Open Thread Thursday

Nothing to do with "The Alamo", but, have you noticed Dr. Obama's fascination with amputations? First it was tonsils and the other day In New Hampshire he was talking foot take offs!! Any Freudians out there who could explain this?
He also talked of maybe his own Grandma being denied a hip replacement because she was not in great shape.
Maybe we should call him(Obama) Dr. Death instead of Kervorkian. Very strange and creepy.

Probably something Michelle did to him after they were married.

You’re being a flyover racist showing that poster of a town hall meeting.

Scott – great find! You should try and see this. I am a great fan of historical drama, particularly military history. In the case of the siege at the Alamo, getting it historically correct is somewhat problematic since most of the "eyewitness" accounts were from members of Santa Anna's forces. They often said things to either make themselves look better, or conversely make themselves look less savage.

I just saw yet another version "13 Days to Glory" with Raul Julia, Brian Keith, and James Arness. The recent version with Billy Bob Thornton was good as well. The Duke's version was a great film, albeit a little long. Disney's version was not historically accurate, for geezers my age, it was THE Davey Crockett.

That's what I'm saying!

Remember the Alamo, remember Goliad! Hopefully, our fight against the socialization of America wont have the dramatic end of the Alamo, but the consequences of the Alamo. In the spirit of "you might take me out, but Im taking you with me", we're gonna have to refuse to give an inch to Obama and his cronies. It was remarked by one of Santa Ana's generals after the Battle of the Alamo that if the Mexican army had any more such 'victories', they'd be wiped out.

Santa Ana called himself the Napoleon of the West. Obama has delusions of grandeur too, and God only knows who and what else is standing behind him.

These days Ive been thinking more about the Battle of Gonzales, where the Mexican army demanded the return of their cannons, and the Texians/Tejanos flew a flag saying "Come and Take it!"

The Alamo is at NOON, Tuesday, August 18th on TCM.

The real history behind moviefied events is always much more complicated, much more nuanced – and could actually be just as dramatic, or so I discovered when I started researching for my own novels. The Alamo was a terrific story in and of itself – but what about the Goliad, where the Anglo-Texian garrison surrendered after a day-long fight out in the open near Coleto Creek, and then after a week of captivity in the old citadel – taken out and executed, all 300 of them, on Santa Anna's orders. Or the long scramble of the Runaway Scrape, where the Anglo settlers evacuated their holdings in central Texas after the fall of the Alamo, and the Goliad massacre, and went east, with Sam Houston gathering and training an army as he went, and resisting demands that he turn and fight, until he reached the perfect place? (That was touched on, a little, in the Billy Bob Thornton remake) Even the build-up to the whole thing has relevance, for on the whole the long-time Anglo settlers in Texas were pretty content with being a distant province of Mexico, until Santa Anna and the Centralistas decided they wanted tighter control over all the Mexican states, after having pretty much left the outlaying states to their own devices for twenty years and more.

ROFL!! I love it! (love Spongebob too LOL)

EEEK that link was defective!

It might be the wrong speech too, try this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mCj0P9cc_Y

Anyone remember the Alamo scene in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure? The phony psychic tells Pee-Wee that his missing bike is in the Alamo's basement but when he asks the tour guide (Jan Hooks), "Are we gonna see the basement?" everyone laughs at him.

And after Pee-Wee's knocked unconscious after the bull-riding show, some cowboys ask him, "Kid, is there anything you remember?" And Pee-Wee says, "I remember… the Alamo" and everyone cheers.

YES exactly – if you take a good look at historical depictments of the battle, you should see the Mexican flag with the year 1824 – that refers to the year that Mexico created and signed a Federal style constitution (not unlike another constitution that had recently been formed not too long before) and gave Santa Ana, military hero to the Mexicans the ability to be elected to power…and the moment he was elected, he TRASHED that Constitution, and basically said the Mexican people were too stupid [sic] to have a representative government and that he was taking over as their dictator. Before that, Anglos had been invited by the SPANISH government to come live in the northern province – this largely because they wanted to offset French settlement – and it was Napoleon himself who made secret deals with the Spanish government concerning holdings in the New World and then turned around and sold it all to the US government. Its why it ticks me off when ppl start mewling that the Big Bad Mean Ol' United States "stole" Texas…it was Spain and France and Santa Ana who screwed it all up.

