON (Sam’s Dot Press; 2009)

In horror fiction, as in most any other sort, true originality is an increasingly rare commodity. But it does exist, as proven by Connie Wilson’s HELLFIRE AND DAMNATION, an anthology that is genuinely, blazingly original.

The collection is rigorously structured around the nine circles of Hell as laid out in Dante’s INFERNO, yet the contents couldn’t be more varied in subject matter. What unites them is the unerringly rational, straightforward prose, which is unlike anything else in horror fiction (usually typified by subjective “you-are-there” descriptions). Stylistically it’s not unlike Wilson’s previous book GHOSTLY TALES OF ROUTE 66, a journalistic compendium of American folklore that was likewise distinguished by its novelty. HELLFIRE AND DAMNATION, however, far outpaces the earlier volume in every respect.

“Hotter Than Hell,” categorized under the Gates of Hell, starts things off. Inspired by the final words of real death row inmates, it’s a gritty and depressing account of prison life.

From there we move into the first circle of Hell, where Pagan souls reside. Illustrating this is “Rachel and David,” set in Webster Groves, Missouri, and apparently based on folklore from that region. It’s about a young couple and their fateful meeting with two odd kids.

In Circle Two, Lust, we have three stories. The first, “Love Never Dies,” is a strange little number set in ancient Rome and headlined by an undead prostitute! “Konerak” takes a real-life incident, of the man who almost escaped the clutches of the late Jeffrey Dahmer, and spins a wild tale of Oriental sorcery emerging from the Hmong of Laos, who fought for the United States against the Viet Cong (obviously this is the only place you’ll find Eastern mysticism, Jeffrey Dahmer and the Vietnam War combined). “Effie, We hardly Knew Ye!” is another folklore-based tale, this one of an Oklahoma City hotel haunted by the spirit of its founder’s wronged mistress.

Circle Three is Gluttony, as represented by “Amazing Andy, the Wonder Chicken.” In this tale a chicken gets its head cut off and still lives–and I’ll leave you to discover the rest of it on your own.

From there it’s on to the circle of Hoarders and Wasters, with “The Lemp Mansion Curse,” a jaunty account of a family curse, and “Queen Bee,” about an all-too appropriate revenge taken on a woman whose personality and social standing are accurately encompassed by the title.

Circle Five is the Wrathful. It contains “The Ghost Girl of Howard “Pappy” Litch Park,” set along the author’s favorite highway, Route 66. Here, in what may or may not be a fact-based tale, a father’s wrath causes his young daughter to be whisked away…but glimpses of the girl can of course still be seen in the area.

Heretics populate the Sixth Circle, containing the quietly unnerving “Hell to Pay.” It combines a look into Amish life with an intriguing speculation on the origins of schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. Also in the Heretics circle is “On Eagles’ Wings,” concerning a weird cultist, a young girl and an unhealthy obsession with birds.

Circle Number Seven is reserved for The Violent. It begins with “Going Through Hell,” about a serial killer and his woman police officer victim, and continues with “Living in Hell,” about a young boy who visualizes a serial killer’s crimes in nightmares. This tale is particularly shivery: the concept isn’t terribly original, but the nasty subject matter and clinical prose make for a skin-crawling read.

Circle Eight consists of The Fraudulent, represented by “Confessions of an Apotemnophile.” That word refers to an person desiring to amputate his own limbs, in this case a man who’s harbored an all-consuming desire to lose his legs ever since conversing with a like-minded individual as a child.

Circle Nine is the final circle, featuring “An American Girl,” the collection’s creepiest story. Its subject is the factual murder of a teenage girl in snowy Illinois, with the bulk of the tale taken up with a methodical depiction of the pubescent killers’ attempts at disposing of the corpse.

You won’t find another collection like this one. Some readers, I’m sure, will be put off by its oddness, yet it fulfills most every expectation one might have for a horror anthology, being readable, entertaining and deeply unsettling in a manner unique to itself.

Sit-ins, Nashville, Civil Rights, the ’60s and Me

By Connie Wilson

On February 1, 2010

In Editorial, News, Politics, Pop Culture

Today is a good day to write this for my daughter, who lives in Nashville and attended college (Belmont University) in Nashville. It may (or may not) enlighten her to an anniversary being hailed by USA Today in their Monday, February 1, 2010 issue, in a front page story entitled “How a Demand for Lunch Fueled a Push for Rights.” The story, written by Larry Copeland, references the 50-year anniversary of a sit-in by black students and their white friends at the businesses along Fifth Street in Nashville, Tennessee.

Although Nashville’s sit-in protesting racial discrimination at the city’s lunch counters like Woolworth’s (then a staple) was upstaged by an impromptu sit-in the day before, [on February 1, 1960], at North Carolina A&T College, by four black students (all freshman African American students at AT&T College)—Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond and Franklin McCain—the Nashville protest movement involved many more students, both local residents and many who were urged, as I was, to get on buses and travel South to be part of the protests. Many of these Freedom Riders, as they were known (or trouble-makers, if you were a local in the Southern community being visited), were organized by SNCC (the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee).

SNCC was organized in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1960 to help coordinate sit-ins and freedom rides and marches. Most were unpaid volunteers, but some were paid $10 a week to help the organization. Initially, the organization was meant to be non-violent. In its later incarnations under Stokely Carmichael, when the Black Power salute came into being, etc., the organization’s leaders said, “I don’t know how much longer we can remain non-violent,” and, indeed, it did not stand fast to Martin Luther King’s original nonviolent protest principles and passed out of existence in the seventies. However, during the hey-day of the sixties, SNCC was instrumental in helping organize protest movements in the United States, both by raising funds and by recruiting sympathetic students from across the northern part of the United States, who traveled South to help win civil rights for the black residents.

One of the most influential, in fact, would be an English major from Chicago, Diane Nash, who emerged as a key spokeswoman and ultimately confronted Nashville’s Mayor, Ben West at the height of the city’s sit-ins of 1960 (.

Nashville, Tennessee in 1960 was still a segregated city in the South, although it prided itself on being “the Athens of the South,” with its model Parthenon in the park and what officials felt was an enlightened attitude. But the black students who could not be served at Woolworth’s, S.H. Kress, McClellan’s, Grant’s, Walgreen’s and Cain-Sloan along Fifth Street didn’t quite see it that way.

