Racism Republicans and Sonia Sotomayor

The Republicans have done it again. After proclaiming themselves an inclusive "big tent" and reminding us all endlessly that they are the party of Lincoln, the Republicans have let Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gigrich open their mouths on the subject of President Obama's Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor.

Rush has been calling Sotomayor a " reverse racist" (whatever that is.) Seems to me one can be a racist or not a racist, but not a reverse racist. In fact to even use the term "reverse racist" infers a racist mentality on the part of the speaker. But then our Rush was never the most cerebral Neanderthal on the block. His heart trumps his brain every time.

Newt has been comparing Judge Sotomayor to Harriet Miers and making all sorts of silly noise, in spite of the fact that Sotomayor's educational and legal credentials are flawless and she is far from an avid lefty. She was even appointed to her current job on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals by a Republican President.

All this right wing whining is not going to go down very well with either hispanic or women voters and is not going to do the GOP any good at all. President Obama is no fool. He made a very astute strategic choice and over at the White House they must be laughing their heads off at Rush and Newt. These guys are not only tearing up the Republican Party, they are making idiots of themselves. Why don't they just shut up?

Call me crazy, but it looks to me like over at the GOP, the inmates are running the asylum.

Memorial Day Musings

Memorial Day in America...an official holiday that always falls on the last Monday in May. It's a three day holiday week-end that most of us associate with parades,picnics and trips to the beach It marks the official start of the summer vacation season.

But it isn't the start of summer that we are memorializing. It is the end of a bloody civil war and the coming together of a divided nation that we celebrate as well as the sacrifice made by those who died on both sides.

Originally called Decoration Day, the first official observance of the holiday was in 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetary. By 1890 the holiday was well established in both the North and South and was celebrated on May 30th. After World War I, the name was changed to Memorial day and the holiday was expanded to include remembrance of all fallen American soldiers. In the 1970's Memorial Day became a movable feast. The date was changed from May 30th to the last Monday in May so that everybody could get a long week-end. I'm not sure that was such a good idea. It surely changed the emphasis of the holiday from soldiers to summer.

In the small town where I live there will be a traditional Memorial Day parade, complete with a wreath laying at the WWII monument near the town hall. There will be flags and bands and in the two local cemetaries small American flags will have been placed on the graves of Veterans. I like that. I like that at least in one small American town, we remember that Memorial Day is about more than the beach. It's about war and peace and the respect we owe to all those who have died in battle, both victor and vanquished.

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

Obama Wows the Washington Press

If President Obama ever wants to make a career change, he has a great future ahead of him as a stand up comedian. He wowed em in Washington at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner last night. Thank you MSNBC for broadcasting the whole thing live. I had a ball.

The prez was a hoot, throwing out zingers and one liners like a Las Vegas pro. His timing was perfect. My favorite line was about Dick Cheney's memoirs being tentatively titled " How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People. " I also loved the part about Rahm Emanuel having a hard time with Mothers Day because " he isn't used to saying the word day after the word mother". Is that clever, sophisticated material or what?

President Obama was polished, pointed and funny, but never stepped over the line into slapstick or bad taste. He even managed to make fun of himself with grace and style. What a guy!

It says something about the state of the media that the New York Times, for the third year in a row, refused to attend the event out of journalistic scrupulousness, while the twitterati were live blogging every real-time detail from their iphones(#nerdprom).

For those of you who didn't catch President Obama's comic debut last night, here's the video from Youtube-- all nine and a half minutes of it. Enjoy!