No, not the actual bed intruder – the would-be rapist. I mean the brother, Antoine Dodson of Auto Tune the News fame. Weeks later, that video still makes me smile. Turns out that the assailant has not yet been caught, but the Dodson family has made the most of their burst of fame. The Auto Tune guys have graciously split whatever profits the video made with them, and they’ve put up a website with a tip jar. The proceeds, so far, have been enough to move the family out of the projects. Antoine – or Kevin, as he’s known to his family – was a student at a local community college. He’s carrying on with his education, though he is picking up gigs on the side, recording radio spots for local businesses. He is MUCH more well spoken than I’d have given him credit for, and he’s using his 15 of fame to help his family get ahead. It’s a pity Levi Johnston doesn’t have this much class.
Conservative Bloggers Select The 25 Greatest Figures In American History
The answers will probably not surprise you. And this list was considerably easier to come up with than the “Worst Figures” list that gave a handful of bloggers the vapors. For the “worst” list, I had a hard time coming up with eleven names. For this list, I had a hard time stopping at twenty. FWIW, my picks were -
- John Adams
- Abigail Adams
- Susan B. Anthony
- Ronald Reagan
- George Washington
- Abraham Lincoln
- Thomas Jefferson
- George Washington Carver
- Frederick Douglass
- Thomas Edison
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Benjamin Franklin
- Daniel Webster
- Clara Barton
- Sam Houston
- Patrick Henry
- Booker T. Washington
- Thomas Paine
- Orville and Wilbur Wright
- Noah Webster
Other participants – Linkiest, YidwithLid, Viewpoint, All That Is Necessary, Liz Mair, Fausta’s Blog, Right Wing Rocker, Pirate’s Cove, Don Singleton, No Runny Eggs, WILLisms, The Nose On Your Face, DANEgerus Weblog, Cara Ellison, ??????????, Mount Virtus, GayPatriot, Wintery knight, Russ. Just Russ, The Virtuous Republic, Right View from the Left Coast, Midnight Blue, 101 Dead Armadillos, Pursuing Holiness.com, No Oil For Pacifists, Don Surber, Conservative Compendium, Fraters Libertas, Moonbattery, Pundit Boy, Shrink Wrapped, Outside The Beltway, Likelihood of Success, Libertarian Republican, Solomonia, IMAO, Freeman Hunt, Classical Values, Nice Deb, Moe Lane, mountaineer musings, The TrogloPundit, Basil’s Blog, This Ain’t Hell
Lighten up, Francis.
So I’ve been away for a couple of days – family emergency – and I get back to learn (via William Teach) of a little kerfuffle regarding one of John Hawkins’ Right Wing News surveys. This one was Conservative Bloggers Select The 25 Worst Figures In American History. It seems Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse (who doesn’t deign to link the people he’s slamming, so I’ll follow his example) wrote about the “Top 43 Dumbest Conservative Bloggers.” Mr. Moran was offended by the lack of some names on the survey. He finds it ridiculous that Barack Obama was included, but Jeffrey Dahmer was not. In the immortal words of Sergeant Hulka, “Lighten up, Francis.”
I can’t speak for anyone else, but news about insane criminals like Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, and the like doesn’t even make my radar. The likelihood of me encountering such a person is practically nil, and my personal security is already as good as it can be, so there’s nothing there for me to do. I have no interest in their particular brand of insanity or the crimes they committed. To me, it seems intrusive to the victims and their families to immerse myself in the details of these crimes. It’s too late to help their victims, and I really don’t care why killers kill. I don’t follow that news at all, ever. It makes absolutely no impact on my life. I don’t think about it, and consequently, nobody like that made my list. On the other hand, I follow politics pretty closely. I read, watch, and think about modern politics a great deal.
About the list – it’s more or less meaningless anyway. It’s a fun survey – I find it interesting to see what other bloggers put on the various lists – and John sends this stuff out regularly on various topics like movies and whatever else strikes his fancy. It’s not scientific. It’s just a snapshot of what various bloggers think at the time. My practice with all email is to read it, and then delete it, reply to it or archive it immediately. So I responded, quickly, with:
- Barack Obama
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Jimmy Carter
- Lyndon Johnson
- Howard Zinn
- Zbigniew Brezinski
- Noam Chomsky
- Al Gore
- Rachel Carson
These people came to mind because they have affected my life and the lives of people I know, unlike Gacy, Dahmer, and whoever else Moran thinks should have made the list. Like Troglopundit, I wish I’d thought of Margaret Sanger. And if I’d spent more time thinking about it, Tim McVeigh would have made the list as well. But that was the list right off the top of my head for better or worse, and frankly, I think some nut job like Moran’s pick of Bundy who kills, what, 50 or so people? has a lot less impact on our society and culture and daily life than anyone I did put on the list. Scanning Moran’s post, I can see some historical figures who deserve to be on it. I did a paper on William Walker twenty years ago, and yes, I wish I’d thought of him as well. He actually did a great deal to shape modern politics – we’re still dealing with the fallout of that asshat’s behavior; he helped create the environment that created the Somozas, Chavez and a bunch of other tin pot dictators. As I said, it was a top-of-the-head response – even before the family emergency I mentioned it’s been a busy couple of weeks. (As evidenced by the lack of posting here, at the Examiner and in Hot Air’s Green Room.)