The Battle of the Alamo was about the trashing of that 1824 Constitution, not about 'stealing' Texas. This is the kind of crap that hucksters at the Alamo itself try to pawn off on an uneducated public. I know this because hubby and I were visiting the Alamo at the beginning of the summer (we go to San Antonio a LOT) and came across the Politically Correct version as it was blathered by a young head full of mush.

ROFL that was hilarious.

For those who are genuinely interested in Texas history (I am if you couldnt tell – am fixin to start a unit on Tx history for my daughter – I homeschool – so Ive been 'boning up' on all the relevant material) – Id like to recommend a book for y'all – if youve ever wondered why Santa Ana's efforts just fizzled after the Battle of San Jacinto, then "Sea of Mud" by Greg J Dimmick give you an archaeological background as to what happened to his troups. They were hung up in a marshland not too far south from where I live – I met the author at a workshop and he had some very interesting research and ideas to share. The man is actually a pediatrician but became an 'avocational archaeologist'.

Remember who is remembered at the Alamo? It damn sure was not the Mexicans, but the Texans (or more properly at the time, Texicans).

Well, can I be the young, hot Elvis?

Fat polyester Elvis is probably closer to the truth in real life, but if I wanted reality I wouldn't hang out on the internet in the first place.

Funny, at the time Pulp Fiction came out I thought it was a ridiculous question; of course I'm a Beatles man! But in the 15 years since then I've listened to a lot more Elvis than Beatles. I'm not sure what that says about me.

Hey did you know that Santa Ana forced the people of Mexico to mourn the burial of his amputated leg?

There is a bunch of history to be found in Texas, but you better hurry before the PC freaks either re write it, or delete it entirely. In addition, on the Fiction side, but relevant to the Texas state of mind, I recommend "Texas" by James Michener, who came to Texas to research a book, but stayed for the richness of the history here.

Tom – I am pretty sure that the story you refer to is 'antecdotal.' Unfortunately, since there were few survivors among Americans, most of the so-called eye-witness accounts came from Mexican soldiers and were great exaggerations. These stories tended to fall into two camps; 1) those that tried to make the Americans appear less heroic 2) those that made them look more heroic because the teller was trying to buy favor. The story you mention is an example of the former and the story depicted in the Billy Bob Thornton film is a version of the latter. The truth is, nobody really knows for sure. There seems to be 'concensus' that Travis took a shot between the eyes and was one of the first to fall. Fess being the last to fall swinging old Betsy against the Texas flag is pure Hollywood.

Absolutely! The book Im reading now for the curriculum is called Lone Star by T.R. Fehrenbach – it seems to be pretty fair in its depiction of events. There were no purely right or wrong sides in Texas history. Its a bit uncomfortable reading about what was going on concerning the filibusters and then how people treated the Tejanos after the Revolution, but outright blatant lies about WHY things happened tick me off and the accusation that the only reason the Anglos were there was to 'steal' it is the most egregious. If you take a closer look at events with that in mind, the Mexicans really dont come out nicely at all either way. But if you see it as a struggle between the Federalists and the Centralists, then one understands the Tejano history. Oh and the Tejanos are always brushed aside with that accusation too…as if there werent Mexicans who wanted a representative republic like the newly formed US!!

I have this odd idea that future generations are going to revere John Wayne's "The Alamo" far more than we imagine. I've even contemplated writing a scene in one of my books, someday, where a character asks a time traveler from the future, "What movie do critics of your time consider the greatest film of the 20th Century?" and the time traveler says, "Oh, John Wayne's 'The Alamo.' No contest."

I am a sixth generation Texan, and my family grew up on a small ranch in Frio County. My great- grandparents went to a school where they were the only white faces, and my grandfather would go to that school and then ride his horse home, where he would spend the winter burning the spines off of the prickly pear cactus so the cattle could eat.
I get soo tired of people saying I am a racist, just because I do not support illegal immigration, when they do not know the whole story. I love the Tejanos, and I love the food, but I (and the Tejanos also) are not fond of people coming into the country and taking our jobs- which they do. It is not a racist thing for me, but an economic thing.

Funny idea, but come on. You can´t profile him based on two remarks. Let´s not get carried away.

When I was young, my parents and I would visit my grandparents in San Antonil, and after the movie came out, the movie house in downtown San Antonio, called The Aztec, had the movie The Alamo on for I think, about ten years straight- it was the only movie, and it had packed houses constantly.
Of course, the Theater was a grand OLD house, one that had been outfitted on the inside to resemble an Aztec temple, complete with stone pillars, fake climbing ivies, and a ceiling that resembled a starry night, so when the lights went out, you could look up and see stars, or a very close resemblance. I miss that theater.

