20061026 ScrappleFace strikes again

ScrappleFace strikes again

October 26^th, 2006

Michael J. Embryo

I’ve been avoiding the Michael J. Fox controversy in regards to yet another Hollywood-type getting involved with politics.

Hollywood limousine liberals getting involved in politics is not one of my favorite things - - see: “20061015 Streisand performed last Friday at Verizon Center in DC” and “20061010 Streisand goes emo at Madison Square Garden concert.” Or see my Tentacle column from October 18th, 2006, “Barbra! Shut Up and Sing.”

For a great commentary for politicians pandering a hope for a cure…; please read: Charles Krauthammer’s column from October 15^th, 2004. It appeared on page A23 of the Washington Post: “An Edwards Outrage.”

I have no interest in criticizing Mr. Fox personally. For that matter, I have no interest in criticizing anyone personally. He has Parkinson’s and to be certain it is a terrible disease – so he certainly has some legitimacy, for me anyway, to speak out on the issues. He remains in my prayers, not only in a hope for a cure, but that he personally is able to lead as productive life as possible with this dreaded disease.

Nevertheless, ScrappleFace has chosen to weigh-in on the issue with a post on YouTube: “Serious parody of Michael J. Fox ad for Democrat Claire McCaskill promoting stem cell research and opposing Sen. Jim Talent. Produced by Scott Ott, editor, ScrappleFace.com.”

It can be found here.

Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin.

Of course, most Hollywood-types are so thin-skinned. They wish to weigh-in on issues and then get all huffy when someone has the audacity to respond.

I guess I choose not to respond as I respect the fact that Mr. Fox has the disease and I reckon, if I, or a loved one, or a close friend had the disease. I certainly hope that they would take every responsible opportunity to lobby for a cure.

READ my Tentacle column from August 31, 2005: “Respect for Conscience.” The column begins with:

“U. S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R., TN) is currently the target of an advertising campaign in Iowa criticizing him for voting his conscience and backing expanded embryonic stem cell research.

If you will recall Senator Frist, took to the Senate floor and delivered a thoughtful statement detailing his support for legislation to remove some of the Bush administration's limitations on embryonic stem cell research.

This angered many social conservatives.

Senator Frist is a heart-lung transplant surgeon who opposes abortion. He has been widely suggested as a presidential candidate in 2008.

A bill to ease stem cell restrictions passed the House of Representatives in May and Senate approval is expected after Labor Day even in the face of President Bush's veto threat.

The president's reaction: "You've got to vote your conscience." Many who desperately want a civil, reasoned and intelligent debate on important issues in our lives have applauded the president's reaction and have respected Senator Frist's differing views.”

Read the rest here.

The challenge with respect to the Maryland ads is that Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele’s position has been misrepresented.

No. Can’t be. Say it ain’t so.

Well so.

Read the following press release from the Steele campaign:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2006

CONTACT: Melissa Sellers, Doug Heye

443-481-0650, 443-603-1288

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT:

Cardin Voted Against Stem Cell Research for Pure Political Gain

TEMPLE HILLS, MD – Today, Michael Steele released the following statement setting the record straight on stem cell research:

Michael Steele said, “There is only one candidate in this race who voted against stem cell research and it’s Congressman Ben Cardin. Ben Cardin had a chance to support stem cell research that would not destroy human embryos, and he voted against it – not because of his beliefs on the issue, but as a transparent political stunt. Both Senators Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes voted for this legislation. Ben Cardin wanted to politicize the issue instead of getting something done, so he voted against it. Marylanders deserve better than Congressman Cardin’s continued Washington double-talk, mistruths and sheer political gamesmanship on an issue as important as stem cell research.”

On September 2, 2006, the Frederick News Post reported: “[Cardin] opposes suggestions that stem cell research is acceptable if the embryo isn't destroyed. (Liam Farrell, “Pursuing Change,” Frederick News Post, September 2, 2006)

Michael Steele added, “I am an enthusiastic supporter of cord blood, adult stem cell and embryonic stem cell research that does not destroy the embryo, and I fully support expanding innovations in technology that make it possible to treat and prevent disease without the willful destruction of human embryos.”

