Obviously, Trump’s paper is jammed.
photo credit
Was that REALLY a PRESS conference?
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Tag Archives: politics
It’s 1970 and I’m a big shot
I’m in ninth grade and about to participate in my first sit-in. Why not? The whole country is protesting something – women’s rights, the Vietnam War, President Nixon. I’m nervous, though. I don’t want to get kicked out of school.
The sit-in was planned yesterday when we were told that us girls could no longer wear short skirts. Instead, they had to be no more than an inch above the knee. How stupid is that?
Before school starts, about 50 of us sit on the front lawn. The bell rings to begin the day. We look at each other. We don’t get up. Man, are we feeling triumphant.
Until the principal shows up and says, “Get to class. Now!”
One by one, we stand and sulk our way through the school doors and to class.
I guess we need more practice at this protesting thing.
What would Mr. Rogers say now?
Yes, that’s me in the photo with Mr. Rogers. In the 1990’s, before I retired as an Early Childhood Specialist, I took my mom with me to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference in Anaheim, CA where Mr. Rogers was to be the keynote speaker. On the day before the evening speech, Mom and I were walking around the big almost-empty auditorium when I heard Mr. Roger’s voice somewhere behind me.
I followed that soft, kind voice and found him with David, his PR manager, both checking out the venue before the speech. I introduced myself, told him what I did for a living and how much I loved him.
My mom, who was never the meek sort, chimed in and said, “And I’m just a grandma.”
Whoa! She never expected his response. He told her that being a grandmother is one of the most important jobs in the world- how they are a major contribution to a child’s well-being – how there is a special kind of love between a child and a grandparent.
After the goosebumps settled, I said, “I wish I would have remembered to bring a camera. I would have loved to have our picture taken together.”
Mr. Rogers said, “That’s okay. David, can we use yours?”
His PR person first took a photo of Mr. Rogers and me, then Mr. Rogers insisted my mom be in the next one.
True to his word, the 5/7’s were sent to me a week later.
Mr. Rogers was a man of honor, dignity, truth, kindness, and much, much more.
But I wonder what he would be thinking now if he knew Paul Ryan has proposed budget cut including $445 million in Public Broadcasting Subsidies. Actually, I know what he would say. He did it before. When President Nixon threatened the same cut in 1968, Mr. Rogers, in his kind, eloquent way, spoke before the Senate Subcommittee.
You can see his testimony here. And it’s well worth the watch.
Long live the spirit of Mr. Fred Rogers!
1973 Visuals
Save PBS
Dear President Trump,
Sesame Street is our home. Please don’t cut funding for the arts which includes PBS.
Signed,
Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit
A Crowd of Resistance
Mrs. Helen Stoddard of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union speaks to an unruly crowd.
Mrs. Stoddard scanned the crowd. Some listened while others talked among themselves, paying no attention to her whatsoever.
“I grieve with you, citizens of San Antonio. One woman from your San Antonio Women’s Club continues to grieve for her husband, who fell to his death while drunk. Another woman is dead by the hands of her husband, the owner of a saloon. His only defense? ‘I was drunk. I didn’t know what I was doing.’”
Someone yelled, “Drink or not, Carl’s a louse. Never takes me on credit.” The woman next to him punched his arm.
“Who will be next?” Mrs. Stoddard continued. “Will it be your daughter, still in her youth, whose face will feel the wrath of a hand that has held too many whiskeys? Will it be your mother, your sister, or your aunt who will have the misfortune to be associated with a drunkard? Will the man stumble down the stairs of his home and find an innocent target? Point the edge of his knife to her throat? Will she be pummeled by a fist, discarded like a mere piece of garbage?”
“Maybe she weren’t so innocent.” The man, close to the front, laughed. A few others joined his guffaw.
“In the words of the great Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ‘Reformers from all sides claim for themselves a higher position than the church. Our God is a God of justice, mercy, and truth. Their God sanctions violence, oppression, and wine-bibbing, and winks at gross moral delinquencies. Our Bible commands us to love our enemies, to Resist evil, to break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free…In our creed, it is a sin to hold a slave, to hang a man on the gallows, to make war on defenseless nations, or to sell rum to a weak brother and rob the widow and the orphan of a protector and a home.’”
I turned my back to the bandstand. It was dark now, but the gas lampposts provided enough light to see a shadowy figure behind a cluster of trees twenty feet behind me.
