Category Archives: Night Writer

Perhaps it was an old, sick cougar with nothing to lose

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In one of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Woebegone Halloween monologues he reminisced about how the wild imaginations of he and his young friends could get taken with the scary thought that cougars were hiding in the low-hanging branches of the trees along their trick-or-treating path. Of course, he said, you knew that cougars were more afraid of you than you were of them, but what if it was an old, sick cougar…an old, sick cougar with nothing to lose?!

I thought of that today when I saw the Fox story about Chicago police shooting and killing a 150-pound cougar on the city’s North side. I guess a 150 pound cougar doesn’t sound like it would be too old or sick to me, and if it really had nothing to lose it would have gone for the South side of Chicago and the baddest part of town. Still, it’s something to keep in mind if you’re ever out trick-or-treating again.

Learning what’s important

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The University of St. Thomas has yet another speaker controversy on its clumsy hands. Just months after inviting, then disinviting, then re-inviting Archbishop Desmond Tutu (he respectfully declined) to speak at the school, the University has now blocked another speaker from appearing: author and pro-life advocate Star Parker.

Enough people (see the links above) are covering this latest development that I really didn’t feel the need to cover it here. That doesn’t mean, however, that I didn’t have an unction to apply the needle a little bit to the young woman who works for me as I left the office today. She’s a St. Thomas grad. “What’s with your old school and it’s treatment of would-be guest speakers, anyway?” I asked. She wasn’t up on the news of the day (I work her too hard for her to peek at headlines).

“What now?” she asked, with a roll of her eyes.

I gave her the quick rundown, and wondered why a Catholic university would block a pro-life advocate from appearing on its campus, especially after the Tutu hoo-doo. “Don’t they have PR people over there, or at least someone who’ll tell them that if you try to play in the middle of the road you get run down by both sides?”

I don’t have her exact quote, but she showed the kind of keen mind and insight that caused me to hire her in the first place. The gist of it was, “It’s not the politics, it’s the money.” She said she used to work the phone bank on campus, calling alumni to ask for money. “So many times I’d call and get someone who was angry about this speaker or that speaker who had come, or a book that was selected for a class, and they’d say they weren’t going to give any money because of that.” She finished by saying something to the effect that St. Thomas was more concerned about the money drying up rather than, say, the same thing happening to free speech.

Wow — here I was, thinking that St. Thomas wasn’t interested in principle, when it turns out that principle and interest are pretty important to them after all!

Elitist, moi ?

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Both the blogs and the MSM have been featuring Obama’s estimation of why just plain folks seem to not be warming to him in Pennsylvania:

“So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

[Image HT to Gino, via The Lumberjack, who really knows how to get his whacks in.]

While the blogs tend to feature the entire quote, the MSM (or the apologists offering commentary in the MSM) tend to focus on the “bitterness” part of the statement while ignoring the rest of Obama’s ignorant statement. I say “ignorant” here not in terms of “stupid” but according to the “lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified” meaning of the word. Essentially, Obama’s statement is an ill-informed assumption on his part, based on his experience or world-view. I say it’s ignorant because I was reminded of a Pew Research Center study that I blogged about back in 2005 after reading about it on Craig Westover’s blog. My post read, in part:

The study suggests that the old political party stereotypes of rich and poor, educated and less-educated no longer hold up as the two major parties now have similar demographics in terms of the distribution in these categories. The primary difference is now along the lines of attitude. From the Washington Post article:

The most striking differences between lower-income Republicans and lower-income Democrats come in their perceptions of the power of the individual. Both Pro-Government Conservatives and Disadvantaged Democrats include a substantial number of people who consider themselves to be struggling financially. Overwhelming majorities in both groups say they often cannot make ends meet.

But where they part company is in their overall sense of optimism, with the Republican group expressing much greater faith in personal empowerment. Three-fourths of the Pro-Government Conservatives agreed that people can get ahead by working hard, and four-fifths agreed that everyone has the power to succeed. Just 14 percent of Disadvantaged Democrats agreed with the first statement, and only 44 percent agreed with the second.

Meanwhile, this faith in one’s ability to overcome may be rooted in a greater faith:

For all their similarities on income and education, Enterprisers on the right and Liberals on the left diverge on religious habits and cultural attitudes. For example, almost half of Enterprisers attend religious services at least weekly, while just a fifth of Liberals go to religious services that often. A fifth of Liberals are classified in the Pew study as secular – defined as atheists, agnostics or those who say they have no religious affiliation – compared with about one in 20 of the Enterprisers.

