Mel, what has become of Palin’s older son?  We never hear anything about him..for security reasons?  Is he still in Iraq?  What do you think Governor Palin would do if her son fathered a child out of wedlock, and the girl’s mother would not permit Palin’s son to visit his child?

Peace and grace

A  non-binding resolution was passed in the Senate to make McCain eligible to run  for the presidency.  Until that action was taken, put up by McCaslin, being born on American soil was a qualification to run for the presidency.  The Senate had no authority to make the decision; that belongs in the courts as it involves an interpretation of the Constitution. 

Then with no debate, McCaslin, on the spot included children of active military serving overseas.  I’ve lived in Rota, Spain where my husband taught dependents of military stationed on the base, DODDS.  My daughter was born in an Air Force hospital in the Azores, again while her father, working for the American government, taught the children of the military.  Because of the senate and McCaslin’s ignorant proposition, my daughter is not eligible to run for president.  That would mean children of diplomats, ambassadors, envoys, consulates, etc. are not eligible.  The whole farce was to make McCain eligible.  Panama would never qualify without this nonbinding resolution, regardless of his father’s rank.

Peace and grace

Oh, my heavenly days.  ‘Get off the gravy train’?  ‘Pegged her for being one of the yellow tabloid media.’?  That’s the ticket. O E, find a thread which interests you. Headlines are just such a nifty way for people to know what will be contained in the much longer, detailed column.    Whenever you see ‘Joe Jackson’, that’s your cue to avoid that column.

Like you, O E I’m not a fan of Joe Jackson, not this one anyway.  I will just say that I thought he was disrespectful for wearing his hat at his son’s funeral.  On the other hand, I am a huge fan of Liz Smith’s, so I’ll always check her columns to see her take on things.  And then I can choose whether I agree or not.

Peace and grace

Oh, Dona, I certainly never did that to my students, and I never criticize or correct anyone’s grammar unless asked.  If you surveyed my students, you would  realize that humor in my classroom was shared by all and never at the expense of anyone in the class.  I believe there is a huge difference between teaching and lecturing.  My job was to teach students, which means I spent a great deal of time poring over student’s writing, finding all the positive compliments to their efforts.  I certainly was not a perfect teacher, but I’ve never belittled a student or ‘graded’ anyone’s writing outside a classroom setting.  Your sister’s experience was most unfortunate; I’m so sorry she was so profoundly affected by any teacher.  I was by a few myself, positively and negatively.  And my teaching was guided by those experiences.  I hope you realize that your sister was not harmed by the teaching of grammar; she was harmed by a teacher of grammar.  Good writing is expressing.

Peace and grace

James, great minds think alike, and I’m thinking we may have jumped the vowel  too quickly.  Liz used grammatical, so she very well knew the spelling and was testing us.

Another frequently misunderstood usage is when to use ‘who’ and when to use ‘whom’.  If I hadn’t taught grammar for years, I wouldn’t know either….has to do with subjects and objects.  Sometimes after staring into thirty sets of glazed eyes, I would tell the kids, ‘Just err on the side of WHO.’  Then we read the Abbott and Costello classic, "Who’s on First?’, and we all had a good laugh.

Peace and grace

Oh, Brava, Liz Smith.  As an English teacher and a parent, I took much joy in explaining ‘feel badly’ as one who hasn’t quite mastered the use of the hands, something along the lines of, ‘I just washed my hands and can’t do a thing with them.’  I knew the students ‘got it’ when they began to laugh.  My daughter (31) and I have enjoyed this little ‘be verb’ mix-up for years, silently, of course.  Usually, I refrain from announcing I taught English as some people thought perhaps I would be grading their speech.  And listen, Liz Smith, you know I love you and all you do…psst, lean down to the screen:  grammar. Just a note from one Panther to another.

Ah, gee, Liz Smith, you’re the greatest!

Peace and grace

deber B, I only got through your post of July 7th last night.  By then I felt everything of value had been said.  Yours was a well-stated opinion, and one I could respect.  I’ll just add that if Palin is all over Texas campaigning for Rick Perry, she will be doing herself and her party a disservice.  Hers will be a popular book; hopefully, she applies her efforts there.  Thank you for your post of the 7th.

