1:59 pm CST
Nixon at the Trade Mart

I feel better after posting those pictures of Nixon. I'm still sick with this allergy condition, or bird flu, or whatever it is, but mentally I'm in a much better place than earlier.

Nothing like ol' Tricky Dicky to brighten up your day. Good ol' Nixon, gone but not forgotten ...

I saw Nixon speak in Dallas when I was a teenager. A group of Republicans from our county were traveling to the event by bus. My father, a staunch Republican himself, wanted to cover it in his weekly newspaper, but had other obligations that night. So he sent me along, with a camera, to cover it.

I was no particular fan of Nixon, but it didn't matter--I had never seen a president in person before, and was always ready to go to the Big City, so off I went.

Nixon was speaking at the Trade Mart, the same place JFK would have spoken eight years earlier if there hadn't been some trouble in his motorcade.

A great many people turned out to see Nixon; as a result, there was a huge traffic jam surrounding the Trade Mart and it took a long time for the bus to reach the parking lot.

This was not a screened event, as presidential appearances are these days. Anyone could see the president who wanted to, even people who hated the president. They could even protest and not be escorted out of the room.

Not only was there no screening of the audience, security in general was much lighter than you would see now. A Secret Service agent stood at the door looking through various items, such as ladies' purses, but it was random. He did not search my camera case, for instance, even though it was large enough to hold a pistol.

Incidentally, as I passed the Secret Service agent, I noticed he was wearing what looked like a hearing aid. I thought it was nice that they had given him that job, even though he was hard of hearing. That's how naive and ignorant I was in those days.

Nixon was late, due to the traffic jam, so while we waited for him there was a considerable amount of speechifying by various big-shot Texas Republicans, most notably John Tower and George H. W. Bush.

At the time I didn't know much about Bush, therefore could not have imagined that one day I would come to despise him, along with his son and everyone else he is associated with. The Bush Junta was far in the future.

Finally, the great moment arrived. The speechifying stopped; there was an expectant stir in the air. Then the band began playing "Hail to the Chief" and he burst onto the stage, smiling and waving: Richard Nixon, 36th President of the United States.

During his speech, a small group of anti-war protesters seated on the bleachers near the podium were shouting. This went on for a long time, and offended a great many people. I overheard some terrible suggestions about what should be done with the protesters.

The protesters were greatly outnumbered, to say the least, thus I wondered at their bravery, or foolishness, or whatever it was that had prompted them to come into enemy territory and incite such passions. So ugly was the mood, in fact, that I feared for their safety.

Finally, it happened. A protester--a man in a suit--was standing up in the bleachers shouting. A few seats down from him sat a large woman in a mink coat holding a long wooden pole bearing the American flag; every few minutes she would turn around and shout at the man to shut up.

But he didn't; he just shouted louder. Furious, she stood up, turned around, and swung that flagpole upwards, knocking him such a whack on the head that he went flying backwards off the bleachers.

The audience applauded and the woman sat down, greatly pleased with herself.

As for the small group of protesters, they helped their friend to his feet and left the building, booed and pelted by paper cups.

No, in those days, security did not screen the audience or escort protesters out of the building; there was no need to. The audience was self-policing ...


11:53 am CST
Nixon!


He's the President of Fun ...


Laughing with the astronauts ...


Hanging out with Elvis ...


Tough when he needs to be ..


But always loveable ...


Not a crook ...


Here, have a cigar!


Nixon's the One!


11:29 am CST
What the Mainstream Media is Ignoring

While we've been focused on the cover-up of Cheney's drunken mishap, or brawl, or whatever it was, here are the stories that have fallen by the wayside: the fake plot to destroy the "Liberty" Tower, British army soldiers beating up Iraqi children, the UN calling for the immediate closure of Gitmo, the leaking of more Abu Ghraib photos, the permanent renewal of the Patriot Act, and the missing $8.8 million funds for Iraqi reconstruction ...
Cheney Shooting: A Multi-Layered, Staged Managed Distraction


11:15 am CST
A General Malaise

I feel lousy. Sinus drainage, queasiness, sore throat, achiness, low energy, and a general malaise.

It probably has something to do with this cold, damp weather I was so happy about two days ago.

I don't blame the cold, damp weather itself, but the fact that for six weeks we had unseasonably warm weather, then when the change it occurred, it was too abrupt.

One day it's 82 degrees, we're sweating and miserable, running the air conditioner, etc. The next day it's 32 degrees. No time to acclimatize.

No wonder I'm sick.