DennisMansfield.com

What if we voted like we were babies?

Aren't babies just the best? Look into their eyes; they are full of mischief and delight, joy and wonder. Every baby. Always.

But what would it be like if we voted like babies? Tender, caring and loving? Sure, of course. But what else? Well, maybe warm and cuddley. Heck yeah.

Ever fail to feed a baby? Wow, kinda blows the lid off the "born good" thing.

Babies seem to live for food, shelter and clothing (dry diapers, that is) They need harnesses and safety deals and naps. They need, they need...

Hmm...sounds like I'm not talking about babies voting...but rather Adult-babies who never will vote.

Not a very sweet picture of citizenry, is it? A bunch of whining, hungry, soiled Baby Hueys wanting, ever wanting...and doing nothing to help others.

We need to have more people register and then vote.

No more Baby Hueys.

Den

Starry, starry night and more

Vincent Van Gogh is a favorite painter of mine. I love to see his work, even reproduced.

I LOVE to see it in person. His tortured brush strokes are amazing. We visited some of his works a short bit ago. My son and I loved it. My bride looked and considered, but I don't think his work impacted her like it did us.

Susan, watching and enjoying.

Nate enoying it too.

So listen to the song of Vincent Van Gogh.

Starry, Starry night.

Den

Beyond the Sea - wives who stick around.

What in the world do 4 GOP Ex-Presidents (living and dead) have in common with Bobby Daren"s song "Beyond the Sea"?

Well, it's a varied and unusal tale....one I have cobbled together for this blog. It's about wives who stick around.

It begins in July of 1990. My then-young family and I were invited to President Nixon's Grand Opening of his Presidential Museum in Yorba Linda, CA. John Taylor, his Chief of Staff was kind enough to invite us, as President Nixon had appointed me to a service academy and had honored me by returning my notes of encouragement with his own kind letters, autographed books and notes, once he left office. We showed up and enjoyed a day of celebration, lo these 18 years ago....it has stuck with me since.

Back to Bobby Daren's song. Each one of these men loved their wives...and stayed with them a looooong time. I remember that each President seemed to love his bride "out loud". Though President Carter was missing from this event, his love for his wife is well known and very public - matching theirs.

Imagine having all the power in the world, knowing and being known...and never having the real love of a spouse. Fake life, that's all it'd be. Yet each of these men left office and gained life with a wonderful wife. Forget about civics....think about this as life.

Here's the You Tube song. Below are the lyrics. Or maybe you'd like to see Kevin Spacey sing it? (His is one of the best bios of a singer I have ever seen. I wonder if he could play one of the Presidents! tee hee.)

Den

Bill Sali and Helen Chenoweth - the "scent" of a leader?

I've been thinkin' about the whole Bill Sali race once again. It's been a bit in the news and I want you to consider a few things:

Idaho's history is an independent one. We've never really had a Idaho Federal leader since Helen Chenoweth who has publicly dug-in on personal prinicples. In many ways, Butch served us well in DC on many philosophical issues, but at times he seemed like he was "all hat, no cattle" on the deep personal issues of our time...but I may be wrong. I AM certain the other elected officials fall into a category. Go through the list. They're all nice guys.

But to reference John Eldredge's book "Wild at Heart"...is that what these guys wanted when they were little kids....to grow up and be nice guys? To grow up and have people not have a passionate opinion of them, except that they were "nice". The world is full of nice, sterile men and women....especially in DC. It's like the agenda and play card is for a political Stepford Wife convention. "Nice to meet you. My, don't you look nice today....blah, blah, blah"

It makes me want to break a wine bottle in half and start a bar-room brawl.(tee hee)

Maybe I've hit on something. (Not the barroom brawl, but the reason why some people seem to "hate" Bill Sali - oh, BTW, Idaho was too great for hate....or at least it should be.)

Bill's a man of principle and he is a fighter. Soft men and women don't understand this. Passionate people on both sides of the aisle DO understand this.

Helen was like that. She was a Man's woMan. And many people of both genders in Idaho loved her. Bill's got her mantle on him, I'm prone to believe - for the good and the bad.

Just some thoughts from a thinkin' guy who snapped this picture of The Thinker in KC a few weeks ago.

Den

A little Tombstone with your summer vacation?

So you're looking for a little Southern California fun in the sun. Surf boards? Disneyland? In 'N Out Hamburger? Yeah sure, of course.

