Mothers, hide the babies: Republicans are coming to Dallas this weekend.
Come to think of it, you maybe ought to hide your Bible and any other books of note — dictionaries, science books, history references — too. Texas Freedom Network has the full rundown. Be sure to read the specific stupidities.
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History, Political conventions, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: Political conventions, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Republicans, Texas | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
You couldn’t get fiction like this published.
Republicans in Maine voted to scrap the Republican platform and write a new one — not enough unholy discrimination in the old one, too much Eisenhower, too much Lincoln, or something like that. The convention spilled out into a local middle school for some of the platform writing shenanigans.
In one 8th grade classroom, the Maine Republicans found something they objected to, something they don’t want taught to 8th graders: The U.S. Constitution.
Pharyngula has the story and comments here. ThinkProgress has more gory details here. Portland (Maine) Press-Herald story here. Bangor Daily News story here.
The Republicans were particularly incensed by a poster showing a collage used to open a project assigned to the Portland 8th graders. The 8th graders make poster collages elaborating on the Four Freedoms speech of Franklin Roosevelt, and the accompanying posters by Norman Rockwell. Norman Rockwell. You know. The guy who started his professional career as art director for the Boy Scouts of America . . .
“Brainwashing” the Republicans called U.S. history. Brainwashing.
Speaking of the children, they got into the act Tuesday after a note from “a Republican” was found in Clifford’s classroom. “A Republican was here,” it read. “What gives you the right to propagandize impressionable kids?”
Responded eighth-grader Lilly O’Leary, one of several students who sent e-mails to this newspaper decrying the behavior of their weekend guests, “I am not being brainwashed in his class under any circumstances. I am being told that I have the right to my own opinion.”
She added, “These people were adults and they were acting very immaturely.”
Remember when Republicans used to complain that we can’t jail flag-burning protesters? When did those guys get kicked out of the party, and who are these new thugs?
When did it become the Re-Poe-blican Party? When did they take up the Blackshirt tactics?
C’mon, Republicans. Come back to America. Repent now.
And — as for us Texans? This is the stuff Don McLeroy wants to see happen in Texas social studies standards — vandalism of the U.S. Constitution and American law and tradition.
As a Scouter, as a teacher, as a fan of the U.S. Constitution, I’m concerned. Should I be scared?
“I saw nothing in the room — and nobody pointed out anything in the room — that appeared to give a more balanced view,” [Knox County Republican Party Chairman William] Chapman said.
[Teacher Paul] Clifford and the school’s principal, Mike McCarthy, pointed out in media accounts that the posters were part of projects on freedom and free expression. [Bangor Daily News]
Maybe everyone should be scared.
_______________
Hmmmmm. Ken County, Maine, Republicans offer rewards to people who rat out others who vandalize campaign signs. How about they extend that to rat out the Republicans who vandalized Paul Clifford’s classroom? You know, in the interest of free speech and all . . .
More:
Norman Rockwell, poster of his paintings on the Four Freedoms (Library of Congress image). This is part of what the Maine Tea Party Republicans objected to.
Exercise your right to stand up for freedom and education — spread the word:
13 Comments | Classroom management, Education, History, History Methods and Tools, History Revisionism, Poe's Law, Political conventions, Political Smear, Politics, Teachers, Teaching, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: Maine | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Utah’s political year can be odd. Among other things, there is an unusual feature to get the nomination of a party. A candidate can win the nomination outright, and avoid the party primary, by taking 72% of the delegates at the state convention. Delegates vote in rounds, eliminated those with the least support, until some magic number of total delegates is divided among the leaders. If the leading candidate gets anything less than 72% in the final round, there is a run-off at the primary election. This way, only two candidates show up on the primary election ballot in September.
The winner of the primary then appears on the ballot in November.
Saturday in Salt Lake City Utah Republicans scanned a list of eight people contesting incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett for his seat. Bob Bennett represented Utah in the U.S. Senate for three terms.
