Whose Fault, Dick?

From Frank Rich at the New York Times:

Once again Cheney and his cohort were using lies and fear to try to gain political advantage — this time to rewrite history and escape accountability for the failed Bush presidency rather than to drum up a new war. Once again Democrats in Congress were cowed. And once again too much of the so-called liberal news media parroted the right’s scare tactics, putting America’s real security interests at risk by failing to challenge any Washington politician carrying a big stick.

"Dick Cheney and his cohort" are just doing what they do, taking the slimy low road to deceive, manipulate, and now weasel out of their responsibility for the giant, smelly pile that they left behind. But WTF is wrong with the Democrats in Congress and the news media?

The Democrats are in charge, now but they're still scared silly by the Republicans, even after their massive repudiation by the citizens of the country. The Senate hands Obama a 90-6 "NO!" vote to shutting down that hall of horrors and shame called Guantanamo. What will it take to stiffen the spines of the Congress critters? What will it take?

And the so-called liberal media, the media who view themselves as unbiased, not Fox News, not Rush Limbaugh and his ilk, but those whom we expect to inform us of the true state of things, what are they doing? Only a very few call Cheney and his pals on their lies - and none in face to face confrontation with the Dick himself. Ooooh! If they laid out Cheney's deceptions before him, he might not appear again on their shows. And what a profound loss THAT would be to us all! I ask the media, "Why do you give Cheney a forum to repeat his lies over and over, even after the lies have been repudiated and exposed for what they are? What's wrong with you?"

The reporters and columnists who do their jobs look like heroes today. A big "THANK YOU" to Frank Rich for this column and for his many other truth-telling columns and to Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel at McKlatchy who lay out the "omissions, exaggerations and misstatements" in Cheney's speech at the American Enterprise Institute and who also were amongst those who called attention to the "omissions, exaggerations and misstatements" of the Bush maladministration before the Iraq War.

Shame on you, Democrats in Congress. Shame on you hotshots and pundits in the media. You're not doing your jobs. I'm compiling an "Enemies in the So-called Liberal Media" list, and David Gregory's name is on it.

Paul, the BB, highlights the money quote, and I thank him for calling my attention to Rich's column.

The harrowing truth remains unchanged from what it was before Cheney emerged from his bunker to set Washington atwitter. The Bush administration did not make us safer either before or after 9/11. Obama is not making us less safe. If there’s another terrorist attack, it will be because the mess the Bush administration ignored in Pakistan and Afghanistan spun beyond anyone’s control well before Americans could throw the bums out.

UPDATE: Heroes of the Senate who voted against the amendment to prevent appropriation funds to be used to close Guantanamo:

Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
Carl Levin (D-Mich.)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
Jack Reed (D-R.I.)

Thank you, Senators. I am proud of you.

Gary's Surgery

Roseann posted an update on her husband Gary's surgery on his shoulder.

On A Plane

A PLANE IS ON ITS WAY TO TORONTO, WHEN A BLONDE IN ECONOMY CLASS GETS UP, AND MOVES TO THE FIRST CLASS SECTION AND SITS DOWN. THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT WATCHES HER DO THIS, AND ASKS TO SEE HER TICKET. SHE THEN TELLS THE BLONDE THAT SHE PAID FOR ECONOMY CLASS, AND THAT SHE WILL HAVE TO SIT IN THE BACK.

THE BLONDE REPLIES, "I'M BLONDE, I'M BEAUTIFUL, I'M GOING TO TORONTO AND I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE."

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT GOES INTO THE COCKPIT AND TELLS THE PILOT AND THE CO-PILOT THAT THERE IS A BLONDE BIMBO SITTING IN FIRST CLASS, THAT BELONGS IN ECONOMY, AND WON'T MOVE BACK TO HER SEAT.

THE CO-PILOT GOES BACK TO THE BLONDE AND TRIES TO EXPLAIN THAT BECAUSE SHE ONLY PAID FOR ECONOMY SHE WILL HAVE TO LEAVE AND RETURN TO HER SEAT.

THE BLONDE REPLIES, "I'M BLONDE, I'M BEAUTIFUL, I'M GOING TO TORONTO AND I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE."

