The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency.
All men have wandering impulses,
fits and starts of generosity.
But when you have resolved to be great,
abide by yourself,
and do not try to reconcile yourself with the world.
The heroic cannot be common,
nor the common heroic.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
New Blog Original Quote Webpage
Regular readers know that I love quotes; in my tech blog, I discussed a Windows freeware product I use to stamp a random quote from among (currently) 1316 quotes onto emails (and which I use for my miscellany political posts, like above). Is it possible that a prolific writer and blogger whom writes multiple original commentaries daily wanted to create his own original quote collection? Of course.
Blogger provides a finite number of webpages, and I have decided to dedicate one of those to compile quotes originally written for and published in this blog. You can find it here, or you can also find the link available in a picklist gadget at the right side of the blog webpage (just below my profile gadget).
I may also compile some of my political humor ad libs in a humor webpage, but (as I close in on my 1300th post by month end), I'm finding myself still working on tags for past posts, editing out obsolete videos and images, etc.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Votes to Hold AG Holder in Contempt of Congress:
Thumbs UP!
AG Holder has been playing cat-and-mouse with the House over Administration internal documents regarding the notorious Fast and Furious scandal, basically a botched operation where ATF, in coordination with the Justice Department, deliberately allowed the release of 2500 illegal guns in an attempt to track them to Mexican drug cartel leadership. ATF quickly lost track of the firearms, one of which was used to kill a US Border Patrol agent.
Obama's recent assertion of "executive privilege" is not only patently absurd on its face, a transparent attempt at a cover-up. (The Supreme Court in the Nixon case did allow some flexibility for the President's aides--clearly not relevant here, but in any work communications, private or government, I always knew that there was no expectation of privacy.)
Remember the kerfuffle over President Bush wanting to appoint new US attorneys, i.e., "firings" (actually, nonrenewal of limited-year contracts)? We had a similar controversy: in fact, it was a political issue: it was part of Obama's now broken pledge (yes, another flip-flop) of accountable, transparent government. Radley Balko of Reason gives a good summary of the core points (my edits: keep in mind Obama was President-elect at the time of the excerpt):
Executive privilege is the idea that a president should be able to shield his staff from congressional or legal inquiries because staffers who know they could potentially be subpoenaed may not feel as free and open to give the president candid advice. This is nonsense. The president's political appointees are public servants. Their salaries are paid by taxpayers. What they do and say on the public payroll should be accessible to the public, to the courts, and to congressional oversight. If the president wants to hire a personal attorney who can give him personal legal advice that's protected by attorney-client privilege, he should pay that attorney out of his own pocket, or out of campaign funds. If Obama were to peremptorily swear off executive privilege early on in his administration, and vow that his staff and advisers will not have his permission to invoke it at a later date, it would not only send a clear and important message to the country that he plans to keep his vow to run a transparent and accountable government, it would also send a message to everyone working in his administration that what they say and do will be on the record, and that they should behave accordingly.What's particularly egregious against Obama's hypocritical stance is that he claimed an expertise in Constitutional law. Holder's defiance of a Congressional committee, particularly given the nature of Holder's own position, is unconscionable. Given the Administration's unwillingness to cooperate with a legitimate inquiry, I feel that contempt is NOT partisan: the nature and extent of Holder's refusal to cooperate is incontrovertible. I condemn Democratic Congressmen for their unprincipled hypocritical groupthink purely partisan rejection of the censure vote.
Let's Put an End to Anti-Competitive State Licensing Practices
The Procrustean "round peg in a square hole", "one size fits all", dubiously justifiable state infringements on economic liberty must be stopped. Isn't it just grossly unbelievable with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, Nevada gets in the way of voluntary transactions: it puts obstacles in the way of earning a living including requirements that aren't salient to their business model but dramatically raise costs, which obviously must be passed onto customers.
(As an aside, I played a small part in the theater instructor's play during one of OLL's inter-terms. I think it was his own play, and I recall there was a scene involving card playing. He was trying to think of a piece of music to go with the scene, and I, channeling my inner producer, suggested "Sweet Georgia Brown". It was almost immediately trashed--but guess what made it on performance night. I didn't have a lot of lines and probably rushed mine a bit. What I remember in particular was having stage makeup put on before the performance; as a clueless male, the ladies applied it. (First and last time.) It felt amazing--like a gentle massage; in fact, I almost wished that it had lasted longer...)
My Favorite Linda Creed Song. Linda co-wrote many classic hits for the Stylistics and Spinners, but probably is best known for the "Greatest Love of All", a minor hit for George Benson and several years later, a major #1 hit by Whitney Houston. Linda died of breast cancer at the age of 36 just before Houston took her song to #1 in the spring of 1986. RIP, sweet angel.
"Living a Little, Laughing a Little" (excerpts)
Songwriters: Songwriters: Linda Creed / Thom Bell
Laugh everyone at the clown
He's the best one in town, ah ha
Laugh as the funny man cries
Though his makeup is smeared, ah ha
Laugh at his comical tears
As he thinks of the years, ah ha, ah ha
Laugh everyone at the fool
With his heart in his hand, ah ha
Still he can't quite understand
That he's less than a man, ah ha, ah ha
Watch how he tries hard to hide
That he's dying inside, ah ha, ah ha
George Romney On Special Interest Politics
It's interesting how multiple-generation politicians have been more successful in my selection sample of Taft, Romney, and Bush--and in each case, the first-generation politician was more moderate than his conservative son(s).
William Taft was the accidental President, an able administration handpicked by Teddy Roosevelt to succeed him as President. Taft tried to bridge the Progressive and Conservative wings of the GOP and often seemed to have a dislike for the wheeling-dealing. (Curiously enough, the "kill list" excerpt from the Gray Lady in Monday's post showed an Obama with a similar dislike for the give and take, say, to get an agreement done on a Gitmo closing.) You want to know what I think about him? (1) Anti-trusts; (2) the Sixteenth Amendment (income tax).
His son Robert (as in the Taft-Hartley Act) was a remarkable senator (featured in JFK's Profiles in Courage). One could argue since William was President but Robert never got nominated, William was clearly more successful, but there is no doubt that Robert Taft was able to do what William didn't want to do.
GHW Bush was a second-generation politician; his dad was a US Senator from Connecticut. GHW Bush was a Congressman but failed to win a US Senate seat of his own; his sons George and Jeb won multiple terms as governor, and then George W. did what his father couldn't--win reelection as President. Again, George and Jeb are more conservative than their Dad. (I have criticized George elsewhere; as a fiscal hawk, I will not defend his failure to check runaway federal spending and regulating, and I thought GHW Bush was better on foreign policy.)
George Romney was interesting as a multi-term Michigan governor. He was a moderate Republican with remarkable support from unions and blacks. JFK thought that Romney posed as his strongest opponent for reelection. Romney couldn't stand Goldwater and was the early front runner for the 1968 nomination until he suffered a series of gaffes. I like what he says here, but remember: this is a guy whom vastly expanded state spending, was a forceful advocate for public housing programs, and introduced the state income tax.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "Make It Better (Forget About Me)"
