Fly Me To The Moon

Neil Armstrong, the first moonwalker, passes away at 82. Neil Young is doing fine, this NBC report notwithstanding.

So, where were you when? I was in grade schol and my father's company had moved us to The Netherlands in the summer of '69. We were still in transition, living in a hotel. What with the time zones, the first moon walk was at scheduled for roughly 3:45 AM local time. I asked the hotel front desk to give me a wake up call at that time, but...

The front desk called at 4 AM. I headed down to the lounge (what, you think every hotel room had its own television in 1969? Not in Holland!) where the television was on, a crowd was gathered, and Neil Armstrong was walking about on the moon. Groan.

SOON TO BREAK NEWS: When will NBC report that Neil Armstrong has been stripped of his Tour de France titles?

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

I remember being ticked off that it took the Butcher of Chappaquiddick out of the headlines.

[Jack is Back (on his iPad)]

Goede avonds, Tom.

Sprecht je Nederlands?

I posted the other thread where I was: Daddy's Bar, Coconut Grove, Miami. A mile from my Mom's house and a lot further from the moon. Never did beer taste so good nor America more exceptional.

And that little twerp Barry Sotero was some place in an Indonesian madrassa:)

I wonder if our first rate free press will ask him where he was?

[Danube of Thought]

Or ask him if the call to prayer sounded especially beautiful that night.

[Clarice]

The beautiful thing is he's lost 50% of the Catholic vote and that's before they learned he turned down Dolan and invited a gajillion jiahdis to the convention.

Guy is a true genius.

I think next week's column I'm going to pretend to be a shrink and explain why it's obvious BO's trying to lose this time around.

[Clarice]

His Campaign is starting to look like "Springtime for Hitler" isn't it?

[Rob Crawford]

I think next week's column I'm going to pretend to be a shrink and explain why it's obvious BO's trying to lose this time around.

His election's no longer historical. Being reelected isn't nearly as big a thing as being elected in the first place.

[Captain Hate]

Does anybody remember what phase of the moon it was when they landed? It might've been full but I don't remember except it definitely wasn't a new moon.

[Jack is Back (on his iPad)]

Clarice,

Dolan has invited JEF to the Al Smith dinner. As a result, Dolan has published a full page letter in every church bulliten in unexceptional America explaining his decision. He can't believe the amount of flack he is getting. He readily admits this is not an endorsement but wants Barry to explain himself. Good luck with that. Video at 8.

[Clarice]

Yes.JiB, I know he did. I think that was a dreadful mistake but with luck BO will offend the remaining 50% of Catholics.

[Janet]

A repost from the other thread - There is a wonderful little movie about the moon landing called The Dish.

[Captain Hate]

Will they cover the crucifixes at the dinner like they did at Georgetown when the JEF spoke?

[Extraneus]

NYPD Shot 9 Bystanders Before Killing Gunman

[Jim Ryan]

I don't think he's trying to lose, clarice. It's just that all he had in 2008 was a moment's charisma. That moment is gone and he has nothing. He's tried to get it back, but the fake black-preacher cadence and intonation didn't work. So he has gone from big time to nothing, making it seem plausible that he's a man with talent whose trying to lose. But he's not a man with talent and he doesn't want to lose. In 2008 he was able to surf a feeling, a hope, and read from a teleprompter in an inspiring way. We'd just come from war and financial collapse and he seemed so fresh, so promising. We placed hope in him. This gave him a certain energy - literally a human energy flowing from about 50 million people to him. He directed this energy right at his teleprompter and it came off without a hitch. It was a synchronicity, an alignment of forces, a fluke. Now that that moment is gone, it has become clear that he's just Barry, a guy who has no know-how, no achievements and no ideas. All he has is "Romney is a tax felon and a killer and I created more jobs than the Reagan recovery." Piffle. Nothing. Other than the longing for a father, the pinko PC dogma and the lust for aggrandizement, there's not much else to him.

Barack Obama is a man with one gift: The ability to channel the adoration and hope of 50 million people into a series of charismatic speeches. The problem with such a gift is that people are smart enough to figure out that you're a charlatan after about a year and then the adoration and hope cease, rendering the gift useless and impotent.

[Frau Hebamme]

His Campaign is starting to look like "Springtime for Hitler" isn't it?

Clarice, he will always have the bunker.

[Danube of Thought]

Waxing crescent. Pretty much like 2-3 nights ago.

[DrJ]

It was a synchronicity, an alignment of forces, a fluke

Exactly right. And McCain was his opponent.

