UTUSN
UTUSN's JournalUpdate: Substituted OBAMA proclamation on Vietnam instead of the SHITLER one
In our previous episode, the saga was how it took over six months to get a simple task of receiving my 50th anniversary Vietnam pin fulfilled by my Blue Dog congresscritter, while the REAL Democratic congressman in the neighboring District had awarded the pins to his constituents six months ago. I kept in contact for status with unfortunately/my critter’s staffer all that time and I finally got the pin a week ago, but inside was a Proclamation with SHITLER’s scrawl on it, and the staffer said he would mail one to me the next working day with OBAMA's signature, fine. In tonight’s episode, after waiting another week without its arrival, I realized I could find it on the ‘net, and did so. So to tie the bow on it, I thanked the staffer again but with shade thrown about Blue Dogs. Here’s the whole exchange:
*********FIRST I said:
(Name of staffer), keeping in contact for status over the past six months of the Vietnam lapel pin was like a virtual friendship, and my thanks for your getting the job done are sincere. But what are (virtual) friends for if we don't say the real stuff? So here goes:
So, just letting you know that after I had focused on the pin itself, it dawned on me that the "Proclamation" included was from TRUMP with his scrawl on it. I removed it from the materials and will give it the Speaker PELOSI treatment of the State of the Union paper. I realize that it's a formality like having the picture of whoever the president is at Federal facilities.
We military when on active duty are not political, but I'm a veteran civilian now, and am a total, life-long Democratic voter. I'm happy so far that the Congressman has been saying the Democratic things and voting that way. Keep it up. Thanks again.
*****HE REPLIED:
Good afternoon Mr. ,
Thank you for the kind words. If you prefer I believe we have proclamation signed by former President Obama, that I could send you? This initiative was first signed during his administration. Absolutely I can mail you that. It will be in the mail tomorrow!
*******I SAID:
Gosh, (Staffer), I didn't expect this extra step and don't want to put you to more trouble by sending the OBAMA proclamation. If you can do it without much trouble, I'll take it. My main interest since the Congressman first ran and took office is that he continue to be a steady Democrat. Anyway, thanks again, (Staffer). Once a Marine (him/staffer), always part of the Navy Department (haha).
***********HE REPLIED:
Congressman is a steady blue dog democrat who continues to push for cooperation on both sides of the aisle for legislation that will help veterans and better this nation. I don’t just say that as lip service. I get to see how and why he votes and have regular discussions with him when I staff him for events and meetings. Not a problem at all! Semper Fidelis! (Signed, “Name of staffer”)
*******SO I REPLIED:
(name of staffer), I was able to find the OBAMA proclamation on the ‘net, https://veterans.nebraska.gov/sites/veterans.nebraska.gov/files/doc/PrezProc.pdf and printed it out on a suitably heavy paper and laminated it. Thanks again to YOU for completing the mission and may the Congressman evolve into dropping the "Blue Dog" part all the way to the FDR/HST/LBJ DemocratIC mainstream. I'll be standing Watch and voting!
**************************************
Excellent. I realize you're reacting to today's specifics, but Nanny-ism is a general thing.
I woke up today ready to post a rant on your same topic here, after yesterday a member stepped into a thread that had been going well and squashed the whole mood with a personal peeve request.
We are (what, 500,00?) members strong, meaning individuals of 500K traits and tastes, ranging across all levels of age, education, emotional maturity, capacities of tolerance and temperament. And on top of that we are Democrats in our Democratic coalition of sub-groups, each sub-group having its own separate #1 agenda topic, with some sub-groups actually antagonistic to other sub-groups.
There’s also the distinction of DU’s “Group” rules vs the General discussions, where Groups can dictate. And we have Purists who claim more entitlement over the rest of everybody, going on to Nanny the board, but more than that, to: *BULLY.* Because they claim to more Right based on feeling that their own being aggrieved is more intense than anybody else’s. It’s the zealotry of the Converted, like they own the board.
To treat somebody as an equal is not to pander to the sub-group. Pandering is not equality, it is covert patronizing/condescension. And having realized one’s integrity of their sub-group doesn’t mean getting special privileges.
Here’s what might be my Signature line after the pestilence of SHITER is out of our lives:
Got my Vietnam commemorative lapel pin with a "proclamation" by SHITLER - ripped it like the Speaker
Besides the *fifty years* of "appreciation," it took an extra six months to get it from my Blue Dog congresscritter. I first heard there was such a pin over six months ago when the real Dem in the district next-door was in the news delivering the pins over there. So because of turf, had to get mine under the special graces of *my* critter. Leaving out the copious details besides the first quarantine, my status contacts with the staffer became a sort of virtual friendship, with all the postponements - no, the pin could NOT be mailed or picked up at the local office by me, had to give the critter his veterans photo op.
Well, finally the ceremonial delivery was held with all options of drive-through with masks, in-person with masks, streaming video, or snail mail of the pin. I chose snail mail.
Well, I thought the mailing could happen anytime but no, it had to be AFTER the ceremony. Fine. So I thought 2-3 days arrival, *no*!1 The staffer said there was a delay in getting "the package" together (huh?) so would be a week or so.