Bennett’s father, Wallace F. Bennett, represented Utah for four terms. Bob Bennett is married to a granddaughter of LDS Church President David O. McKay (LDS call the president of their church “prophet, seer and revelator”). He was president of the University of Utah studentbody in college, and he headed several corporations, including his father’s Bennett Paints, and the probably better known nationally, FranklinQuest manufacturer of organizers and appointment books. Bennett got the 2010 endorsements of the National Rifle Association and popular Mormon politician Mitt Romney.
Mr. Republican, in other words.
Utah Republicans put Bennett third in the final round, Saturday (Salt Lake Tribune story). Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater face off in the primary election. Bennett is out. Bennett was “too liberal.” Bennett was “too Washington.” Bennett was viewed as not tough enough on government spending.
U.S. Sen. Robert F. Bennett and Utah constituent - campaign photo
What can one say about such an event?
Utah Republicans have a long history of nominating cranks and crackpots, and sometimes they get elected. Rarely does the story turn out happily for the state, or the party, though.
Douglas Stringfellow turned out to have made up the stories about his World War II bravery behind enemy lines, and lost his bid for re-election. Enid Greene’s husband was the one with the imaginary biography, but the damage from the revelations ended her career in Congress. Utah Republicans narrowly renominated Sen. Arthur V. Watkins, many Republicans refused to support him and bolted the party for that race, because they disapproved of Watkins’ having chaired the committee that recommended the censure of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. [It appears McCarthy’s history rewriting team got to Sen. Watkins’ biography at Wikipedia. Troubling.] Because of the split, Democrat Frank E. Moss won the seat and held it for three terms.
Lee clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, but based his Utah campaign on a claim the U.S. government is acting unconstitutionally. Bridgewater lifted himself out of his trailer park beginnings to be a consultant on “emerging markets,” and a sometimes education-advisor to Utah Gov. John Huntsman (now U.S. ambassador to China).
What’s that ticking I hear? Do you smell something burning, like a fuse?
Is there a warning siren going off somewhere? 2010 is already a bizarre election year.
_____________
Update, May 9: A source informs me that Mike Lee is Rex Lee’s son — Rex Lee was the founding Dean of the Law School at Brigham Young University, past Solicitor General, and Assistant Attorney General, in charge of the Civil Division. He served nine years as president of Brigham Young University. Rex Lee graduated first in his class at Chicago, and clerked for Justice Byron White. Justice Alito was an assistant to Rex Lee in the Solicitor General’s office, 1981-85.
Setting up the law school at Brigham Young, Rex Lee personally recruited many of the top Mormon graduates from universities around the country, intending to make the first graduating class (1976) at BYU’s law school notable, to build the school’s reputation from the start. Political organizing may run in the family.
4 Comments | 2010 Elections, Elections, History, Political conventions, Politics, Utah | Tagged: Campaigns, Conventions, Election 2010, Elections, Politics, Republicans, Sen. Robert F. Bennett, Utah | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Considering recent history and the Texas State Board of Education, how can any reasonable voter or parent read this, except as a declaration of war on science? According to the blogs at the Dallas Morning News:
State Board of Education chairman David Bradley of Beaumont told GOP delegates [at the Texas State Republican Convention] that the board was about to take up the science curriculum for public schools. He forecasted a fight over evolution vs. creationism.
Bradley said there are some on the board (he’s among them) that believe God created Man.
“There are others who think their ancestors were apes. That’s okay. But I’m going to vote the right way,” Bradley said.
Is there anything there that suggests Bradley wants good science in Texas textbooks and Texas classrooms?
Remember the Excellence in Education Commission Report in 1983? The Commission warned that the nation was facing “a rising tide of mediocrity” in schools, in such things as lax science standards.
“Our nation is at risk. The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity. If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament. History is not kind to idlers.”
25 years later, Commissar Don McLeroy is leading the tide of mediocrity, doing crippling things to our education system that the likes of Nikita Khruschev and Mao Ze Dong could only dream about.