[Captain Hate]

Ext, has Nanny Bloomberg addressed that yet. Hard to imagine how an armed citizenry could've done worse.

[Captain Hate]

Thanks Dot; and in the spirit of the thread, there will be a blue moon on Friday.

[Ignatz]

--It might've been full but I don't remember except it definitely wasn't a new moon.

Posted by: Captain Hate | August 25, 2012 at 09:12 PM --

If it had been a new moon they would have missed it altogether wouldn't they?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Does anybody remember what phase of the moon it was when they landed? It might've been full but I don't remember except it definitely wasn't a new moon.

Just past first quarter.. To make sure there was good contrast, the landing was set for a day or so after local sunrise, The Sea of Tranquility is at roughly 2 o'clock on the moon as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.

[Clarice]

Happy day after your birthday, Chaco.

[Janet]

, but the fake black-preacher cadence and intonation didn't work.

This is the uber fake black-preacher video of Obama. Full of lies & a phony accent. Is this how people talk in Hawaii?

[sbw]

I was seated at the bar at the Colgate Inn in Hamilton, NY, eating a burger and fries. And drinking.

[Janet]

Seriously, he is such a liar.

[Rick Ballard]

Jim Ryan,

I see him more as the actor who got the lead in a very well scripted and choreographed production which had the entire MFM on the payroll playing their bit parts to perfection. As a speaker, he's a sack of crap without TOTUS. The "gift" was passing the audition with Dean, Soros, Bing and Lewis - the rest was cheesy Hollywood at its worst.

A nasty little liar without much intelligence standing in front of Styrofoam columns.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I must have been remembering the day they left. 33 percent full:

http://www.moonpage.com/index.html

[Clarice]

Do you suppose Soros, Bing and Lewis sat around drinking and laughing placing their bets that they could get a clown with zero experience and limited intelligence elected president?

[Ignatz]

--Do you suppose Soros, Bing and Lewis sat around drinking and laughing placing their bets that they could get a clown with zero experience and limited intelligence elected president?--

Probably betting quatloos.
narciso will know what I mean.

[Janet]

Can you imagine if the MFM had played that video over & over & questioned him back in 2007? Screaming headlines in the WaPo for months...asking this political candidate to explain his lies? The official narrative was bogus from the get-go...not in some hidden way, but right out in the open.

[Janet]

They were probably speaking Esperanto so nobody knew what they were planning.

[Janet]

Well, nobody except Rachel Maddow...cause she "knows everything".

[Clarice]

Heh, Janet/ Did I ever tell you that when Mr F and I were in grade school in Wisconsin our teachers repeatedly told us that esperanto was going to be the language of the future and that when the St Lawrence Seaway was finally built, Milwaukee would become a major world port?

Actually, that's about all either of us remember of grade school.

[Porchlight]

I was four months old in July 1969. Not sure if I was present in front of the TV with my parents and older brother for the actual broadcast, or in my crib asleep, but at least I was alive.

Mary Jo Kopechne was not. RIP.

[gus]

At the risk of pissing of a possibly lurking ACE the ASS. Didn't Hitler have the sense to blow his own head off.

[narciso]

Well I've referred to the shock collars from
that episode. as motivational aides, for recalcitrant staffers.

[Porchlight]

Jim Ryan,

I don't even think the speeches were charismatic or that he delivered them particularly well. Fools who want to be fooled are easily fooled.

That's why I don't like the Elmer Gantry comparisons. Elmer Gantry was a deeply flawed man, but he had genuine charisma and some human qualities. Unlike El JEFe.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Dunno - my guess is that Trippi did the pitch book for Dean's sale of the party but I have no idea who coordinated the hiring of the juiceboxers or provided the oppo research for the Abramoff fun. They knew they had a solid chance when they saw the results of the '06 election but it took a market crash to put their boy in even with all that. He did what they rented him for and they didn't renew the lease.

[Jim Eagle]

From our own AliceH:

RT @hipEchik RT @PoliticsTBTimes: #StPete sees first #RNC-related arrests after men found on downtown rooftop w weapons ow.ly/demnK
2 minutes ago

[Clarice]

Oh, dear.

Narciso, how's the weather?

[narciso]

He's more like Jeff Jefferson, the conman congressman in the distinguished gentleman, written by the same brit, behind Yes Minister
and My Cousin Vinnie.

[gus]

I think you meant JEF JEFerson.

[Captain Hate]

The OWSers were another brilliant ploy by the Pinhead Troika. Getting that theological expert, Pelosi Galore, on board for that was genius too.