Well, I was expecting just the lapel pin, but no, here arrived a letter from the congresscritter under separate cover, plus a large plastic envelop containing not only the tiny pin, but a letter sized vinyl holder with a certificate and some kind of other letter-sized commemoration deal. Fine.
I was focused on the pin and that the certificate left off my middle initial and only glanced at the other letter-sized deal, and went to do chores. Later, I looked things over again and something CAUGHT MY EYE: A *scrawl* at the bottom of the letter thing. My mind ZOOMED to those obnoxious signing photo-ops with SHITLER scrawling himself ridiculously, and screwing my eyes to check it, sure enough, it was a "proclamation from the potus" with his freaking scrawl at the bottom.
Besides the revulsion of HIM in everything about him, it was an insult that Poor Little Bone Spurs had the gall to send a piece of toilet paper to me. I immediately removed it from the holder and will rip it up after showing it to people like Speaker PELOSI with his so-called state of the union thing. Am going to tell the staffer. Feast your eyes:
Mayor Pete just put a dunce cap on Meegin McCAIN
After she spent the preceding part of the show doing her usual running interference for SHITLER, this time about his ignorant climate-denial that was coupled with his offensive mocking, she tried to sycophant Pete by saying that he had proved inclusion and fearlessness by making appearances at "unorthodox" venues like the Faux Propaganda Network. She even smiled, in contrast to her earlier and usual scowling and eye-rolling, even coquetishly.
And she went on to slither-in her off-topic subterfuge of running interference for SHITLER, saying that in the vein of "unorthodox" venues, what did he think of encouraging BIDEN to take up the Joe ROGAN offer for a debate, which SHITLER had already enthused about.
Pete just let her weave her own trap and then said that, yes, he himself did practice inclusivity, but that the whole usefulness of debates depends on having a neutral moderator (unsaid: not ROGAN who says he will vote for SHITLER or anybody *but* BIDEN on the grounds of "dementia" ), that we have an entire commission with the purpose of fair procedures --- and that MOST OF ALL, why did SHITLER want to fuel this nonentity of a topic compared to the whole large section of the country burning up, could it be to suppress the serious issues??????!1 COULD it be?
When the bell tolls, it can toll *unexpectedly*
What set this off on the *unexpected* side of bells was Soph0571's thread https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181403983 , wherein she touched on it. But best vibes to her SO and her, and admiration for both and for her stalwart humor under the circumstances.
******** So nostalgia grows fonder ever the further back in time it reaches, and a decade after my 4 yrs stint in the Navy I started to get misty about it forgetting how I counted the days while in it. Details here and there looking better. One was about the Ship's Bell, especially on my smaller first ship where it was more prominent, and then at a flea market or second hand “antique” store, there was a small brass bell with a figure or animal of some kind as a handle, and that started the collection mania going. And going and going. And a few people would bring me one from their tours. I like only brass or other metal ones, and I graciously accepted glass and China ones until the benefactors departed when I would re-gift those.
Anyway, I don’t even have a count of how many there are, at least fifty, and several years ago reached the point of NO MORE BELLS, but Collectors out there know that there’s always ONE MORE MUST HAVE.
First up here is the *actual* ship’s bell that inspired my craze. The Popeye shows how I used a bell I didn’t like to put a Popeye PIN on it. Then there’s the clapper-LESS bell, for use in *striking* it with a mallet or soft drum stick. And as for the outside big ranch bell, I haven’t rung it since SHITLER took power and expect to ring it starting, hopefully, on November 3 or thereabouts.
**********BUT the theme is the *UNEXPECTED* side of bells, as Soph0571 broached. As can be seen from the dust on them in the pics, my bells basically just sit on the shelf. But when the collecting was new, I was focused on the WELCOME side of bell ringing, thinking everybody felt that way, until these three episodes taught me something.
EPISODE 1: For a short period I took one or another of the bells with me to Happy Hour and when the bartender was at the other end of the bar or otherwise slow to come around, I would ring my bell and for a few times at different places, everybody laughed and had a cheery old time. Until at this one place, where the bartender was originally from another country, after the first couple of times came to me politely yet deadly earnestly to ask me not to ring it. She said that in her country of origin, a bell was used at school, that she hated school and bells, so please stop. I didn’t take it seriously, and a bit later an elderly customer took up the place next to me and waited overly long for the bartender to come, and I took out my bell and said to him, “Here, ring this!1” He did. And boy did the bartender respond!1 She rushed over directly to me and I thought she was going to jump over the bar to strangle me, saying “If you ring that damned thing ONE MORE TIME…!1”
EPISODE 2: So when I first acquired the big ranch bell and hung it in the tree, a friend visited and I was showing her around and when we got to the bell, I rang it smartly, the way it should be rung, smartly with disciplined vigor. Then suddenly the neighbor fellow next door came *TEARING* from around the corner of his house like with his hair on fire!1 When he saw us just standing there, he pulled himself up short, let his hair fire go out and walked back, head down pondering.
