Presidential Quotes (15 of 16): Jimmy Carter

Yes, we would probably get more hits by arbitrarily mentioning Phil Robertson of "Duck Dynasty," who is apparently not related to the televangelist Pat Robertson or the fringe minister Johnny Robertson, from Martinsville, Va.

But, we are sticking with our game plan and quoting former Democratic president Jimmy Carter, whose term lasted from 1977 to 1981; Carter was also the governor of Georgia before becoming president.

He is the only president we've quoted so far in this series who is still alive, and he is the second oldest president behind George H.W. Bush:

"You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it better than you think you can."

http://www.cartercenter.org

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org

Quotes from American Presidents (2 of 16): Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt

Greetings to our blog readers in Salt Lake City, Boston and Miami here in America, and to those of you in Lebanon, Belgium and Guatemala.

Our quote today is from Theodore Roosevelt, who is considered to be the most liberal Republican president in history, and thus he has admirers on the right and left. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) got in trouble during a campaign rally in Virginia Beach, Va., when he ran against George W. Bush, when he said that he wanted the GOP to more like 'Teddy Roosevelt's party than Pat Robertson's party.'

Teddy is also a popular Washington Nationals (baseball team) mascot. Since he did win a running of the mascots until the season prior to this one, a blog entitled "Let Teddy Win" was launched and its popular has gone beyond the Washington, DC, metro area: http://www.blog.letteddywin.com

Teddy has been played on film by many actors, most recently Robin Williams. And, there at least six high schools named after him, including one in Kent, Ohio.

Here is his quote:

"The most important single ingredient of success is knowing how to get along with people."

Strange Dreams Indeed: Evangelist Tried to Get Me to Drink the Orangina

A few nights back, I dreamed that the Rev. Johnny Robertson of Martinsville, Va., who looks fairly similar to the Rev. Robert Tilton, (pictured here) one of America's most infamous tv evangelist (Robertson_ no relation to Pat Robertson_ is also a tv evangelist, but on a smaller scale), tried to get give me a free three-foot bottle of Orangina if I would accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior.

The scene of the dream was a Food Lion grocery store in Eden, NC, just over the border from Martinsville, where I'm virtually certain that they don't sell Orangina!

http://www.orangina.com

Blogging in 3.5 Minutes (or less)........The Six Largest Cities in Brazil

Hmmm.........this iconic statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro (called Christ the Redeemer), Brazil, might fool the Rev. Pat Robertson into thinking this is a conservative, evangelical blog when in all actuality, we are about as biased as the great Eric Alterman at "The Nation."

Greetings to all our blog readers in El Salvador, Finland and South Korea.

Here are the six largest cities in Brazil:

1. Sao Paulo 11.23 million

2. Rio de Janeiro 6.33 million

3. Salvador 2.7 million

4. Brasilia (the capital) 2.563 million

5. Fortaleza 2.5 million

6. Belo Horizonte 2.4 million


http://www.cbn.com/700club/

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.ericalterman.com

http://www.visitbrasil.com

Quotes of the Day/Week- Hugo Chavez

Today, we conclude our quotes from famous Latin Americans with the always engaging, far-left leader Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. 2011 was a bad year for dictators as both Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and more recently Kim Jong Il of North Korea (the later of natural causes) died. Others were deposed and imprisoned, and some like Chavez dealt with health issues.

Chavez is suffering from cancer, but exactly what kind of cancer and just how bad it is are not certain. But, Chavez, ever the headline-maker, proclaimed yesterday (according to "The Daily Beast") that the United States was deliberately spreading cancer across South America.

On the other extreme, the American far-right has been a bit paranoid about Chavez, with the whacko evangelist Pat Robertson actually going to the point of calling for the assasination of the Venezuelean leader.

Here is the quote from Chavez, who turned 57 this year:

"We must confront the privildged elite who have destryoed a large part of the world."

Hugh Hefner is 84 Today (Friday)

He may be one of the very few people that feminist Gloria Steinem and evangelist whacko Pat Robertson despise equally, but irregardless the founder of "Playboy" magazine is now 84 years old. We honor him with this quip:

"I have about 100 pairs of pajamas. I like to see people dressed comfortably."

Five People You'll Meet in Hell (satire)

Before I start typing away here, I do want to mention that I am certainly NOT the first person to satire Mitch Albom's book "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." In fact, I found out while researching this piece that there is a satire book entitled (obviously!) "The Five People You Meet in Hell" by Rich Pablom.

I have read neither book, but I made a quick list of five people I would meet if well, things didn't 'quite work out:'

1) Jay Leno- Yes, like all Conan O'Brien fans I hate this guy's guts. My blogger friend Phil Nugent has a great link on his blog to another blog which proclaims that Leno is Satan himself. No disagreement here! The blog "Stuff White People Like" also has a feature on Conan. I think Leno is hip for those who always vote Republican, go to evangelical churches, or watch Lawrence Welk and reruns of "Are You Being Served?"
Even my 70-year-old mom prefers David Letterman.

2)Pat Robertson- He should be numero uno actually. A letter-to-the-editor in "The Roanoke Times" (Roanoke, Va.) actually praised this evil tv evangelist for his comments about how Haiti's earthquake disaster was caused by a pact with Hot Stuff. A letter I have written to a newspaper in Greensboro, NC, condemning Robertson has alas yet to be published?!

3) Recep Tayyip Erdogan- This man is the prime minister of my late father's country Turkey. People of Greek and Armenian heritage seem to arbitrarily hate anyone who is Turkish, which is of course NOT the reason I hate this man. In fact, they are the few people who have ever made me defend him! But, Turkey's first openly Muslim fundamentalist PM has been a nightmare from day one. A Turkish friend of mine called him "The Turkish Bush." His wife wears a head scarf and he can't speak English?! His diplomatic skills are horrible though like his American counterpart Erdogan does connect with rural people. Erdogan also made a bonehead remark on "The Charlie Rose Show" critisizing Israel while defending Ankara's working relationship with Iran. All of this makes me want to reach for the raki* bottle!

*-A Turkish alcoholic drink similar to the Greek drink Ouzo. It is potent to put someone on their %$&!

4) Dick Cheney- I think even if I were a Republican I would believe this man was an agent of Satan himself!

5) Sarah Palin- She is Dick Cheney minus the brain and .............well, this is a family blog! (see Cheney's first name)

Political Humor- Top 10 Reasons Why I Am a Democrat

For those of you living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, this is in reference to some comments that Virginia Beach, Va., tv evangelist Pat Robertson made regarding the earthquake disaster in Haiti which has killed at least 100,000 people so far.

I would explain this further, but it is lunch time!

Here is my list:

1. Pat Robertson
2. Pat Robertson
3. Pat Robertson
4. Pat Robertson
5. Pat Robertson
6. Pat Robertson
7. Pat Robertson
8. Pat Robertson
9. Pat Robertson
10. Dick Cheney


PS_ Amazingly enough, Sarah Palin didn't make the list!