Revisonist History ?

I was listening to WLAP News Talk 630 while driving to work this morning.  The drive was during the The Tom Dupree Show.  Mr. Dupree is the founder of the Dupree Financial Group and a Raymond James financial represenative.  I have listen to the show in the past and will not discuss his financial abilities because I have very little knowledge in the subject beyond college economic classes.

I do have a degree in history and political science and what he has done the last two weeks on his show would be listed in the realm of revisionist history.  Specifically the revisionist idea of denial, where the person changes the facts or simply ignores them if the do not support their opinion.  A scholarly look at any paradigm where there is new information or thought processes is a good thing.  What I feel Mr Dupree is doing is taking historic figures and ideas out of context and meaning to fit his own political view points.  He presents his opinion of the events and people as facts and gives no back ground or supporting proof for those opinions. 

Two of the people he used in today's show were John F Kennedy and William Jennings Bryan.  Mr. Dupree plays a tape Kennedy's speech in West Berlin to open his second hour.   Kennedy is speaking to the world  about uniting people, families and nations by telling the people of West and East Berlin that he is citizen of their city and their world.  Mr. Dupree used this speech to say that Ted Kennedy had not followed in the footsteps Jack but had tarnished the legacy of the name.  Mr Dupree said  that Jack would have been against Ted's agenda in the present political times and would never have supported the governments huge spending and push for reforms.  Mr Dupree does not back this up with any examples from the past or the present just states it as a fact with no proof.  He then goes on about how the only role for government should have in business is to protect the private sector so that it can provide for the people.  Private sector business provides for us because it is the best way.  Again Mr Dupree does not give any examples or proof of this. He just wants his listeners to take his word for it.  I would love to ask Mr Dupree how Kennedy's New Frontier fits into this revision of history but I then remember this is not real revisionism but Denial.

The next portion of the show goes to talk about William Jennings Bryan.  Mr. Dupree talks with respect  towards Bryant concerning his Christianity and his battles against evolution including the Scopes trail.  This is where Mr Dupree lays the ground work for his version of revisionism.  He says the portrait of Bryan as a bigot by history is an example of how history gets things wrong and we need to be aware of those mistakes.  Bryan was a great anti-business pro-government liberals of his day.  Just read his greatest speech, The Cross of Gold, and you will see how progressive he was in his time.  The speech includes calls for the government control of the currency, in favor of the hotly contested income tax, and support for the poor and the working classes. He was a strong supporter of  Federal Prohibition.  In my opinion, Mr.  Dupree again is not practicing true revisionism but just denial.

I do not know how long the radio station keeps the podcasts up but they have two hours of the show online at Hour 2 podcast link.  This is hour 2 and I did not listen to the first hour or the all of the 2nd because I did not want to hear his defense of Reagan and Bush.  I will go back and listen to them later tonight or tomorrow after I calm done a little. 

Thanks for letting me rant, oh wait this is my place to do that.  Please read and go to the links.  This has been 1 of my favorites so far.  I may have to copy and work up the arguements here for that book I will never write.

Beth made it to her conference fine.  I just called and talked to her.  She says its is going well and everyone seems very nice.  She is in Williamsburg VA for this one.  It is only 2 days long unlike the 5 day one she had to put on this spring. 

The boys did fine tonight but they really miss their mommy.  I love them both but they are bigger momma's boys than I ever was.  I know that is saying a lot but its very true. 

I am not sure why I started trying to write down my thoughts again but I know I want to try it.  I find myself as a great listener, a good story teller and a terrible writer.  I hope to make this a place to write down some of the things I hear and read  that interest me.  I may also write down some of the stories from my youth so that others can read them.  I hope this will help me become a better writer in the long run even if no one reads them.

Its getting late and I will have my 2 sons by myself in the morning so I will finish this post by saying another prayer for a high school friend who has had some really bad news this week.  Kristie we are all praying for you, your dad and your daughter.  I pray the lord gives you all strength peace and healing.

So Beth is heading for her confrence tomorrow. She will be in Williamsburg for 3 days. She is getting a little worried about leaving the boys again but they will be fine. Not sure if I will be but the boys will be.

She always gets very yantze when she is heading out of town. I know I will never be able to send her off and her not worry. I am glad she has a job she enjoys. I am a very lucky man to have her and the boys .

Monday Thoughts

Monday morning and not sure what's going on. Read somewhere over the weekend that the average American cahnges jobs every 3.2 years on average now. So then a person working from age 21 to 62 would have about 13 jobs in their life time. That makes me feel like an under achiever.

Ale 8 is just plum terrible to drink, nothing personal to my friends in Winchester. It just is. By the way, Diet Cherry Dr Pepper aint half bad.

Taking lunch at 2pm is not bad if it is your choice but not when people do not do what they promised.

Ok not sure what happened but I lost a posting earlier this week. Long week at work but it is now the weekend so all is well. We have tickets to the Legends tomorrow night. If you have a minor league baseball team near you go watch. Great fun to be had at the ball parks. Fairly cheap entertainment, usually less the $10.00 per ticket and 3 hours of fun. You do not have to like baseball to enjoy it. Go and people watch or just to talk to people around you. Outside in the fresh air and enjoying the sights

Ok just a short updated today. I really had fun with the family's mini vacation. Beth has lots of pics up on facebook. The boys were great. Gary, Ellen, and Evan thank you so much for meeting us and joining in. The new visitor center at Mammoth Cave looks like it will be really nice. The park needs the extra space and the hotel needs an upgrade as well. The park rangers where all very nice and helpful. The Bat White nose outbreak seems to be a major problem. So if you have not heard of it and enjoy caves please read up about it.
Well maybe more tomorrow, I have not read a newspaper since Thursday and it has been nice.

Day 1 Mini Vacation

Ok we are on the last of the mini vacations of the Summer.  I am not sure how
many more years we will do the long weekends to visit friends and family before
we actually break down and do the Week in Disney.

This weekend is in Bowling Green Ky with Dude, Ellen, and Evan.  No big plans
but visiting and seeing the local tourist stuff.  I was voted down about seeing
the Corvette stuff and instead we are off to Ky Down Under.  Australian animals
in cages in a Kentucky zoo ($70 + for a family of 4 to get in).

Our first stop was through a small bird sanctuary.  About a dozen different
kinds of birds.  Nice shade and the boys enjoyed it.

The second stop is a discussion of animals brought to Australia by European
emigrants.  Camels, rabbits, goats, and sheep on display.  Nice little talk by
the guide. The boys favorite was the sheep dog, also not a native creature. 

Third stop is a walking tour with guide of the native creatures.  Kangaroos,
wallabies, black swans etc.  Ankle is hurting so I sit this one out in a nice
shaded area.

Next up was a discussion of the sheep farming in Australia and New Zealand. 
Very well done by the guides.  They do seem to enjoy giving the information and
taking questions.  Beth got to help milk a cow.  I know it was a bout sheep but
they bottle feed the lambs cows milk.

The cave tour was next.  About 45 mins.  Nice guide again.  She seemed to have a
good talk but not as natural as the ladies at the animal exhibits.  If she was
asked a question she did not know it threw off her talk. 

Good Day one.  I will try to upload some photos to my Flickr feed tonight or tomorrow.