1,000

In celebration of the 1,000th post here on Sempringham, which this is, I'll share something I found in the back of a closet today: an old family photo.



It's about 34 years old, in fact. That's me and my bride. The Union Army did not issue Adidas sneakers as part of their standard uniform.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll notice our wedding rings are on our right hands and the U.S. on the belt buckle is backward. That's because images taken using this process (coated glass plate producing a positive image, with no intervening negative) produced reverse images. I could flip it, I guess, but why?

I'm getting a little tired of liberals trashing Obama. They're not paying attention. Rachel Maddow gets on to that (via Andrew Tobias):

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

That's not too bad for a year and a half in office, with the world's economy falling down around us.

It's Better Than Crying, I Guess

From my brother, Mike, on the left coast:

BP Spills Coffee. It's a very small spill on a very large table.

McChrystal

When the Obama Administration was young, the book to read was Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, about the Lincoln cabinet.

As I write this, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has had a 20-minute meeting with the President, and did not stick around for a meeting on progress in Afghanistan. Smells like toast from here.

Good thing.
A far better book to be reading right now is Lincoln and His Generals, by T. Harry Williams. McChrystal is Obama's McClellan.

There's more than one general in this Army. I'm sure one can be found who knows what loyalty and chain of command mean.

A Man of Honor

Ran across this little tidbit a week or so ago, while doing research in 19th century newspapers:

William A Smith, who died a few days ago in Richmond, Va., enjoyed a unique distinction. He resigned a seat in Congress because he did not think he had sense enough to properly represent his constituents.

The guy deserves a statue.

Energy Dependency

Two Teds recommended this to me. For good reason.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Kicking Some Ass

I've always liked Fareed Zakaria, and I think he pretty much nails it here, even though I don't think there's nothing that the federal government can do about the oil spill.



There is so much going on right now. The Euro is in danger of meltdown. The North Koreans could nuke the South Koreans any day. The Turks and Brazil are siding with Iran. And I think there's a war or something going on in Afghanistan.

And meanwhile the bobblehead dolls that read the news want Obama to waste time on being mad for public consumption.

Come back, Walter Cronkite. Your country needs you.

GOP Follies

This guy is in a run-off election for the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat in Alabama.



It's looking more and more like the GOP will not be fielding many sane candidates in this year's off-election. Sharron Angle, who will be Harry Reid's opponent in Nevada, apparently not only wants to phase out Social Security and Medicare (a position she describes as "non-negotiable"), but reinstate prohibition. It remains to be seen how popular that position will be in Nevada.

South Carolina

It's my home state. Gail Collins merrily sums up what's happening there, politically.

Department of Useless Information

Yesterday, Andrew Tobias kindly linked to a post I did last year. You remember it: it was that hilarious "commercial" for Somalia: Libertarian Paradise.

Since then, little ole Sempringham has gotten 500+ hits.

Not a single one left a comment.

No reason they should; it's just almost interesting.

Our Chattering Class

Steve Benen over at The Washington Monthly's blog, Political Animal, has a perfect illustration of why George Will is now, and always has been, a horse's ass.

If you don't think you can stomach 55 seconds of Will's pontification, you don't have to watch; Benen gives you the gist. And Benen beautifully sums up criticism of Obama on the BP atrocity so far:

At this point, the discourse seems to boil down to a) those who want to see the president don a wetsuit and head to the Gulf floor; b) those who want to see the president don a cape and fly around the planet really quickly in order to reverse time; and c) those who want to see the president pound on podiums and lose his cool, as if that would make a difference. (Thanks, Maureen Dowd, for comparing Obama to Spock again. That never gets old.)

Must-See Video

Sometimes the truth is funny!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Democracy in Action

Don't miss this video of the Ukraine Parliament's deliberations about whether to extend a lease on a Black Sea port to the Russian Navy.

Say what you want about them, at least it came to a vote. We should do so well.

Goldman Sachs

Hi everybody! Long time, no see!

I thought you might enjoy this article about the Goldman Sachs case, via Andrew Tobias. It's short and sweet, if a little arrogant, and some of the comments are worth scrolling down for, too.

I was particularly interested in one commenter's suggestion that Apple (currently trading at about $270 a share) will triple. Oh, my! From his mouth to Nasdaq's ear.

We were in our local Apple store to look at the iPad last week. Suellen told the very friendly sales person, "We're not going to buy one today," to which she replied, "Well, we don't have any more. They're all sold out."

"When are they expected in?"

"Don't know, but we can put your name on a list and we'll put one aside and call you when it comes in."

Quote of the Day

Hat tip to Kevin Drum, who has a greater tolerance for reading about Tea Party folks than I do:

From tea party supporter Jodine White of Rocklin, California, trying to explain how she reconciles her desire for smaller government with her support for Social Security:

That’s a conundrum, isn’t it? I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security. I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.

The quote is from a NY Times piece about the Tea Party.

Better Than We Deserve

During the hell that was the Reagan-Bush-Bush years, I was a broken record: "In a democracy, we get the quality of government we deserve."

Now, I'm not so sure. Why, after all those years of screwing everything up – EVERYTHING! – do we all of a sudden have a President who's smart, stays calm, and makes me proud?

I love the way he laughs at the Washington news folks:

The Dutch Nail Bush

From a Dutch comedy program:

Wisdom from the Right

I thought I read this in a story about Sen. Bennett of Utah, but maybe I heard it on NPR. Either way, it was too good not to pass on:

"We should be like Illinois and limit our politicians to two terms: one in office, and one in prison."

Addendum: Gail Collins on the Illinois Lt. Governor race.

The Moral Majority

In case you missed it, Bart Stupak is a Congressman from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Stupak is strongly anti-abortion – so anti-abortion, in fact, that he was perfectly willing to let 30 million Americans live without health insurance, and tens of thousands die because of that every year, unless the Health Care Reform bill stated up one side and down the other that no government funds would be used for abortions (a point of settled law, by the way).

And when he got that, he still would not vote for it until Obama agreed to issue an Executive Order that no federal funds would be used for abortions. So you'd think that might cover things with the anti-abortion crowd, wouldn't you? Wrong.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

It's really time for the "pro-life" crowd to rethink their strategy.

Let's Have a Little Laugh

Pretty impressive squirrel!