THE CO-PILOT TELLS THE PILOT THAT HE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE THE POLICE WAITING WHEN THEY LAND TO ARREST THIS BLONDE WOMAN WHO WON'T LISTEN TO REASON.

THE PILOT SAYS, "YOU SAY SHE IS A BLONDE? I'LL HANDLE THIS, I'M MARRIED TO A BLONDE. I SPEAK BLONDE." HE GOES BACK TO THE BLONDE AND WHISPERS IN HER EAR, AND SHE SAYS, "OH, I'M SORRY." AND GETS UP AND GOES BACK TO HER SEAT IN ECONOMY.

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT AND CO-PILOT ARE AMAZED AND ASKED HIM WHAT HE SAID TO MAKE HER MOVE WITHOUT ANY FUSS.

"I TOLD HER, "FIRST CLASS ISN'T GOING TO TORONTO".

If you think this joke is sexist, you need to know that a woman sent it to me, and the woman's name is Erika. Don't blame me. Blame Erika.

Feast Of The Visitation Of Mary

Fra ANGELICO - Visitation - 1433-34 - Tempera on wood
Museo Diocesano, Cortona

Readings:

Psalm 113 or Canticle 9;
Zephaniah 3:14-18a;
Colossians 3:12-17;
Luke 1:39-49

Canticle 9

Surely, it is God who saves me;
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense,
and he will be my Savior.
Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing
from the springs of salvation.
And on that day you shall say,
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;
Make his deeds known among the peoples;
see that they remember that his Name is exalted.
Sing praises of the Lord, for he has done great things,
and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 12:2-6


As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12-17


In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

Luke 1:39-49


PRAYER

Father in heaven, by whose grace the virgin mother of your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing him, but still more blessed in keeping your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I honor Mary, I love the Magnificat, and I love Fra Angelico's paintings, therefore in this post I give myself the gift of joy.

Image from Web Gallery of Art.

Me, Rick, and Fran

On our way home from Doxy and Dear Friend's wedding, Fran and I left from the same airport. Fran's host kindly drove us to the airport, but he dropped us off early, because he had things to do that day, so Fran and I had more time to visit with each other, and we both got to meet Rick, who blogs at Travelingman Rick's Blog, a virtual friend of Fran's. Rick lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he drove to the airport to meet Fran and got me for lagniappe.

I know, I know. All the virtual to real life friends and meetings get confusing. Rick was Fran's virtual friend, but she had never met him in real life, and I did not know Rick or Rick's blog before we met. See. It's simple after I explain it.

Anyhoo, Rick is a lovely man, and it was a great pleasure to meet him. We shared coffee and conversation for an hour or so. Rick will soon be headed to Paris, and I am jealous, jealous, jealous.

Rick is gay, and he had bad experiences with religion and church in former days. He sent me an email which moved me greatly. His words are below. I asked his permission to quote them here.

You are a genuine peach, and I am so glad our paths crossed today. While I would not say that I am anti-religious, for some years now, I have been disdainful of organized religion in general. My own relationship with God has been tested time and again, with my family and with life in general. Having been forced to quit college when I came out was difficult enough, but then I was asked by my family to leave the church of my youth and then the whole eunuch thing with my Grandparents it just left me distrustful of anyone or anything that had to do with organized religion. Thus it is safe to say that I became suspect of nearly everyone who believed in God in general.

Getting to know people who truly practice what Jesus preached is refreshing to me and forces me to question my own phobias and bias. All too often it has been too easy for me to just lump all of the righteous into one group, you and Fran are both living proof that it is not so easy to make that distinction. You both give me great pause to stop and think twice before I jump to conclusions about those who have faith. For that I am ever so grateful and God is too.

Now I'm weeping. When I asked Rick's permission to use his words, I said this to him in my email, "Those of us who call ourselves Christians are witnesses to our faith at all times, for better or for worse." And it's true, and it's good to remember that.

Rick, thank you for your beautiful words. You are a mensch, and I am proud to know you.

Check out Rick's blog. Fran's too, if you have not been there.

The photo is from Fran's Facebook site.

The Cutest Ass

The cutest ass you will ever see:


HEY~ Not EVERYTHING I send YOU IS RUDE!!

From Doug. And he does have a day job. And today is Sunday anyway. And isn't that the cutest little ass you've ever seen?

