FROM THE HINTERLAND OF THE DEEP SOUTH

IT�S ALL A KROC O� KRAP: For those of you who know it, my aging Pop is a lifelong fan of the early Folk Song Movement. For those of you who don�t know it, my aging Pop is a lifelong fan of the early Folk Song Movement.

This musical phenomenon took shape in the late 1950�s when the Old Fellow entered college. Regularly do we hear his ancient tapes and (believe it or not) vinyl records of groups like The Kingston Trio, Brothers� Four, Joan Baez, Ian and Sylvia, Judy Henske, and a couple of dozen others who formed the backbone of that musical genre. My older brothers love this stuff. I don�t, but have learned to keep my pie hole shut when it comes to Dad�s numerous and famous foibles. I am a coward when it comes to physical pain.

Last night I was on the P.C. doing some serious, er, ah, research for a class project. Dad was half reading and half cleaning a firearm, kind of dozing in front of the Toobus Boobus. And the phone rang. Your humble correspondent answered since the damn thing sits on the same desk as the �puter. It was brother Rob. �Lemme speak to Pop, you little piece of crap,� he said affectionately, which I did. All I heard was one side of a brief conversation: �Yeah, what is it, Son? No. No I didn�t. OK, I will. Thanks for calling. Give the kids a hug from Granddad.� End of conversation.

The Old Fellow explained (patiently, as is his custom) that Rob called to tell him to check out the local public television station because they were featuring old time folk music and my brother thought we (read Pop) might be interested. The only groan came from yours truly. The dog padded over to another, more soundproof room.

The feature wasn�t, to be sure, the promised folk music. It was more early rock and ballad stuff from the seventies and eighties, I think. I am quite ignorant on what was popular in which decades. But it was old. And so were the performers. And most definitely the audience.

PBS does this kind of thing every so often when it wants to pick the public pocket: trotting out over-the-hill musicians once beloved by a population segment now well heeled enough to fall for a thick overlay of nostalgia. The featured program alternated a few minutes of taped music with torturously long shill sessions to help us �feel good� about sending in our dollars to support the network.

Sorry, Charlie. PBS is off our list of acceptable charities to which Pop might send a few retirement dollars. Why? Simple, they have all the money they need, and they are getting it from people like Ray Kroc (Mickie D�s) who willed the left leaning public broadcasting two hundred million smackeroosl. Kroc�s late widow, Joan B., was (politely) a very liberal philanthropist who founded several outlets to spend the cholesterol laden, capitalistic gains wrenched from generations of patrons whose high blood pressure brought them to an early grave. These include The Institute for international Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and the Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego. The Krocs were massive supporters of public broadcasting. Their money will continue to be.

Politically, PBS is and has been for years a one-dimensional, leftist broadcasting outlet. I do not begrudge them their opinion; I do begrudge sending them monies from federal coffers to support their bias. I have no problem with Kroc monies shoring up this organization. Nor do I object to their solicitation of funds claiming they are doing so in the greater name of the Arts. On the other hand, I think it needs to be pointed out just as often as possible that PBS does not really need the dollars it solicits.

We think our pork barrel Congress could save a few taxpayer dollars by defunding Public Broadcasting, and doing so immediately. Probably lacks the cojones, of course, but it is one great idea.

When I was a little boy living with two parents in Boston, my mother, a Brit Lit major from Seven Sisters� Wellesley College, used to dress me up and drag me kicking and screaming to events like Boston Pops� children�s Concerts during the holidays. These sessions, held in the venerable Symphony Hall, were pure torture for an active six-year-old. But people from Beantown�s moneyed set loved to show off their children at these affairs. At other times, they would leave the kids with Nanny (or Italian Grandmother, in our case) and attend a more grown up musical fete in the same venue. These things were always televised and shown via public television. Later, I noticed that the swells did the same thing in the Big Apple, bringing children to watch a Bernstein concert, for instance. Always dressing up, always showing off, always preening in front of the PBS lens. What a lousy way for a normal child to spend a Sunday afternoon.

And so we come full circle to the crowd we saw briefly this week at the shill affair. They were definitely on the elderly side, my Pop�s generation, over-dressed (my perspective) trying to recapture some almost forgotten aspect from the culture of their youth. It was pretty sickening, actually. And exploitive, using silver-haired ex-hippy grandmas and raspy voiced singers to promote PBS.

Even Pop couldn�t stand it for long. He went back to his reading and I returned to my important research on the girls of the SEC.

ZELL MILLER SHOWED UP IN MACON THIS WEEK. I missed the book signing due to a late lab, but I did hear his words of wisdom on our excellent local talk radio, The Kenny B. and Jami G. Show, (http://www.usbroadcasting.com) . And the man is absolutely correct. The Democratic Party has all but abandoned the Southland, and has turned its back on the issues important to the Southern Voter, most particularly the lowering of taxes and national defense. Southerners tend to be patriotic and support the military. Your average Southerner, once considered a Yellow Dog Democrat, fiercely loyal to his party, now mistrusts the kind of liberalism seen oozing from every pore of the body of the mythic jackass. Send us Terry McAuliffe, please, ain�t seen a good tar and feathering in years.