[Danube of Thought]

It was a waxing crescent, just approaching first quarter (half moon). Astronomy & Space:

"The Eagle landed on the lunar surface at 4:17 pm EDT on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stayed inside for a few hours, preparing for their space walk. Neil Armstrong emerged from the craft and first stepped foot on the lunar soil at 10:56 pm EDT. (Those east of the Atlantic may recall the landing occurring on July 21.) For most Americans, the moon, a bit less than half full, was setting in the west between Jupiter and Spica. Mars lay within the claws of Scorpius."

You can go to a site called Moonphase and enter the date.

[gus]

Speaking of the Commander and Twat, I wonder what NAME he was using back in 69.
Was he Soetoro and was he still a Muslim.
Where can I get this information???
I'm sure if Romney was living in the Caymans and his parents were calling him Mitt Schwartz and he was attending a Jewish school, there would be some "talk" about it.

[Rick Ballard]

CH,

You need to plug JEF's decision to lead from his behind on the Walker recall into the Pinhead Troika Greatest Hits list. That move cost him tens of millions of dollars plus "free" union organizational help.

[Clarice]

Allowing ValJar and MO to talk him into bouncing Daley, Rahm and Axelrod from the WH was his no 1 mistake. They had some idea of what this country was about.

[Danube of Thought]

Sure, Porch, deeply flawed. But:

"What is Love — the divine Love of which the—the great singer teaches us in Proverbs? It is the rainbow that comes after the dark cloud. It is the morning star and it is also the evening star, those being, as you all so well know, the brightest stars we know. It shines upon the cradle of the little one and when life has, alas, departed, to come no more, you find it still around the quiet tomb. What is it inspires all great men—be they preachers or patriots or great business men? What is it, my brethren, but Love? Ah, it fills the world with melody, with such sacred melodies as we have just indulged in together, for what is music? What, my friends, is music? Ah, what indeed is music but the voice of Love!"

That eternal, glorious music-maker....

[Jim Ryan]

Rick and Porch,

Oh, to be sure. I thought he was abominable as soon as I heard him speak in early 2008. It was immediately apparent to me that he was a phoney, a narcissist and a manipulator. I couldn't bear to hear him speak. Hearing him speak made me feel like a master con man was trying to hoodwink me into giving him enormous power. It was unbearable and I have never listed to more than snippets of his speech broadcast on the news since then. I can't bear it. It's visceral and immediate. It repulsed me, but to others it was moving in the opposite sense. I attribute that phenomenon to a talent that lay within him: a kind of con-man's talent.

So, I'm looking at it in view of what happened. He made millions swoon. I attribute this to the aforementioned talent. But you may be right that it was all the doing of his handlers. The demagogue may be one with a talent for demagoguery or one with handlers who have a talent for making it seem that someone has a talent for leadership.

[gus]

Jim Ryan, I agree entirely. Obama is a con man and cons those willing to be conned.

[Jane]

Clarice,

I can't believe you knew your husband in grade school. That is amazing. Not as amazing as walking on the mood, but amazing still.

[Clarice]

Interesting , Jim. I always had the same reaction to him.

[Jim Ryan]

I don't even think the speeches were charismatic or that he delivered them particularly well.

I suppose I disagree. As soon as I heard him speak I thought "Here is something deeply vile and manipulative." It was highly unusual. It waned and vanished after a year or so. I still don't like to listen to it because I feel "Here he is trying to recapture that deeply vile and manipulative energy."

Its depravity lies partly in that there you saw in 2008 the addition of the cult of personality to progressivism. Our fascists, in addition to being nice in Jonah Goldberg's sense, usually have no personality to speak of. When then add in the cult of personality, it gets a bit disturbing.

[Jane]

JIB,

Where was Alice's report. I see nothing om twitter.

[Danube of Thought]

I agree 100% with JimR. My very, very first, immediate reaction when I saw and heard him was, "this guy is a phony and a fraud." i have not wavered from that view for a single second.

[DrJ]

My very, very first, immediate reaction when I saw and heard him was, "this guy is a phony and a fraud."

I did think he sounded a lot better than John Edwards.

[Jim Ryan]

clarice, I think there are several JOMers who had that reaction.

[gus]

Think about the CON MEN that LIBTARDS like.
Kerry
Edwards
Obama.

Wow. Talk about stupid.

[Clarice]

Well, he's an older man and we went to different schools but I did first spot him when I was in grade school,Jane. He was all city shortstop and looked like Sal Mineo. Didn't date until years later when we were in law school.