“I’ll be right back, Aunt Amelia. I want to check on something.”
If Sadie was still there, I didn’t want to scare her away. Trying to be inconspicuous, I inched to the left of the tree and then slipped behind it. “Sadie?”
Excerpt from The Last Bordello
Noting a few of our immigrants
“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”― Franklin D. Roosevelt
“A nation ringed by walls will only imprison itself.”― Barack Obama
“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations And Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and previleges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.”― George Washington
Just a few of our American immigrants:
Born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz III on March 2, 1917, in Cuba, Desi Arnaz fled Cuba to the United States with his family in 1933.
WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE WITHOUT I LOVE LUCY?
Chef Wolfgang Puck immigrated to US in 1973 from Austria.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Born in Austria in 1947. Moved to the U.S. in his 20s after winning the body-building title Mr. Universe.
Madeleine Albright, Czechoslovakia: Born in Czechoslovakia in 1937. Immigrated to the U.S. in 1948; studied at Wellesley College and Columbia University. Served as the 64th U.S. secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, and was the first woman to hold the job.
Elie Wiesel, Romania Born in Romania in 1928. Deported by Nazis to Auschwitz in 1944. Placed in a French orphanage after World War II, he later moved to New York as a correspondent for an Israeli newspaper. Author of more than 30 books, many of them dealing with the Holocaust and Judaism. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his efforts to fight violence and racism.
Bob Hope: Born in England, Hope was one of seven boys. The family immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio and Hope was naturalized at age 17.
Joseph Pulitzer (Journalist & Publisher) 1847-1911 from Hungary. Eldest son of Hungarian Jews, Pulitzer’s father died when Joseph was 11 years old. His mother remarried and Joseph was educated in Budapest. In 1864 he immigrated to the U.S.
Samuel Goldwyn 1882-1974 Poland- Movie producer and Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Hollywood
Angela Lansbury, actress:Lansbury was born to a middle-class family in central London, the daughter of actress Moyna Macgill and politician Edgar Lansbury. To escape the Blitz, in 1940 she moved to the United States with her mother and two younger brothers, and studied acting in New York City.
Yo-Yo Ma, Concert Cellist from France
And, Irving Berlin, from Russia, who wrote:
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Am I really thanking Trump?
No, but …
We The People had been far too complacent. Most Republicans and Democrats thought he would never win. He did. Snuck right under our noses like a not-so-quiet thief in the night. Then, when we rose, said, “what happened to all our shit?”
Trump has unknowingly forced us to take a hard look at ourselves and, in doing so, we have awoken to reconfirm our beliefs and our rights (or lack there-of).
Now, dialogues are reopened. Millions of people are speaking up, and out, to the masses. We are no longer complacently thinking that things are okay. They are not. And, for the most part, they were. Ten days ago we did not have executive orders that divided us with the rest of the world, executive orders that remain questionable in their constitutional authority.
Yesterday, the DNC tweeted: We want to know what YOU want the future of our party to look like and what you want from our next Chair. Tell us:
Well, they got an ear-full! Here’s one:
Read more here.
Yes, Trump has inadvertently brought us together. Did you see the marchers on January 21st? The women, men and children of all backgrounds including the Black Lives Matter and LBGT community who came together as ONE? Did you see the protesters at JFK airport and learned how it led to a stay in Trump’s order to keep immigrants away? I am SO proud of you!!
“We The People, of the United States, in Order to form a perfect Union,” have returned to our moral code and now remember how to march, how to protest, how to voice our frustrations and concerns.
Am I happy he is president? Hell, no. But I’m glad he has, in no accord of his own, made us remember what is important.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”-Gandhi.
“Ask yourself this question: ‘Will this matter a year from now?’ –Richard Carlson, American psychotherapist and author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
“When you carry something elephantine for the good of humanity, the feet where you tread will leave a deeper, lasting impression.“ Carolyn Dennis-Willingham
Now, I know what this means
I don’t remember what I was thinking when I originally painted this. Now, the meaning is clear. The “man” below symbolizes our country trying to hold up the Statue of Liberty, America.
Thinking about Mexico
I recently returned from a trip to Cabo and loved my interactions with the people of Mexico. I was reminded of the piece I painted several years ago from a photograph of a friend’s family. By the way, I’m against the wall.
Painting by me- CDW
Carolyn Dennis-Willingham 