… I can supply your need. From Sarah in the comments over here at Kevin Baker’s, an informative video:
Now, Larry Grathwohl, the FBI agent who went under cover into the Weather Underground. You know, the organization founded by Bill Ayers… Obama’s buddy.
Do not for a minute allow yourself to think that the people who stand in opposition to your rights are “safe” because “they think they are right.” Useful idiots are as dangerous as their masters… and their masters are very damn dangerous.
(Sorry for the language, kinda emotional subject. I have Korea and Vietnam vets in the family, and the fact that the mush-heads today think Che and Stalin are cool boils my blood.)
This ain’t my fault… blame Jay G. for gettin’ me started.
We in the South see humor in anything– we pretty much have to. Any large gathering (weddings, funerals, reunions, meetings) quickly breaks down into groups “swappin’ stories.” The same thing happens when friends meet… “got any news?” “Nah, no good’n's.” It’s built into us, telling the stories we were told… because story telling is the best teacher. (Yankees, please take note– I know you’re thinking “oh, Mr. Rogers” right now. Yeah, he went to college in the South and married a Southerner. You’re welcome.)
I can remember being a small child and listening to my mother’s mother telling stories to me– everything from the family history (her father was blind but grew a large garden by touch) to her life experiences (she was a small girl when the Titanic sank, and she’s the one that influenced me to love history) to humor.
A boy finally got the nerve to ask his sweetheart to the picture show, and as they were watching, she gently lay her head on his shoulder. Moments later, she looked over at him and saw he was furiously twiddling his thumbs. Lifting her head, she gently whispered in his ear “can’t you do anything better with your hands?” The guy looked at her, stunned… and then began twiddling his thumbs in opposite directions.
I remember this for two reasons: one, it reminds me of some of my dates, and two… man, my grannie told naughty stories. (Heck, I got the PG-13 ones. My brother and cousins re-tell some real knee-slappers.) Even my father and mother passed some on (one day, I will have to write about my dad and the panther…).
The professional comedians who come from the South typify our story telling… for the most part, clean, decent, with a good message… and uproariously funny. Some have become popular recently (Foxworthy, Engvall, White), but the grand-daddy of them all was Jerry Clower. The first stand-up comic I ever heard, I’ve been trying to find the routine of his I heard… to no success. Needless to say, it involved scuppernong wine, grassers (geese that eat weeds out of gardens), a feather-tick mattress and the punchline “look-a yonder, look-a yonder, comin’ up the hill… SEVENTEEN NAKED GEESE!”
For some examples, three of Jerry’s skits:
Jerry’s version of the story Jay G. told above.
The “banana joke.” My parents loved it, because they used to get fruit (but never a banana) for a Christmas gift.
The talking chain saw. My favorite, because my father pulp-wooded from the time he was 15 until he went to work with Fairchild Aircraft in the late 1970′s. Also, a note– in the skit, Jerry references McCulloch as a saw brand. In the old days, McCulloch and Poulan were the two brands found most in the loggin’ woods. I’ve spent more time servicing saws of both brands than I care to admit. (They’re both crap, and both have been bought out by Husqvarna.)
Now, if ya’ll’ excuse me, I gotta go see if I can’t find a mess of peas and butterbeans to shell.
Back at the beginning of the year, video came out on Wikileaks that (supposedly) showed the crew of an Apache gunship mowing down unarmed civilians. Heavily edited, the video caused an uproar amongst the left.
Turns out that the video was leaked by a 22 year old Specialist serving in Iraq. Amongst the things he leaked werea classified Army report (ironically enough, detailing Wikileaks as a security risk) and over a quarter of a million diplomatic cables. Congratulations, Spc. Manning, you just earned yourself a free one-way ticket to Leavenworth, Kansas!
Makes me smile, because one of my good friends in high school is deaf and has implants. When her daughter was born, she didn’t react to sound and they had to do testing to see (in her words) “if she’s deaf like mommy or just stubborn like daddy.” Turns out, she was just ignoring everyone.
Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never ’gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.