Peace and grace

Thank you for your response, Kelly. After reading through the posts last night…and I only got through about 10-15 when I shut down, I read an article from a journalist whose comment on Palin-Biden was that the real loser in the campaign was journalism.  As newspapers begin to fade away, the ramped up carnival headlines increase to promote sales.  His opinion:that despite whatever camp one supported, Biden and Palin were not treated equally.  I tend to agree, but I don’t know just how programmed Palin was by her party.  I would not wish anyone ill will; I think we agree that Palin would not serve well as president.  Being vice-president in an administration with a greater possibility of her inheriting that role, I think, hampered her party.  Always a pleasure exchanging thoughts with you, Kelly.

Peace and grace

Kelly, you don’t consider her timing being even a tad inappropriate?  The day before the 4th of July, when conservatives across the country attack the media, rightly so to some extent, for their lack of coverage for substantive causes?  You think Palin did not consciously choose the eve of the 4th to draw maximum attention to herself, to shine a spotlight on herself?  I’ve never really gotten into Palin Political bashing, but making her resignation announcement on the eve of the 4th of July strikes me as self-serving and lacking in respect for our country.  Palin has been the target of some harsh personal attacks, and, personally, I thought David Letterman should have been fired, but then I think the congressman who compared Michelle Obama to a gorilla should have been forced to resign from the congress.  Neither of those happened, but both were instances of citizens abusing the rights we all share as Americans.  Monday would have been a good day for resigning, if that was her mission…nothing noble about ’ a good point guard passing off to a teammate’ unless you are actually playing basketball.  And there is  no way I could stand up to some of the treatment Palin has received, but I didn’t place myself on a national platform and make it Katie Couric’s fault that I could not answer basic questions expected of a potential vice-president of the United States.

Unfortunately, sometimes when people sit back politely no one listens; thus, the roar against Palin. If she represents your philosophy, your values, your image of capable leadership, support her, Kelly.  Just remember, she may quit on you.

Peace and grace……………..for all of us.

My first insight into Whoopi Goldberg’s intelligence and integrity came in the last "Comic Relief’ program.  In previous years, Whoopi, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams combined for a stellar presentation that not only entertained but raised a great deal of money.  During the last ‘Comic Relief’, for whatever reason, Robin Williams was out of control and Billy Crystal not far behind.  But Whoopi Goldberg took control of that show, practically wrestling Williams off the stage, as much for his own reputation as for the cause they were serving.  Clearly, she was not in competition with Williams; she quickly evaluated the situation and redirected to the original purpose.  Impressive.  She saved the show and Robin Williams.

As to Whoopi’s intelligence, that I discovered on ‘The View’…by the way, wOw is just "The View’ with the sound turned off, for those of you who can’t watch because of the ‘screeching’.  To facilitate without trying to commandeer a discussion reflects not just intelligence but strong sense of self…positive sense.  Strong to the extent that she does not have to demean another….and all with a good deal of ‘comic relief’.  Brava, Whoopi Goldberg.

Now I must find my copy of ‘Natural Blonde’ so that I can reread the introduction about Liz Smith’s view on gossip.  My mother used to say, ‘If someone is talking to you about someone else, then you can be sure that she’s talking about you to someone else.’  Took me a few dozen years to figure out all the prepositional phrases and the subordinate clause. I had an easier time memorizing Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’.  I always advised my children prior to their visiting their grandparents, ‘Remember, these are people who never met a conpiracy they didn’t like.’

Peace and grace

Dana, I imagine your governor more than grateful to have the spotlight elsewhere.

Peace and grace

That’s the one, James.  Nice touch.  Then I was thinking.  OK, where’s the needle?  Who’s this Madoff?  Must be serious; they sent three of us.

Peace and grace

Now where’s this needle everyone is talking about?  Madoff?  Never heard of him.

Peace and grace

I received a ‘news’ wOw alert.  Ms. Coulter is a columnist with a specific agenda.  I would make the same comment if a ‘news’ alert notified us of Bill Mahar ‘reporting’ on legalizing marijuana.

Peace and grace