A Little Pentecostal Levity

Today, it being Pentecost and all, I thought about the hymn, "Come, Holy Ghost". Of course, the Holy Ghost has morphed into the Holy Spirit, the ghost thingy being a bit scary, along with being bad theology, so it's all to the good.

As a child, I sang a version of the hymn that was all my own:

Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,
And in our hearts take up Thy rest;
Come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid ace
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

In my version "ace" rhymed with "grace", and that seemed right, plus an ace in cards trumps all the other cards. What better to have in hand than a heav'nly ace? I loved the idea.

You may want to tell of your own childhood misconceptions of the words of common prayers and hymns. They don't have to be Pentecostal.

Veni, Creator Spiritus

Pentecost - GADDI, Taddeo - 1335-40 - Walnut, 35 x 27 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
John 14:21-29

Preface of Pentecost

O God, who on this day didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Illustration from the Web Gallery of Art.

UPDATE: From Lapin in the comments:

Here is a beautifully-performed setting of the hymn by the 15th c Franco-Flemish composer Guillaume Dufay, alternating plainchant and polyphony based on plainchant. Hope you enjoy.

How To Add The Line Separator In HTML

To make the paragraph break in a comment after a quote in italics, on the next line under the quote, type BRBR with open and close brackets < > on either side of each BR. Then leave a space line. When you preview, the break will look huge, but when you hit publish, it will be right.

I can't show you, because the BRBR disappears into a space when I use the brackets.

If anyone has a better explanation, I will post it.

The Dog Would Put Mr Darcy To Shame

Kudu

From The Telegraph:

One of the Dog's admirable qualities is an instinct for friends with elegant owners, and it is a glamorous gaggle that gathers around the bandstand on this fine May morning. We are in Battersea Park, across the river from Chelsea, and one or two of the hacking jackets on display are cut with just a little more dash than is strictly necessary for dog-walking.

How can you not like an article with a first paragraph like that?

They are all there – the sniffers and trotters, the sprinters and plodders, the yappers and slobberers, the shaggy and the soignée. While they do their doggy thing about our feet, we, their masters and mistresses (or perhaps their servants?), do ours. We talk.... This easy-going social intercourse is the great revelation of dog-owning in middle age. If you are accompanied by a dog you can talk to anyone, and anyone can talk to you – about anything.

Those of you who remember back to my blog's beginning may recall that I once had a picture of Jane Austen next to the link to my profile. She's my all-time favorite fiction writer in the whole world, and I've read her few published works over and over. Whenever I see or hear something about Jane or one of her characters, I perk up, so, of course, when Lapin sent me the link to the article with Mr Darcy's name in the title, I paid attention.

But I digress. The writer goes on to say that "a dog is just a dog". But wait! That's not quite the case, is it? A dog is much more than "just a dog", or the dear creatures would not gain such a strong hold on our affections. We would not take the trouble with our dogs if they were "just dogs". It's not we humans who own them; they own us. For heaven's sake, we pick up their poop and sometimes clean up their pee. Is that not true love?

The reward is that dog-walking becomes like reading a novel, or watching a play; disbelief is suspended and, for an hour or so, we are given licence to escape ordinary life. Fantasy flourishes, and really quite trivial moments in a dog's life become a source of wonder to be repeated, discussed, laughed about and even worried over with its human family.

The novel the Dog and I enjoy in Battersea is at the Jane Austen end of the market. He can do a noble profile that would put Mr Darcy to shame. One of his admirers bought him a collar while skiing in St Moritz which is studded with golden cows; it gives him the slightly foppish air of the Alexander Pope dog whose collar carried the legend: "I am his Highness' Dog at Kew;/Pray tell me sir, whose dog are you?"

The Dog who owns the writer even received a proposal of marriage at Battersea Park, but only after a thorough investigation of his pedigree. Apparently, the article is the beginning of a series which will follow the further adventures of Kudu and his human.

When I walk Diana in my neighborhood, the folks we meet generally do not have dogs with them. On the occasions when we meet a dog and his/her human, we may have a word or two about the dogs, but nothing novel length or even short story length. Dullsville, some might say, but I would never say that. I like my quiet walks. Diana never talks to me. She just makes ME heel and stop whenever she wants to mark a spot or take a poop, which she leaves for me to pick up and tote home.