Cardin Voted AGAINST Expanded Research On Stem Cells That Do Not Destroy Embryos.

Alternate Stem Cell Research Methods – Passage. “Barton, R-Texas, motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill that would require the National Institutes of Health to conduct and support research on the isolation, derivation and production of pluripotent stem cells that do not destroy human embryos. It would require the Health and Human Services secretary to issue final guidelines for additional stem cell research, with priority for research with the greatest potential to yield benefits in the near future, within 90 days of the bill's enactment.” (S. 2754, CQ Vote #380: Motion rejected. July 18, 2006, Cardin voted Nay)

The Senate Voted Unanimously To Pass the Same Bill that Cardin voted AGAINST. Both Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes Voted In Favor Of The Bill.

Alternate Stem Cell Research Methods – Passage. Passage of the bill that would require the National Institutes of Health to conduct and support research to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation and production of pluripotent stem cells that do not destroy human embryos. It would require the Health and Human Services secretary to issue final guidelines for additional stem cell research, including a prioritization of research with the greatest potential to yield benefits in the near future, within 90 days of the bill's enactment.” (S. 2754, CQ Vote #205: July 18, 2006, Sarbanes voted Yea; Mikulski voted Yea)

####

Of course, a little civility would go a long way before we start playing politics with the hope for a cure… q.v.: “Ben Cardin to cure cancer.” For other posts pertaining to the Steele – Cardin campaign, see: “20060701 Spin slander distort and repeat” and “20060915 Democratic National Party reserves $1Million in Steele attack ads."

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org http://www.thetentacle.com/ Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report http://www.thewestminstereagle.com/ www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

20060831 KDDC Farrah Fawcett Angel for the ages

Farrah Fawcett - Angel for the ages

On August 29, 2006, Sun Reporter Rob Hiaasen, wrote a piece in the Baltimore Sun that captured my eye.

I must admit that the cultural phenomena of Farrah Fawcett came after I had attended Elon College (1971-1972 no degree,) so I never had her pin-up in my dorm room. I had Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Alvin Lee, The Almond Brothers Band and the like in my dorm room.

I have heard that Hampstead Mayor Haven Q. Shoemaker definitely had a poster of Ms. Fawcett in his room...

Hollywood types have never really been my heroes, not that the likes of Hendrix, Bowie et al were – I was and still am today – into music more than Hollywood…

Never-the-less, I am fascinated by Mr. Hiaasen’s presentation of Ms. Fawcett as a cultural icon of the 1970s:

A young publicity photographer shows up on Mulholland Drive with his '37 Chevy truck and Nikon-F reflex camera to shoot pictures of an angel in a rusty red swimsuit. She chose a one-piece. When she smiles, 32 teeth radiate at an inviting angle. When she tilts her head, flips of hair gather on her tan shoulders - a look that would launch a hairstyle fad for a generation.

In the time after Betty Grable's World War II pinups and Marilyn Monroe, before the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue mania and Pamela Anderson, the original swimsuit poster of Farrah Fawcett ruled gym lockers, offices and bedrooms.

Could you pass a guy's college dorm room in the 1970s and not see it?

Whatever.

You can read Mr. Hiaasen’s article here.

Hollywood

####

20060521 Not Fonda Jane

Not Fonda Jane

May 21st, 2006

Every year, this time of the year, a number of Internet e-mails make the rounds as to what Jane Fonda did or did not do, during the Vietnam War.

Although I am certainly no fan of Ms. Fonda, it is important to have some insight as to what actually happened and what is Internet fiction.

I just went to Snopes and read their take as to what is fact and fiction.

_________________

Hanoi'd with Jane

http://www.snopes.com/military/fonda.asp

“

Claim: Jane Fonda betrayed U.S. POWs during the Viet Nam War.

Status: Multiple:

During a 1972 trip to North Vietnam, Jane Fonda propagandized on behalf of the North Vietnamese government, declared that American POWs were being treated humanely and condemned U.S. soldiers as "war criminals" and later denounced them as liars for claiming they had been tortured: True.