So, the way I put this together is that even though they are about the same in terms of income and education, the group with the more positive view of the future is the one that puts its faith in God and in themselves. The group with the most pessimistic outlook puts its faith in the government.

Which group do you figure already knows who its Savior is, and which one is most likely to turn, in their bitterness and hopelessness, to the next one that happens to come along?

Nevertheless, Obama has proven himself to be nothing if not resilient and adaptable. I expect that once he leaves the high-falutin’ San Francisco fund-raising circuit and returns to campaign in Pennsylvania his next quote will be, “Git ‘er done!”

Court and spark

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I discovered another blog with an appreciation for Courtship: iPandora. Blog founder Matthew has been joined by co-blogger and future bride, Grace, aka American Texan.

Currently at the top of the page are their two stories of how they met, became friends, then reached the decision to court and now, ultimately, are engaged. An “engaging” story indeed, told from two viewpoints but with a common vision. Check it out.

Tom Lehrer Day

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Today is Tom Lehrer’s 80th birthday, and yes, he’s still alive. I posted a video from him several days ago, but thought I’d celebrate the occasion with another of his classics that has eerily remained relevant more than 40 years after it was written (the text inserted briefly in the middle of the video was not from Lehrer).







Edgy, cynical and more than a little liberal, Lehrer still had a gift for sticking his needle right in your funny bone. Despite his television exposure in the 1960s, he ultimately chose a lower profile in academia. In an interview he once said he would have gone crazy touring and doing the same songs every night. Besides, he said, “Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”



Happy birthday to one of the greats!

Losing face is but a fraction of what others have lost

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In general I’m not a big fan of disruptive protests, seeing them as typically producing more inconvenience than enlightenment. That said, I’ve taken an untypical satisfaction in the multiple protests around the world seeking to shame China in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. While I’d personally feel more of a connection if the protesters were trying to call attention to the persistent persecution, monitoring and attempted intimidation of Christians instead of Tibetans by the Chinese government, any ridicule that can be heaped on that totalitarian regime is ultimately in the service of a good cause.

To be clear, I don’t support or endorse any violent or destructive protests, but I am amused by the daring ingenuity of the protests that have made use of international landmarks in London, Paris and San Francisco. The Chinese government’s objective of using the Games as an image booster is blowing up in — and causing it to lose — face.

When China was first awarded the Games I found it regrettable that a country with such a heinous record on human rights and of suborning it’s capitalist partners such as Google had received such a boon. Surely they would use the opportunity to present a more enlightened face to the world while continuing to betray the truth and it’s own people. If nothing else, the protests have shown Beijing that not everyone is buying it or is willing to kowtow or look politely the other way.

(On a related note, last Sunday I heard a man from the Gideons relate how the organization had been granted the privilege of bringing Bibles into the country and placing them in Beijing hotels for the Olympics — on the condition that they would subsequently be removed from the country as soon as the Olympics are over. We prayed that there won’t be a single Bible to be found when the Gideons go back because the guests and staff will have — safely — taken them all).

I know some say embarrassing the host country is improper and rude and that the Games should transcend politics and be about the spirit of athletic competition. Others say the protesters are depriving the torch-bearers of a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Well, if you’re concerned about the athletic spirit and the ideals of fair-play, sportsmanship and a level playing field then I would suggest that China itself has already thrown these principles to the dragons, and it’s only fair to call them on it. I do feel some sympathy for those of good faith looking to honor the Games by carrying the torch who are being deprived of this opportunity, but on a lesser scale than those deprived of liberty and even their life for trying to uphold the light of freedom.

Embarrassment is too mild a price for the Chinese government to pay for its abuses; at the very least I would that they be mortified.

Great Scots!

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Mitch had a shout-out yesterday recognizing National Tartan Day, the holiday for Americans of Scots descent. Some commenters on Mitch’s post took playful swipes at the manly custom of wearing kilts, to which I quoted The Virginian,: “When you say those words, smile.”

