Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution

Find your city here.

Would you go to American Tea Party near you? Count me in.

Please Watch "Taking Chance" On HBO

"Taking Chance stars Kevin Bacon as LtCol Michael Strobl, USMC, in the story of a fallen Marine's final journey home. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection premieres Saturday, February 21 at 8pm - only on HBO."

(Via WakeUpAmerica)

I always had thought Kevin Bacon looked good in an uniform since his part in A Few Good Men. But this poster is just brilliant.



When the airline agent rasped out emotionally, "Thank you for your service", I started to choke up. That's some powerful trailer.



INFO: That haunting song is by Greg Laswell, called "Comes and Goes (In Waves)". I just purchased it on iTunes.

Forza Jennifer

Given what this poor girl has gone through, having had her mother, brother and nephew allegedly killed by her brother-in-law, it's a wonder she is still in one mental piece. But there she was, head held high, at the Super Bowl.

Though I missed it live, I was enraptured to hear Jennifer Hudson's rendition of our national anthem.



Is it Whitney Huston good? Maybe not. I literally get goosepimples hearing Whitney's version (can you believe it was 25 years ago!). But meh, who cares -- Jennifer was fantastic and all of America's hearts go out to her.

Bring Down Slanderous Jack Murtha

Contribute to his opponent's campaign, as I did just now -- to the tune of $25.

Here is the link (PayPal accepted)

Senator Ted Stevens has been convicted and good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. But Representative Murtha is equally as scummy, in almost every public pronouncement for three decades.

Become a Russell Brigade member for the good of Pennyslvania and for our Congress. They deserve better, and so do the rest of us.

ElCubanitoKC Becomes An American

Sundries' newest friend, Ernie el Cubano-Americano stuck in los boonies en Kansas City (got that?), will be swearing-in as an American citizen this Thursday at 8:30 AM. Many many congrats.

You take that flag, Ernie!

You Take That Flag

I read a reply in one of the threads that inspired me to look at the perfect photo showing the US flag. It wasn't intended to be about Sarah Palin, but lo-and-behold, there she popped up anyway.

Here is my paen to Old Glory, my country's flag.

YOU TAKE THAT FLAG



You take that flag. Honour it and cherish it.

Your country's history shows in every stripe, in every star. The sacrifice is visible in the fields of red; the blood of men who fought for her, and the sweat of women who toiled in their absence. The white inbetwixt and inbetween is for every person who fell through a void, but found there was light at the end of the tunnel when other countries offered darkness. The blue straddles the stars, and cannot be separated from each other. It's a play of light and sky, sea and land, this country of our birth or of our welcome.

You take that flag, and hold it close to you.

It means too much to let go of it casually. Our ancestors' muscles are etched onto it, and they handed it over trusting we would know the right time to pass it on to the right person.

So you take that flag, and you fight for its life. You cherish it for no special reason, and for reasons which men cannot utter out loud, because you either feel it or you don't.

If you don't pass that flag to the person next to you, they'll never feel what you feel when you hold it. This is not a test of being an American. There are no rules to make you love it this way.

But if you don't cry at least once in your life when you see it waving, if you're not willing to defend it when others stomp on it, you are no American. You might never be.

So I'll keep this flag, and hold it closer. Because I know when someone asks me if they can hold it, that I have found the right person to give it to.

"You take that flag."

Seeing His Boy Off

Senator Joseph Biden is seen during the National Anthem at his son National Guard deployment to Iraq ceremony. Best of luck, Beau, and thank you for your service!

You know, I've heard many many people doubt that the Senator's emotional moment at last night's debate was genuine. I'll go on record again by saying that if it wasn't, he's a heckuva(n) actor.

But just in case it wasn't, the Machivellian kingmaker inside me cheered. What? You can't approve of a theatrically political grand jeste?

Like when Empress Maria Theresia had to address hostile Hungarian nobles, and just before entering the chamber holding her infant son Joseph in her arms, pinched him to start him crying -- those burly Magyars saw a mother in distress, and when she finished her impassioned speech, they cheered the Imperial duo out of the assembly.

Magnificent!

"Dear Mr. Obama"

If you can believe this, I saw this video on a Hillary Clinton forum. They do say politics makes for strange bedfellows, after all...

