So What!

The psychologically-challenged Peter DiGuadio joined the rest of the conservative blogosphere this morning as they jumped all over Barack Obama's statement that an uncle of his had helped liberate Auschwitz. Doesn't he know that Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz and wait a sec, Obama doesn't have an uncle, they twittered.

In the history of misspeaks, I wonder which will be given more weight for its ability to do harm; Obama's slip or G.W. Bush's premature ejaculation that the mission was somehow accomplished.

I do know this, Obama has come out and corrected himself. It seems that his great uncle, Charlie Payne, was a member of the 89th Infantry Division that liberated Ohrduf camp, which was a part of Buchenwald, not Auschwitz. Obama referred to the wrong camp. On the stump, in the middle of a news conference, with all the pressure of a national campaign on your shoulders and the press hanging on your every word, it's surprising that candidates don't misspeak more often.

But the fact is that a member of Obama's family did help liberate a concentration camp. His family and we Americans should be proud.

I have yet to hear Bush apologize for his gaffe, or, for that matter have I heard that DiGuadio has apologized for referring to a group of Hispanics as chattering chihuahuas. But then, you know the pressure of being in need of immediate psychological therapy must be immense. Get help, Peter. Do it now and then maybe your comments regarding others will be taken half seriously.

And I Love Her

Even at the age of 48, when I first met my wife Kelly, I was a hopeless romantic. I made a cd of love songs soon into our relationship. However, one song that I did not include was this one ... And I Love Her, by the Beatles.

We're coming up on our third wedding anniversary. We have a baby girl, we garden, we talk and we listen. I could not imagine a day without Kelly.

Is it Braun or Mineo at the Plate?

I was not privy to the entire conversation Sunday, at the big birthday party, but apparently there was a discussion as to whether Milwaukee Brewer's left fielder Ryan Braun and the late actor, Sal Mineo, look similar. You be the judge.

Affirmative Action for Conservatives

And I thought all this time conservatives were all for personal responsibility and no quotas.

At his blog, Professor Stanley Fish skewers the reasoning behind the creation of a Chair for Conservative Thought and Policy at the University of Colorado ... the same university that appointed a Republican fund-raiser as its president.

The reason for the chair. Well, it's because the university is left-leaning and this will help balance things out. Whine, sniff. Gee, sounds kind of like the rationale given for affirmative action, the one rejected by conservatives. You know, there are too many whites getting into our schools scot-free and not enough minorities, so let's redress the problem and give more opportunity to those less fortunate.

Fish writes this about the left-leaning rationale:

Wrong on all counts. First, what does “left-leaning” mean? Does the university issue policy statements on controversial matters? Does its administration come out for gay marriage or for gun control or for reproductive rights? Does the university endorse liberal candidates, or criticize Supreme Court decisions, or contribute to Move On.org? If the answer to any of these questions were “yes,” “left-leaning” would be an accurate designation. It would also be a reason to deny the university its tax exempt status and demand that it register as a lobbyist. But of course the university does none of these things. How then does it lean left?

The answer appears a little further down in the story when it is reported that emeritus professor Ed Rozek surveyed the Boulder faculty and found that out of 825, only 23 were registered Republicans.

Gee, every university must have its nutty professor McAdams. Anyway, it is affirmative action. Read more here, if you like. The victim class has struck again.

Reverse Birthday Fun

Upon hearing that her daddy would be turning 52 on May 25th, Abby chirped that it was her daddy's reverse birthday. Consequently, the name stuck and while there was no official theme (other than the aside on the invite) reverse birthday was on the lips of many throughout the day. Here are a few pictures of family and dear friends who helped Abby's daddy celebrate.














l-r Here's Blaine (my sister Kate's friend); my little sister Kate; and her eldest, Haley, who happens to share the 25th of May as a birthdate and who turned 20.














l-r Haley's boyfriend, T.J.; Doreen Wigderson, my father, behind my father's head Bill Wigderson and his wife Molly (who made some really incredible potato salad) and my Aunt Sue.


