Today, with the benefit of looking back from the vantage-point of 50 years in the future, it is apparent that the Nashville protest for civil rights was far better organized than many of those being staged in 112 Southern cities by October of 1960 (as documented in Juan Williams’ book Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil rights Years, 1954-1965). Of the 112 sit-ins and other demonstrations staged, many were ineffectual. It is a tribute to the preparation and planning of leaders like Chicago’s Diane Nash that Nashville’s sit-ins and protest movement yielded fruit that today’s college students benefit from, even if they cannot remember and, sometimes, cannot believe that this sort of unrest occurred in their fair city.

While Joseph McNeil, one of the original sit-in demonstrators at the lunch counter at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, had simply “had enough” and did what he did with little preparation or forethought, simply because, “I didn’t want to see my children have to face the same problems. We just felt that this certainly was a time to act. If not now, when? If not my generation, what generation?” others spent more time preparing and planning. McNeil is now 67 and a retired Air Force Reserve major general who lives in Hempstead, New York. He adds, “My parents grew up and carried the scars of racial segregation.”

Lest readers think that Nashville, with its reputation as the Athens of the South, was so much better than Greensboro, North Carolina, let me quote 82-year-old John Seigenthaler in the USA Today front page article (Feb. 1, 2010) who was then the weekend city editor of The Tennessean, Nashville’s leading newspaper. Said Seigenthaler, “It (Nashville) was as segregated by race as any city in South Africa during apartheid.” Seigenthaler went on to become the first editorial director of USA Today, after serving as editor and publisher of The Tennessean.

When 124 students who had been coached in non-violent reaction by groups such as SNCC, dressed in their Sunday best, marched quietly, 2 abreast, from a nearby church to Fifth Avenue in Nashville and entered Woolworth’s, S.H. Kress, and McClellan’s, stores that, today, we would describe as “dime stores,” they were told by a waitress, “We don’t serve niggers here.”

The students waited quietly while other shoppers stared. The protesters sat for a few hours and then left. However, the students returned over and over again during the next 2 weeks and added a fourth store, Grant’s, and a fifth, Walgreen’s. (None of these stores remain on Nashville’s Fifth Avenue, today, except Walgreen’s, which hasn’t had a lunch counter in decades, as that particular American cultural phenomenon has been supplanted by fast food places like McDonald’s and Burger King.)

Each subsequent sit-in grew larger, attracting more students to the cause, but each subsequent sit-in also attracted supportive, idealistic white youths of the era. Protesters were heckled, beat, and spat upon the protesters and all this has been documented on film. By February 27, 1960, Nashville had decided to crack down on the disruption(s) to the local businesses and 81 students had been arrested.

Seigenthaler remembers, “For the white community, there was shock, anger, overwhelmingly negative feelings. The business community adopted a very steel-backed approach, rigid and very negative.”

I remember that, in my own case, I only took part in demonstrations that were held on the campuses of the universities I was actually attending. My parents decreed that there would be no bus trips to Southern cities for this college co-ed. But the colleges I was attending during the years outlined in Juan Williams’ book (see above) were the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. (If you think things were “all quiet on the western front at Berkeley,” you have not read many history books about “Berzerkley” in the sixties.)

I remember that all the bookstore windows were broken out during demonstrations, to the point that the bookstores on both campuses replaced their previously glass windows with a bricked-up substitute. I remember the (repeated) occupation of Sproul Hall (the administration building) on campus at Berkeley and many protest rallies and concerts by such luminaries as Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan and, in one memorable poetry reading, Alan Ginsberg.

Ginsberg, the much-acclaimed author of “Howl” and one of the Beat Poets (like Jack Kerouac of “On the Road”) was so high on something that the janitor had to be summoned to actually physically lift the man, (squatting cross-legged in yoga lotus position onstage with finger cymbals), and remove him from the stage (stage left, as they say). I remember Mario Savio, now deceased, who was constantly rallying the student demonstrators, and just as constantly being hauled off to jail. [Imagine my surprise on a return trip to Berkeley recently to discover a life-sized statue of this leader of the Free Speech movement and civil rights activist right on campus. (“The times, they are a’changin’,” for sure.)]

But back to Nashville, so that my daughter, born in 1987, may read some reminiscences of others more central to integrating the city she now calls home.

Sit-ins had been tried in more than 12 cities, beginning in Wichita, Kansas in 1958, but the one in Greensboro, North Carolina described above ignited the most passion and reignited Dr. Martin Luther King’s movement, which had flagged after the Rosa Parks bus incident in Birmingham, Alabama, faded from memory. Without the students leading the way, Dr. King’s movement might well have faltered, but the unbridled enthusiasm of youth—harnessed again in Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008—rescued a flagging Civil Rights movement back in the sixties.

By February, 1960, sit-ins had taken place in 31 cities. By March, 1960, sit-ins had taken place in 71 cities (USA Today article of Feb. 1, 2010, by Larry Copeland, p.2A). By October, 1960, sit-ins had occurred in 112 Southern cities. The movement was growing and, in Nashville, at least, students from all over the country and all over the world were feeding it. Said Representative John Lewis, (D, Ga.) who was then 19 and among those in the Civil Rights movement in 1960, “Students would come to Fisk to watch films and plays, or come to the Fisk Chapel to listen to unbelievable music, but they could not eat together downtown in racially mixed groups.”

For 2 years prior to the Nashville movement of 1960, Lewis was among a group of students learning non-violent tactics from James Lawson, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University. (Again, at Iowa, the group was SNCC, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee). This is where Diane Nash from Chicago, mentioned earlier, studied the movement and where Bernard LaFayette, who later became a college president, would take part. C.T. Vivian, who later became an Atlanta city councilman was there and Marion Barry, later the Mayor of Washington, D.C. whose antics in office earned him a less-than-stellar reputation for drug use and womanizing, decades afterwards.

All these disparate people came together and planned, for 2 years, to hold mock sit-ins and studied how NOT to respond if attacked or arrested. Test sit-ins were held in late 1959 at 2 Nashville department stores, Harvey’s and Cain-Sloan. All this was in preparation for “the real deal,” which rolled out on February 13, 1960.

Says LaFayette, today, “There was an ongoing debate between the students and their parents. They (the parents) feared for our safety, because we were going up against a system that was not known to be very sympathetic or humane, particularly law enforcement in the South.”

