The no-blogging (as of yet) today is due to the fact that I’ve been in an airplane bound for New York. Now on the ground with my trusty PowerBook and wireless internet connection, here I am.
I watched the news on jetBlue’s TV and, well, let me just say I’ll have plenty to say about President Bush’s speech today. Especially the part about how illegal aliens do the work Americans don’t want to do. How dare he, especially on the heels of two more coal miners dying. Outrageous.
I’m here in part to see my friend Andrea Marcovicci perform in the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel. Her appearance there is extended to the 28th, so for you folks in the vicinity of Manhattan, I recommend it highly.
The Algonquin, btw, is the oldest operating hotel in New York, and it’s the first hotel in New York to allow women to check in by themselves. Ah yes, America has changed just a tad in the intervening decades. Lots of history there. Here’s their link, and the link for cabaret information, incldung Andrea’s “Love Songs of WWII” show.
Sorry about being off Tammy Radio today, but I’ll be back tomorrow with bells on broadcasting from the Big Apple.
So, in the meantime, consider this an Open Thread to pontificate on whatever your hearts desire. I’ll check in again as soon as I settle in.
UPDATE:
I have just posted on the Canadian elections and am ready to go to sleep knowing that Canada has at least moved in the right direction. My flight had a bunch of turbulence and on tomorrow’s Tammy Radio, in addition to continuing the solve many of the world’s problems, there will be no doubt another installment of “Tammy’s Adventures in the Air.”
See you then 🙂
The comment that the illegals do the work that Americans will not do cuts both ways. Yes, there are still hard-working Americans out there, and they should be saluted, but, there are too many lazy youths with parents that allow the grass to be cut by an illegal/guest/undocumented worker. I do not blame the youth; I blame the parents that supply those youths with everything they want. The reality of the situation is that 10 to 12 dollars an hour is a pretty good wage, but not good enough to get an American youth to cut grass/ pick mushrooms/ clean toilets/ carry bricks. They would much rather earn less money at the mall, if they work at all.
Just watched a new two-hour special on National Geographic about the space shuttle Challenger disaster. (A must see!) This Friday is the 20th anniversary. Can you believe it’s been 20 years?! I hope people will still remember.
So many thoughts ran through my mind as I watched, but they all came to the same end… tears and sadness at remembering that day and those 7 brave heroes. My stomach is still upset.
It didn’t have to happen. What a waste. And in the end no one was held responsible for that crime of negligence.
Another thing it brought to mind–I still miss Ronald Reagan. That alone is enough to bring tears to my eyes. But seeing him again at that time makes it all the more real. It’s difficult to put into words what he represents and how I feel when I see a video clip of him from the 80s. Such a wave of love and comfort comes over me… like when a patch of warm sun comes over you on a cool, Spring morning and it makes you smile and feel happy to be alive.
Uh-oh, mush alert! I better go– quick.
Tink – I got my first VCR in December of 1985, and one of the first things I taped was the news coverage the day of the Challenger disaster. Powerful stuff. Hard to believe it’s been twenty years.
Other than that, I taped a lot of ballgames and I made a point to record as many of Reagan’s speeches as possible. He was one of my heroes and remains so. I am so glad I decided to do that. One of my favorites is his last State of the Union address. Classic Ronnie!
I’ll pull some of those tapes out from time to time just to remember what it was like before the world went totally insane. I always wonder – what would Reagan have done after the first WTC bombing? After the Cole bombing? We’ll never know, but you can be sure it would have been something more than writing out a few parking tickets.
Peter,
No disresepect to Reagan, he was a great man, but he compleletlely missed it on terrorism. Reagan’s great focus was on the Soviet Union, when we got bombed in Beruit he cut and ran. He also sent our soldiers to the middle east and trained a lot of the very same men we are fighting today.
Even the great ones have their blind spots (that are very easy to see from a 20 year perspective, I will acknowledge that). Oh, how I wish we had another great one now.
I think it’s horribly racist to say that the illegals do the work we won’t do. The current system is designed to keep them doing just that, it’s despicable. Give these people permanent green cards, and give them rights!!!!
First, I have to correct myself. The Challenger anniversary is not Friday, but Saturday the 28th.
Peter, since 9-11 I have also wondered what Reagan would’ve done. And I’ve had more than one moment of longing for that kind of leadership again. We know it when we see it don’t we? I love President Bush, but he’s just not as consistent in his leadership function. You’re right about Reagan’s last State of the Union. I’ve got something great on tape too… a few years ago, C-SPAN was kind enough to show the Goldwater speech at the 1964 Rep. Convention and Reagan at the 1980 Convention. Good times!
And PJ, I have to disagree a bit with you. I don’t think it’s really fair to say he missed the boat. He had to establish priorities and we had to win the Cold War. (Just as Bush had to choose who to take on first) Our military was not prepared to fight any kind of hot war when he came to office and it took several years for the American military to get back on its feet. But he understood and exercised the principle of Peace Through Strength and knew that we had to be prepared for anything. Thanks to Reagan our military became the greatest in the world again and we had our first chance to prove it in Desert Storm— and are currently proving it again.
PJ…as I recall, Reagan let Khaddafi know in no uncertain terms that his BS would not be tolerated in a pretty quick and decisive manner. I’m sure he would have had little room for mosquito larve like bin Laden and his ilk.
Teri, I feel the same way. I also felt it was so appropriate that he passed away on D-Day, being part of the generation that preserved the best of American ideals. Something very special happened that weekend. I was atteding a reunion in VA of D-Day veterans and part of the plan was to attend the June 6 ceremony at the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA. The day of June 5th I met lots of veterans and one of the wives had a bag of homemade (pin) buttons with different pictures and cute sayings on them. I was digging through them and came across one she had made of Reagan. It didn’t say anything, just a handsome photo of him in a tux, raising his glass in a toast. Happy with my big find I took it back to my room.
The next day I proudly wore my Reagan button to the D-Day memorial ceremony. I’ll never forget that.
Peter,
You make a very good point about Khadaffi, but I still maintain that he really didn’t have a full handle on the tiger that he was dealing with. Like I said though, it is easy to judge through the lens of over 20 years of history.
I think that if Reagan had been in charge, with the world in it’s current condition, that he would have raised holy hell at the bombing of the USS Cole and the embassies. Reagan did drop a small ball when he left Beruit, but Clinton invited 911 with almost every move he made.
Agreed. It’s worth noting though that I believe that the only reason Reagan didn’t have a (supposed) handle on the tiger was because the tiger was still a cub at the time.
It was during Clinton’s presidency that international terrorism really came of age. It was easy for them to do so because the US of A looked the other way (for the most part) while the roots of Islamofascism spread with impunity.
Hell, they were attacking US and we were doing nothing. What sends a better message to your enemies that you’re weak than doing NOTHING?
I find it hard to believe that the Reagan administration would have turned similar a blind eye to such activity. In fact, I think it’s unlikely.
Funny that Carter assisted Islamist fundamentlaism to spread in Iran by turning his back on the Shah, and now we have THAT mess to clean up. Clinton stogied around for eight years while bombs were going off next to battleships and left us the mess of all messes. There’s a lesson of commonality to be learned there, folks.