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    FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Bachmann, Founding Fathers, Glenn Beck and Where Gays Come From

     Happy Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day), July 1, and Happy Fourth of July (formerly Independence Day), July 4.  Both days celebrate independence from Great Britain, the only difference being we dropped the Brits in 1776 and the Provinces to the North went on bitching about them until 1982.

    Sometime in the 60s or 70s I was at my aunt's house singing praises to Queen Elizabeth, thinking that was the polite thing to do, considering I was in Canada and it was Dominion Day.  Imagine my surprise when that tiny Italian spitfire snarled "Piss on the queen!"  There might have been a hand gesture, too, I don't remember exactly. Well, I was shocked!  By the time I came to my senses she was passing salami, prosciutto, mozzarella, Cornetti bread and Dago Red from Uncle Victor's wine cellar so I forgot to ask what she could possibly mean by that.  I'm sure she had her reasons.  (You know things are bad when whole countries don't want to be you anymore.)


    I should ask Michelle Bachmann why we all wanted to be free of England.   (She might even know why my aunt was so mean to the queen.)  She knows all about the Founding Fathers, those guys who worked tirelessly to end slavery.  She tends to confuse founding sons with founding fathers, but I'm not here to pick nits, I'm here to find out once and for all why two out of three countries in North America went out of their way to give up their British citizenship when we're all so in love with the Brits we can't get enough of their music, their movie stars, their accents, or their Royal weddings.

    Oh, by the way, Glenn Beck said goodbye to Fox yesterday.  I know.  I don't care, either, but it happened and it's Friday Follies, and I have a happy Holiday houseful so I'm using it to fill space so I can go make potato salad. 

    Fox News Channel


     And speaking of happy, I found this picture at a place called happyplace.com.  Thank you, Happy Place!


    My moment of sublimely happyWe are Ohio, a pro-union coalition, delivered 1.3 million signatures on petitions to repeal Senate bill 5, the anti-collective bargaining bill republican Governor John Kasich thought he had pushed through without a hitch.  Ha!

    The coalition leading the effort to repeal Senate Bill 5 delivered a record of nearly 1.3 million signatures to the secretary of state today to place Ohio's new collective bargaining law on the November ballot.
    A parade of more than 6,000, led by a banner proclaiming the "million signature march," rumbled through Downtown this morning.
    We Are Ohio, the group leading the referendum effort, organized the march up Broad Street to Fourth Street, where a 48 ft. semi-truck carrying the 1,298,301 signatures in 1,502 boxes collected will be unloaded. The parade also included retired fire trucks, a drum line, bagpipes and loud motorcycles. It took about 15 minutes to pass.


     The best part?  they only needed 231,000 signatures, so with that many signatures, they made it impossible for the petitions to be challenged, and impossible for the bill to become law before the results of the November elections.  Kasich and his bunch can slither, they can rattle, but they can't sink their fangs in.  Not this time.

    Union supporters march toward the Statehouse to deliver the 1.3 million petition signatures.

     

    Cartoon of the week:
    Copyright © 2011 Creators Syndicate


    Have a great Independence Day weekend.  Stay safe, be well, be back on Tuesday to give 'em hell.

    *

    *(Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices)

    Comments

    Thanks for the birthday wishes, and back at y'all.

    I know you're being a bit facetious about 1982, Ramona. Agreed, that's an important date in Canada's evolving and now-virtually-total independence from Britain. (We agreed on a constitutional amending formula that didn't involve the British Parliament, and codified a Bill of Rights enforceable by the courts.)

    But the July 1 we are celebrating is the date in 1867 when the provinces joined in a federal union. Some of the rationale was a fear that the United States, feeling feisty after the Civil War, might turn its expansionist designs northward. Thanks again for not attacking us.


    Thanks for the clarification.  Sorry I got it wrong.  My Dad was Canadian so I always feel I'm half Canadian, anyway.  I've even looked into citizenship if things really get crazy.  Trouble is, I won't know when it's crazy enough, and I may just miss my chance.  ;)

    But clear this up for me, please:  I heard someone from Canada on TV talking about the Royal's visit, and it sounded like they were complaining about still being connected to England in some way.  Is there any connection?


    You didn't really get anything wrong. The only remaining connection to England is that, formally, we share the same head of state. Elizabeth II, as "queen of Canada," still appears on our coinage, though she's been gradually nudged off all our bills (except for the $20).

    Technically, we're a kingdom, but virtually everyone recognizes that is nostalgic nonsense. We're to all intents and purposes a republic, simply one with a parliamentary style of government modeled on Britain's.