EPISODE 3: In one of those browsing stores full of miscellaneous goods and knickknacks and whatever, there were only the sales clerk busy in a back corner and me in the place. I browsed and browsed and finally found something and went to the front station to pay. The clerk didn’t notice me standing waiting. There was a DESK BELL on the station. But I had learned my lesson about bells, so just kept waiting for the clerk, who finally saw me and came rushing up, saying, “Sir, why didn’t you ring the bell?!1” I said, ruefully, “No, no… no problem!1”
DU got it first. The 'paper finally published my letter of 07-15.
Funny how the local crazed wingnut gets at least weekly space, sometimes a couple of times. (Yea, I realize he writes that many.) Here 'tis:
*************
It was said of JFK, “Johnny, we hardly knew ye.” Today’s difference is that we have known way too much about Donald J. Trump from Day 1, more than we ever wanted to know or invited into our lives, and he will be the most surprised of anybody when he realizes how soon and fast the country will completely wipe out all memory of him.
Since that escalator descent and initial shock of his racism, it has been a daily barrage of jaw-dropping incredulity for us. We’ve been through all stages of: Let’s understand him; let’s see him grow and change; let’s see the wider world open his awareness and his heart. And we who knew who and what he was from Day 1 launched into the daily game of Ain’t-It-Awful, trading his latest verbal atrocity and diagnoses, and just attacking.
What kind of person would insult Gold Star parents, veterans in general, and any people of integrity, honor, accomplishments, dragging down anybody whom he looks bad next to? Nothing worked against him because there was no need to be complicated — just no norms, all publicity stunts, and cutthroat tactics. But we are pulling out of this morass and he will be gone. Even his diehard supporters will eventually be rid of him and will be as happy as everybody else.
Both parties used to sort of believe what each said it stood for and what the other one was about. Well, the Republican Party has forfeited absolutely all pretense it has ever claimed to patriotism, veterans support, family values, pro-life, small government, character-matters, and all moral equities.
I don’t care about polls, strategies to fight him or what character assassinations he will unleash. But most of all, I won’t count on his losing in November.
Advice #1 to Joe: No negotiation about debates with GHOULiani. We don't negotiate with terrorists.
I don't side with fanatics, purists, zealots, inquisitors, and nannies - MOORE, or here on DU.
I don't even want to talk to them.
Lest we forget or never knew: Documentary, "Where's My Roy Cohn" - essence of SHITLER
&t=190s**********QUOTE**********
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Tyrnauer
is an American film director. He directed the documentary feature Valentino: The Last Emperor (2009), which was short listed for an Oscar nomination in 2010,[1] Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (2016), Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017), the 2018 documentary Studio 54 detailing New York's famed Studio 54 nightclub, and the 2019 documentary Where's My Roy Cohn?[2] Tyrnauer also developed, and executive produced, with producing partner Corey Reeser, the docuseries Home, directing its Hong Kong episode, about the Gary Chang’s Domestic Transformer home. The nine-part series premiered on Apple TV Plus in April 2020[3]. In May 2020, Showtime announced it had picked up the Matt Tyrnauer-directed four-part docuseries, The Reagans, to premiere later in the year [4]. Tyrnauer has been Editor-At-Large and Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair, where he has contributed many feature articles. ....
... Tyrnauer's feature story, "Once Upon a Time in Beverly Hills," which appeared in the March 2011 issue of Vanity Fair, won the best magazine feature of 2011 from the Deadline Club. It is currently being adapted into a feature film for HBO.[5][6][7] Additionally, he has written stories on Martha Stewart, Siegfried & Roy, Frank Gehry, Merv Griffin, and Gore Vidal.[8] In 2007, art book publisher Taschen released a commemorative, signed book on fashion designer Valentino Garavani featuring interviews conducted by and archival material assembled by Tyrnauer.[9]
In addition to Valentino: An Extraordinary Story, Tyrnauer also wrote the foreword or contributed to the books Bottega Veneta by Tomas Maier,[10] Theater of Shopping by Alastair Gordon,[11] and the anthology Commune: Designed In California.[12] In 2016, Rizzoli published the monograph Francesco Vezzoli, on the work and career of the Italian artist. Tyrnauer contributed an essay to the book, analyzing Vezzoli's exhibition and short film, Trailer for the Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula.[13] Tyrnauer also appears in the film Best of Enemies (2015 film),[14] about the Vidal-Buckley debates on ABC News in 1968. He was interviewed as a friend of Vidal's, as well as editor of a half dozen of Vidal's essays, which appeared in Vanity Fair, and Vidal's celebrated anthologies, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace and Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia, and The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal.
Tyrnauer's first feature Valentino: The Last Emperor premiered at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival, and won the Gold Hugo Award for Best Documentary at the 2008 Chicago International Film Festival and the Capri Documentary Award at the 2009 Capri Hollywood International Film Festival.[15] His Citizen Jane: Battle for the City premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival; Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Studio 54 premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, as did Where's My Roy Cohn?[16][17] He is the co-founder, with his producing partner, Corey Reeser, of Altimeter Films. ....
**********QUOTE*****
Profile Information
Gender: MaleMember since: 2001
Number of posts: 70,680