In the book, TV shows and movies the Virginian’s name is never used, but it’s a good bet he was of Scots ancestry. Virginia was a popular destination for the Scots-Irish immigrants of the late 1600s and 1700s and their well-known traits of being independent, quarrelsome and inherently mistrustful of authority played a role in the founding of this country. As recounted in the book The Scots of Virginia by Horace Edward Henderson (also here):

By the time of the Revolution, Virginia had the largest population and it ranked as the most important colony both politically and economically. The largest concentration of Scottish people in America was in Virginia and they played a highly important role in helping Virginia to attain its position of pre-eminence in the new world. But it was not the “aristocratic” planters or gentry in Virginia that lit the first sparks for independence and freedom from Great Britain. It was the Scotch-Irish of Virginia who were the Champions of Liberty and Independence in America. The first calls for individual human rights came not from those who were well-off and prosperous in America but by those who had suffered for centuries from the aggressions, prejudice, harassment and discrimination of the British first, in Scotland, then in Northern Ireland and lastly, in Virginia. And it was not in the privileged sanctity of the Anglican churches or the hallowed halls of the Capitol at Williamsburg where the first cries for freedom rang out in America – but in the roughhewn Presbyterian churches of the Virginia frontier where the earliest calls for freedom were proclaimed.

The fact was that the overwhelming majority of the planter gentry with English blood in Virginia had little sympathy for the initial demands for independence from Britain, much less for any radical ideas about the democratic equality of men. The Scotch-Irish have often been called “the first political radicals in America.” The frontier-spirit of taking justice into one’s own hands, the independent individualism, the competitive spirit to win whatever the obstacles, and their almost ruthless determination to progress that became well-established parts of the American character, are generally considered to have come from Scottish traits. While most Americans of English descent either opposed independence or were non-commital, the majority of the patriotic continental troops were Scotch-Irish. In fact, a Presbyterian loyalist was unheard of.

On the other hand, thirty regiments of English-Americans fought against the patriots with the British forces. Actually, the number of American Loyalists in His Majesty’s army “exceeded in number the troops enlisted (by Congress) to oppose them.” It is estimated that 20,000 Americans fought with the British forces during the Revolution. In fact, George III called it a “Presbyterian war,” many in Britain referred to it as “the Presbyterian revolt,” and the British Prime Minister said, “Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson, and that is the end of it.”

And finally, most of the Scots who had come directly from Scotland to America, either went back to Scotland or fled north to Canada. Conclusively, it was the Virginian patriots of Scottish origin who first articulated the demand for liberty and independence which brought freedom and democracy to the United States of America. They also gave America its distinctive characteristics which have made it the most powerful nation on earth based upon its unparalleled spiritual and economic strength. And nowhere in America were these unique Scottish characteristics more in evidence, and of greater influence, than in Virginia. Truly, the Scots of Virginia were America’s greatest patriots!

National Tartan Day is also a good time to remember the Declaration of Arbroath, i.e., the Scottish Declaration of Independence (1320), which famously contained the words:

“It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

It was 50 years ago today…and my mother thought she might be holding me for the last time

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Fort Worth, Texas, Easter Sunday, 1958: an excerpt from my mother’s journal that she kept last year when my father was ill. It arrived in the mail yesterday…

When I was first pregnant with John, it was difficult for me to accept that we were going to have a baby so early in our marriage. We’d had two weeks while he was on leave after we got married. Then he was gone seven months and bingo! Pregnant! I was working, had been working before we got married. My salary was needed because as A1/c [Airman, first class. NW] the pay was meager. Benefits with medical, but buying groceries, paying for a car and putting gas in it, plus payments on our ‘palace’ on wheels that measured 8′ x 28′ including the hitch didn’t allow us to run the little oil stove at night. In Texas, there’s nothing to stop the north wind but barbed wire, so we turned it off around nine o’clock, went to bed when it started cooling down. Chuck got up at four a.m., ran on tip-toes and pranced while he lit the stove and got it started again. He’d jump into bed and touch me with his cold feet, wanting help to warm them. THANKS!

Before we knew it, I got up one morning hemorrhaging. Off to the hospital, admitted for three days, baby saved. How weird. This is October 11, 2007 and it was October 11, 1957 when this emergency happened. But, I had to quit work. No housework, not even sweeping. Stay off your feet and lay low. Then in November, I got the Asian Flu which was the first of the many flu bugs that started taking the nation for years. Into bed, racked with chills and fever, sick and afraid I was going to lose the baby I hadn’t thought I was ready for. Chuck said at the time he felt that I really needed him. I had been so darned independent and sure of myself.

John was born April 3rd, three weeks and two days early. He was six pounds, 1/2 ounce. We had some dreadful experiences after he was born. He was put into the incubator and Intensive Care. The pediatrician and obstetrician told me while I was still in a deep fog from being over anesthetized, “Mrs. Stewart, we usually take the mother to see her baby before she goes to her room from recovery. However, we are very concerned. He’s having some difficulty. We aren’t sure if it’s the heart or the brain, but for his sake we can let you see him through the window but you won’t be able to hold him.” So I said, “I understand, better safe than sorry,” and went back to sleep. I did see him through the window. It was hard to believe that this was our baby. But I was still so groggy that I was asleep in the wheelchair before I got back to my room.