Jane Fonda handed over to their captors the slips of paper POWs pressed upon her: False.

In 1999, Jane Fonda was profiled in ABC's A Celebration: 100 Years of Great Women: True.

"

The article then gives some examples of some of the e-mails that are circulating…

Then, the article goes into great length describing what Snopes believes to be true and what happened. It is a good read.

Read the rest of the lengthy article here: http://www.snopes.com/military/fonda.asp

As far as whether or not Ms. Fonda committed treason – here is the Treason Article of the Constitution, you decide for yourself…

The Constitution of the United States of America -- Article 3, Section 3:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attained.

####

20050122 Ben Stein's Last Column

Ben Stein’s Last Column

If I am not mistaken, I got this in an e-mail. I don’t remember when or from whom. I looked it up on Snopes.com and they don’t have anything on it. I have no URL address for it, so I have no way of checking its veracity. If it is an e-mail hoax, it is a good one and never-the-less, is a good read…

Oh – I did find it on Free Republic.com…

Ben Stein’s Last Column: How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

01/22/2005

For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the online website called "Monday Night At Morton's."

(Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.)

Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.

Ben Stein's Last Column... (read all of this or you will have missed the best).

==========================

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.

They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.

We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction; and when we turn over our lives to Him, He takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

By Ben Stein

####

19720925 Jane Fonda in North Vietnam transcript

Jane Fonda in North Vietnam transcript

http://www.aiipowmia.com/updates/updt6003.html

19-25 September 1972

June 30, 2003 SEA - Jane Fonda Radio Hanoi Broadcast

The following public domain information is a transcript from the US Congress House Committee on Internal Security, Travel to Hostile Areas, HR 16742, 19-25 September, 1972, page 671.

"This is Jane Fonda. During my two week visit in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, I've had the opportunity to visit a great many places and speak to a large number of people from all walks of life--workers, peasants, students, artists and dancers, historians, journalists, film actresses, soldiers, militia girls, members of the women's union, writers."

http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter23/in300603hanoiradio.html

Re: Jane Fonda Radio Hanoi Broadcast

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: June 30, 2003

"Broadcast Over Radio Hanoi

To American Servicemen Involved In The Indochina War

by Jane Fonda

American Actress, Political Activist

August 22, 1972 - The following public domain information is a transcript from the US Congress House Committee on Internal Security, Travel to Hostile Areas, HR 16742, 19-25 September, 1972, page 671.

This is Jane Fonda. During my two week visit in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, I've had the opportunity to visit a great many places and speak to a large number of people from all walks of life--workers, peasants, students, artists and dancers, historians, journalists, film actresses, soldiers, militia girls, members of the women's union, writers.

I visited the (Dam Xuac) agricultural co-op, where the silk worms are also raised and thread is made. I visited a textile factory, a kindergarten in Hanoi. The beautiful Temple of Literature was where I saw traditional dances and heard songs of resistance. I also saw unforgettable ballet about the guerrillas training bees in the south to attack enemy soldiers. The bees were danced by women, and they did their job well.

In the shadow of the Temple of Literature I saw Vietnamese actors and actresses perform the second act of Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, and this was very moving to me--the fact that artists here are translating and performing American plays while US imperialists are bombing their country.

I cherish the memory of the blushing militia girls on the roof of their factory, encouraging one of their sisters as she sang a song praising the blue sky of Vietnam--these women, who are so gentle and poetic, whose voices are so beautiful, but who, when American planes are bombing their city, become such good fighters.

I cherish the way a farmer evacuated from Hanoi, without hesitation, offered me, an American, their best individual bomb shelter while US bombs fell near by. The daughter and I, in fact, shared the shelter wrapped in each others arms, cheek against cheek. It was on the road back from Nam Dinh, where I had witnessed the systematic destruction of civilian targets-schools, hospitals, pagodas, the factories, houses, and the dike system.

