Random Bits & Pieces
©2009 by LeeZard
NAME THAT PRES!
We had “Tricky Dick,” for Richard Nixon or, as a former associate of mine (and former network correspondent in the Nixon White House) used to call him privately, “The Trick of the United States.” I loved it.
Bill Clinton was (and is) “Bubba;” Reagan, to some, “The Great Communicator” and, of course there’s “Dubya.”
We had “The Father of our Country” and “The Great Emancipator.” Sometimes their initials were so mediagenic, they became the nickname a la FDR, JFK and LBJ. Which begs the question, Whither Obama?
LeeZard doesn’t think the initial thing will work here. BO? That just stinks (sorry, couldn’t resist). Gobama? Sounds like a college football cheer. Baracky? Sounds tacky. What do you think? Drop some suggestions and LeeZard will post ‘em.
THE FIRST MOTHER-IN-LAW (TFMIL)
LeeZard collects heroes the same way Dubya collected detainees at Gitmo. I have a new one, the First Mother-in-Law. No, LeeZard is not talking about Eve. It’s Michelle Obama’s mama (Sorry, couldn’t resist), Marian Robinson.
It seems the 71-year old Ms. Robinson will be moving in to her daughter’s new digs on Pennsylvania Avenue – at least temporarily. Apparently this is not something forced upon the First Son-in-Law; it seems they have a pretty good relationship. In fact, Marian Robinson cared for the two Obama daughters during the campaign.
Why is she in LeeZard’s Hall of Fame? I’ll tell you why, she’s got SPUNK and, unlike Lou Grant, LeeZard likes spunk. When she was well into her 60s, Marian Robinson ran the 50- and 100-yard dashes in the Illinois senior games.
But what I really like about TFMIL is her attitude toward Dad and Mama Obama’s rules for their kids. Quoting from a recent New York Times story:
Yeah! LeeZard hopes she moves in permanently.
RIVER RISING
Chateau LeeZard sits about a block from the Green River, unfortunately made infamous by Gary Ridgway (sic) “The Green River Killer,” who, in 2003, confessed to murdering 48 women. That bad ju-ju aside, the river meanders quietly through the Kent Valley, about 20-miles south of Seattle. As rivers go, it’s not very big.
There is a walking/running/bicycle trail along the river that connects to the regional trail system. You can go for miles in either direction. LeeZard and “Da Boys” love it. Why am I telling you all of this?
Those of you who don’t live here may have heard about the very serious flooding that hammered Western Washington State last week after several weeks of heavy snow followed by heavier rain.
NAME THAT PRES!
Sooner or later the news media hang some kind of nickname or tag on our presidents, sometimes affectionate, sometimes derogatory.
We had “Tricky Dick,” for Richard Nixon or, as a former associate of mine (and former network correspondent in the Nixon White House) used to call him privately, “The Trick of the United States.” I loved it.Bill Clinton was (and is) “Bubba;” Reagan, to some, “The Great Communicator” and, of course there’s “Dubya.” We had “The Father of our Country” and “The Great Emancipator.” Sometimes their initials were so mediagenic, they became the nickname a la FDR, JFK and LBJ. Which begs the question, Whither Obama?
LeeZard doesn’t think the initial thing will work here. BO? That just stinks (sorry, couldn’t resist). Gobama? Sounds like a college football cheer. Baracky? Sounds tacky. What do you think? Drop some suggestions and LeeZard will post ‘em.
THE FIRST MOTHER-IN-LAW (TFMIL)
LeeZard collects heroes the same way Dubya collected detainees at Gitmo. I have a new one, the First Mother-in-Law. No, LeeZard is not talking about Eve. It’s Michelle Obama’s mama (Sorry, couldn’t resist), Marian Robinson.
It seems the 71-year old Ms. Robinson will be moving in to her daughter’s new digs on Pennsylvania Avenue – at least temporarily. Apparently this is not something forced upon the First Son-in-Law; it seems they have a pretty good relationship. In fact, Marian Robinson cared for the two Obama daughters during the campaign.Why is she in LeeZard’s Hall of Fame? I’ll tell you why, she’s got SPUNK and, unlike Lou Grant, LeeZard likes spunk. When she was well into her 60s, Marian Robinson ran the 50- and 100-yard dashes in the Illinois senior games.