I had grown up in the lily-white town of Independence, Iowa. I did not have…then or now…. one shred of prejudice towards any other ethnic group. It isn’t that I can claim any moral high ground. I just had had no bad experiences of any kind (nor good, for that matter) with the students referenced as “colored.” Basic human decency and logic would dictate that people are people, no matter what color or religion they are, and should be treated equally well. Isn’t it the Bible that says, “Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you?”

It didn’t take me long to decide where I would stand on this issue, but how active I could/would be in the movement was dictated by my conservative Midwestern parents who controlled the purse strings. However, when I was on campus where it was all happening (as at Berkeley and Iowa)…(finish that thought). My parents were completely clear that I was NOT to sign anything, NOT to get arrested, and NOT to get on a bus heading south.

However, as long as I didn’t sign anything (“Do NOT sign anything,” said my stern father.) nor get on a bus for parts unknown, like the hapless college students whose short lives and brutish murders are so compellingly portrayed in the 1988 Alan Parker film “Mississippi Burning” (Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe), I could take part in protests on the campuses I was actually attending without repercussions that would cause trouble with the authorities (and, in that group, I include my conservative parents). I remember particularly vividly giving blood to be thrown on the steps of Old Capitol in protest, but the protest was an anti Vietnam War protest, not a Civil Rights protest.

This period of time stretched from 1963 to 1968, later than the period (1960) being discussed in the USA Today story. Still, I remember that the beacon burned bright in those years of the sixties, especially as anti-war protests against the Vietnam War, fueled by our nation’s draft system, began to become part of the mix.

As for sit-ins, perhaps 100,000 participated in them, according to historian Clayborne Carson, and 3,000 were arrested in 1960, alone, so demands that you “not get arrested” were reality-based when delivered by a worried parent to an idealistic would-be participant.

The sit-ins in Nashville carried on in to April of 1960, costing local merchants money. Easter was approaching and the large black middle class in Nashville organized a “No New Clothes Easter.” “Jim Crow” laws in at least 11 Southern states prohibited inter-racial mingling between blacks and whites, but, in 1954, the Supreme Court had ordered the schools desegregated. Ordering it didn’t make it happen, however, and there have been books written about the integration of the South’s most revered black institutions (colleges, universities, public schools), including a famous Norman Rockwell painting depicting a small black girl walking into a previously all-white school.

Said a Nashville student who was part of the protest movement of 1960 (Mitchell) of the “No New Clothes Easter:” “People were very serious about this. They didn’t shop. Anyone who had new clothes that Easter stood out.” Naturally, this hurt local merchants and Mayor Ben West proposed a compromise whereby a 3-month trial period would allow blacks to be served in a separate area of the local restaurants (Remember “separate but equal?”). This angered the black students and it was rejected. The sit-ins continued.

On April 19^th, the home of the students’ attorney, Z. Alexander Lobby, was bombed. Thousands of people, both black and white, marched in silence to City Hall later that day, where spokeswoman Diane Nash (the Chicago convert) addressed Mayor Ben West, saying, “Mayor, do you recommend that the lunch counters be desegregated?”

The Mayor—who had always been viewed as a moderate and who was a white man presiding over an integrated city council—hesitated briefly and then said, “Yes.” (This version comes from Seigenthaler, who was present.) Says historian Clayborne Carson, “The sit-ins were the real starting point of the protests of the 1960s.”

By May 10, 1960, six Fifth Avenue stores (Kress’, Woolworth’s, McClellan’s, Grant’s, Walgreen’s and Cain-Sloan’s) seated black customers at lunch counters for the first time. When Reverend Martin Luther-King came to Nashville mere days after the confrontation between Chicago’s Diane Nash and Mayor Ben West, he told a capacity crowd in the Fisk auditorium, “The Nashville sit-ins were the best organized and the most disciplined in the Southland.” (Parting the Waters by Pulitzer-prize winner Taylor Branch).

As a sometimes Chicagoan who participated in protests during the troubled decade of the sixties, it is difficult for me to explain to my 22-year-old daughter, who lives in the very city where much of this occurred, how it is conceivable that a white minority would or could attempt to keep down a black majority. One has only to look to apartheid in South Africa with the Dutch colonial settlers (and this year’s “Invictus” film by Clint Eastwood) to realize that the history I lived through and participated in (to a lesser extent than these pioneers, but to the extent that I was able to do so) really did occur.

As Seigenthaler put it, “It’s really tough to understand how a city could be so insensitive, and, in some ways, so dumb, but Nashville’s ability to resolve it within a relatively short period of time and put it behind them is worth considering.” Says Mitchell, “Nashville, today, is a city that’s very respected in race relations. It’s a diverse, international community. The present generation is often shocked when we refer to the sit-ins. They see a very open and urban community, and they don’t believe that that happened here.”

As you drive down Fifth Avenue in Nashville, today, little remains to remind of the history that took place in these streets. There are no signs or memorials and, although the sign is still up at the old Kress store, it’s been converted into loft apartments. Walgreen’s, the only store of those mentioned that remains, has no lunch counter, and has had no such amenity in decades.

Nashville residents, like my daughter, can sit together and eat lunch wherever they want with whomever they choose, today. But they owe that freedom to Freedom Riders (as they were known), youths like me, who often boarded buses and traveled South (at considerable risk) to join their oppressed fellowman, in the hope of assuring “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” just as our Constitution has assured our citizens since the 1700s. It was justice and equality for all under the law, regardless of race, color or creed that the children of the sixties stood up for. I hope today’s youth and tomorrow’s youth-yet-to-be-born remember this history 50 years from now.

52nd Grammy Awards Are Weird and Wild

By Connie Wilson

On February 1, 2010

In Music, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

The Grammys. “Sasha Fierce” wasn’t quite fierce enough? The Groogrux King should drink Big Whiskey with the Kings of Leon, since royalty belongs together? Let’s begin with some historical perspective on the meaning with which other winners have imbued this esteemed award. What can you say about the Grammys? “The race goes to the swift,” as in Taylor Swift?

