« November 2007 | Main | February 2008 »

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 19:24:10

So Long Margie

Even in the Republican household of my childhood, I had a hard time deciding if I liked FDR more than I liked Harry Truman. Since Truman lived into my late teens, Harry had an edge since FDR had been dead 10 years when I was born. Must everything be a contest? I've finally decided it's OK to like them both the same.

Because I liked Harry so much I paid attention to his only child, Margaret Truman Daniels, the Chelsea Clinton of 63 winters ago. Margaret Truman Daniels died this morning at the age of 83.  I'm sorry Margaret won't be here to celebrate this next November 4th when the voters put a wooden stake through the heart of the Republican Party.

Reading the following, which I lifted off the pages of the New York Times, made me think maybe I wasn't the only little boy in Arkansas who had a thing for Harry Truman. I think the words below give us a little idea of what Harry Truman would make of the media BS that's been following Bill Clinton around the last few weeks. Rest in peace Mrs. Daniels.

Truman’s Daughter Dies at 83

Margaret Truman Daniel, the president’s daughter whose achievements as a concert singer, radio and television host, and author of best-selling biographies and mysteries won her renown in her own right, died on Tuesday in Chicago. Mrs. Daniel, who had long lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, was 83.

Her death was announced by her son Clifton T. Daniel.

Mrs. Daniel died after a brief illness, according to a statement from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Mo. She had been living in an assisted living facility for the past several weeks and was on a respirator, the library said.

Most Americans first knew Margaret Truman as the young woman with blue-green eyes, ash-blond hair, flawless complexion and dimpled cheeks who was the only child of Harry S. Truman, the somewhat obscure vice president from Missouri who ascended to the presidency on the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945, as World War II neared its end.

Before long, they were following her career as the aspiring singer whose doting father sprang to her defense with a memorably scorching letter to a Washington music critic who had the temerity to belittle her talent.

In time there was her headline-making marriage to a dashing newspaperman, Clifton Daniel Jr., who eventually became the managing editor of The New York Times, and the birth of their four sons.

As the decades passed, Americans by the hundreds of thousands knew Mrs. Daniel, too, as Margaret Truman, the author of 32 books, including biographies of both her parents and 23 mystery novels in her popular “Capital Crime Series,” all set in and around Washington.

The memorable confrontation that in retrospect became the climax of Mrs. Daniel’s singing career took place in December 1950. By then, she had been singing professionally since March 16, 1947, when she made her debut as a coloratura with the Detroit Symphony in a radio broadcast that attracted an audience estimated at 15 million and prompted mixed reviews from the critics.

After that, in her first appearance on a concert stage, she sang before 15,000 people with the 90-piece Hollywood Bowl Symphony, led by her favorite conductor, Eugene Ormandy. And during the next few years, she sang in more than 30 cities and signed an exclusive contract with RCA-Victor Red Seal Records.

And so she came to Constitution Hall in Washington.

In her 1981 book “Letters from Father: The Truman Family’s Personal Correspondence” (Arbor House), she recalled: “Because of my father, I was more easily able to obtain important engagements. But I also received more attention by first-string critics and more demanding audiences, who felt that because my father was the president, I had to be not better than average, but better than the best in order to justify my appearing on the stage.”

Mrs. Daniel thought her performance at Constitution Hall to be one of her better ones. But Paul Hume, the music critic of The Washington Post, while praising her personality, said that “she cannot sing very well,” added that “she is flat a good deal of the time” and concluded that she had no “professional finish.”

Incensed, President Truman dispatched a combative note to Mr. Hume, who released it to the press.. It said, in part, “I have just read your lousy review . . . I have never met you, but if I do, you’ll need a new nose.”

In the ensuing uproar, reporters pressed Mrs. Daniel for her reaction to her father’s letter. “I’m glad to see that chivalry is not dead,” she told them.

In “Harry S. Truman,” she wrote: “Dad discussed the letter with his aides and was annoyed to find that they all thought it was a mistake. They felt that it damaged his image as president and would only add to his political difficulties. ‘Wait till the mail comes in,’ Dad said. ‘I’ll make you a bet that 80 percent of it is on my side of the argument.’

“A week later, after a staff meeting, Dad ordered everybody to follow him, and they marched to the mail room. The clerks had stacked up thousands of ‘Hume’ letters received in piles and made up a chart showing the percentages for and against the President. Slightly over 80 percent favored Dad’s defense of me. Most of the letter writers were mothers who said they understood exactly how Dad felt and would have expected their husbands to defend their daughters the same way. ‘The trouble with you guys is,’ Dad said to the staff as he strode back to work, ‘you just don’t understand human nature.’ ”***

*** The New York Times fudged on exactly what Harry wrote in that infamous letter that no doubt some claimed to be undignified and would be harmful to his legacy. Here is what Harry actually wrote:

"Mr. Hume:

"I have just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an 'eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay.'