YOU HAVE BEEN HEARING ABOUT A REVOLUTION IN GEORGIA. That�s not us, folks. That�s over in what used to be called The Soviet Union, the great big country that fell apart because it couldn�t keep up with an America under, yes, yes, President Ronal Reagan. Remember? Actually, I don't. That was just a little before I knew there was something called politics. Just didn�t want you to be worried about us.

AND WE THOUGHT PARIS HILTON WAS A HOTEL, not a whore house. Damn!! I know what I�m going to do when I turn eighteen, in just three weeks. (Yeah; register to vote. Still can�t buy a legal beer.) Going find me a wealthy socialite girlfriend and get it on with her in front of a movie camera. Then what? Sell it on the internet, I guess. Blackmail is illegal in this state, I think. Maybe make enough to buy a new car (hybrid, probably, hate spending money on gas). No, I didn�t see Ms Hilton and her friend Richette Rich on an Arkansas farm this week. Didn�t! Won�t! No Way!!

HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT THE ECONOMY IS DOING VERY WELL? Haven�t heard much on this subject from frequent critic Nancy �Mamma Mia� Pelosi. In fact, haven�t heard much from her in a couple of weeks when we suggested over at http://politicalpulpit.com that she should get her Italian ass back in the kitchen where it belongs. Italian men are somewhat old fashioned and definitely traditional.

JOHN KERRY CAME OUT SWINGING THIS AFTERNOON condemning the Bush international policy. Kerry promises to bring turn Iraq over to the United Nations and Afghanistan to NATO. What a cool idea. As I recall the U.N. refused help from the US in Baghdad and was bombed recently, whereupon that craven and useless, puss filled and bloated body pulled up stakes and turned tail. Great. Put Iraq in the hands of those mincing little peacekeepers in their pretty blue helmets and rifles frequently lacking ammunition. Great idea, John, just what the French want. Maybe you really are �French Looking� after all.

The Massachusetts Senator is proposing that we establish a close liaison with the Arab world. Another stupendous idea from the Bay State�s Senatorial cadre. Let�s see. These Arabs are trying to kill us in vast numbers and to bring down the United States economy. Liaison? We need to keep doing what we are doing, blowing them to Paradise with or without virgins, until they cry Uncle. They respect force, and force we have aplenty.

Since the Arabs are allowing foreigners to come in Iraq to fight, what about some American volunteers? I would go in a heartbeat�even have my own rifles. Teddy Roosevelt did it over a hundred years ago. ROUGH RIDERS 2004. Wow! Fight fire with fire.

The Kerry Campaign is becoming a quagmire, bogged down in mediocrity and devoid of originality. Is current attempts to outdo governor Deano simply will not work.

QUICKIE COMMENT ON GENERAL WES CLARK: Overheard on the Neal Boortz Show (http://www.boortz.com), �Wes Clark is a Gray Davis in uniform.� Well, I thought it funny.

HEADING FOR A GUN SHOW THIS WEEKEND. Looking forward to rubbing elbows with hundreds of fellow citizens who appreciate fine firearms and the ammunition that fits them. Maybe Ian would appreciate an article recording minute by minute the time spent perusing thousands of weapons., talking about their finer points, and why the Federales will never get ours.

IN THE SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION DEPARTMENT: We put online last night number 295 of our own web essays. There are quite a few brand spanking new efforts out there. One that you might like is http://expage.com/lukester294 called OF COURSE SANTA CLAUS IS REAL, YOU LITTLE TOAD. It should become the kind of classic that YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS did.

Please check out our entire web output. The entire list is given at http://members.aol.com/luciusson/contents.html

You can also catch us over at http://politicalpulpit.com another left-leaning web site watched over by David Allyn of Seattle, WA. It is a lively site that has added a front-page Blog format that, from time to time, gets quite heated. Avoid ad hominem comments, if you post. A few guys over there don�t have a clue about what �ad hominem� means. I missed writing an article for PPdC last weekend because I took Mr. Allyn�s advice and partied during as much of the Thanksgiving break as I could get away with.

Take care. See you all in the fullness of time. Remember, don�t take politics too seriously. Hell, don�t take anything too seriously. Do not become one of those mirth-challenged denizens of the Loony Left.

Ciao,

Luke Angelo
Macon, Georgia
The Little Town Trapped In Mayberry Hell

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Luke Angelo, Cyberbrat Out Of Hell, lives in Macon, GA, where he regularly causes trouble and proves that the pen is far mightier than the Mayor