Politics and religion.

[Bonny]

It must be difficult keeping history straight when you are busy worrying about ...light bulbs

This is what gets me about many of the Tea Party and their ilk....they prattle on about "The Founding Fathers" while being so ignorant about "The Founding Fathers." So they just rewrite history they way they think it should have been. Putting Lexington and Concord in New Hampshire - okay - many people are not good at geography - but to say those "Founding Fathers" "worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States."

What...

The Declaration of Independence was 1776. The Civil War started in 1860. The 13th amendment went into law in 1865.

And they still weren't tired after working on something for 90 years? How old were these guys when finally "slavery was no more"? 150? Wow... Wouldn't it have been easier to write a constitution that prohibited slavery in the first place?

That depth of ignorance is startling on so many levels.

Those new light bulbs aren't living up to what they said they would. The light is dim & proper disposal is a problem. It is like nuclear power plant waste & what to do with it?

Weren't a good part of our founding fathers slave owners?

[Grace]

Weren't a good part of our founding fathers slave owners?

Yes they were - which begs the question what was MB thinking of when she said this -

"the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States....Men like John Quincy Adams, who would not rest until slavery was extinguished in the country."

Not only did she get the bit about slavery wrong, John Quincy Adams was only 9 years old while the Founding Fathers were doing their thing. She obviously got father and son mixed up along with the other errors.

[Edwina's Secretary]

And...John Quincy Adams died in 1848....still well before slavery was no more in the United States. He must have had a rather "unrestful" time in the grave for 20 years or so.

I wonder if Michelle Bachman knows her hero - John Quincy Adams - was a fan of high tarriffs (aka taxes) to be used to build infrastructure such as roads and canals and of a national bank?

Isn't that the kind of stuff the Tea Party doesn't like?

[wombat2u2004]

Those new light bulbs aren't living up to what they said they would. The light is dim & proper disposal is a problem. It is like nuclear power plant waste & what to do with it?

I'm getting a little confuzzed here.
Everyone is carrying on about light bulbs and a polly's inadequate knowledge of history whilst nothing is being done about Arizona's problems.
Oh my goodness !!!! My house has just fell down. I'd better go cut the grass.

[Edwina's Secretary]

My definition of a "smart" or "educated" person is someone who knows what they don't know, know how to find out what they don't know and keeps an open mind to the answer.

Bachman does not know the basics - things most people in the US learn in 5th or 6th grade. If she didn't know what state the revolution started in...if she didn't know the position of the "Founding Fathers" on slavery, she could use Wikipedia - before opening her mouth and proving her embarassing ignorance.

Even an Aussie should be able to do the same. Arnold Schwartzenagger is no longer governor of California. By the way, he is also a Republican - so the Kennedy connection doesn't mean much. What the heck, he is not even the first "movie star" to be elected governor of California - that would be Ronald Reagan.

Arizona's problems - what a hoot! They have far less an immigration issue than Australia does. Now what is being done about those Aboriginal people?

[Grace]

My definition of a "smart" or "educated" person is someone who knows what they don't know, know how to find out what they don't know and keeps an open mind to the answer.

Bachman does not know the basics - things most people in the US learn in 5th or 6th grade. If she didn't know what state the revolution started in...if she didn't know the position of the "Founding Fathers" on slavery, she could use Wikipedia - before opening her mouth and proving her embarassing ignorance.

Even an Aussie should be able to do the same. Arnold Schwartzenagger is no longer governor of California. By the way, he is also a Republican - so the Kennedy connection doesn't mean much. What the heck, he is not even the first "movie star" to be elected governor of California - that would be Ronald Reagan.

Arizona's problems - what a hoot! They have far less an immigration issue than Australia does. Now what is being done about those Aboriginal people?

What she said

[Grace]

Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson


Ralph Waldo Emerson was a key early American philospher, poet and writer, particularly known for his appreciation of individualism, self-reliance and intuition. He wrote this poem, which was sung as a hymn at a July 4, 1837 ceremony to mark the completion of the Concord Monument, to immortalize the resistance of American Minutemen to British forces on April 19, 1775. The poem's phrase "shot heard round the world" is now internationally famous for its description of the philosphical importance of the American revolution.

(I've seen the Monument mentioned here, and walked over the bridge - they are both in Concord, Massachusetts.)

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

[RICHARD]

The Wisconsin Dems
Tucked tail and ran.
All before the vote began.

The could not stay, the bunch were morons
They would not give the Repubs a quorum
Run to the next state.
Hide your faces.

They cannot vote with empty spaces.
Run and hide, Don't make a fight.
You show your colors, hidden from sight.

Chickens squawk, deer do run.
Out of politics, you've taken the fun.

Taken a stand, fight for us all,
But you choose to run to save your (bits)

The vote is done, you're taking smack
Maybe now, you all can come back.

----------------------

An educated person is one who knows when to let the other person use their tongues to get in trouble.

[Grace]

The Wisconsin Dems
Tucked tail and ran.
All before the vote began.

The could not stay, the bunch were morons
They would not give the Repubs a quorum
Run to the next state.
Hide your faces.

They cannot vote with empty spaces.
Run and hide, Don't make a fight.
You show your colors, hidden from sight.

Chickens squawk, deer do run.
Out of politics, you've taken the fun.

Taken a stand, fight for us all,
But you choose to run to save your (bits)

The vote is done, you're taking smack
Maybe now, you all can come back.

Richard - you're very talented This is really clever.

[cassiesmom]

The Wisconsin Dems
Tucked tail and ran.
All before the vote began.

The could not stay, the bunch were morons
They would not give the Repubs a quorum
Run to the next state.
Hide your faces.

They cannot vote with empty spaces.
Run and hide, Don't make a fight.
You show your colors, hidden from sight.

Chickens squawk, deer do run.
Out of politics, you've taken the fun.

Taken a stand, fight for us all,
But you choose to run to save your (bits)

The vote is done, you're taking smack
Maybe now, you all can come back.

----------------------

An educated person is one who knows when to let the other person use their tongues to get in trouble.

The Democrats from Wisconsin have left Chicago, though. They were here for almost a month.

[wombat2u2004]

Concord Hymn The poem's phrase "shot heard round the world" is now internationally famous for its description of the philosphical importance of the American revolution.

It is ???
Never heard of it.
Now why would the American Revolution interest anyone who isn't American ???

[blue]

It is ???
Never heard of it.
Now why would the American Revolution interest anyone who isn't American ???

Dont you collect war medals?

[Karen]

It is ???
Never heard of it.
Now why would the American Revolution interest anyone who isn't American ???

Just like we, as children in America, studied the wars in other countries, children not growing up in America may learn the story of the American Revolution. And that Revolution, though it had been brewing, and had many causes, had its first shots fired a few miles from where I sit typing this. So just as I learned that Archduke Ferdinand getting shot when his driver backed down an alley in Sarajevo started World War I, children in other countries may have been taught about the beginnings of the war at Lexington and Concord.

Does not world history interest everyone to some extent?

[Edwina's Secretary]

It is ???
Never heard of it.
Now why would the American Revolution interest anyone who isn't American ???

At last you have said something funny!

Now that you have admitted you are not familiar with it -how about shutting up about it?

[wombat2u2004]

What she said

Dunno.....I have her on ignore.
That way I don't have to read rubbish