We could quote one of this year’s nominees for Best New Artist, Silversur Pickups frontman Brian Aubert who said of the group’s nomination before they lost to the Zac Brown Band, “Does it really matter to us? No. Absolutely not.” (As quoted on www.spinner.com/2010/01/27/grammys-backlash/?ncid=webmaild12)

Some observations on the night’s program: I can’t get the image of Pink clad only in thin strips of fabric dangling from the ceiling out of my mind, especially when she finished her set dripping wet. (Did Tony Bennett ever have to do this to earn his Grammys?) Keith Urban, backstage later, said, of Pink, “She was killer.” He did not mean this literally, but he could have. Me? I was fearful that her sling would break and she’d literally be killed, falling from that height. [Hey! It happened to Ann Margret in Vegas. Look it up! Of course, in the redhead’s case, she didn’t get killed, but she did have to have her jaw wired shut for months, after she fell off a giant moon prop.]

I was more impressed with Dave Matthews singing “You and Me Together” after being introduced by Adam Sandler. Dave’s album this year, “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” is his best since “Under the Table and Dreaming,” IMHO. Dave agrees that it is his best, but he lost the Album of the Year award to Taylor Swift’s “Fearless,” which did nothing for my faith in the Grammys and leads me to yet another www.spinner.com quote (see above), this time from 50 Cent who, in 2009, after being nominated 13 times, “Man, f*** the Grammys! I couldn’t care less about the Grammy awards.”

Early in the evening, the front page of AOL was buzzing about the opening number that featured Lady Gaga singing her hit “Poker Face”, wearing sparkly green wings and sparkly green spikey boot shoes and a long blonde wig, with purple eye-shadow. After that, she was paired with Elton John, who wore a glittery mask. Each had black stuff all over their faces. (I prefer Elton in full-on duck costume and I’ll lend them both a washcloth…or Pink can provide some water for the soiled singers.)

Stephen Colbert won for Best Comedy Album of the year at the 52^nd annual Grammy Awards for his Christmas album, and said he was there to celebrate “our most precious right: the right of celebrities to congratulate one another.” He got in a dig at “Glee” and then said to his teen-aged daughter (in the audience), “Have a good time, Honey. Stay away from Katy Perry.”

Taylor Swift won for Best Country Album for “Fearless,” which was not a surprise. She said, “I want to thank my record label for letting me write every song on my album” and likened her win to “an impossible dream.” Taylor always looks great. She sometimes does not sound as great, and that was the case when she and Stevie Nicks teamed up. Off-key is the kind description.

Beyonce put on quite a production number, backed up by dark-uniformed male dancers (she was wearing a black short flouncy skirt with a bustier top. On CBS’ “Sixty Minutes,” which preceded the Grammys, we learned that Beyonce began performing at age 9. Beyonce said, “Once I saw the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson, I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ And I wanted to do that all day, every day.” Beyonce made $80 million dollars last year and was on 200 magazine covers, according to “Sixty Minutes.” She has performed in 12 countries and has given 110 sold out performances in countries like Korea, India, Egypt and Japan. I can see why she wants to “do that all day, every day.” [Later in the evening she would win a Grammy for her song “Put a Ring On It.”]

Seal announced Leonard Cohen as the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Before the night was over, others that would be awarded went to luminaries like Honey Boy Edwards, who (m) I did not know, and Andre Previn, whom I did know. (One-time husband to Mia Farrow).

Let’s hear a quote from another former nominee back in 1996, when he was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performer. Eddie Veddor (“Pearl Jam”) said, at that time, “I don’t know what this award is. I don’t think this means anything.” (www.spinner.com/2010/01/27/grammys-backlash/?ncid=webmaild12.)

“Kings of Leon”—whose CD “Use Somebody” is in my car right now, (along with the Dave Matthews aforementioned album) won for Best Record of the Year and gave one of the most refreshing acceptance speeches, saying, “We’re all a little drunk, but we’re happy drunk.” They proceeded to thank God, their family, RCA, their producers and “whoever else I forgot, I’ll buy you shots afterward.” Humorously, another member of the band stepped up to the microphone to speak, but was cut off. Backstage, one happy band member said, “We’re getting’ my mom wasted.” [Sounds like the Kings of Leon have their priorities straight: drink a lot.] The Nashville group also expressed the feeling that their success abroad is finally translating to success in their homeland.

Robert Downey, Jr., came out and gave another of his impromptu riffs. He’s becoming famous for them. This time, he said, “Thank God I’m here to attach some dignity and classical fare to what is otherwise this garish undertaking.” That remark led to Jamie Foxx, wearing boots and a military jacket, (with Slash on guitar), a little hit of faux opera, and his singing (with others).

I enjoyed Ringo Starr and Norah Jones coming out together and Ringo saying, “Thank you, Norah, for being shorter than me.” They announced a Lifetime Achievement Award for Bobby Darin and the camera quickly cut to son Dodd Darin, Darin’s son with former blonde movie starlet Sandra Dee. (Subject of a “Grease” song with the lyrics, “Look at me; I’m Sandra Dee.”)

Katie Perry and Alice Cooper came out and announced a Trustees Award for Florence Greenburn, whom I did not know. (What, exactly, is the distinction between a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Trustees Award?) Green Day then were announced as Grammy winners for “21^st Century Breakdown.” I liked “American Idiot,” and, right about now, the title seemed apropos.

Why did Chris O’Donnell intro the Zac Brown Band? Weird. Only thing weirder was a visibly heavier Quentin Tarantino’s appearance later in the evening screaming “Hip-Hop is forever!” Ryan Seacrest introduced Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks singing a duet that was off-key. “You Belong with Me,” nominated for Record of the Year. Gack.

Lionel Richie introduced the 3-D extravaganza tribute to Michael Jackson, which featured Usher, Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson singing, after which Paris and Prince Jackson accepted an award “for Daddy.” Jackson created the 3-D video for “Earth Song,” his ballad about environmentalism.

When Bon Jovi —much touted as performers in the early stages of the evening—finally came out to sing 3 songs, one of which, “Livin’ on a Prayer,” had been selected by computer voters, and the band was announced as having given 2,600 concerts to 34 million fans, I was struck, again, by how the band seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of groups. “They don’t get no respect.” Although the mosh pit below them was enthusiastically dancing and waving their hands in the air, the audience of their peers, as a whole, sat on their collective hands. This group can’t win for losing. Of course, they’re still laughing all the way to the bank, and I’ll still go to see them July 30th in Chicago (for the second or third time).

