Of Columns and Gods

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeYes, all those Greek Columns the Red Staters have been masturbating over, it seems to be Thomas Jefferson's fault. Cause you know, there are NO Greco-Roman inspirations in Monticello. From Wikipedia: Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of the first volume of The Antiquities of Athens, and though he never practiced in the style Jefferson was to prove instrumental in introducing Greek Revival architecture to the United States. In 1803, Benjamin Latrobe was appointed by Jefferson as surveyor of public building in the United States, Latrobe went on to design a number of important public buildings in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, including work on the United States Capitol and the Bank of Pennsylvania. Latrobe's design for the Capitol was an imaginative interpretation of the classical orders not constrained by historical precedent, incorporating American motifs such as corncobs and tobacco leaves into his capitals. This idiosyncratic approach was to become typical of the American attitude to Greek detailing. His overall plan for the Capitol did not survive, though much of his interiors do. He also did notable work on the Supreme Court interior (1806-7) and his masterpiece, the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Baltimore (1805-21). Even as he claimed that “I am a bigoted Greek in the condemnation of the Roman architecture…,” he did not seek to rigidly impose Greek forms, stating that “[o]ur religion requires a church wholly different from the temple, our legislative assemblies and our courts of justice, buildings of entirely different principles from their basilicas; and our amusements could not possibly be performed in their theatres or amphitheatres.” Latrobe’s circle of junior colleagues would prove to be an informal school of Greek revivalists, and it was his influence that was to shape the next generation of American architects. The second phase in the development of American Greek revival saw the pupils of Latrobe create a monumental national style under the patronage of banker and hellenophile Nicholas Biddle, including such works as the Second Bank of the United States by William Strickland (1824), Biddle’s home "Andalusia" by Thomas U. Walter (1835-6), and Girard College also by Walter (1833-47). New York saw the construction (1833) of the row of Greek temples at Sailors' Snug Harbor. At the same time, the popular appetite for the Greek was sustained by architectural pattern books, the most important of which was Asher Benjamin’s The Practical House Carpenter (1830). This guide helped create the proliferation of Greek homes seen especially in northern New York State and the Western Reserves of Ohio. From the period of about 1820 to 1850, the Greek Revival style dominated the United States and could be found as far west as Springfield, Illinois.

Obama

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight. Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill. In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships. When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed. And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well. I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

Uh-Oh

Rush & Molloy: Sarah Silverman, who's due in Denver on Wednesday night, told guests at Take Note's Darfur benefit that she recently went to a star-packed Obama fund-raiser: "I got to meet Sen. Obama, and I asked him, 'Senator, when you were a student in Boston, did you encounter any racism?' And he looked at me quite seriously and replied, 'I'm Kanye West.'"

Hillary Sucks Up To Bloggers

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeThe first thing that shot though my mind when I saw Hillary take the stage was the color of her pant suit. I have never seen her in something so colorful and bold. The second thought was... "hmmm, that is Daily Kos orange." I think the coverage for this convention is better than any of recent elections, mainly because of the Big Tent bloggers. I am getting more nitty-gritty, more insight and better analysis than I am getting elsewhere. MSNBC is OK (better with Olbermann and Maddow). CNN is totally fucking unwatchable. Fox News is easier to watch than CNN and that is saying something. CNN can't claim it has the best "political team in television" while showing a picture of Larry King. It is an oxymoron. CNN's coverage is so bad, I keep hoping that Lou Dobbs would show up just so someone would say something off-script. One of my fav things to watch is the MSNBC crowd cheering when Maddow is introduced (and loudly disagreeing with Pat Buchannan on almost everything). Sooner or later, that crowd is gonna make Pat cry. Bloggers aren't at that point... yet.

Brothers

"McCain likes to call himself a 'maverick,' but he votes with George W. Bush more than 90% of the time. That's not a maverick; that's a sidekick." -- Sen. Bob Casey

Heckuva Job, Bushie

The Democrats are Anti-Family!

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeI have been off my game these past few weeks. During that time my father-in-law died of a horrific bout of cancer and my cat passed away recently - those things on top of other pressures, Dobson hasn't been as frequent as I would have liked it to have been. When my wife and I chat, she is usually upset in the mornings because she has been watching CSPAN's Washington Journal. When we met 15 years ago, she was not that political, now she complains of how I hooked her on politics. I try to appear sympathetic and then wander into the bathroom to do silent Tiger Woods style fist pumps. In other news, I have been trying to redraw my Joe Biden since he became the VP choice. I had Joe in a strip or two and hated the way the character turned out. It looked more like Ricardo Montalbán than Joe Biden. The art evolution starts in the lower left corner and moves right and up. So I have been mumbling "HIS FUCKING JAW" for the past few days. The top of his head is square but not that square. His eye brows change color depending on lighting. His tan clashes with his bright white teeth. He is driving me nuts!!! The second try looks like Pai Mei from Kill Bill and the third attempt is a dead-on Chris Dodd. Work continues....

The Sunday Funnies