Tracking cookies are not uncommon. It doesn´t scare me personally. But of course it begs the question: why this administration? Why now? What´s in it for them?

Every time someone mentions the Alamo I remember that scene. That movie has so many lovely, hilarious moments.

Couple that with the whole turn in your neighbor mess from last week and you might have an explanation. Is it just me or does all this sound a bit Orwellian?

O.T. Very cool, what part of Tennessee are you from?

Dont know about the tobacco import business but yes, he was there in New York because he'd been exiled…just like Napoleon! LOL and he was the darling of the New York elite…

Dang, I never had a great fondness for either although I can listen to both. Guess I better doublecheck the equipment.

Excellent point. But remember, the free market giveth and the free market taketh away.

Once people realize the MSM has been completely dishonest there won't be a story big enough to save them. the problem is getting enough people to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and be honest with themselves first. In my opinion, people like being lied to when it comes to the big stuff because it takes the responsibility of actually dealing with the truth out of their hands.

Don't know if this has been posted over here yet, but it's on PJTV and youtube, Steve Crowder investigating the riots at town hall meetings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaRJfvJokU

That's a great story. The first movie I ever saw Richard boone in was The Last Dinosaur. After that his deep gravely voice was always instantly recognizable.

And yes, The Duke was a class act…..

Yeah…and then his forces were slaughtered to a man…Spartans not running much these days, but the Persains are STILL pissing us off. Cool retort, though.

Slaughtered after they kicked the living crap out of the Persians. The numbers vary, but the death ratio between greeks and Persians was ridiculous, something like 20 to 1. What Thermopylae also did was significantly weaken the Persians for the showdown at Platea, and it also showed the Spartans would rather die on their feet than live on their knees.

Right on, and well said.

He may have been a politician, but I would have voted for him. Here's a speech that's attributed to him that just nails prohibited government largess for buying votes.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=16e_1248454766&amp...

I think, as Buddy Ebson might say, he is probably giving the local government "what fur!"

What's soccer?

I agree, for the most part cookies are harmless, and its a good idea to have something like Ad-Aware installed to clean out the suspicious ones.

If I had to guess what the government was up to, I'd say they want to expand their websites to give them more flexibility for java code and such. But again, why?

Because on government web sites, they can give the party's message of the day, and no passive citizen has to look elsewhere. Message control.

Hah!

This is not my period of historical expertise, and I doubt the closet part, but I think historians pretty much agree now that Crocket died a prisoner and didn't fall heroically in battle. I've never made it all the way through this, but I did enjoy the recent version with Billy Bob Thornton as a greasy yet somehow hot Crockett…

Curse you, TCM, dvr filler that you are!!

'Have Gun Will Travel'

The Golden Age of Television.

Man, how I miss those days (and nights)

Remember the what? A-l-a- ? What's that you are refering to? There's something faintly familiar about that jingoism, but I forget exactly what this was all about.

"Was this poster put up in response to Mexico's beating the U.S. soccer team yesterday?"

probably.

RIP Les Paul great player great guitars.

maatkare – without beating a dead horse, unless something new has been discovered, the claims surrounding Crockett surviving the actual assault stem for the alleged diary of a Mexican lieutenant named del la Pena. There have been considerable claims made about the authenticity of that diary. Realistically, none can be proven one way or the other, which is my point. Based on everything I have read, I have little reason to believe any of the men were spared the actual fighting, but the 'controversy' makes for the stuff of legend and/or legend busting. I checked Wyki and interestingly this is one time their info. tracks with more trusted sources I've read.

The White House strategy of turning supporters into snitches when they see "fishy" information about the health legal experts sayhttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/07/white-...
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union submitted comments today to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) opposing its recent proposal to reverse current federal policy and allow the use of web tracking technologies, like cookies, on federal government websites.
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/40662prs20090810….
The TSA said the additional data would make it easier for the agency to more accurately match prospective passengers with the thousands of names carried on the government's terrorism watch lists
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12501244754832775...
Job Title: Corrections Officer – Internment/Resettlement Specialist
http://jobview.monster.com/Corrections-Officer-%E...
/All unrelated I bet
/Hussein Obama would never put people that don't agree with him on a terrorist watch list would he ?

You must be logged in to post a comment.