It was interesting that a win for “Run This Town,” which was executive produced by Kanye West and featured Jay Z and Rihanna, was handed only to Jay Z and Rihanna , as Kanye was not in the house. (Taylor Swift: you can breathe easy.)

A tribute to stars who died this year, similar to that at the Academy Awards, gave me these names I knew: Mary Travers of “Peter, Paul, and Mary;” Koko Taylor, Chicago’s lady who sang the blues; Louis Bellson, Moline (Illinois’) drummer well-known for his marriage to Pearl Bailey; Dan Seals; Teddy Pendergrass; Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM; Stephen Bruton, who wrote many of the songs in “Crazy Heart,” collaborating with T Bone Burnett; composer Maurice Jarre; Arthur Ferrante of the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher; Ellie Greenwich, the composer of sixties hits; Al Martino, who played an Italian singer much like himself in “The Godfather;” and Les Paul, whose fender guitar is legendary. There were many more, but, for me, these were the ones that I knew.

The program ran long. It ended abruptly and unceremoniously, leaving me to wonder, after Taylor Swift was announced as the Grammy winner of Album of the Year for “Fearless” whatever had possessed Toby Keith to say recently, “The Grammys don’t respect country.” (www.spinner.com). (Keith was nominated as Male Country Vocal Performer of the Year in 2006.)

Weird.

“Beetlejuice Graveyard Review” from Universal Theme Park

By Connie Wilson

On January 28, 2010

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Pop Culture, travel

“Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue” at Universal Studios on January 27, 2010 had showings at 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. this day, a day when zero-degree weather back home in Chicago made the light jacket weather feel just fine.

The Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue is hosted by a faux Beetlejuice (“the ghost with the most”) whose voice was a dead ringer (pun not intended) for Tom Arnold’s. The M.C. did some schtick, much of it very au courant, as with the Tiger Woods joke. There was also a Paris Hilton joke about her “availability.”

Venturing into the audience, the fake corpse asked a hapless female tourist if she had ever “made it with a dead guy.” Looking at the woman’s husband, seated in the audience, when she answered “No,” the quick-thinking host said, “Are you sure?”

The Mummy was the opening act, coming out of a coffin, and he was soon joined by Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, the Bride of Frankenstein, a Goth girl and two boob-a-licious girls in short cheerleader costumes, one with a “B” on her chest, and one with a “J” on her chest.

Then came the music. What kind of music, you ask?

“Jump,” an old Van Halen offering gave way to Bruce Springstein’s (Frankenstein’s) singing “Dancin’ in the Dark.” “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor) gave way to the Rick Springfield chestnut “Jessie’s Girl,” revamped as “Frankie’s Girl.” Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name” featured 7 performers onstage: 2 cheerleaders (Hip and Hop), Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein and Betelgeuse. And, of course, with lines like “Shot through the heart” changed to “Shot through the head,” and AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” what’s not to like?

The entire free revue, which lasted about 30 minutes, was booty-licious, if that is the term that was used in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when most of this music was popular. He crowd filed out and Beteljuice, who had coerced the poor audience member into sharing her first name (Anne), said, out loud, “Call me, Anne…I mean it.”

Another free show fit for the family, as most of the double entendres will go right over the kids’ heads, just as the explosions from the volcanoes in the background of the stage will. Have fun!

Obama’s “State of the Union” Address: 1/27/2010

By Connie Wilson

On January 28, 2010

In Politics

Two-thirds of the President’s State of the Union address on January 27, 2010 was expected to focus on the problem of creating jobs in the country, and it did. A gay person’s right to serve in the military would also earn mention, and there would be a stinging rebuke to the United States Supreme Court for a recent decision of theirs allowing corporations to contribute as much as they wish, financially, in elections. This latter comment was said to be a frontal assault on the Supreme Court Justices. Commentators said you’d have to go back 70 years to find such a thing, back to Roosevelt. (Judge Alito was seen visually shaking his head and, —also an unusual thing—he was seen mouthing words to the effect of “He’s wrong,” this year’s version of “You lie.”)

The decision to let corporations contribute to political campaigns, previously prohibited by the McCain/Feingold bill, seems a dangerous one. President Obama planned to take the matter of what he views as their poor decision up publicly during his State of the Union Address, which is also extraordinary.

OPENING

Obama entered, shaking hands with those along the pathway. The cheers seemed sincere. Bob Schieffer, CBS Chief Washington Correspondent, said, “What an ego-boost,” in commenting on the claps and cheers. Harry Reid (Majority Leader) was seen directly behind the president to his right. The Republicans were told to behave themselves during the State of the Union address. [No “You lie(s)!” tonight, in other words.] The President hugged Timothy Geithner (Secretary of the Treasury) and the camera roamed the room, focusing on no one in particular. No doubt the recent Massachusetts loss of Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat weighed heavy on the minds of the Democrats. For Republicans, it seemed that the loss of the longtime Democratic seat was like blood in the water to a shark or a piranha.

“In fact, they (Congress) need to move on to jobs,” said Katie Couric before the speech began. Half of the party wants him to pivot to jobs and the economy and half likes the fact that he went ‘all in’ (as they say in poker) on Health Care Reform, which Obama said would help the economy and the job situation.

With Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden behind him, the thought was that, tonight, Obama would try to re-connect with the American people and regain his political capital, perhaps squandered on Health Care (and never to be regained?)

“I think we can expect a fiery speech,” said Katie Couric in anticipating the speech’s commencement, noting criticism of Obama for being dispassionate and disconnected. Shots of Michelle Obama in the balcony clad in a deep plum-colored ensemble and surrounded by some outstanding students preceded Obama’s remarks.

“Our constitution declares that, from time to time, the president shall give to America details about the state of our union…they’ve done so in times of prosperity and tranquility, in moments of great strife and great struggle. It’s tempting to look back and assume that our progress was inevitable and America was always destined to succeed,” Obama began. Obama then moved on to mention many of our nation’s flashpoints, dates and times that live on in infamy: Black Tuesday, civil rights workers being beaten, Bull Run and said, “These were the times that tested the strength of our Union. America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation and as one people. Again, we are tested and again we must answer this call.”

