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| The 'late great' Rat Pack... |
While I was growing up, whenever a movie star, musician, or major performer passed away he or she was referred to by my Mom as, "the late great _______________________" (insert deceased party's name here).
All these years later, the phrase bubbled up from the under-side of my brain and almost rocked me off my seat (a.k.a.: 'stump') two weeks ago. It happened as I was sitting by the dying campfire long after the scouts piled back into their spider, cricket, and mosquito-infested tents.
Neural synapses sputtered to life within my sleep-deprived head, inter-connected images, thoughts, and a whole lot of other 'stuff' came gurgling up into view. By the time the camp fire was no more than a pile of half-lit embers and sputtering logs, my brain was on fire. This entire post was written in its entirety then - it's my fault that I haven't transcribed it until now.
WARNING: do not read the following unless your brain is fireproof. My head's been smoldering for two weeks. Unfortunately, now that I'm back home, the smoke detectors won't let me sleep through the night.
On a happier note, I won't need a haircut for months.
They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Time to get walking:
Gee, thanks LBJ. You have indeed left us a legacy of a 'constantly renewed' challenge. It's nice to read a quote from you which could have easily have been uttered by Karl Marx.
Jerk.
Okay, so here's the thing: Before I went on my Boy Scout camping expedition a few weeks ago I came across an article on Heritage.org. It claimed to have to 'cure' to poverty. Sure, I was curious, so I checked it out.
Funny thing is that it had NOTHING to do with forcefully taking money from one person (or group of people) and giving it to someone else - I thought that this WAS the approved methodology to ending poverty?
How could the people at Heritage LIE about this undeniable truth of political posturing?
What, are they INSANE???
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| Yes, apparently. They've been 'Certified Insane'! |
I've heard the expression, "A rising tide lifts all boats" for years. I thought it was the utterance of Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it is correctly attributed to...
John F. Kennedy
He's the nice man in the photo above (attempting to restrain LBJ)
JFK is assassinated, the mantle of leadership passes over to Vice President Lyndon Johnson and the rest, as they say, is history. I don't believe President Johnson ever said it out loud, or within ear shot of the public (reporters would NOT care), but I believe that HIS personal mission statement based upon JFK's slogan became:
"A sinking ship raises everyone else's boat"
Prepare for that 'sinking' feeling as restated by President Barack Obama, July 13, 2011:
"And I do not want, and I will not accept, a deal in which I am asked to do nothing, in fact, I’m able to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don’t need, while a parent out there who is struggling to figure out how to send their kid to college suddenly finds that they’ve got a couple thousand dollars less in grants or student loans."
Okay, so taking 'stuff' from one person and giving to another IS the answer?!?!
I KNEW it!!!
So let's go way back to LBJ (the Johnny Appleseed of Barack Obama's 'money orchard').
According to Wikipedia: The Great Society was a set of domestic programs suggested or enacted in the United States on the initiative of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched during this period. The Great Society in scope and sweep resembled the New Deal domestic agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but differed sharply in types of programs enacted.
Some Great Society proposals were stalled initiatives from John F. Kennedy's New Frontier. Johnson's success depended on his skills of persuasion, coupled with the Democratic landslide in the 1964 election that brought in many new liberals to Congress. Anti-war Democrats complained that spending on the Vietnam War choked off the Great Society.
While some of the programs have been eliminated or had their funding reduced, many of them, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Older Americans Act and federal education funding, continue to the present.
Anyone else having that uncomfortable Déjà vu feeling right about now? If you're not, let me drop a few crumbs for you to follow...
- New major spending programs addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched
- It is a time of war
- Democratic landslide of new 'Liberals' to Congress
- Democrats complain that spending on the war choked off 'necessary' social programs
- The Great Society was intended to eliminate poverty and racial injustice
More here... The Late Great Society Part II
And I thought it was jimmy who was the worst until barry came on the scene. I guess I was too young, dumb, immature, and naive during the LBJ years.
ReplyDeleteMarine, you have a oog reason, one you do remember to tell your Grandchildrem angout LBJ and the things he did.. Be very thankful he didn't get a second full term.
ReplyDeleteinteresting pic you sent along...in which JFK seems to be trying to belay LBJ. i wouldn't be surprised to find out that it's been photo-shopped to exchange the index finger for the other digit that is more expressive of his vitriol. he was a real common sort!...but, alas, he didn't have the charm of HST, who was also common. the article was/is excellent, too, BTW. alphamom
ReplyDeleteUSMC, The Johnson Administration was non-existent to me as I was a little kid at the time. It's spooky looking to the past to envision the future. The future? Well, it's not as bright as it used ta be...
ReplyDeleteGrumpy, LBJ's tenure in office, was, unfortunately, enough. Here's the most dire excerpt from the Wikipedia section above: "While some of the programs have been eliminated or had their funding reduced, many of them, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Older Americans Act and federal education funding, continue to the present."
The scary part can be summed up in two words: "Obama Care". Once this crud is passed, it's hard to make it go away again.
Alphamom, I put another photo of LBJ on Part II of this post - it appears that he was never a 'particularly happy man', photographically speaking... Poor Lady Bird...
Thanks for the kind words!
Lyndon Baines Johnson was possibly the most corrupt individual ever to sit in the Oval Office. I thought it entirely appropriate that the MACV jail at Long Binh was always referred to as the "LBJ."
ReplyDelete