The next morning, Chuck was there. “What’s wrong with our baby?” I cried. “He’s fine, Marilyn, he’s fine.” So throughout the day as I awakened more and more I was torn apart by wanting to hold him and not being able to. The girl in the room with me had her baby. She was a minister’s wife and they named him John Paul. The next day, about ten o’clock, a nurse came into the room. She glanced at the chart at the foot of the bed and said, “Stewart. Oh, honey, we nearly lost your baby early this morning. If it hadn’t been for the intern on duty that suctioned him and suctioned him, he wouldn’t be here. In fact, we don’t know if he’ll make it!”

I was terrified, but supposed to act like an adult, I don’t know. I called and called for Chuck. He didn’t answer. Visiting hours came and I was still calling and he wasn’t showing up. Where was he? Didn’t he know our baby was about to die? I was racked with anguish and anger, where was he when he should be here with me? It was Easter Sunday, too. About three o’clock I got out of bed and went to the window and looked out, as if I could see anything. While I was standing there, tears running down my face, I heard, “Marilyn, what are you doing!” I turned around and there was Chuck with my Mom. He had called Mom and Dad in the wee hours of the morning and told them what was happening. Mom got the first plane out of Indianapolis headed for Fort Worth. They were both upset that a nurse would tell me something like that. I bemoaned that I hadn’t even had a chance to hold my baby. And couldn’t they at least let me do that, just for a few minutes? They did arrange it. I held this tiny bundle that looked up with blurry eyes, a very unhealthy baby with jaundice. That scared me, too, but I’m a MOM, and he was the most precious thing I’d ever held, other than his Dad. “John Avery, you will make it, you WILL, do you know that?”

Mom stayed a couple of days after we got out of the hospital. A week after he was born, the pediatrician said, “I can’t believe that this is the baby that was so sick. This is a miracle. We didn’t expect him to survive but we released him to his parents with hope against hope.” Now look at you, John, you big old woolly bear. You still curl your hair with your fingers when you read, just like you did when you were a baby, and guzzling a bottle empty, contented and full.

The older you get, the more stuff you know

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It was a grand time last night at Keegan’s, and not necessarily because my team – “Fifty Sense” – ended up tieing for first place in the 8:00 p.m. challenge.

Really, what was special was seeing so many MOBsters back at Keeg’s for the traditional Thursday night match – man, was the place LOUD and HAPPY last night. I’ll probably miss someone or some-two, but those in attendance included Learned Foot (or was that Joe Tucci?) from Kool-Aid Report, Derek and Guy from Freedom Dogs, Swiftee (Pair-O-Dice), Barry (erstwhile Watercooler Wisdom), John LaPlante (Policy Guy), Dan Stover (Northern Alliance Wannabe), Leo (Psycmeister’s Ice Palace – all the way down from St. Cloud), AAA (Residual Forces), David and Margaret (too many blogs to mention), Mitch Berg (Shot in the Dark) and Brad Carlson and his gal, Jen. Of course, Ben was there from Hammerswing, along with the complete Night Writer contingent of the Reverend Mother, Mall Diva and Tiger Lilly, plus special guest and commenter Princess Flicker Feather.

Turnout has been kind of sparse of late (and I’ve been missing-in-action as much as anyone), so it was great to see a lot of the gang in person again. With warm weather perhaps finally upon us and the return of the Paddy O’Furniture and the great outdoors to our favorite Irish pub, I hope to see similar gatherings in the near future. When I started blogging 3 years ago, coming to Keegan’s and meeting so many different people was an important to feeling like a part of the community, and led me to make some great friends (but you didn’t have to kiss me last night, Strommie). I may ultimately even get a son-in-law out of the deal.

Notably absent last night were representatives from Fraters, Nihilist in Golf Pants and Anti-Strib, and it seems like forever since I’ve seen Bogus Doug, Doug Bass or DrJonz. Even so it was a prestigious conglomeration and I hope the Thursday night regulars will soon be returning in force.

Also, for those (Marty) who mocked my “Toads” answer to a question about what animal South Africa is trying to exterminate, I’ll have you know my answer was based on having read this article during the week (Africa, Australia, who can tell the difference?).