Happy Thanksgivingukkah: Our Dream Thanksgiving Dinner List

Since tomorrow is the first known Thanksginukkah, a combination of Thanksgiving and Hanukah, in the modern calendar, we thought we'd post an entry for the occasion with the 16 people we'd most like to have for dinner. Of course, as you'll soon see, many of the people mentioned here may have problems sitting beside each other. But, that would, of course, make the occasion which is highly unlikely to ever happen all the more ironic and enjoyable.


Here we go:

1. Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va, pictured top)

2. Michael Moore (a liberal documentarian)

3. Bruce Tinsley (a conservative cartoonist of "Mallard Fillmore" fame)

4. Keith Knight (a liberal cartoonist of "Knight Life" and "K-Chronicles" fame)

5. Rudolf Bekink (Dutch ambassador to America)

6. Clarence Thomas (the most conservative Supreme Court justice)

7. Sonja Sotomayor (one of the most liberal Supreme Court justices)

8. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)

9. Parker Posey  (film/stage actress perhaps best-known for "Waiting for Guffman;" pictured center)

10. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va)

11. Joe Lieberman, a former member of the U.S. Senate, though he was a Democrat for three of his four terms it seems like he is more popular amongst Republicans.

12. Joan Baez, popular '60s folk singer

13. Abdullah Antepli, a Turkish man who is the first imam for Muslim students at Duke University.

14. Gwen Ifill, the PBS moderator of "Washington Weekly."

15. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn., considered to be one of the most liberal members of the Senate)

16. Namik Tan (Turkish ambassador to America; pictured bottom)

http://www.kchronicles.com

http://www.joanbaez.com

http://www.vashington.be.mfa.gov.tr

http://www.dc.the-netherlands.org

http://www.morgangriffith.house.gov/

http://www.hagan.senate.gov

DC Week (4 of 8): A Quote from SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas

Greetings to those of you from the Myrtle Beach Tea Party in Myrtle Beach, SC, who would not normally turn to this slightly left-of-center blog for information, entertainment and road kill cooking recipes (yes, that is a joke..........we have no desire to eat Pepe Le Pew and neither does the family cat).

Today, we are quoting America's second most powerful African-American, who is a conservative Republican unlike most African-Americans. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, 65, is an Alabama native and he reportedly disdains his alma mater Yale University.

Before we quote Thomas, we want to wish a Good Morning to our blog-readers from other parts of the world as it now 8:45 a.m. in Tel Aviv and Baghdad, and 9:45 a.m. in Muscat, Oman (we believe this is the first time we've mentioned the gulf Arab nation of Oman in a blog post).

Here is Thomas' quote, it pertains to his negative views towards affirmative action:

"I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights."

For a quip from Thomas' fellow SCOTUS justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one can visit our sister blog: http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com


http://mbteaparty.us/ (Not an endorsement)

http://www.omantourism.gov.om/wps/portal/mot/tourism/oman/home (Yes, Oman has a travel web page!).

http://www.supremecourtus.gov

http://www.yale.edu

DC Week Teaser (2 of 2) : So Much for a Political Fund-Raiser at the National Zoo

We are getting ready for DC Week, which will begin on Thursday. Our interview with Newt Gingrich has been postponed as has our interviews with Michele Bachmann and Clarence Thomas (yes, we are kidding, of course), but we hope to bring you an array of entries pertaining to Washington, DC, as the nation's capitals deals with lost tourism revenue due to the federal government shut down.

But, for right now, we leave you with this teaser, which features: 1) Chris Pontius, an American soccer player for DC United; 2) a giraffe to symbolize the National Zoo, which is closed due to shut down and 3) Cong. David Price (D-NC), one of the few Democrats in a 'safe district' in the increasingly right-wing Tarheel State (Price's district is in and around Chapel Hill and Durham, NC), which was the subject of a brilliant "Doonesbury" comic strip that was published yesterday. I'm sure at least one tea partier in North Carolina cancelled his subscription to the "Charlotte Observer."

http://price.house.gov/#dialog

http://www.dcunited.com/

http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury

http://www.ncdp.org/ (NC Democratic Party)

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/

Tweets of the Day_ Politics, Weather and Halloween Zaniness

Trick or Tweet! We are surprised that our other blog "The Daily Vampire," which turns four years old today, is popular in Israel and Algeria at the moment?!

36 years on this date, I dressed up as Underdog for Halloween back home in Salem, Va.; it should be pointed out that I was six years old in 1976.

Here are today's tweets:

1) @washingtonpost ("The Washington Post"): Skeleton from Colonial times found when #sandy uproots historic tree (the tree is in New Haven, Conn.).