RECAP OF STATE OF UNION UPON ASSUMING THE PRESIDENCY

Obama then recapped the state of the nation when he took over. (Summation: really, really bad and on the verge of a Depression.) “So we acted, immediately and aggressively…One in ten Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. For those who already knew poverty, their burden has become that much harder.’ Working harder for less was already the lot of many, said Obama, adding, “So I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They’re not news. That’s why I ran for President.” He then mentioned Galesburg, Illinois by name, a small town not far from my own home base (although I listened to him give this speech from Florida, where the locals were wondering if he would mention the Space program (alive or dead?) and where he spent today in Tampa announcing a $3.5 million-dollar rail initiative that will link Miami and Orlando and many other Florida cities in between. (Sure hope the rail system between the Quad Cities, Chicago, and Des Moines is not far behind).

“For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough. Some are frustrated. Some are angry. They don’t understand why what seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded while hard work on Main Street is not.” The president then added that citizens are tired of the shouting and pettiness. “So we face big and difficult challenges,” said Obama, understating the situation. He urged cooperation in the face of the problems we face and urged that we strive to provide citizens with “a job that pays the bills…Most of all, the ability to give their children a better life.” He declared that our people share (d) “a stubborn resilience in the face of adversity.” One woman’s letter was quoted, as she called herself, “Strained but hopeful, struggling, but encouraged.”

“I have never been more hopeful about America’s future than I am tonight,” said Obama approximately 10 minutes into the speech, to applause from the gallery. (One was tempted to mutter, “That makes one of us.”)
”Despite our hardships, our Union is strong. We do not give up. We do not quit. We do not allow fear or division to break our spirit. In this new decade, it’s time the American people get a government that embodies their strength.”

ECONOMY

“Tonight, I’d like to speak about how, together, we can deliver on that promise. It begins with our economy.” Obama then spoke about the banking crisis that occurred as he entered office. He said, “I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal. But when I ran for president I promised I wouldn’t just do what was popular; I would do what was necessary.” The president sketched a scenario where things would have been much worse if the financial rescue had not been implemented, citing the transparency that the Democrats put in place upon assuming office. (McCain would later disagree about this transparency of government on Larry King’s late-night show).

“We’ve recovered most of the money we spent on the banks, most but not all.” He then mentioned the fee on the biggest banks he proposed to recover the rest still owed. (Joe Biden was smiling like a shark at this point.) “If they can afford big bonuses, they can afford to repay the consumers who rescued them in their time of need.”

“As we stabilized the financial system, we also took steps to stabilize the economy: extended unemployment benefits, COBRA uptick, 25 different tax cuts for 95% of working families, for small businesses, for first-time home buyers, for 8 million American paying for college,” said Obama. (“I thought I’d get some applause on that one,” said Obama, as a small joke towards the non-applauding Republicans.)

INCOME TAXES

“As a result, millions of Americans had more to spend, “ and he talked about how income taxes have not been raised ‘by a single dime.” Two million Americans working right now were cited, 200,000 in construction and clean energy; 300,000 teachers; many first responders and firemen and police officers were mentioned as proof of the bill’s efficacy. “The Recovery Act, also known as the Stimulus Bill. Economists on the left and the right say this bill has helped save jobs and avert disaster.” (I saw a recent television investigation into the making of signs in Ohio that seemed to suggest no jobs were created by making the signs, but many dollars were spent.)

Phoenix, Philadelphia, a single teacher who did not lose her job after having previously been riffed were all cited as signs of the Stimulus Bill’s success. Obama then cited slow signs of recovery. “But I realize for every success story there are stories of men and women who wake up not knowing where their next paycheck will come from. That is why jobs must be our Number One focus in 2010 and that is why I’m calling for a new jobs bill tonight,” said Obama.

JOBS BILL

“Now, the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America’s businesses,” said Obama. “But government can create the conditions for businesses to expand and hire more workers.” He proposed that the focus be on small businesses, the kind where an entrepreneur takes a chance on a dream and succeeds through sheer grit and determination. He cited Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Elyria, Ohio, saying that banks are mostly lending (again) to big businesses, not small ones. “So, tonight, I’m proposing that we take $30 billion of the money that big banks have repaid and use it to help small business get the credit they need to stay afloat.” Also, a Small Business Tax Credit was proposed for those businesses that hire new workers or raise wages. President Obama also pledged to eliminate all capital gains taxes on new equipment purchases.

NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS & ENERGY

“Next,” said Obama, “we can put the United States to work today creating the infrastructure of tomorrow.” Citing other countries that lead us, he noted that he is coming down where I am now (Tampa, Florida) tomorrow on a visit to announce a big rail construction project. He proposed putting more Americans to work building clean energy facilities and giving rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy-efficient; he proposed slashing tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, giving them, instead, to companies that keep jobs here in the United States.

Obama remarked on the bill that the House has passed that creates some of these steps and urged the Senate to do the same, adding, “and I know they will.” “People are out of work. They’re hurting. They need our help. And I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay.”

He then added that these steps wouldn’t make up for the 7 million jobs lost over the past two years. “We can’t afford another so-called economic expansion from the so-called ‘lost decade’ where jobs grew more slowly than ever before, a time when prosperity was built on a housing bubble and financial speculation.” Obama then cited all the things he’s been told since taking office: “How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold? You see Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse.” He then cited China, Germany and India as countries that are putting more emphasis on math and science and putting more emphasis on clean energy. “I do not accept second place for the United States of America,” he said, to tumultuous applause. Nearly all stood.

FINANCIAL REFORM

“As hard as it may be, as contentious as the debates ay become, it’s time to get serious about the problems that are hampering our growth. One place to start is serious financial reform. I’m interested in protecting our economy.” He went on to talk about the benefits of a strong financial system, but added that we must guard against the same recklessness that nearly brought down our entire financial system. “We can’t allow financial institutions to take risks that threaten our entire economy.” Again, he cited the House having passed a bill that addresses these problems, and said he would send the bill back “until we get it right.” (“We’ve gotta’ get it right.”)

INNOVATION

Next, we need to encourage American innovation.” Commenting on the investment(s) in cancer treatments and solar cells and energy, he said that we could see the results of last year’s investments in clean energy in both North Carolina and California. These were states that created clean energy jobs. The president called for “A new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country,”. Nearly everyone applauded when he said, “It means making tough decisions about opening off-shore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in bio-fuels and clean coal technologies. And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill that will finally make clean energy the kind that will make it profitable in America.”