Are You Ready, America?

JSU mentions that Meghan McCain has some incredible rally photos of the full McCain-Palin ticket.

After a barrage of Barack Obama photos, visuals, images, iconography, signs, posters, t-shirts, bumperstickers, and the odd unicorn jumping over rainbows that has characterised his campaign, we now have the counterweight on the Republican side.

These photos are devastatingly awesome, extraordinarily genuine, overflowing in goodness. Thanks Meghan, for putting them together.



America's Newest Little Sweetheart: Piper Palin.



I don't care who you are, what Party you belong to, if this doesn't melt your heart, you should check your pulse and your conscience.



Meghan says she loves the new younger vibe the Palins have brought to the campaign. Mmm. Pizza!



The lady can hold an audience captive.



"I'm from Alaska too"



Oh yeah. The crowds. And they'll get bigger...

"Country First". You betcha.

"Thank You, US Military"

Thank you, Sarah Palin.

Celle Qui A Dit Non

I bet you didn't know one of my favourite kinds of music is...French rap.

French language and culture holds a loving place in my heart, which I attribute to my German background. If there is one thing a German feels attracted to, it is France -- not the least of which because of the breadth of their competing intellect.

Unlike the French, though, Germans are only just now feeling at home with patriotism. In France, it is quite different.

France is an ideal that even the most Leftist of French can adore without shame, without feeling as if they have committed a bourgeois bêtise. "Vive la France!" is an emotional outpouring of support, but also of ideological purity, after all.

This is droned into all schoolchildren, who then enter the prestigious schools and universities which form their elite bureaucracy. The hand-wringing which American patriotism evokes in their bureaucratic counterparts, is practically non-existent in France.

In a few days, during quatorze juillet, France will be celebrating her 219 years of independence. Yes, they are on their Fifth Republic, with many monarchical fits and starts in between.

But the idea of France, that glorious place where reason and logic, elegance and good taste, intelligence and dignity reigns supreme, is immutable.

Or is it?

The problem which plagues the Old World is their immigration issue, most particularly where the immigrant is of a different race. Integration is not coming easily to Europe, but not at all.

To hear them speak of America, as television channel France2 did with the Clinton-Obama campaign, as they gleefully reported the rejection of Obama by voters "because he was black" (and giving no other reason), you would think such a scolding attitude belies a nation which has no such problems.

Why, if a French black man were to run for President of France, he would win in a landslide! Right?

Actually, a black presidential French candidate is so unthinkable today, as to be almost laughable. His chances for Elysée consideration stand at exactly nil.

There is but one black representative in 555 sitting in the French National Assembly. There are 11 minorities in total. There is no black Senator. There are no black mayors in France amongst 36,000. There are no black French CEOs. The very first black newsreader was elevated to his position two whole years ago.

In short, the French power structure is lily-white.

Much much more than America's is, or ever was.

Yes, the French love France. But I wonder how much they would love it, if France encountered the same negativity towards their love of country, as Americans do from certain quarters.

This is where French rap comes in, at last. You must've been wondering.

Because just on the eve of these 219 years of "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité", comes word that a French rapper may just be going to prison.

No, not because of his off-music shenanigans. There's no drive-by shooting, gangland club or East Coast-West Coast rivalry involved.

His freedom is at stake because he wrote this in a rap song:

"France is a bitch, don’t forget to f*ck her 'til she’s exhausted/You have to treat her like a slut, man."

And just in case you didn't get his intent, he included this rhetorical flourish:

"Moi, je pisse sur Napoléon et le général de Gaulle."

Watch it here. (Due to female nudity, NSFW)



This song is what the French government says has incited riots, and therefore to the pokey Monsieur R (Richard Makelela, as he is in real-life) might go.

"If convicted, the rapper faces up to three years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£51,000)."

This story isn't new. The rap song isn't new. I've heard it for some time. But the climate in France changed dramatically after the riots in Paris 2 years ago, and now the elevation of the chap who called the rioters "racaille" to the Presidency of France.

Of course, not all countries would consider such a complaint to be valid.