2) @severeplains (Jayson Prentice, a Kansas City meteorologist): "Fact: In the 12 hours before & after landfall, there were nearly 2.7 mentions of #Sandy on Twitter (including retweets)."

3) @NadiaNeopytou (she is a South African journalist living in New York): "Limited subway service in New York to resume on Thursday."

4) @motherjones ("Mother Jones" is a liberal magazine): "Supreme Court Catch 22: Can the government violate your rights as long as it does so in secret?" (Yes, that is the reason why we have an image of Justice Clarence Thomas, the most arch conservative member of the Supreme Court).

5) @davidfrum (David Frum is a center-right pundit who used to be George W. Bush's speech writer): "How much of the white vote will show up on Nov. 6?"

6) @HuffingtonPost (Huffington Post): "Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on climate change: I don't think the federal govt. has done enough. A group of people in Wash. right now deny the truth."

7) @capitalweather (Capital Weather Gang, a Washington, DC-based weather outlet): "Due to #sandy, our winter outlook release- scheduled for Nov. 1_ delayed until after the election. Who is disappointed?"

8) @UWGymnastics (University of Washington gymnastics, former Huskies' gymnast Haley Bogart is pictured above): "Happy Halloween! Show us your costumes? Anyone a gymnast for Halloween! Go Dawgs!"

Quote of the Week: Lyndon B. Johnson

Former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor will be speaking at the LBJ Museum and Library in Austin, Tex., on Nov. 30.

Here is a quip from the legendary prez:


"Any jackass can kick down a bard but it takes a good carpenter to build one."

Quote of the Week- Brian DePalma

For those of us who watch the Showtime series "Dexter" (since I just started watching last season I'm a late convert), this quote from "Carrie" director Brian DePalma does seem quite appropriate. For those not familiar with the show, it has a bit of an edgy premise in that Dexter, a serial killer who 'goes after the bad guys,' is the protagonist. (Yeah, I wonder what Charles Dickens would've thought too):

"Yeah, I had an idea to make a very scary movie, based on some kind of serial murderer that preys on tourists."

SIDEBAR: I don't like to divulge info about my personal life on this blog, but I thought this once I would mention that while his wife is busy calling his former female acquaitances' answering machines, I am indeed having a Stella Artois with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at The Barking Dog Bar in Bethesda, Md.* Thomas apparently really likes jokes about honky rebel flag-waving rednecks, but he didn't want me to let that out because it would be (ironically) politically incorrect and even though he is not an elected official, that is in fact his consistuency!

*- An actual place where happy hours are from Monday-Friday from 3:00-7:00 p.m. Of course, I am kidding around as I don't know if Justice Thomas hangs out in suburban Maryland or if he likes to make fun of white people.But, The Barking Dog does serve Stella Artois!

There Were Other Pranks Besides Mine

There was no white rafting trip to West Virginia this weekend as it was an April Fool's Day prank, but much to my surprise, no one seemed to really care! As it was, I got quite sick over the weekend, so even if I was heading to the 'Wild, Wonderful State' (that's how West Virginia advertises itself), I would not have gotten very far.

But, there were a number of pranks pulled on Thursday.

Here are some of the highlights:

"Coach K (pictured here) just announced Duke has plans to replace Cameron w/ multi-purpose retractable dome stadium," (from twitter.com/dukeblueplanet).

"Starbucks offers giant and micro-sized coffee cups."

"The Guardian (UK) announced it would be first newspaper published exclusively via Twitter."

"Bill Murray agrees to be in 'Caddyshack 3.'"

"WNYC reports that the Supreme Court is giving corporations rights to vote in municipal, statewide and nantional elections."

And, thinkgeek.com actually advertised many fake products, including canned unicorn meat?!

Quote of the Week- Clarence Thomas

Today's Quote of the Week actually complements our other Quote of the Week by filmmaker Spike Lee, whose politics is 'slightly' to the left of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is considered to be the most conservative member of the Supremes. He has admitted that he has libertarian, anti-government leanings, so perhaps he's a subscriber to "Reason" magazine.

This quote from Thomas (yes, it is his quote!) almost made me fall out of my chair, and you might fall out of your's too:

"I've been partial to Malcolm X, particularly his self-help teachings."

Lee made a well-regarded biopic about Malcolm X called......."Malcolm X." I was the only white person in attendance when I saw the film in Roanoke, Va., at a now-closed movie theatre in 1992.

I have to wonder if Lee and Thomas have ever met in person. Perhaps, they've sat beside each other at a New York Knicks or Washington Wizards game. Perhaps, not!