2 Comments | Creationism, Education quality, Education reform, Evolution, History, Intelligent Design, Political conventions, Politics, Religion, Science, State school boards, Texas, War on Education, War on Science | Tagged: Creationism, Education, Education reform, Politics, Religion, Science, Texas, War on Education, War on Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Mencken at 1948 Democratic Convention
H. L. Mencken at one of the 1948 political conventions (Thomas Dewey was the Republican nominee, Harry S. Truman was the Democratic nominee). Obviously the photo is a copy from the National Press Club Library. The Park Library site describes the photo and Mencken:
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) was a familiar figure at many national political conventions. This photo, taken at the one in 1948, was his last political convention. He is well known for his attacks on American taste and culture, or the lack of same. His magnum opus, The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States, was first published in 1919 and remains a classic. From 1906 to 1941, he worked chiefly as a reporter, editor, and columnist for the Baltimore Sun. (Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Sun Library.)
Assuming Mencken covered both conventions, this photo was taken at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia in mid-July, 1948. We know it was taken in Philadelphia since both parties held their conventions there that year, the Republicans from June 21 to June 26, and the Democrats from July 12 to July 14.
Republicans nominated New York Gov. Thomas J. Dewey and California Gov. Earl Warren for president and vice president.
After a contentious convention that saw Minneapolis Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey propose a civil rights plank that got South Carolina Gov. Strom Thurmond to walk out of the convention and found his own States’ Rights (Dixiecrat) Party (with himself as the nominee for president), and former Vice President Henry Wallace walk out because the party platform was too conservative (Wallace ran on the Socialist Progressive Party ticket), Democrats nominated President Harry S Truman and Kentucky Sen. Alben W. Barkley for president and vice president. Truman narrowly defeated Georgia Sen. Richard B. Russell for the nomination. Had Thurmond not walked out, Truman may well have lost the nomination of his own party.
And the rest of the story?
3 Comments | H. L. Mencken, History, Political conventions, Politics, Technology, Typewriters, Writing | Tagged: H. L. Mencken, History, Political conventions, Politics, Technology, typewriter, Writing | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Funniest thing I’ve seen all day: Obama supporters wearing name tags co-opting Barack Obama’s middle name.
Things like:
“Bob Hussein Smith.”
“Janet Hussein Finklestein.”Good Times.
— Karen Brooks, at Moody Coliseum at Southern Methodist University, the site of the convention.
As blog reports go, the newspaper’s reporters got some snark, but the blog reports are remarkably bare of information. The stories this morning are a bit better, but missing much.
My reports in a bit — if I can figure out how to download the Pentax photos to this computer.
Clinton’s challenges at our district (Royce West’s Senate District 23) picked up 22 delegates for Clinton. That’s about 1% of those still standing after 9 hours of credentials wrangling.
Not worth it in District 23. The Obama people spent the day converting a few Clinton delegates, but mostly making hard plans to dominate the state convention. It became an 8-hour planning session for Democrats to win Texas, sure, but mainly for Obama to beat Clinton. This was not from the Obama campaign, mind you, but spontaneous work by mostly first-time delegates.
My recollection is that four years ago we had about 600 people at this convention, and 400 two years ago. More than 5,000 this year. An increase of roughly 10 times in participation.
Is John Cornyn scared yet?
7 Comments | Campaigns, Capturing history, Citizenship, Current History, Democracy in action, Elections, Freedom - Political, Political conventions, Politics | Tagged: 2008 Election, Campaigns, Capturing history, Clinton, Obama, Politics | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
More than 1,000 people showed up for our precinct caucus. That’s 200 times more people than have showed in any previous year. I didn’t get elected convention chairman by default, nor did I even get nominated. The parking problems anticipated by The New Republic all came to pass — and no one really cared.
It was fantastic to watch.
Obama got 89% of the 55 delegates to our Senatorial District Convention; Clinton got 11%.
More, later I hope, when I get a few minutes to write about it.
1 Comment | Political conventions, Politics, Presidents, Texas | Tagged: 2008, Clinton, Obama, Politics, presidential campaign, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
I noted a documentary on Texas water problems, narrated by Walter Cronkite. Okay, no kid in college today remembers Cronkite on the news every night; it’s likely that most of our high school students could not identify him in any way.