“The nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy.”

EXPORT

Obama then said he set a goal of doubling exports in the next five years, which, he said, would increase jobs in America. ‘We have to seek new markets aggressively, just as our competitors are. If America sits on the sidelines while other nations seek trade deals, we will lose the opportunity to create jobs on our shores. But, realizing those benefits means also enforcing the fact that our trading partners must ‘play by the rules.’” Obama suggested strengthening the U.S.’s Asian markets and continuing to increase trade with places like Colombia and Panama.
EDUCATION

Obama also urged investing in educating our people. He wants to reward reform that raises student achievement and Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, nodded his head in agreement. “The best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education.” (Applause.) “And in this country the success cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential.” Obama said. “In this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job,” as he urged the revitalization of the community college system. He talked about the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies to banks for giving student loans and said, instead, take that money and give $10,000 to parents for increased education spending. Students only must repay 10% of student loans and would have the debt forgiven in 20 years. He urged colleges and universities to start cutting their own costs, as well. VP Biden is chairing a committee to work on this issue for middle-class families. He talked about working to lift the value of homes and cited the $1500 (on average) savings on mortgage payments. “And it is precisely to relieve the burden on middle-class families that we still need health insurance reform.”

HEALTH CARE REFORM

“Let’s clear a few things up,” said Obama to laughter. “I didn’t choose to tackle this issue to get some legislative issue under my belt and, by now, it should be fairly obvious that I didn’t take on health care because it was good politics” (Laughter). He went on to recite specific instances of people who are “just one illness away from financial ruin.” He stated that we are closer than ever to bringing health care to every American and explained how the reform bill would protect Americans from the worst practices of the insurance industry. He thanked wife Michelle Obama, who is going to help tackle the problem of childhood obesity. (“She gets embarrassed,” said Obama, to chuckles from the audience, when he recognized his wife in the balcony, a First Lady whose approval ratings have been soaring even as her husband’s have been dropping.)

Obama talked about his health care program as cutting costs and cited the office of the budget as saying his plan would bring down the deficit by as much as one trillion dollars over the next decade. “Still, this is a complex issue, and the longer it was debated the more skeptical people became.” He went on to talk about the American people’s skepticism and cynicism and he talked about how premiums continue to go up and patients continue to lose their care. “I will not walk away from these Americans, and neither should the people in this Chamber.”

“There’s a reason why health care workers consider this a vast improvement over our current system,” he then said. Throwing out a challenge to the Republicans who have stalled and refused to vote for reform, he said, “If anyone has a better plan, lemme’ know.” Senator Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader was seen applauding and on his feet. “Don’t walk away from reform, not now, not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together to finish the job for the American people. Let’s get it done. Let’s get it done.”

GOVERNMENT SPENDING FREEZE/NATIONAL DEBT

“Now, even as health care reform would reduce our deficit, it’s not enough to dig us out of a massive fiscal hole we’ve dug ourselves into.” He started the discussion of government spending by saying that, at the beginning of 2000, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion dollars. “By the time I took office, we had a one-year deficit of $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next few years. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion dollar hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door.” (McCain, in the audience, was seen saying something to the man to his right. It may have been what he said to Larry King on his show later that night, when he said that Obama must quit blaming Bush for the deficit(s).)

“We took office amid a crisis, and our efforts to avoid another Depression have added another trillion dollars to our national debt. I’m absolutely convinced that it was the right thing to do.” He then cited belt-tightening that both individuals across the land and the federal government should do.

Specific steps to pay off the trillion-dollar economy rescue:

1) Freeze government spending for 3 years (with some sectors exempted, such as national security.)

2) Medicare, Medicaid, national security not affected, but other discretionary income will be affected. A budget will be enforced, and, if necessary, he vowed to enforce it through veto. He explained that this budget would be for next year.

3) “We will continue to go through the budget line-by-line and page-by-page. We’ve already identified $20 billion in savings for next year. Oil companies, investment fund managers, those making over $250,000 a year will not continue to get tax cuts.”

4) Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security: Obama called for a bi-partisan fiscal committee. He wants a specific set of guidelines by a certain deadline. “I refuse to pass this problem on to another generation of Americans.” (Applause)

“When the vote comes tomorrow, the Senate should restore the pay-as-you-go law. That was a big reason we had record surpluses in the 1990’s. Some will argue that we can’t freeze government spending when so many are hurting. The freeze won’t take effect until next year. If we don’t take meaningful steps to rein in our debt, it will have negative effects.” From some on the right, he said, he expected to hear arguments that our deficits will just go away if we maintain the status quo. “The problem is: that’s what we did for 8 years. That’s what helped lead to these deficits. That’ what led us into this crisis. It’s time to try something new. Let’s invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt…

DISTRUST & CYNICISM IN THE LAND

“Let’s try common sense, a novel concept. To do that, we have to recognize that we face more than a deficit of values, we face a deficit of trust.” He cited the “deep and growing trust that government works” and asserted that we should do our work openly and end the effects of lobbyists. “That’s what I came to Washington to do,” said Obama. “It’s time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to corporations to spend without limit in our elections, said Obama (a direct slap at the recent Supreme Court decision overturning these limits). “I don’t think that American elections should be bankrolled by our biggest corporations or, worse, by foreign entities.” (Supreme Court Justices were seen shaking their heads.)

Earmark reforms were then earmarked for criticism. “Democrats and Republicans, restoring the public trust requires more.” He called on Congress to publicize all earmarks on a single website ‘before there’s a vote, so the American people can see how their money is being spent.”

Reform how we work with one another, said Obama. “I never thought that the mere effect of my election would usher in peace and harmony,” said Obama. “On some issues there are simply philosophical differences that will cause us to part ways.” He noted that those disagreements have been taking place for over 200 years. “What frustrates the American people is a Washington, D.C. where every day is Election Day.” A belief that “if you lose, I win” was derided. “Neither party should obstruct every single bill just because they can.” The confirmation of well-qualified public servants shouldn’t be held hostage, said the president. “Saying anything about the other side, no matter how false, no matter how lame,” is not fair game, said Obama. “So, no, “ said Obama, “I’m trying to change the tone of our politics. After last week, it’s clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual. We still have the largest (Democratic) majority in decades, “ he said to the Democrats in the room, “and the American people still expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills.”