How 'bout a little Tombstone? I know what you're saying, "Isn't that in Arizona?" Not if you're Morgan Earp.

In the little known cemetary in Colton, California is the tombstone of Morgan Earp. Check it out:
 

So it got us thinking about Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan. Since we're in the land of Hollywood for a very short while, what did Hollywood have to say? Check out the first two of three trailers (those two directed by Frank Sturges.) The first is "Gun Fight at the O.K. Corral", and the second is "Hour of the Gun". He directed both, but Gun Fight and Hour have different actors for Wyatt and Doc Holiday, to show the two films aren't REALLY connected (As per Universal's 1967 corporate decision...hmmm).

                     

But California's tombstone of Morgan Earp wouldn't be complete if we didn't include "The" Tombstone movie of all tombstone movies.

Den

Do you feel lucky today, punk? Well, do ya?

Dirty Harry has a lot to teach us about politics:

Be direct.

Be honest.

Get involved, even if it's not about you.

Speak slowly and quietly...and let the facts be strong.

Don't worry about the wind in your hair or hot dog ketchup on your pants.

Be frank.

Don't blink.

Shoot straight.

Den

What Ronald Reagan thought about personal political attacks

I'm enthralled by the character of men and women who can poke fun at themselves and not be mean to others. President Reagan had a style of graciousness with others and never took himself seriously.

Issues, Yes. himself? No.

In his autobigraphy, " An American Life", Ronald Reagan wrote of his 1976 nomination defeat to sitting-President Gerald Ford: " The votes of 1,140 delegates were needed to win the nomination. As the convention approached, the competition for delegates was nip and tuck and I came under pressure, especially from my more conservative supporters, to go on the attack agaisnt Ford. I refused to attack Ford personally."

He lost the nomination. Won it 4 years later and , along with Harry Truman, remains a favorite example for aspiring Presidential candidates of both Parties for strength, grace, laughter and confidence. We could use a lot of that right now - on all levels.

Den

The Day Nixon met Elvis

It must be summer and I must be in the sun too much...but I was sitting here thinking out loud about the day President Nixon met Elvis Presley. The thought came to me that there just might be a website committed to this eventful day. Yep...in fact there is.

I'm not giving it to you, yet. (It's so cool to read through it, though.) Hang on for just a second...

You see, there was also a day when my someday-bride met Elvis. It's a whole story of teen girls, Elvis' half-brother, a Vegas visit and an elevator ride to The King's Lair..for a fun and "boring" party. She met the King and fell in love with me...go figure.

Then again, Billy Crystal and I shared our first movie together (The Rabbit Test by Joan Rivers) ---but then again he's not The King.

The King displays his cufflinks to The Pres.

The Kings' Bros meet Mr. Nixon. (One of the brothers dated a friend of my someday-bride - hence the trip to Presley's Family Loft, high overhead of the Strip in Vegas.)

The formal portrait.

Ok, visit the site....now.

Den

Jib Jab Me, Baby

Nothing I can say can "best" the words of this:

It's Time for Some Campaigning.

The Grand Mufti, Hitler and 9-11?

Found an interesting article on the connection of today's radical Islamic jihad and Hitler's global campaign that ended 6 decades ago.

You may not agree with it, but it states solid (and embarassing) facts.

Den

Jewish World Review July 23, 2008 / 20 Tamuz 5768

The Mufti of Jerusalem's Nazi ideology lives on among contemporary Islamists By Jonathan Tobin

Although some deprecate the use of the term "Islamo-Fascist," a study of the life of the Mufti shows that the combination of these disparate ideas into one ideology of hate is no Western invention http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It is axiomatic that a knowledge of history is a prerequisite for understanding the present. But the question is: How much weight should we give to controversial figures from the past when deciding how to think about current conflicts?

According to the authors of a new book about Haj Amin al-Husseini (1893-1974), the grand mufti of Jerusalem, who played a key role in fomenting and exacerbating the struggle between Jews and Arabs during much of the 20th century, the answer is quite a lot. The book, "Icon of Evil: Hitler's Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam", by David G. Dalin and John F. Rothman, makes the case that you can draw a direct line from al-Husseini to not only the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas — groups that took up his battle against Zionism — but to Iran, Al Qaeda and the 9/11 conspirators.