On Veterans Day

The New Neo Posted on by

Yes, indeed, I am that old—old enough to remember when Veterans Day was called Armistice Day. The change in names occurred in 1954, when I was very small, in order to accommodate World War II and its veterans.

Since then, the original name has largely fallen out of use—although it remains, like a vestigial organ, in the timing of the holiday, the Monday closest to November 11th, which commemorates the day the WWI armistice was signed (eleventh hour, eleventh day, eleventh month).

I’m also old enough–and had a teacher ancient enough—to have been forced to memorize that old chestnut “In Flanders Fields” in fifth grade—although without being given any historical context for it. I think at the time I assumed it was about World War II, since as far as I knew that was the only real war. Continue reading →

One of a dying breed

The New Neo Posted on by

Who would have thought that Greta Van Susteren would be one of the last journalists with integrity? It’s all the more surprising because she’s a lawyer, too:

I never used to watch Greta’s show when it consisted of interminable yammering about interminably sensationalistic court cases. But I noticed that, throughout this long and sorry campaign, Greta was one of the few journalists that seemed to hold to some journalistic standards.

[Hat tip Ace.]

In a twist…

The New Neo Posted on by

…on the immortal words of LBJ, Councilman Steve Lipski was in the tent pissing in, since it’s logical to assume that the DC club crowd that was the object of Lipski’s uh, favors, was heavily Democratic in composition.

And speaking of LBJ—in my quest to find a good link for the Johnson quote to which I’m referring (that Johnson would rather have J. Edgar Hoover inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in, quote number four here), I found a page of quotations from LBJ listing quite a few insightful and /or funny ones that seem to retain their appropriateness today: Continue reading →

Baldilocks nails it

The New Neo Posted on by

An excellent observation from Baldilocks:

Losers find it almost impossible to act like winners even when they win.

Since Obama’s victory, troll visits to right-wing blogs are up, dropping comments that show all the class of second graders in the schoolyard singing “Nah nah nah boo boo, stick your head in doo doo.”

You’d think they’d be happy to have won, with no need to waste time and energy on such entertainment. But it you’d think that, you’d think wrong. For a certain segment of the Obamaphile population (and I have no idea how large it is), the feeling of triumph goes hand in hand with the desire to spit on others in their overwhelming delight at their own victory. Not an admirable impulse to be sure, but an ancient one. By their fruits ye shall know them.

In the clutches of Obama Derangement Syndrome?

The New Neo Posted on by

Here’s a link to my piece for Pajamas Media on how to avoid the perils of ODS. It appears to me from a very quick perusal of the comments there that most people would prefer to plunge right into ODS instead.

A bit of clarification and reiteration of my point of view:

I think it’s not only our right but our duty to criticize every single move of Obama’s that we feel is wrong or ill-advised. Nor have I abandoned the idea that as President he (or Congress, with his approval) might make decisions that are actually dangerous to the country’s security, its liberty, or its economy.

But it is best for the nation and for us as individuals to not assume that will happen. Instead, we need to wait with cool heads and open minds to see what actually happens, and then respond to it. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally, as well as strategically, for that possibility. But we need to remind ourselves it’s only a possibility.