    Most of the complaining occurs when the royals visit (like now) and consists of "Why do do we have to pay for the extra security and entertainment?" Which is stupid, because we happily pay for those things whenever foreign heads of state or government visit, regardless of whether they are officially part of Canada's "royal family."


    In the scheme of things, Britain and her colonies make up the Anglo- American World power

    The Roman empires distant outpost didnt fall, it came back stronger and had a further reach than the original empire; it just just took on a different name.


    Happy Fourth to you Ramona and to everyone!

    First, I found it interesting that that carnival artist Coulter decided to diss a deceased princess!

    http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/122554/ann_coulter_hates_princess_diana

    It reminded me of something in Carlin's routine that dissed the victims of 9/11. I mean the riff does not work.

    I knew nothing and know nothing of Diana. But if i had a national audience i would skip the subject.

    Carlin just points out that most of the folks who died in 9/11 were not heroes; they just went to work and if they had known the massacre that would soon take place, most would not have gone to work on that date!

    Just a thought on English aristocracy.

    We are an old nation relatively now, with the oldest constitution around--except the Brits really do rely on a series of docs going back a thousand years but who cares?

    You do bring up Quincy. Quincy was 9 when the Declaration was signed; Quincy by age 8 had already translated Homer from the 'original'. hahahah

    Quincy however did not one goddamn thing as far as stemming the tide of slavery during his one term presidency.

    Later on he did begin to speak out.

    Franklin did not become an abolitionist until his last few years--a result of Quakerism which really became the abolitionist movement.

    Jefferson introduced over 20 bills in the Virginia Legislature to abolish slavery. That is a fact and I read the record.

    But he wanted some time to accomplish this result--which would have been fine considering the fact that this took place some time before the Declaration.

    He certainly wished to have all slaves relocated to the African Continent. He hid his slaves behind strange devices so that the Negroes would serve his guests but with the use of contraptions to keep them out of view.

    Washington was kind to his horse and his main slave who accompanied him everywhere through peace and war. But he never regarded that Negro as anything more than a horse! It was just that unlike Mr. Ed, He could converse with his slave with a deeper comprehension.

    We must step back from the picture in order to get a better comprehension of the scene.

    Every single nation on this planet has sins or shortcomings that would astound the unlearned.

    Did our Forefathers (Dolly Madison as well as Abigail Adams were not really fond of this term!) make mistakes? Yes.

    And this country has continually made 'mistakes'. We continued slavery de jure for over four score years since our inception; we decimated hundreds of indiginous cultures, we sent Americans into prison camps during both world wars, we....

    But damn, Germany does not have a nice history either. Either does Britain or any other European nation.

    I laugh at superpatriotism, but damn...we did not initiate the World Wars! But we ended them!

    So I attempt to stand back from the picture in order to take in the wonder of this Great Nation. Our sins are not worse than others and over the last century we have made great strides in recognizing the worker, in recognizing the teacher as well as the student, in recognizing the duties of a government.

    Beck and Limbaugh and Coulter and Savage and Cantor and Bachmann and....lead me to despair at times!

    Every single nation on this planet is plagued with those who would side with the powerfull over the powerless, who would side with the rich over the poor, who would side with the healthy over the sick and disabled, who would use all rhetorical arguments to keep what they have whether or not they have 'earned' it.

    Pick a side and argue it out!

    So this is really the choice I am stuck with. I mean do I cling to this:

     

    Or am I stuck with this:

    I will continue to dance to both these anthems!


    Good ones, Resistance.

    Here's this from "the American President": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRVbWMvi7c

    And this from "Dave": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt7TN_CKp9U&feature=related

    And this from "The West Wing": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4jryX_DGUQ&NR=1


    All very good,

    Maybe we need another actor to be President? No way

    Obamas a good orator, but he can't act worth a darn.  

    I like his response to those who try to invoke the Old T, but any true Christian knows, the Old T died on the stake, when the High Preist Jesus offered up his sacrifice. 

     


    I love both of your anthems, DD.  Haven't heard what Coulter said about Diana but I can't imagine it's any nicer than anything she has said about anyone else.  Who cares?

    Yes to all you've said about the mistakes countries make.  There is not a one that's perfect, including ours.  Hold our leaders' feet to the fire but don't expect them to walk on water.  (Okay, I apologize for that.  I'm rushing here and that's what came out!)

    Great comment, as usual.  Have a happy Fourth!


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