Presidential Quotes (5 of 16): Millard Fillmore...........not the duck

Greetings to our blog-readers in Dubai, France and Norway, where the English soccer team Tottenham Hotspur traveled all the way to Tromso, a city inside the Arctic Circle, in which the visitors prevailed 2-0.

Though he may not be a household name in France or even here in les etas unis, President Millard Fillmore was the fourth and final Whig Party member and the 13th man to rise to the presidency. In Fillmore's case, it was not an election but the death of President Zachary Taylor which allowed him the presidency. Fillmore was later on a 1938 postage stamp, and his time in office lasted from 1850-53. He was also a political conservative.

This brings us to Mallard Fillmore, a right-wing cartoon duck whom we must admit is quite amusing even though we prefer the progressive politics of comic strips like "Doonesbury" and "Knight Life" (by the ever-kewl Keith Knight), which is the brainchild of Bruce Tinsley.

"Mallard Fillmore" first became syndicated in 1994, and Tinsley got his start as a political cartoonist for "The Daily Progress" newspaper in Charlottesville, Va., which is ironically the most progressive zip code in Virginia.

Stephen Colbert made fun of Mallard Fillmore in 2006 saying that the duck was to right-wing media as Garfield was to lasagna.

Here is Pres. Millard Fillmore's quote: "It is not strange to mistake change for progress."


http://www.millercenter.org/president/fillmore

http://www.millardfillmore.org

http://www.mallardfillmore.com

Team Colbert?!

Whew! I am not having much like with loading images these days, but nevertheless I had to mention this news item about comedian/talk show host/political satirist Stephen Colbert's involvement with the U.S. Speedskating team. The speedskaters would be competing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. My sister Lale and her husband Matt will be in Canada to watch curling, a sport that they have developed a foundness for. And, Heather Richardson of High Point, NC, will also be at the Olympics, but as a competitor representing the United States in the 500 meter, 1,000 meter and 1, 500 meter speedskating races.

Those of you who live in Park City, Utah, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Nashua, NH, Duluth, Minn. or Eau Claire, Wisc., might be surprised to learn that Richardson will not be the first North Carolinian competing in speedskating at the winter Olympics. Joey Cheek, who has been a vocal human rights activist with regards to the genocide in Darfur (Sudan), won a gold medal during the last winter games. Cheek is originally from Greensboro, NC, which is an adjoining community with High Point.

Colbert, who has recently been profiled in "Rolling Stone" and "Sports Illustrated" for his involvement with trying to raise $300,000 for the U.S. Speedskating team. He is stepping because the team fell short of its budgetary needs when their sponsor the Dutch banking giant DSB went under.

Richardson has faced her own financial struggles as she relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah, to train for the winter games. She was initially working for a Bath and Body Wax store in SLC in 2008, but she had to quit her job to focus on speedskating training.

When asked by "Rolling Stone," why he chose to support the speedskating team Colbert responded by saying that (paraphrase) 'men who wear unitards are the most macho of men.'

In today's edition of "The News-Record" (Greensboro's main newspaper), reporter Gerald Witt interviewed local auto dealer Tim Ilderton who is trying to raise individual funds for Richardson. Her father Jeffrey works for Ilderton. High Point University is working to raise funds for the North Carolina speedskater as well.

Colbert said his favorite speedskater was Richardson's teammate Katherine Reutter because she 'allowed him to sign her titaniumhard thigh.'

The comic talk show host added that is was 'ok for liberals to wear American flags during the Olympics' because they were in a foreign country, and Canada (no less).

Regardless of one's politics or nationality for that matter, if you wish to contribute to Richardson's fund, you can long on to her Facebook page, visit heatherlynnrichardson.com or write a check to: Go Heather Fund (put Heather Richardson in the header) PO Box 350 High Point, NC 27261.

Bonus Quote of the Week- Trent Reznor

I normally just post quotes of the week on Mondays, but this chilling, honest quip from Nine Inch Nails lead singer Trent Reznor from the Sept. 17 issue of "Rolling Stone" with Stephen Colbert on the cover (Reznor initially stated the quote in 1994)) certainly grabbed my attention:


"I'm not afraid to question my own sexual orientation. I'm not afraid to think about things you aren't supposed to think about. I do wonder what it would be like to kill somebody, though I'm not going to do it. I don't want to do it. But I know why people idolize serial killers."

Political Confusion Test (Entry 17 of 21)_ Feist or Toby Keith

My sister who resides with her husband and their two cats in a suburb of Anchorage, Alaska, (in-joke) was kind enough to get me "Stephen Colbert's Christmas Special" for the holidays and I was really taken in by the unlikely duet between independent darling Feist and country singer Toby Keith, who has been known to make provocative statements regarding the use of military force.

The two are extremely different from each other as (Leslie) Feist, who some times performs with the band Broken Social Scene, is a laid-back starlett who hit it big with her release "The Reminder" that featured the hit single "1....2.....3....4." She is also Canadian, and I presume she does not eat beef.

Keith, on the other hand, is a vocal militant country singer from Clinton, Okl.,
who hit it big with the song "How Do You Like Me Now?" in 1999. Keith played a hunter on Colbert's Christmas special, which seems very appropriate given his politics.

But, amazingly enough, Keith who was a hard-core supporter of George W. Bush during the 2004 presidential election considers himself a 'conservative Democrat' even though at times times he makes Sen. Joe Lieberman look like Hugo Chavez. Keith is also good friends with Cong. Dan Boren (D-Okl)....what a minute, there's actually a Democratic congressman from Oklahoma?!


NOTE: The last entry in this series is actually posted on my other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time:" http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

For the record, my sister does not actually live in Alaska.