So my advice to you, Rick, is first, to lighten up. Second, if you don’t like the shape of this list, shoot John Hawkins an email and ask to be included next time so you can help form a list more to your liking next time.
PSA: Never play 3 card monte with an otter.
He’s quick and nimble, juggling that little rock around, but it’s a good illustration why you should never play 3 card monte (or shell games, or anything else) with an otter. This one may look like a cute little innocent furry critter, but he’s been banned from every casino in Vegas.
The Tiger Oil Memos – Priceless
In an age of passive-aggressive office notes, here’s a sample of some really fabulous office memos from an aggressive-aggressive boss.
We do not pay starvation wages, and there are some people left in this world who want to work. I am not fond of hippies, long-hairs, dope fiends or alcoholics. I suggest each and every person in a supervisory category (from driller up to me) eliminate these people.
… Anyone who lets their hair grow below their ears to where I can’t see their ears means they don’t wash. If they don’t wash, they stink, and if they stink, I don’t want the son-of-a-bitch around me.
Read the rest here.
The Trappings of Adulthood
I noticed a quote on someone’s desk recently that really struck me, so much so I looked it up when I got home:
We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice — that is, until we have stopped saying ”It got lost,” and say, ”I lost it.”
Sidney J. Harris
I have a nasty habit of using the passive voice when I write, but I’d like to think that’s not characteristic of how I live. I’ve been self-employed for about ten years, but up until this year, I’ve managed to avoid one of the most important trappings of adulthood: insurance. We bought life insurance earlier this year, and now I’m shopping around for short term disability insurance. This is the sort of thing I used to rely on an employer to provide, and have been taking a risk going without. It would be nice, if I finally have to have carpal tunnel surgery or get sick, not to have to deal with unpaid bills while I recover. That quote isn’t a bad way of assessing situations – am I being passive or active here? And moving from the passive voice – getting sick and asking help from some outside force like the government or charity which may or may not provide it, to the active voice – utilizing a benefit for which I’ve paid, definitely feels like a step in the right direction.
Choir Rainstorm and Turkey Hunt
I thought this was kind of fun -
Posting will be erratic for a few days. I’m busily hunting turkey – that is, trying to find a grocery store that will sell me one, even though they don’t normally carry that in the summer. My son in law is home from Iraq on leave, and because he’ll miss Thanksgiving in November, we’ve decided to have this week.
Added: mission accomplished! One 17 pound fresh turkey, waiting to be brined.
Meet Me In Manhattan?
John Hawkins at Right Wing News is promoting a raffle with some pretty amazing prizes. And the kicker? Link to his post for a chance to win a raffle tickets and get in on the drawing. So if Superbowl tickets, shopping sprees, MLB tickets, and an all expenses paid trip to New York where you get to meet Bill O’Reilly (and wouldn’t that be interesting, given how much he annoys me!) sounds good to you, better get linking to this post with all the details, and email John to let him know you’ve done it.
But if you don’t win, you can still buy a ticket! It’s for a great cause, the Society for St. Vincent de Paul.
Excitable Andi Sets Down The Speculum
Newsflash via Ace: Andrew Sullivan intends to take a break from his Trig Trutherism. Not to worry… he’ll “stay vigilant” for any news of the, er, alleged products of Sarah Palin’s womb. Which means he’ll be off and running again at the least excuse. We can take comfort in the fact that though he suffers bizarre nightmares, he still rises to protect all us ungrateful skeptics from the hideous monster that is Sarah Palin’s supposed reproductive history. Just imagine if, way back when he was still rational, he had directed all that raw investigative power and incisive analysis toward the great Hunt For Obama’s College Transcripts! Eh, who am I kidding? That would never have happened.
[Edited: fixed a couple of typos.]
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