Terminator IV: Arnold Stops the 1877 Compromise

June 21, 2006

Because the Senate has so little on its plate in terms of Social Security and health care reform: Yesterday, our 109th Congress agreed to H. Res 867, "honoring the life and accomplishments of James Cameron."

No, they didn't discuss the cinematographic merits of True Lies, Titanic or even Xenogenesis... that would be the wrong James Cameron.

This James Cameron was the founder of America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee, and the last American survivor of a lynching.

The kicker: Why does the House agree to commend the founder of a lynching museum, while the Senate can't even agree on a resolution condemning the act?

Comments

|6.21.06 @ 1:31PM|#

If you want to honor the man, hell, just go to the museum one of these days. Stop wasting our tax dollars with patronizing gestures to ethnic idenity politics.

Reminds me of my teen years when I worked at our sate's capitol buidling. Part of my job was to take a bunch of these stupid proclamations from sate Reps and Senators, use a big mechanical machine to put the governor's signature on it and mail it out to people. It was always funny to see some moron who had one of these empty proclamations on his or her wall, and was so stupid enough to think the governor actually gave a sh*t about "National Treehuggers Day" to personally sign their crap.

|6.21.06 @ 1:51PM|#

Here's why, Taylor. Because assholes like George Allen consider "Southern Heritage" to be a source of pride, rather than a mark of abject treasonous shame.

The flag issue is the only thing I've ever fully agreed with Cornel West on in my life. To paraphrase him: When the southern states seceded, they committed treason. When Lee handed his colors and sword to Grant, the Confederate flag became synonymous with the Nazi flag.

It makes me fucking sick: Southern Heritage...of what? Owning human beings, that's what.

|6.21.06 @ 2:04PM|#

Let me just suggest that overbroad generalizations about millions of people might be a tad unwarranted.

|6.21.06 @ 2:12PM|#

I knew that the very first or second post would lambast Congress for "wasting time & taxpayer dollars". Witness first-poster BornAgainIconoclast:

"Stop wasting our tax dollars with patronizing gestures to ethnic idenity politics."

Think about this for a second. They idiots in Swamphole, DC, are going to fill their hours with something. Would you rather it be spent on benign bestowances (is that a word?) of honor on certain people, or instead be spent on raping and pillaging our wallets and our rights? I know which I'd choose. Don't make "better" the enemy of "best" here.

|6.21.06 @ 4:24PM|#

Waste of tax dollars? Ethnic identity politics? Pardon me, but Mr. Cameron was lynched--a crime that was essentially tolerated throughout the entire Jim Crow era.

Remembering Jim Crow is not patronizing; it's a moral obligation.

|6.21.06 @ 5:11PM|#

Or they could have used the time to debate a really crucial issue like "what should be our national sandwich?"

|6.21.06 @ 5:13PM|#

The Reuben.

No, there is no debate. I have spoken.

In second place is the Cuban sandwich.

|6.21.06 @ 5:30PM|#

Well Jeb Bush just signed the law making Key Lime the Florida State Pie. Just disenfranchised that whole pecan-loving crowd in the north of the state.

|6.21.06 @ 5:40PM|#

I'm okay with Key Lime pie being the official pie. Pecan pie is, of course, awesome, but Georgia or South Carolina has a better claim to the pecan pie than we do. I hope that our glorious legislature spent loads of time debating this critical, Florida-shattering topic.

Next, they need to debate the state animal again. Florida panther? Ahem. How about, oh, I don't know, the alligator? I think the next legislative session should be dedicated to resolving that question. Personally, I think a few people in the government took their college allegiances a little too far in rejecting the one animal definitely associated with our fair state. Of course, there's always the bull shark :)

|6.21.06 @ 5:51PM|#

Macy, remembering Jim Crow is why Mr. Cameron developed his museum, a noble effort by a man who turned his personal tragedy into a chance to educate. The success of his efforts are laudable, he is truly inspiring.
That being said, what business does the House have wasting our tax dollars (we pay them and their staff, you know), to remind us of what we already know? I don't know where in the Constitution it says that it is the government's job to tell us who is heroic and, by negative inference, who isn't.

PL: Right on.. ruebens rock. However, the Cuban sandwich served at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse NY (with a side of ice-cold Middle Ages Wailing Wench IPA) is, in fact, sandwich heaven.

|6.21.06 @ 5:58PM|#

cecil, just what is a "Cuban" sandwich in New York? I'm curious as to whether it's the real thing. Not that it couldn't be good on its own merits, of course.

At least tell me that it's pressed, for the love of Martí!

|6.21.06 @ 6:15PM|#

PL: remember, this is primarily a bar-b-que and ribs joint...(and I am no Cuban either!), but a Cuban at the Dinosaur is on a big, soft sandwich roll with Dinosaur-sauced pulled pork, a thick, but tender slab of grilled ham, melted swiss and a few thick slices of pickle.

This thread is making me miss central new york, something I didn't think would ever be possible. As a new transplant to the northwest, I am amazed by the quality of the mexican food here, but I do miss an honest rib joint once in a while.

|6.21.06 @ 6:17PM|#

BTW: how does one press a sandwich?

|6.21.06 @ 7:27PM|#

cecil, that sounds edible and at least similar to a true Cuban.

Pressing can be done by various means. There are dedicated sandwich presses these days, but you can do it yourself by making the sandwich, brushing some oil or melted butter on each side, and placing it on a pan with an iron skillet on top of it. So good.

|6.21.06 @ 8:25PM|#

The only true restitution is if you could dig up the administrations from the times of lynching and have them apologize.
A room full of U.S. citizens (which is all the congress is) today doesn't heal any wounds in my opinion. As a gesture, it's fine. But to demand an apology from today's citizens is non-sensical.

Bernd Haug|6.23.06 @ 4:02AM|#

The Wikipedia page on Cameron is down due to possible copyright violation.

Could this be another of those instances where speech is suppressed using overly broad IP laws?