4th of July Oratory from Sarah Palin

July 4, 2009 by Mike Licht

4th of July Oratory from Sarah Palin

Americans have long celebrated Independence Day with great speeches presenting  the principles of Democracy and Freedom with clarity and power. This year the nation’s most moving, patriotic, and eloquent Fourth of July Oration was by Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin:

Now that’s what made our country great.

The offical transcript is here; you’ll want to print these inspiring words on parchment and recite them on Independence Days to come. Especially the part about “only dead fish go with the flow.”

Have a safe and sane 4th of July, and God Bless America.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Great Decisions 2009

July 4, 2009 by Mike Licht

Great Decisions 2009

In a bold move to fill the void in the news cycle left by Mark Sanford’s sudden attack of laryngitis, Sarah Palin announced her resignation as Alaska’s Governor.

As if we needed more proof  that she does not know the difference between campaigning and governing, Mrs. Palin explained she is quitting five months before the end of her term because she will not seek re-election. Five months is actually twice the length of time it took her to lose the White House for the Republicans last year.

Theories on the real motivation for her resignation abound. Chief contenders:

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Start Celebrating Early in DC!

July 3, 2009 by Mike Licht

Start Celebrating Early in DC!

Washingtonians: Want to really declare your independence? Start celebrating Independence Day tonight, July 3rd at 9 PM.  Tune your radio toWAMU-FM 88.5 and listen to a special Independence Day edition of American Routes with Ponderosa Stomp, the Del McCoury Band, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. It’s not the same old Sousa.

The program features portions of live concerts from New Orleans’ French Quarter. The Ponderosa Stomp is dedicated to the “unsung heroes of rock ‘n’ roll” and their rockabilly, soul, country and R&B classics. Then the Del McCoury Band cooks up hot Bluegrass in Preservation Hall, mother church of hot jazz, along with the resident masters, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  Program details here.

Declare your independence from HD radio, too. Tonight’s broadcast is on “real radio,” WAMU-FM’s main frequency, 88.5, not WAMU’s HD2 channel, where show is usually heard in Washington (Saturdays 8 PM-10 PM).  If you  are among the millions in the Washington area without an HD radio, this is a rare chance to hear American Routes on something that sounds better than your laptop.

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Sanford Book Deal Flames Out

July 3, 2009 by Mike Licht

Sanford Book Deal Flames Out

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford had a contract to write a book on economics. After his romantic escapades, the deal is history.

Mr. Sanford, a former financier and real estate broker, is married to a powertool heiress who worked on Wall Street. He was going to write a book called Within Our Means, about fiscal conservatism.

Mr. Sanford’s erstwhile publisher, Sentinel, specializes in conserva-porn, Christian funda-fluff, and 110-percent Americanism. The company is a unit of the British Penguin Group.

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Sanford’s Spiritual Advisor

July 2, 2009 by Mike Licht

Sanford's Spiritual Advisor

 ”I was part of a group called C Street when I was in Washington. It was … a Christian Bible study; some folks that asked of members of Congress hard questions that I think were very, very important. And I’ve been working with them.”

“I see Cubby Culbertson in the back of the room. I would consider him a spiritual giant …. … and an incredibly dear friend. And he has been helping us work through this ….”

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, in a Statehouse news conference.

“Sanford … detailed more visits with [Maria Belen] Chapur, including an encounter that he described as a failed attempt at a farewell meeting in New York this past winter, chaperoned by a spiritual adviser ….”

Tamara Lush and Evan Berland, Associated Press.

From recent remarks and actions by Governor Mark Sanford, you might think his spiritual advisor hails from a galaxy far, far away, but he has several spiritual advisors, all apparently terrestrial. Few are actually clergymen, and none appear to be accredited marriage counselors. This is free-style, free-range, free-market spiritual advising,  and the Invisible Hand needs a good rap on the knuckles.

There are two teams of known Sanford spiritual advisors in our solar system, one in Washington DC, the other in South Carolina’s capital, Columbia.

The Carolina contingent includes founders of an influential evangelical men’s Bible study group:

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American Milestone — 2.75-Ton Slab of Fudge!

July 1, 2009 by Mike Licht

American Milestore -- 2.75-Ton Slab of Fudge!

Evolution, American-Style.

Michigan may not know fudge about building cars anymore, but a Lansing culinary professor just produced the world’s largest slab of fudge, 5,500 pounds. On second thought, that’s exactly how Michigan bulds cars. The world’s largest fudge bar still weights 1800 pounds less than a 2009 Cadillac Escalade.

In other weighty news, Michigan ranks No. 2 in the senior division of the annual Fattest States ranking, with the second highest percentage of obese 55- to 64-year-olds, 36%.

Coincidence?

 

See more at “F” as in “Fat” 2009

Image (”Evolution, American-Style”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Mark Sanford — He’s Back!

June 30, 2009 by Mike Licht

Mark Sanford -- He's Back!

Mark Sanford is back, with a headline love story even dead celebrities can’t kill!

The South Carolina Governor’s Statehouse press conference went so well last week that he just gave a long interview to Associated Press. 

In a session reporters Tamara Lush and Evan Berland describe as “lengthy and emotional,” Mr. Sanford revealed that his extramarital relationship with Argentine reporter Maria Belen Chapur started eight years ago when he met her at a dance and ”counseled her into the night about her failing marriage.”

Good counseling technique, Governor.

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Festival Time Again. And Again and Again and Again ….

June 30, 2009 by Mike Licht

Festival Time again. And Again and Again and Again and .... 

Summertime is festival time. If you missed the ones last weekend, don’t fret. There are plenty more next weekend — and for weekends to come — and they’re all the same.

The plain truth: these so-called “Special Events” are no longer very special. There are just too many of them (one promoter calls it ”festival saturation“), tens of thousands in the USA alone, and festivals are much too similar.  

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Business Attire

June 29, 2009 by Mike Licht

Business Attire

The City Council of Brooksville, Florida has revised the dress code for city employees. They must wear underwear.

Undies  must not be “exposed,” however. 

Sigh. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Also verboten: clothing with foul language or messages promoting drug use written on it, halter tops and other “sexually provocative” garments, and piercings anywhere except the ears.

Something city workers must wear: deodorant.  Brooksville (population: 8,000) is 45 miles north of Tampa, 15 miles east of the Gulf. Today’s weather: 89 °F, Heat Index: 99 °F.

 

Hat tip: OhMyGov!

Image (”Legal Briefs”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Celebrity Holocaust Continues — Billy Mays Dies!

June 28, 2009 by Mike Licht

Celebrity Holocaust Continues -- Billy Mays Dies!

Infomercial pitchman Billy Mays died suddenly this morning at his Tampa home. He was 50, the same age as Michael Jackson.  Heavy.

The cause of death is unknown; hair dye toxicity should not be ruled out.

Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett , Gale Storm, Karl Malden,  Jeff Goldblum, Harrison Ford, George Clooney, Natale Portman Elizabeth Taylor, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears … now Billy Mays. This is American Cultural Genocide! 

Who will be next, our beloved ShamWow Guy?

Somebody call the President.

 

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.