As another blogger remembers, West Indian-born British dub artist, Linton Kwesi Johnson, once wrote this about his new homeland:

Inglan is a bitch
Dere’s no escapin it
Inglan is a bitch
Y´u haffi know how fi survive in it

(Incidentally, I'm not sure if this constant misogynist language and intent is a frustrated male thing, or a frustrated black culture thing or what, but I find it despicable. It makes supporting their position nearly impossible)

Needless-to-say, Mr. Johnson was not imprisoned for his anti-patriotic lyrics.

He may have incited riots, as certainly his tenure with the British Black Panthers could not have gone unnoticed, but we in Britain have a tradition of free speech. The French only think they have.

In a startling piece yesterday on the nature of Patriotism, Eric S. Raymond reminded us:

"Embedded deep in the American model of patriotism is the notion that it may be expressed by a passionate determination to reform or even completely upend American institutions in service to the ideals behind them. This is not, as far as I can tell, true anywhere else in the world. It would seem an alien idea even in modern France, where the excesses of the Jacobins irreversibly tainted that sort of fervor with blood."

That's it, exactly.

Their revolution is rooted, steeped and nurtured in blood. Violence is its afterbirth.

Freedom of speech is not a thing won, or maintained like the American or British examples. It was killed for.

This is why an attack on France, its history and its leaders, however lame and lacking maturity, is not something which can be ignored.

And the native French, particularly its elite, are determined not to be caught unaware by a revolution they didn't start.

Patton on Iraq

What he said.

America The Crack Baby

Rarely have I laughed so much than I did at Larisa Alexandrovna's near-spoof rebuttal to Jonah Goldberg's USA Today article on patriotism.

Goldberg had perfectly summed up the reasons why outward displays of patriotism often discomfit those who find them twee, or unnecessary:

In part because liberal commentators have such a hard time grasping why patriotism should be an issue at all, and the GOP is so clumsy explaining why it's important, the debate often gets boiled down to symbols. Like so much else about Obama, his position on the lapel flag changes with the needs of the moment. After 9/11, he wore it. During the debates over the Iraq war, he stopped because he saw the flag as a sign of support for President Bush. (He started wearing it again in May.) "I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest," he added in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great and, hopefully, that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

Read that line again: "What I believe will make this country great."

Not to sound too much like a Jewish mother, but some might respond, "What? It's not great now?"

This sense that America is in need of fixing in order to be a great country points to Obama's real patriotism problem. And it's not Obama's alone.

By jove, he nailed it! Twice.

A- Outward shows of patriotism are problematic because they suggest said showy patriot refuses to acknowledge or even denies his country's wrongdoings.

B- Support of country equates support of current administration.

The first is usually unworkable in the historical mind of any Leftist, whereas the second depends on administration (but really shouldn't).

Alexandrovna lamely begins her Huffington Post retort by speaking words through gritted teeth:

"Jonah Goldberg continues to demonstrate how the right-wing is manipulating public discourse in order to confuse and conflate patriotism with rabid nationalism."

It's George Lakoff's warning about national discourse being framed according to Republican wording come to life! One can almost hear a squeal of frustration in her opening salvo.

Chris Rock's standup once touched on black Americans' conflicted love of their country. Paraphrasing he said, with that perfect rhythm only he has:

"Black folk love America, but America is like the uncle who sexually molests you. Sure, he's your blood and you love him, and he might even help to put you through college, but he...MOLESTS you!"

To which Miss Alexandrovna counters with her view of American patriotism:

"A mother of a heroin addict, for example, is critical of her child's drug abuse and wants it to stop. The mother wants only the best for her child. Does the mother's criticism of the child's actions in any way illustrate that she does not love her child? On the contrary, it is because the mother loves her child and is devoted to her child that she wants her child to be better, greater than he/she is."

America, the molesting uncle? The smack baby? This isn't my America, and I doubt it's how the majority of Americans view their country either.

Is it a wonder that many on the progressive Left simply do not get what patriotism is, especially in the American context.

No other country was formed so precariously out of a dozen different national molds than the USA. And that was just in 1776.

Each immigrant who came later added yet another personalised layer of what America is, was, and would become.

Through it all, there were some binding symbols which held this patchwork quilt nation together. It's not rocket science, either. American patriotism is dead simple, people.

- The Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

- The reverence for the Pilgrims, the Pioneers and Native Americans, the Founding Fathers and all their collective legacy.

