The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    GROUNDHOG DAY

    By Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 1:30am |

    Groundhog Day Groundhog Day
    Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney

    Main Stream Media just reported (6:30 AM CT) that the Groundhog saw his shadow today and that means that there will be at least five more weeks of winter (it used to be six weeks, but with global warming and all!) and billionaires will continue to fund people like Newton Gingrich.

    So the more things do not change, the more things stay the same (what?).

     

    Al Franken is a despicable guttersnipe

    BILLO

    How much do you have to pay to get outta goin through all these things twice?

    BOB DYLAN

    I recently took the time to view Groundhog Day again.

    I have, of course viewed this classic film again and again and again.

    I recall thinking, when I first saw this film:

    Bill Murray is a terrible actor.

    Up until about five or ten years ago I would have stuck with that assessment.

    But the thing about Groundhog Day is that it points out what bad actors we all are in the end. hahahaha

    The Wiki link brings back memories if nothing new.

    Which brings me back to my original theme.

    How much do we really have to pay to get outta going through all these things twice?

    13 years ago we as a nation decided that it was time to get ridda the Newt.

    38 years ago we as a nation decided that an imperial Presidency was not in the national interest.

    47 years ago we decided as a nation, again, that all men are created equal.

    48 years ago we decided as a nation that all citizens in the United States of America have a right to vote.

    56 years ago we decided as a nation that a national highway system was necessary to spur commerce between the states and that that highway system needed to be reexamined and repaired from time to time.

    77 years ago we decided that a pension system available to all American Citizens was necessary so that our aged would be provided with some assistance in their waning years.

    79 years ago we decided that the Coolidge/Hoover theory of economics no longer worked.

    87 years ago we decided as a nation that Spencer Tracy had proved that the ages of rocks were in fact more important than the rock of ages.

    92 years ago we decided as a nation that women are people and therefore are citizens of these United States of America and have equal rights with men and have a right to vote.

    Over the last 122 years, we as a nation decided that the Bill of Rights actually applied to all American citizens.

    122 years ago, we as a nation decided that the worker has some rights with regard to the blood, sweat and tears shed as a member of the national labor force.

    151 years ago we decided as a nation that a progressive income tax was necessary to sustain us as a people.

    154 years ago we decided as a nation that a divided house cannot stand.

    210 years ago we decided as a nation that there would be a separation between church and state.

    236 years ago we decided as a nation that all men were created equal.

    Here are some examples of new legislation that seem to contra act or at least fly in the face of some of my findings with regard to these basic tenets, principles and beliefs that were a part of our national heritage.

    13 states, on their own, would infringe upon the rights of American Citizens to vote in state and Federal elections.

    Several states, on their own, would infringe upon the right of employees to organize as a union

    The Bill of Rights no longer has any applicability to the citizens of the United States of America.

    We now imprison more Black folks than White folks; thereby making a large number of  Black folks slaves once again.

    One percent of our national population is in prison and making profits for corporations as slave labor.

    The Coolidge/Hoover theory of economics wins out.

    How much do we have to pay to get outta going through all these things twice?

     

     

    Comments

    I woke up this morning, looked in the mirror, and almost went back to bed. Of course that happens every morning.

    That's a useful list. Thanks for the compilation. If only you'd mentioned Baron de Monticello Montefiore MontBlanc Montesquieu.

    Maybe tomorrow you'll get it right.


    by Donal on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 8:00am

    I do not care if it is me

    I do not care if it is you

    But we must always give what's due

    To Baron Monstesquie!

    hahahaha


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 8:09am

    Not to offend our new "Constitutionalist" readers with leftist quotations but:

    History repeats itself twice: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.

    It feels kind of hard to deny these days.


    by Doctor Cleveland on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:52am

    Indeed, but isn't farce supposed to be funny?


    by Ramona on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:58am

    Usually. But with history, we have to settle for ridiculous and embarrassing.


    by Doctor Cleveland on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 11:11am

    Two years later, almost three, I am going through my old stuff, and  there is this line from you.

    A Professor  with real certifications, writing about that which is ridiculous and that which is embarrassing.

    Two and almost three years later, this has to be one of the funniest lines I have ever read.

    hahahahahah 

    I hereby render unto Professor Cleveland the single best lines of 2012 at this here Dagblog Site, given to all of his majesty from all of me.

    hahahahah

    I forgot all about this.

    But I SHALL REMEMBER THIS!

    the end.


    by Richard Day on Fri, 09/26/2014 - 3:16am

    Oh, DD, what a remarkable list!  I'll share it on FB and on Twitter and keep it in my gold stores where it will have the place completely to itself.

    Thank you.


    by Ramona on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:54am

    Oh what a sweetheart you are!

    I cannot tell you how much this elates me!

    Happy Groundhog Day!


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 11:37am

    Apparently suffering from a case of Wisconsin- or Walker-envy, Indiana passed "Right-to-Work" legislation yesterday, adding its contribution to the assault on workers.

    Of right to work legislation, Martin Luther King, Jr. said that it offers no rights and no work.  Some in our day refer to it as Right-to-Work-For-Less legislation.  Or as Privilege-to-Beg-for-Less legislation. 

    "Groundhog Day" on my second viewing, started to grow on me, and has since then.  Every morning when I get up and watch it in full it makes me laugh.  


    by AmericanDreamer on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 11:18am

    No rights and no work; you got that right!

    The movie really grows on me also.

    I was expecting cable to over-do it again, but I only saw it air once this week.


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 11:40am

    If I had to re-read this every morning... well, I'm completely okay with that.  One of your best, DD.    I'm sharing this too.


    by MrSmith1 on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 1:48pm

    This is great!

    All my friends show up.

    Makes my week!


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:22pm

    dd - This is remarkable.

    I want to email this to many, do you know how I can do that and maintain access to the embedded links?

    Thanks.


    by Aunt Sam on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 1:52pm

    You know I never tell you how important your comments are to me. You have always cheered me on and I am grateful.

    About the links.

    I just copied a couple lines and pasted them on my Word clone and the links came out just fine.

    Try that.

    The videos are best embedded from Youtube, anew.


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:19pm

    Good piece, Dick.

    (Doublecheck 'enslave' vs. 'imprison' near the end.)

    One of your best.


    by Qnonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:02pm

    Q thank you very much.

    And you are right about imprison...I was thinking about that and forgot about it!


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:12pm

    Good catch, q--that was the one item that had me scratching my head.  Glad you spoke up, especially since it looks as though this piece is going to get some broader circulation.


    by AmericanDreamer on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:16pm

    Brilliant, Mr. Day. 

    It's so good it looks familiar. Have you ever posted this before?


    by Oxy Mora on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:05pm

    No, this came out whilst I was watching Groundhog actually and then, while I was writing it I watched Newt telling us all the things he would accomplish on his first day as President.

    So I kind of worked with both themes.

    Although, I am sure I have written Groundhog Day blogs before!


    by Richard Day on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:15pm