October 2nd

The date October 2nd might not mean much to you, but it matters a great deal to me. You see, it's my birthday.

But you're asking yourself "Why does he have a picture of Gandhi with this post?" Simple - it's his birthday, too.

Lots of other famous people actually. Some well known in modern culture such as Sting (born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner) or Kelly Ripa (who is older than me born in 1970 though she looks much better). Yet other celebrities like Groucho Marx (of the Brothers), Don McLean (American Pie) and Bud Abbott (and Costello) were also delivered on the 2nd.

If you're a Star Trek fan - and make no doubt I am - both Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine) and Persis Khambatta (Ilia from The Motion Picture) share my birthday.

Significant to history both Cordell Hull (American Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize recipient) and Richard III (King of England and of Shakespeare fame) came into the world this day.

The more literate might be interested to know Graham Green (author of books including The Quiet American) and Wallace Stevens (American poet) also celebrated 10/2 as a birthday.

A few significant events occurred on the 275th day of the year, unless it was a leap year when it would have been the 276th day.

The Texas revolution began in 1835 which was notable because they lost their first battle. In 1789 George Washington sent a list of proposed amendments for the new American constitution to the states for ratification. These you will remember as the Bill of Rights.

For Charlie Brown fans this day is remembered for the first publication of Charles Shultz's Peanuts comic strip in 1950. Just a few years later we first were invited to travel into The Twilight Zone which premiered on this day in 1959.

One of my personal heroes, Thurgood Marshall, was sworn in as the first African American Supreme Court justice on an October Thursday in 1967. Another great American, President Woodrow Wilson, suffered a debilitating stroke on the second day of the month in 1924.

Perhaps this doesn't interest anyone or maybe you find it amusing I would ramble on with such. It does interest me and has shaped my world. Rather than simply looking at this day as a party, I've spent a good part of my life learning a little bit about people born on the same day or historical occurrences. Why else would I know Vasily Shukshin died on the very same day I was born? Or that he was on the Volga river filming the Russian epic They Fought For Their Motherland?

It is all a little bit of me and now you know some of it as well.

Shirley Phelps-Roper Is Not A Sooner

Racism is dead? Hate doesn't exist?

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church brought both to Norman on Friday as they protested the beginning of a Jewish holiday. The University of Oklahoma's Hillel Foundation, and their Jewish membership, were celebrating one of the holiest of days in the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah.

Yet the Topeka-based church members chose to come Oklahoma and protest with signs such as "God Hates Israel" and "Fag University". They sang their own rendition of "Hey Jude" retitled "Hey Jew".

Here's my point: The leader of the Westboro Baptists, a woman named Shirley Phelps-Roper, was reported to have worn a University of Oklahoma ball cap. The same cap and logo we all so proudly don for sporting events and to show our passion for our University.

What Ms. Phelps-Roper doesn't understand is at OU we don't hate. We aren't racists. We aren't homophobic. At OU we don't discriminate and we don't uphold intolerance. We respect all religions and we have no place for her and her band of protesters.

In short, Shirley Phelps-Roper isn't a Sooner.

I'm proud of the members of Hillel who didn't respond, and instead went on with their day. I'm just as proud of the University students and Norman citizens who counter-protested. I'm not often the kind of guy who thinks protesting does a lot of good, but this is one of those times. No reporter could simply say the Westboro Baptist hate group came to town, but had to also report the people of Norman and OU showed up to say they didn't agree.

I'm sad to say hate and and intolerance live on, but that isn't what we Sooners believe.

Saturdays Have Meaning Again

College Football season has begun once again - Sooner Football in particular.

Good games, bad games and even games between two teams about which I don't care. At least it is my favorite sport. I just have to watch all I can between now and January.

I should also mention my favorite place to read about OU - SoonerGuys.com. Check it out, great site. Run by some pretty good guys too.

Edward Kennedy 1932 - 2009

Senator Edward Kennedy was, without question, an institution himself.

Though the Senate existed before him, and will go on without him, it won't be the same. The voice and passion he lent to an issue will not easily be replaced. Nor will his extraordinary ability to work in the Senate to accomplish so much no matter which party was in the majority.


In 2001 I went to work on the Hill in Washington, DC and few events had a greater impact upon me than the first time I actually saw Senator Kennedy in person. It was just in passing, walking down a corridor, but it was seeing a legend in person.


The way many felt about being near Joe DiMaggio or Elvis Presley, this was how I felt. A man who was larger than life and whom I had grown up listening to, as had so many before me.


His legacy was one I loved and for which I had an undying respect. It was, more than anything else, a literal lifetime spent in the US Senate. Crafting the actual mechanics of our country and toiling in the trenches of democracy. He understood the difference he could make there and the lasting change he could offer.


He fought for fairness and equality. For working men and women and for those who had no voice in the great marble Capitol. His unyielding dedication was an inspiration to me as a young boy, as a naive staffer and is still today.

"I seen Red Dawn"

I have good news for all you 80's action movie fans - Red Dawn is being remade! Yes, the Patrick Swayze cult-classic will be retold with a new cast and improved special effects.

For those of you who aren't fortunate enough to have seen this movie, it tells the tale of a band of rural teenagers who repel invading Soviet forces. Trust me, in 1984 my friends and I had planned how we would protect our neighborhood when the "commies" came!

I'm not sure how this will play with the youth twenty five years later, but you can bet I'll be there when it debuts.

(As for the title of the post, it refers to a classic line heard on the campaign trail when discussing the Second Amendment.)

Southern Fried Hypocrisy?

I guess after a scandal, you want to get back in the game at some point, right? After the trouble passes it's time to go back to work and do your job.

For Louisiana Senator David Vitter, who it turns out had some fun with prostitutes, this means representing his constituents and voting in the US Senate. Of course he would take a position on issues relating to the country and his home state, that is only to be expected since he has chosen not to resign his seat.

Yet he chooses to enter the fray like this? He's going after Ohio Senator George Voinovich who yesterday claimed the GOP has been hijacked by the South. OK, even this isn't too bad.

Except Vitter chose to attack him on VALUES!

He actually said "I'm on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values." To what values, I wonder, is he referring?

Senator Voinovich, who Vitter referred to as "a moderate, really wishy-washy" is retiring after a distinguished career of public service. Not that I've always agreed with him, but at least he didn't bring public shame to his state. Vitter though seems determined to press on and even claimed "there are a lot of us from the South who hold those values".

I suppose if you're flawed enough to abandon your marriage vows with hookers, you have to truly embrace hypocrisy at a level I just don't understand.

Rush Thinks Doctors Do It For Money

Today I heard Rush Limbaugh discussing health care reform on his radio show. In particular, he claimed if the system were reformed, physicians would earn less. This, in turn, would mean fewer talented people entering medical school.

Now, I like to believe most men and women who enter medicine as a profession do so because of a desire to help people. I don’t think they do it just to get rich.

I know it is a rigorous process getting through school and a residency, but there is some financial reward for the years of work and huge student loans necessary for many. I think we all want our doctors to be smart, so it should be tough.

Sure, there are a few jerks out there. However, most of the doctors I've encountered have been kind and caring men and women who care a great deal about their patients.

I guess Rush just doesn’t have as much faith in people.