"It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppycock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work. Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below.

"Pegler, a guttersnipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry."  H.S.T.

Posted by Death by Inches at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments [1]

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 23:38:13

A Day to Reflect

The Hackers who attacked the AT Blog may have done us more good than harm. Having a day of rest allowed me to think more clearly about what is wrong with America. Osama wants to point out what's wrong with America because he wants to kill it. I point out what's wrong with America because I want to cure it. Bush-Cheney wants to point us in a million directions so we won't notice them raping it.  Unfortunately, Bush-Cheney have about raped our country to death.

At this moment the one thing dear to every Republican is dying. The very last thing left that wasn't FK'ed up by Cheney-Bush. That's our economy, which lays in intensive care as I type. The doctors are talking about putting it on life supports, but keep in mind these are Bush doctors, the same folks who screwed up our elections, a war, the Geneva accords, a national disaster in the Gulf, our Justice system, and now our economy.

That giant sucking sound you hear are the private jets of the richest 1% warming up in case the owners have to flee to the off shore islands where they've sent their money years ago. They'll get spring in Switzerland, we'll get Depression II.

A fellow liberal traveler sent this link to piece entitled When America Went Fascist. Due to the hackers I can't embed links or put up pretty pictures, this is the link the old fashioned way, http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/10121

Chris Rowthorn isn't the only one writing about Fascist America, a number of bright people have caught on. I think a little proof of this is peeking out behind the MSN's determination to not only create a Celebrity Death Match between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but also imply everything Bill Clinton says has a racist tone to it. I find this move fascist because the media is promoting such blather to increase their corporate profits, not deliver unto us the truth. Why would I constantly scream about injecting religion into our political system and remain calm while ABC injects lies into our system to generate profits for themselves? They will destroy this country in an effort to get more viewers......is that sane? Is that the new American Way?

On tonight's show Keith Olbermann (who I'm suddenly not very happy with) reported on a study released today by the non-profit Center for Public Integrity which documents 935 bald-faced lies the Cheney-Bush administration told in the 2 years after 9-11. Lies that got us into a war for oil. Imagine what the total would be if they had the goods on the last 5 years to add?  I'm not talking little fibs here......935 whoppers and yet Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid can't see their way to impeach a living soul in the White House. This condemns the world to live with another year of dishonor, dishonesty, death and disaster at the hands of Cheney-Bush. If our Constitution was still around we'd see shit stains all over it from the asses still churning out their evil in our White House.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/Default.aspx?src=home&context=overview&id=945

No other conclusion can be made other than our Democrats are in collusion with the Republicans in bringing forth Fascist America. Not all of them as obvious as our own Mark Pryor, but more in the stealthy vein of our own Blanche Lincoln. It's a recipe for disaster and it's probably too late to do anything about it. So why not pretend Bill Clinton is crazed and hurting our country by speaking the truth?  It's a fun subject to talk about as we slide into the toilet.....remember, while those private jets are warming up on the runway.

And what do we make of these hackers?  Are they teenage boys in Cabot that got lucky on their dad's laptop? Or are there more sinister forces at work? A rabid Huckabyte? The hand of Karl Rove? The tip of the whip from the Evil One in his undisclosed location? One of Asa's penny stock minion brown-nosing the boss?  If the hackers are caught....what will we learn? Where will their breadcrumbs lead us?  God's speed to the AT Sherlock Holmes, hope you reel in a big fish.

PS, security at Northside High and Fort Smith Police arrested 2 boys in a dark red Chevy truck chasing a student across the football field in Mayo-Thompson (Grizzly) Stadium today. This big truck has been menacing the population of Fort Baptist for at least a week, driving around with 2 very large Confederate flags waving on either side of the bed.

Anyone not smiling and throwing flowers at the rednecks became the subject of verbal abuse and threats. Today a son of 2 doctors baited the rednecks who were stupid enough to chase the boy onto the football field with their giant truck. Too bad.....so sad.....that's when they FK'ed up.  I'm happy this reign of terror has been stopped before someone got killed. Leave us hope the 2 rednecks will learn a life lesson that will no doubt lengthen their lives. More as this develops.

Posted by Death by Inches at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]