“If 60 votes in the Senate is required to do anything, that is not good politics. We were sent here to serve our citizens…So let’s show the American people that we can do it together.” Monthly meetings with Democratic and Republican leadership will be begun (“I know you can’t wait,” he said to laughter.)
”Sadly, some of the unity we felt after 9/11 has dissipated…I know that all of us love this country, all of us are committed to its defense. Let’s leave behind the fear and decision and do what it takes to forge a more hopeful future for America and for the world.”

TERRORISTS

Obama talked about the disruption of plots, about the failed Christmas attack, about prohibiting torture, and about the hundreds of Al Quaeda leaders who have been captured or killed since he took office. He pointed to the elevated troop levels in Afghanistan. He talked about supporting the rights of all Afghans, men and women alike. He talked about a meeting in London to reaffirm the common fight against terrorists and terrorism. “As a candidate, I promised that we will end this war, and we will have all of our combat troops out by the end of this August. We will support the Iraqi people…Make no mistake: this war is ending and all of our troops are coming home.” Then, Obama gave a shout-out to all the men and women in uniform around the world, citing the respect and gratitude they are owed and the obligation to support them when they come home. (Shots of the various generals showed Al Franken in the back right of the group.) He mentioned an increase in veteran benefits that took effect last year. Michelle and Joe Biden, he said, are working on support for military families. (Michelle stood up in her deep plum outfit to applaud at that point.)

THREAT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Obama said he would reduce our stockpile and launchers and work with Russia on the farthest-reaching nuclear disarmament agreement in 2 decades, securing all nuclear materials around the world in 2 years “so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists.” He cited how these actions have helped “strengthen our hand,” using North Korea and sanctions against it and citing more isolation for Iran. “They, too, shall face growing consequences. That, too, is a promise,” said Obama of Iran’s nuclear policy. “That’s the leadership we are providing.” G20 was mentioned for a lasting global economy. Working with Muslim economies around the world. Fight against climate change: going from a bystander to a leader. Launching a new initiative to respond faster and more effectively to bio-terrorism or infectious diseases. “As we have for over 60 years, America takes these actions because these actions are linked to those beyond our shores, but we also take this action because it is right.”

HAITI

At this point, Obama mentioned our efforts to help Haiti recover and rebuild. “That’s why we stand with the woman marching through the streets of Iraq…American must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity. Always.”

“We find unity in our incredible diversity. The notion that we are all created equal. If you abide by the law, you should be protected by it. We must continually renew this promise.” The president mentioned his administration’s civil rights division. Hate crimes were specifically mentioned as a target. Finally, he announced that he intended to repeal the law to repeal the right of gay Americans to serve the country they love. (John McCain didn’t like this part of Obama’s speech when interviewed on “Larry King: Live,” either.) “It’s the right thing to do.” We’re going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws. (Women getting paid as much as men for the same day’s work.)

SUMMATION

“Now use the drive…Every day, Americans take pride in their labor and are generous in spirit. These aren’t Democratic or Republican values. They’re American values. Unfortunately, too many Americans have lost faith in our biggest institutions…” Obama then went on to say that each of these institutions are full of honorable men, but continued by throwing stones at CEO’s taking huge raises, lobbyists gaming the system, or bankers rewarding themselves, as well as pundits (Rush Limbaugh comes to mind) reducing big issues into sound bites.

“Our citizens turn away.” He then said, “No wonder there’s so much cynicism. No wonder there’s so much disappointment. I campaigned on the promise of change. Right now, I know there are a lot of Americans who wonder if we can change or if I can deliver on that promise. I never promised it would be easy or that I could do it alone…When you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversies. Those of us in public office can respond to it by playing it safe to get through the next election, instead of doing what’s best for the next generation.”

“If people had made that decision 50 or 100 or 200 years ago, we wouldn’t be here tonight. The only reason we are here is because generations of Americans weren’t afraid to do what was necessary, even when it was uncertain, to keep this nation’s dreams alive for their children and their grandchildren…I wake up every day knowing that the problems we face are nothing compared to the set-backs that have faced Americans across the country this year. Despite all these setbacks, that fundamental decency that has always been at the core of the American people prevails.”

“None of us are willing to consider even slightly that we might fail… We are strong. We are resilient. We are American.” He personalized the issue of the American spirit by mentioning the 8-year-old boy who sent his allowance in by mail and asked the president to give it to the people of Haiti. “The spirit that has sustained this nation for 2 generations lives on in you. We have finished a difficult year…. We don’t quit. I don’t quit. Let’s seize this moment to carry on and to carry this nation forward.”

“Blues Brothers” Are Recreated at Universal Theme Park

By Connie Wilson

On January 28, 2010

In Music, Pop Culture, travel

The Blues Brothers (Jake and Elwood) arrived on the streets of Universal’s theme park that resembles a movie set in a souped-up cop car. They were, of course, on a mission from God…just as they were in the 1980 movie of the same name…the one that had them growing up in an orphanage in Rock Island, Illinois. The impersonators doing the honors were preceded by a wonderful female singer (the Aretha Franklin role in the film) and a Soul Man Saxophone player.

Jake and Elwood made the assembled crowd this day (January 27, 2010) shake their tail feathers and led a conga line in the cobblestone street as their set ended. They sang the “Rawhide” song from the movie, and Jake even broke out the whip, (although he didn’t do much with it.)

It was 4 p.m. in the afternoon and they’d be back at 5 p.m. for an encore; the previous day the Blues Brothers act played to a crowd of about 100 tourists at 11 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. [The times are constantly changing, depending on the season].

Jake The John Belushi impersonator was by far the closer in appearance to the original Belushi but both sang well and put themselves into their role(s). The Dan Ackroyd look-alike was tall and thin. He danced around in the background, just as the original Ackroyd used to do, but not with as much demented fervor.

The show played at 12:30 and 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, the day of Obama’s State of the Union Address.

“Jake” winked at me, put his hand to an imaginary cell phone, and mouthed, “Call me” as he exited. It was a quick, fun show, well worth the price of admission, which was nothing. (You do have to stand throughout, however.)

A fun (and free) half hour of entertainment on the grounds of Universal Theme Park on Wednesday, January 27, 2010.