As I left the United States two weeks ago, Nixon was again telling the American people that he was winding down the war, but in the rubble-strewn streets of Nam Dinh, his words echoed with sinister (words indistinct) of a true killer. And like the young Vietnamese woman I held in my arms clinging to me tightly--and I pressed my cheek against hers--I thought, this is a war against Vietnam perhaps, but the tragedy is America's.

One thing that I have learned beyond a shadow of a doubt since I've been in this country is that Nixon will never be able to break the spirit of these people; he'll never be able to turn Vietnam, north and south, into a neo-colony of the United States by bombing, by invading, by attacking in any way. One has only to go into the countryside and listen to the peasants describe the lives they led before the revolution to understand why every bomb that is dropped only strengthens their determination to resist.

I've spoken to many peasants who talked about the days when their parents had to sell themselves to landlords as virtually slaves, when there were very few schools and much illiteracy, inadequate medical care, when they were not masters of their own lives.

But now, despite the bombs, despite the crimes being created--being committed against them by Richard Nixon, these people own their own land, build their own schools--the children learning, literacy--illiteracy is being wiped out, there is no more prostitution as there was during the time when this was a French colony. In other words, the people have taken power into their own hands, and they are controlling their own lives.

And after 4,000 years of struggling against nature and foreign invaders--and the last 25 years, prior to the revolution, of struggling against French colonialism--I don't think that the people of Vietnam are about to compromise in any way, shape or form about the freedom and independence of their country, and I think Richard Nixon would do well to read Vietnamese history, particularly their poetry, and particularly the poetry written by Ho Chi Minh."

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2001111 On Veterans Day and Heroes

On Veterans Day and Heroes

Veterans Day Program
November 11, 2001 2:00 PM
At the Old Armory, Westminster, Md.
D.A.V. Old Glory Chapter #22
(c) Remarks by Westminster Mayor Kevin Dayhoff -
At the luncheon after the program at the V.F.W. Post 467
515 words - 3 minutes

__________________________________________________

It is an honor and a privilege to have an opportunity to stand before so many distinguished members of our community and share a few remarks about the meaning of Veteran's Day for me.

For me - it's all about heroes. The real heroes in our lives. September 11th changed - make that appropriately changed - the concept of hero for most Americans. It's a darn shame that we had to have such a dramatic cathartic moment for our collective social conscience to be re-ordered.

But President John F. Kennedy said it best when he said, "Things do not happen, things are made to happen." Now is the time in which we need to make things happen.

For me, September 11th only accentuated feelings that I've always maintained - since childhood. Athletes and movie stars have never been my heroes. I always felt that such hero worship was misplaced, displaced and inappropriate.

I always felt such Hollywood and sports hero worship sent the wrong message to our children and demonstrated a wrong set of values for our community. My heroes have always been teachers, soldiers, police officers, fire fighters and public servants.

One of my heroes - my grandfather, William Earl Wright, served in WWI and was a very proud charter member of Carroll Post #31 of the American Legion.

My father, Ed Frock, Sr., served with the Navy in heavy combat throughout WWII in the Pacific.

My father-in-law, David S. Babylon, Jr., served in WWII. He also served 25 years on Westminster City Council.

My brother-in-law, Colonel William T. Babylon, serves with the 18th Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Freddy Magsamen, is one of our native sons who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. He was my childhood friend.

As I look out across this audience, and I look into the eyes of the many community leaders here today - I see many true living heroes. We all share the values of the veterans who we are here today recognizing. We stand here today, to pay homage to those, whose commitment and sacrifice to our community are inspirations for us all. Commitment and sacrifice to our community as epitomized by our true living heroes, who contribute daily to our community's quality of life.

To quote another living hero of mine - President George W. Bush. He said in his Inauguration speech on January 20th, 2001:

"America, at its best, is also courageous.

Our national courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when defending common dangers defined our common good. Now we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us. We must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations."

Indeed, those are the words of another living American hero who is also a visionary. If it is possible, those words are even more true today, than they were when he said them many months ago.

May God bless all those who serve the cause of freedom and may God bless America. Thank you.

####

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org http://www.thetentacle.com/ Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report http://www.thewestminstereagle.com/ www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/