- The US Flag, National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance.

You have the philosophical underpinning in the first set, the historical bridge in the second, and concrete ways of showing your acknowledgement of the first two in the last set.

Where other nations remember bloody battles, the chopping off of tyrants' heads, the goosestepping of murderers, America celebrates her patriotism in truly innocuous ways.

We celebrate it during Thanksgiving, when we are thankful for our bounties and blessings. We celebrate it during important dates like the Fourth of July, a day which gave birth to this unlikely experiment called America.

Above all, we celebrate it with an unalloyed, almost childlike belief that the country we live in is a force of good overall.

And I suppose that's the litmus test which fails for so many people.

Patriotism genuinely makes certain people feel squeamish, and unable to express themselves with any semblence of popular patriotism about their country.



When I was driving in my car today, my radio on NPR as ever, I heard "senior news analyst" Daniel Schorr give his own views on the topic, entitled "A Reflection for Independence Day".

Listen here.

"Patriots may be a good name for a football team, or a jeep or a wiretapping law.

But I would submit that in politics it has become a word corrupted by misuse in 'I Am More Patriotic than Thou' epithets.

Patriotism may not be, as Samuel Johnson called it, 'the last refuge of a scoundrel', but at least since 1953, when I covered the Senator Joseph McCarthy red-baiting hearings, I have come to suspect most assertions of patriotism and most accusations of unpatriotism."

Even if you didn't click on the link to hear the cynicism dripping from every painfully pronounced syllable, you can feel it plainly above in his words.

Look how Mr. Schorr begins his entreaty against patriotism: by saying that the very word "Patriot" is something best left to inanimate objects like vehicles (aka, gas guzzling enviro-killers), or to groups like sports teams (sport being the pastime of unthinking yobbos), and then with a clever flourish, he finishes his intro with a little dig at President Bush (Fascist).

But he's not done. Oh no.

Patriotism is a corrupt idea not the least BECAUSE it has been corrupted by the double-whammy of competitiveness and sanctimony!

Why he sounds almost wistful when he asserts that maybe just maybe patriotism is not what good old Dr. Sam Johnson said it was, but certainly his own views on the matter were cemented during a time in American history where to be a patriot meant scoundrels were the ones who determined who was one or not.

Let's put aside his immediate knee-jerk association of patriotism and the McCarthy hearings (akin to a British person remembering the signing of the Magna Carta and the treachery of the weather that day in the same breath). Instead, just concentrate on his last words.

"My suggestion for this Independence Day is for our WARRING politicians and their surrogates declare a moratorium on references to patriotism. This is Daniel Schorr."

Because not even on Independence Day, the Fourth of July...no wait! especially ON Independence Day, the Fourth of July, is it appropriate to be patriotic about America.

Patriotism, you see, needs to be believed on the honour system.

I'll have to take it on tick that Daniel Schorr loves his country, and Barack Obama loves his country, and Chris Rock loves his country, and Larisa Alexandrovna loves her country even though they'll take every opportunity to remind you of all the reasons why you shouldn't love this country.

And then they'll claim they're patriotic because America should be loved despite all its faults -- indeed, to remember the faults, one suspects before long, makes them better human beings because they love her anyway.

I think that's it.

Always trot out the bad about America, because your love (which is never expressed by anything so gauche as patriotic shows like flag pins, or hand on your hearts during anthems, or stuff like that) will glow purer and more noble if you do.

America the crack baby, and America the molesting uncle should be loved inspite of itself.

Just forget the Fourth of July and celebrate really important days like May Day, and Earth Day, and January 20, 2009, the Day when Bush Left Office.

Throw away those chains of patriotism this Independence Day!

...nah.

Sorry, Miss Alexandrova. Sorry, Mr. Schorr. I just can't do it. I went to Home Depot yesterday, and for .98 whole American cents, I bought me two ginormous Old Glories to hang from my car window.

But that's okay. I'm sure they were made in China.

So with my Chinese-American flags flying high, I say to all my readers on Sundries, I'd like to take this overly sentimental opportunity to wish you a very safe, and very patriotic Fourth of July, and...

(Wait for it)

May God bless America.

It's Always Morning In America

For me.



Just a preview of what I have planned for the 4th of July, tomorrow.