Walter Cronkite anchoring coverage of a NASA manned space flight, for CBS News (Gemini Mission series?); CBS News Photo via NASA
Cronkite was the most respected man in news through the 1960s and 1970s. Recruited to CBS during World War II, Cronkite is famous for his sign-off — “And that’s the way it is . . .” — well remembered for his announcement of the death of President Kennedy, remembered among newsmen and space aficianadoes for his coverage of NASA’s glory days, and remembered for his post-Tet Offensive judgment announced in an on-air editorial that the American public had not been getting the facts about the Vietnam conflict, and that the U.S. could not “win” such a war. Because Cronkite’s credibility was so great, his turn on the view of the winability of Vietnam carried a lot of public opinion with him. When Cronkite’s views on the war turned against it, America turned against it.
So, it would be nice if students had a passing familiarity with the Cronkite story.
When I found Cronkite narrating a Texas Parks and Wildlife documentary, at 91, it pleased me.
But, looking for a short bio to link to for the post, I found this 1996 interview with Cronkite, introduced by a biographical sketch, including this piece of information:
Most recently, Cronkite, affectionately nicknamed “Old Iron Pants” for his unflappability under pressure, has recorded the many significant events of his distinguished career in his autobiography, A Reporter’s Life (Knopf, 1996).
What? How does “Iron Pants” relate to unflappability?
It doesn’t. Someone has cleaned up the story for public consumption. But the original story isn’t all that profane or racy, either.
During the political conventions of the late 1950s and 1960s, the three commercial networks, later joined by PBS, would camp out at the convention halls. Someone would anchor the broadcast for the network — Huntley and Brinkley for NBC, the current news anchor for ABC, and Cronkite for CBS — and the coverage frequently would take a couple of hours in the afternoon, and then go through the entire prime time hours (hey — it was late summer during rerun season; who cared?).
The anchor booths often were suspended capsules up in the rafters of the convention center; bathrooms were a long way from the anchor booths. Huntley or Brinkley, as a team, could take a break and take a stroll to relieve himself while his partner carried on. ABC sometimes brought in one of the roving reporters from the floor, or a guest anchor, to give their anchor some time out of the booth.
Cronkite soldiered on alone. He was called “Old Iron Pants” because he seemed to have no need to take a break to relieve himself.
This story was old by the time I covered the Democratic National Convention in New York City in 1976. One network reporter swore that, during the 1972 conventions, a group of reporters counted the coffees and waters going into Cronkite to see if he was doing some sort of fluidless sprint — he matched the other anchors drop for drop of consumption. So, in 1976, the rumor was that Cronkite had to have a private bathroom built into the anchor booth somewhere.
No one could find it.
One reporter for a New York station swore he’d met Cronkite in a restroom, but no one believed him. No one else in the room at the time could say they had also met Cronkite — no corroboration, no credibility.
And so the legend of “Old Iron Pants” grew, bolstered by stories from old reporters unfettered by Snopes.com. Cronkite’s on-air brilliance, and ability to cover hours of conventions at a stride, were made possible by a bladder of legendary strength, if you listened to the old reporters wax on about the issue. “Old Iron Pants” is a nickname that has nothing whatever to do with reportorial ability, talent or luck. It instead refers to the ability of Cronkite to stay in the game while everyone else had to make a visit to the, uh, clubhouse.
This biography says Cronkite was “unflappable?” No, that doesn’t begin to tell the real story. Cronkite was stalwart, a rock unmoved by waters, gauging the political tides while unaffected (on-air) by his own.
At least, that’s the way I got the story. Anybody got a citation to something more reliable, and different?
As Joseph Pulitzer once said, “Accuracy! Accuracy! Accuracy!” Let’s tell the whole truth.
Resources:
Immediate update: Good grief! “Affectionately named ‘Old Iron Pants’ for his unflappability under pressure” may appear more often than “Cronkite” on Google. Is this another case where the polite, euphemistic explanation has supplanted the more raw, more sensible real explanation?
8 Comments | 1968, Accuracy, History, Humor, News, Newspapers, Political conventions, Politics, Television | Tagged: 1968, Accuracy, History, Media, Political conventions, television news, Walter Cronkite | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
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Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 