[Captain Hate]

Everything was built on the JEF's 2004 convention speech where he was lying out his bony ass about bringing the country together. The donk convention has always been about introducing new faces to a national audience. Even Slick with his typically disorganized and overly long 1988 convention speech, used it as a way for some hayseed rapist to get a national forum.

What do you have this year? Sandra Fluke and Princess Dances with Vibrators celebrating the sacrament of abortion? What a perfect setting for the death of a political party.

[Clarice]

Jim, I think he got that cadence from Wright. Remember he took Wright tapes with him to law school and I think he practiced that hypnotic speech pattern. (Well, hypnotic for dummies.)

[Jane]

I thought he was quite inspirational at the Kerry democrat convention. Well, I thought he was going to be president at least.

[Clarice]

Niters.

[Captain Hate]

I thought he was quite inspirational at the Kerry democrat convention. Well, I thought he was going to be president at least.

The online swooning at donk sites after that was huge. The wind went right out of the sails of the HMS Pantsuit.

[gus]

Look at Capn Hate, unleashing a war on women.

[Jim Ryan]

Looks like Naples will get clobbered. I loved the old Naples of the 70's and early 80's. Anyone remember it? What a nice sleepy little town.

[Captain Hate]

Good night for me as well; time to read and listen to music uninterruptedly

[gus]

Jim, I can't wait for Obama and FEMA to come to the rescue, showering BILLLLLIONS on Florida.

[Jim Ryan]

Yes, hypnotic. And I think the whistle lisp is part of the act. A normal pol would have had it taken out long ago by a speech therapist. There's a whole Facebook page for those who are annoyed by this lisp.

An annoying but seemingly unavoidable trait can help the con man hypnotize his subjects. They feel annoyed, then feel guilty for being annoyed by someone's unavoidable foible, and then are prone to give him more credence as a way of atoning for this.

[Porchlight]

Not sure if I was clear. I too thought he was a phony and a fraud from the beginning including the 2004 DNC speech. I know that others heard the convincing, inspiring part; I recognized the manipulation, but wasn't myself inspired. It was/is so facile, so shallow. Add in the logo and the slogans and the posters and it is embarrassing, if not frightening.

I think the most depressing part is the realization that this tripe is, or at least was, actually convincing to living people. Including probably 80% of everyone I have ever known or been related to.

Ugh. At least this year they have the chance to redeem themselves (somewhat) in the voting booth.

[Dina]

I was standing on Cocoa Beach with my Mom. She was telling me about the astronauts going to the moon in a rocket. I remember seeing the little flame rising in the sky and everyone cheering. I was three years old at the time and I have never forgotten that moment.

[Threadkiller]

"I can't believe you knew your husband in grade school. That is amazing. Not as amazing as walking on the mood, but amazing still.

Posted by: Jane | August 25, 2012 at 11:07 PM"

My mood is always getting walked on.

[Jim Ryan]

For me it was all about Major Matt Mason. His space suit was perfect.

[Threadkiller]

Owning one of these is about my only contribution to the space age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SigULjze-UE

[Melinda Romanoff]

As a side note, has no one noticed any road construction with the ARRA (Porkulus) signs posted nearby? I'm seeing them all over in the last few weeks, MA, NH, IL & WI. Just where do you think that money is being skimmed, on schedule?

CH-

Spent the afternoon with the Nat Cole Trio, one of the best pianists ever.

After Lewis, Ammons, Waller, Wilson, Tatum, Garner (both), and Mary Lou.

[Jane]

It's IPad's fault TK

[Threadkiller]

You should see what Droid did to me on the other thread, Jane.

;-)

[Frau Mondfahrt]

Did you get yours, Jim Ryan?

[jimmyk]

I think the most depressing part is the realization that this tripe is, or at least was, actually convincing to living people.

Yep, it drove home the fact that even the American electorate can be taken in by a con artist. After the 2000 and 2004 elections I had convinced myself that we were collectively smarter than that. I was even glad when he got nominated over Hillary, as I was so sure he couldn't get elected. My reaction to him was similar to Jim Ryan's 10:56, but not as strong only because I couldn't take him that seriously. It seemed obvious that he was just mouthing platitudes, and wouldn't be able to get far. Boy was I wrong.

[jimmyk]

On Armstrong, there's a surprisingly effective (though not so well-written) piece on Yahoo, I guess because it relies on Wolfe's "The Right Stuff":

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/neil-armstrong-moon-mystery-man-022250193.html

I was nine at the time, and was allowed to stay up late to watch it. For once I didn't feel disadvantaged because we only had a black and white TV.

[Ralph L]

Slick with his typically disorganized and overly long 1988 convention speech
Which he promptly blamed on the Dukakis campaign.

