DennisMansfield.com

Super Bowl Half Times - from Corn to Porn? Or maybe just simply: from Old marching bands to Old rock stars.

C'mon, admit it.

We all enjoy watching the commercials on Super Bowl.

Some are great and quite memorable. Some are only memorable for how bad they end up seeming, in comparison to thier competitors.

But Half Times....oh Half Times. How many of us cringe when Super Bowl Half Times start to unfold...?

I came across a great post by Jay Lustig of NJ's Star-Ledger; he's cobbled together a string of videos from Super Bowl Half Times across the years - it's pretty interesting to watch, actually.

Half Time at 1967's Super Bowl I?

"The first Super Bowl was in 1967, a watershed year for rock, with "Sgt. Pepper," "Let’s Spend the Night Together" and "Surrealistic Pillow," plus debut albums by Hendrix, the Doors and the Dead.

You know who played the Super Bowl halftime show that year? Three marching bands, a high school drill team and trumpeter Al Hirt."

Oh yes, and the Bell Rocket Men...showing what "the future" would soon be like. (Honey, where'd you put my jet pack?)

Talk about a culture "malfunction"... It was just plain corny.

Believe it or not, Up With People played at an early Super Bowl, too.

Ha!

 

His quirky piece keeps going.

"Symbolic" but important - Labrador refuses to spend taxpayer money in the amount of $300,000.

Kudos to US Congressman Raul Labrador for his recent action of refusing to spend over $300,000 for office expense funds - funds that were alotted to him to use - but he chose not to.

A rare find in the world of politics.

Most politicians seem, shall we say, EAGER, to burn through money - employing well-crafted tricks to expand their office staffs, office space and office influence.

Hmmm....

Kevin Richert's post goes into depth on it and includes the press release that Labrador's office sent out.

Key to this action is that it is both an important thing to do (almost a third of a million dollars seems to be some decent cash, right?) and it is symbolic - telling those in the House and Senate that "there is room to cut"... even in their own office expenses.

Lead on, Mr. Labrador, lead on.

Den

Problem family members: Obama's cousin, conservative Dr. Milton R. Wolf on "The Great Divide".

I suppose every family has its "problem cousin"....

President Obama has a cousin who's a bright and shining light among conservatives; an M.D. and a columnist for the Washington Times. Someone who is strongly opposed to his First Family Cousin's policies.

His name is Dr. Milton R. Wolf.

I found a clearly written article by him on the great divide between Gingrich and Romney...which is not about them at all, in many ways.

Though it deals with the odd spectacle of Romney's insatiable desire to wear the "crown" of President Ronald Reagan, as the nominee for 2012, the article touches on much, much more.

The piece is well written, linking the greater issue among those stalwart GOP-ites. The problem is the Republican Party's antagonism towards the "johnny-come-lately" Tea Party members. It's a "lust-hate" relationship.

This is how Wolf, quoting Sarah Palin, explained it in the article:

"Sarah Palin understands what’s at stake here: “[T]his whole thing isn’t really about Newt Gingrich versus Mitt Romney. It is about the GOP establishment versus the Tea Party grass roots and independent Americans who are sick of the politics of personal destruction used now by both parties’ operatives with a complicit media egging it on.” In 2010, establishment Democrats learned the hard way that grass-roots Americans demand fundamental change in Washington. In 2012, it seems that establishment Republicans, the recent beneficiaries of the Tea Party movement, have yet to learn this lesson.

We’ve reached a before-and-after moment in American politics: Republicans will no longer win elections without Tea Party support. So it’s simply stupefying, then, that the establishment would go to such lengths to demoralize their own lifeline." (More here.)

Both Wolf and Palin are correct. More correct than they know.

It is, indeed, that way in 2012... and it has been that way for quite some time - even BEFORE the Tea Party, in its current form, surfaced.

Allow me to explain.

The Politically Un-Dead walk among us... Zombies who win the Presidency.

Today's LA Times has an interesting take on Gingrich's race to the White House, regardless of what happens when the votes are counted at the end of today's GOP Primary Election in Florida:

"This is a long way from being over," he said, as he shook hands and took pictures with voters after they cast ballots at the First Baptist Church of Windermere. "I'd say June or July unless Romney drops out earlier." (More here.)

Gingrich is a fighter, often with an odd sense of humor and an inordinate taste for the witty put-down.

He ALWAYS has been.

Enjoying sunshine and each other.

Loving the sunshine of our old a stomping grounds!

A wonderful moment. One grandson and his two grandpas.

"Grand Pop", Cole and "Sarge".
Two and a half REAL men!
Den

Muscle Car 2012 - rented, but still amazing.

A '12 Dodge Charger, my sweet girl and a desire to "keep it under a 100 mph".
Ahhh,
Den

The wildness of joy unspeakable

I was trying to find a pic of my grandson, Cole, that represented how he looked when I picked him up yesterday (along with his parents) for their trip to the airport. (The photo is from the summer, but it captures his enthusiasm and wild joy.)

You see, my little "big'un" had only one request for his 4th Birthday celebration - to go where Mickey Mouse lives. (No, not the White House, you perpetuall political addicts! ha)

And his mom and dad heard him.

So, when I picked him up, this was the type of face he gave me. Isn't it awesome?!

Anti-Reagan Newt Gingrich? (Forget the ex-wife... could this be the real bombshell?)

Elliott Abrams' remembrance is quite vivid:

"Here is Gingrich:

“Measured against the scale and momentum of the Soviet empire’s challenge, the Reagan administration has failed, is failing, and without a dramatic change in strategy will continue to fail. . . . President Reagan is clearly failing.”

Why? This was due partly to “his administration’s weak policies, which are inadequate and will ultimately fail”; partly to CIA, State, and Defense, which “have no strategies to defeat the empire.”

But of course “the burden of this failure frankly must be placed first on President Reagan.”"

Not quite Newt Gingrich wrapping himself in the mantle of President Ronald Reagan, is it?

What's Newt going to do with this?

More here.

Den

The Clarity of a Jewish Third Party

Thanks, Allen Gorin, for sending this to me.

A Jew commenting clearly on Christianity and what many call a "cult"!

Now THERE'S a combination!

Please take some time to read.
Den
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Jewish World Review Jan 24, 2012/ 29 Teves, 5772
Evangelicals and Romney: Should Theology Matter?
By Dennis Prager

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | As an American, a Republican, and a fiscal and social conservative — and though I have endorsed no Republican candidate — there is one thing that would disturb me greatly if Mitt Romney were not the Republican nominee: if Romney's Mormon faith were a factor in his defeat.

Many evangelical leaders have said that if Romney is the Republican presidential candidate, they would not vote for him in the general election. What is implied — and sometimes explicitly stated — is that his Mormonism prevents them from voting for him in the primaries.
Most evangelicals label Mormonism a cult, and many accuse Mormons of being dishonest for calling themselves Christians.

Let me explain where I'm coming from on this issue. First, all I care about with regard to the forthcoming election is that a Republican wins. It is difficult to see how the United States could survive as anything but another Europe between Mexico and Canada (while Europe itself is not surviving as Europe) with another four years of the most left-wing president in American history. Just the prospect of Barack Obama appointing one or more Supreme Court justices should focus every non-leftist's mind.
Second, as a Jew, I have no religious pony in this race. I believe that American Christianity has been the greatest force for good in the modern world and that evangelicals are at the core of America's backbone. And I have enormous respect for Mormons. Third, none of my favorite candidates — Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, for example — are running. So I do not write this column on behalf of Mitt Romney or against Newt Gingrich.