But what I really like about TFMIL is her attitude toward Dad and Mama Obama’s rules for their kids. Quoting from a recent New York Times story:
“Bedtime at 8:30 p.m.? ‘That’s ridiculous,’ Robinson told the Boston Globe last year, suggesting that was too early. Television for only an hour? ‘That’s just not enough time,’ she said.
As for the organic foods the Obama’s favor? ‘That’s not my thing,’ said Robinson, who enjoys salty food and dismissed efforts to make such dishes more healthful. ‘If you’re going to have fried chicken,’ she said, ‘have fried chicken!’”
Yeah! LeeZard hopes she moves in permanently.
RIVER RISING
Chateau LeeZard sits about a block from the Green River, unfortunately made infamous by Gary Ridgway (sic) “The Green River Killer,” who, in 2003, confessed to murdering 48 women. That bad ju-ju aside, the river meanders quietly through the Kent Valley, about 20-miles south of Seattle. As rivers go, it’s not very big.
There is a walking/running/bicycle trail along the river that connects to the regional trail system. You can go for miles in either direction. LeeZard and “Da Boys” love it. Why am I telling you all of this?
Those of you who don’t live here may have heard about the very serious flooding that hammered Western Washington State last week after several weeks of heavy snow followed by heavier rain.
Here are two pix of my quiet little river. The trees you see are about 2/3 under water and, this was one of the very few places in Western WA where a river was not at flood stage.
AND, FINALLY, ON A SERIOUS NOTE.......
LeeZard’s thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the Mideast. Certainly Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas rocket attacks. But, the Palestinians are also entitled to their own independent state, once they acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and renounce terrorism. LeeZard is against any sort of fanaticism. Hey, it's not rocket science.
AND, FINALLY, ON A SERIOUS NOTE.......
LeeZard’s thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the Mideast. Certainly Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas rocket attacks. But, the Palestinians are also entitled to their own independent state, once they acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and renounce terrorism. LeeZard is against any sort of fanaticism. Hey, it's not rocket science.
Comments
Botock - cause he"s gonna make the country feel young again.
Bobama - because bananarama bo banarama is all ready taken.
Now Leezard, as Groucho would say, "A child of 5 would understand this! Fetch me a child of 5."
As for War and Peace, Palestine and Israel.....
It is perhaps interesting in so much as I happened to have had a discussion with my 91 year old father- in-law just last night.
I said we are the only country in the world that has used the Atomic Bomb and I believe that to be a despicable and unforgiving action. Furthermore, it might warrant charging the USA with War Crimes. You can add to that the blanket bombing of Berlin, Mi Lai, and most recently the slaying of 100's of thousands in the unmitigated attack on Iraq in the name of vengeance, oil, and hypocrisy by the hands of the Christian right including "Jerimiah Wright's God Damned America beginning with Dubya and every member of Congress that voted to support the corrupt cronyism of continued carpet bagging scum who sanctified and authorized that invasion and occupation of Iraq. We can and we will thank a new generation of hope, alleged ethics and transparency for having sent to the dungeons of Texas, the person aka "Dubya" who I think may believe that cattle with longhorns are Jewish and are thereby chosen to live on holy ground just above the Rio Grande!
Gramps replied, "hadn't we dropped the bomb we might have lost more American lives and thankfully "The Bomb" no insult intended to that fart you laid in 1969 in Eddys car, ended the the war with Japan with haste.
I responded, a life whether American, Japanese, Palestinian, Israeli, German, Lithuanian, Alaskan (not part of USA cause you can see Russia from there) nor from the country of Africa, is not worth any more less than any other and certainly not simply biased by nationality. It is the human experience enabling us as a species, evoking an ability as a higher thinking animal to recognize that killing our own species or any other species, unless for nutritional purposes, is not warranted nor legitimate unless we decide to "Soilent Green" our brothers and sisters or at least add fava beans to the equation!
ArtySmarty