One of the announcers on WCPE(.org) classical radio whistles his S's badly. Unfortunately, he's the station manager.

[Sara]

Ditto to everything Jim Ryan said. I don't think I've ever listened to more than a sentence or two of any of his speeches. I cannot take his voice and I could not understand why so many could not see thru him, it was so obvious to me that the guy was a figment and fraud. A carnival barker, at best.

[gus]

Sara. when I see the Kenyan Kon man speak, I want to RESPOND and shove his bullshit down his throat.
He's easy.
Unless you are retarded.

[Sara]

Good grief!

In an op-ed for the Tampa Bay Times, the former Florida governor endorses President Obama:

But an element of their party has pitched so far to the extreme right on issues important to women, immigrants, seniors and students that they’ve proven incapable of governing for the people. Look no further than the inclusion of the Akin amendment in the Republican party platform, which bans abortion, even for rape victims.

[gus]

Sara, maybe Charlie Tan lines, wants to get....."MARRIED".
Look up "loser hack" in the dictionary.
Charlie Crist, is RUNNNING TOWARD THE TITANIC.

It would be funny, if it wasn't so so so sad.

[bgates]

Haven't seen Charlie Crist since he cut an ad for the biggest ambulance chasing law firm (headed by one of the biggest Obama donors) in central Florida.

Still, among the scumbag ex-governors who've been associated with Obama, he's the least worst.

Corzine - the first guy Obama admin turned to for financial advice; stole a billion dollars; not charged by Obama Justice Dept

Richardson - Obama's choice for Commerce Secretary; required campaign contributions from businesses seeking work from the state; not charged by Obama Justice Dept

Blagojevich - close to Obama for a decade in Illinois; offered to sell Senate seat to crony of Obama's choosing; arrested by Bush Justice Dept before scandal could reach President-elect Obama

[Jane]

I'm a STAH!

Great Pieces Clarice!

[Sara]

Democratic heavy hitter Robert Reich throws a curve ball and predicts Romney will beat Obama in the Presidential Debates

Mitt Romney has turned into such a skilled debater that he could trounce President Barack Obama in their three head-to-head encounters in the run-up to the election, former Democratic Labor Secretary Robert Reich believes.

Romney “is going to be debating somebody who is not nearly as good a debater as his reputation,” Reich tells Atlantic Magazine in its September issue. He says that under live questioning, Obama “can seem kind of wooden” and “at a loss for words.”

[Sara]

Investigating Sarah Palin's Mysterious Delegate Packages At The GOP Convention .

[Sara]

Mitt and Paul, Footloose in Ohio

Great intros by Josh Mandel and John Kasich.

[Jim Eagle]

sara,

What's with your avatar? Its not there just your name.

As bgates notes Crist is now with that scumbag law firm Morgan & Morgan who saturate the air ways with personal injury ads. From Governor to ambulance chaser in one imperfect swan dive.

FEMA money won't buy a single vote in Florida.

Reich is right about the debates. If Mitt can find a subtle way to get under Odummy's thin skin, then even better. Love to see that little prick break down on national TV.

[DrJ]

I'm a STAH!

Yes you are! But your radio show is broadcast WEEKLY and not ANNUALLY as Clarice wrote, right?

[Jim Eagle]

Clarice,

Thanks for reminding me how clever Shel Silverstein was. Need to get that book for Frederick. Saw it the other day at B&N and thought he would like it. Great pieces as always.

[Captain Hate]

Wow Reich breaks the code of complicity. Who's next?

[Jane - talk is cheap!]

Clarice's Pieces!

[centralcal]

Good morning. Clarice at AT (with quotes from Jane) and bgates on Instapundit. It truly is a JOM Sunday morning reading bonanza.

[sbw]

Beat me to it, cc. You're up early.

Instalanche on aisle bgates!

[narciso]

Great pieces, Clarice, of course the fact that they often focus their fire on one woman,
in particular, is somehow left out of the mix,

Carolyn Kennedy, one of those who vetted Biden, fancied herself as a constitutional law expert, at least that's what her appearances on 'Larry King Alive' indicated.

[Clarice]

Thanks. Usually I am so worried about errors I get up in the middle of the night to check the story but I slepy in this morning. I noticed the error about the show--have no idea how that happened--and have informed the editor.

[centralcal]

Yeah, sbw, I'm usually up between 4:30 and 5:00 am every day.

[Jim Eagle]

Talking about Biden: Mentally Unstable and of Low Intelligence.

In the construction business we had a phrase for this: The guy is a half a bubble off.