Blogging buddy (and co-UWM graduate) James Wigderson and his cute little girl, Maura.














l-r In the front, facing away is Will, Doreen and James' little boy; that's my wife's little sister Kim holding up our little angel, Quin; and my other little sweetheart, Abby.















l-r Four old codgers and one lovely lady ... Tim Heilman; the birthday boy; Steve Kissinger and his wife Lynn; and Dave Fellenz.

WD-40 Helps the Spin

Rick Esenberg, esteemed Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Marquette University recently wrote in the comment section at Illusory Tenant regarding John Hagee's ties to John McCain:

He's not and never was McCain's pastor. He's some guy that endorsed him and there isn't a shred of evidence that McCain knew anything about him other than that he was a religious leader of some prominence. There is no equivalence between McCain/Hagee and Obama/Wright.

I hate to say Rick's fibbing, because having only met him once and shared only a couple hurried pleasantries over burnt coffee and stale doughnuts, he did not seem the type to prevaricate. It may be more accurate to say he's bending the truth, spinning furiously (those desk chairs at Marquette are kept nicely oiled I've heard) or better yet, stating his opinion without any facts to back it. Because, you know, this is pretty damning from Editor and Publisher, March 20, 2008 ...

In an interview that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee declares, "It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my endorsement."

McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's views, much as Barack Obama has done in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and accepted his accolades this year.

All right, the article doesn't come right out and say McCain sought Hagee out. Nor does it say anything about Hagee being McCain's pastor. I've no gripe there. There have been no reports of McCain sitting in on one of Haggee's megachurch sessions. So we should give the presumptive Republican candidate, and Rick, some slack, right?

Well, then ... maybe not. Here is a link to an interview McCain did with George Stephanopoulus on ABC News (sorry for the ad). With about seven minutes left in the video, McCain drops the bombshell that he did seek out the endorsement from Hagee.

Hmmm. What was that Rick wrote? “... there isn't a shred of evidence that McCain knew anything about him other than that he was a religious leader of some prominence.” Yes, with some prominent baggage. I wonder how many white supremacist groups McCain has sought endorsements from without, you know, doing a little detective work?

What do you think is worse? Pandering blindly because one is so desperate to win that he doesn't care whose endorsements he receives, or a man who found a community to share his faith with and found it difficult to break ties with the goofy uncle who was known to say the occasional stupid thang.

Or the professor furiously spinning away ... again.

Backyard Views

The garden and patio area is coming around nicely; recovering from the winter slam. The arbor vitaes suffered a little from the weight of snow, but otherwise survived. Here are some pictures around the patio, along the side of the house and views of the new play area for the kids.

It's a Beautiful Day

Off to a good start today.

Bladerunner

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius is an amazing person. He was born without tibias and had his lower legs amputated when he was young. Yet, he won the right to compete for a spot in the 2008 Olympics today after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled the carbon fiber blades he uses to run did not provide him a mechanical advantage. Here is as link to the story. How soon before he will be referred to as simply the sprinter Oscar Pistorius.



Perhaps it's not too late for science to figure a way to implant a heart and soul into the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

btw: I thought of the title for this post when I first saw the video, but someone else beat me to it in actual use. Still, it's a cool title and the movie by the same name is one of my favorites, so what the hell.

The times, they are a-Changin'

For some, increased African-American participation in the electoral process due to excitement generated by Barack Obama's candidacy is racist because the vast majority of them will vote for Obama, not for a white candidate. Of course, this kind of attitude begs the question: what about the decades of white refusal in large numbers to vote for any African-American candidate. From the NY Times:

... in Southern states with large black populations, like Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia, an energized black electorate could create a countervailing force, particularly if conservative white voters choose not to flock to Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. Merle Black, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta, predicts “the largest black turnout in the history of the United States” this fall if Mr. Obama is the nominee.

To hold these states, Republicans may have to work harder than ever. Already, turnout in Democratic primaries this year has substantially exceeded Republican turnout in states like Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Some analysts suggest that North Carolina and Virginia may even be within reach for the Democratic nominee, and they point to the surprising result in a Congressional special election in Mississippi this week as an indicator of things to come.

What goes around comes around.