The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Two

The 1936 election gave the Democratic Party a landslide victory, with Franklin Roosevelt carrying all former states of the Confederacy (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia). Democrats continued to hold all 22 Senate seats and all but two congressional seats in the former Confederate states.* This situation did not change until the spring of 1950, when a special election was held to replace a congressman who became a judge in Texas. The district was in the panhandle area of Texas and a Republican won the special election, but served only a few months before being defeated by a Democrat in the regular election in November of 1950. In the 1952 election, Republicans picked up three seats in the House in former states of the Confederacy: 1 in North Carolina and 2 in Virginia. ** By the next election, in 1954, the Republicans picked up a House seat in Florida, a seat in Texas and two seats in Virginia; however, all senators in the former Confederacy remained Democrats. In the 1956 election, Republican President Dwight Eisenhower won a major reelection victory, but Republicans could still not win any Senate seats in the former Confederacy, nor could they add any further House seats. So as Eisenhower began his second term, his political party's delegation from the former Confederate states had 2 House seats in Tennessee, 1 seat in Texas, 1 seat in Florida, 1 in North Carolina and 2 in Virginia.

Lyndon Johnson, a Democratic senator from Texas, was chosen by John F. Kennedy as the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1960, and in the election, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket won a close race. A Democrat was appointed to fill Johnson's seat in the Senate, but he then lost the seat to Republican John Tower in a special election a few months later. John Tower became a Senate fixture. The Republicans had cracked the solid Democratic hold on Senate seats in the former Confederacy.***

* As in Part One, Republicans continued to hold the 2 seats in eastern Tennessee; however, unlike in 1930, the one Republican congressman from Texas died in office and was replaced by a Democrat. This is the link to "Part One," if needed:

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-former-confederacy-modern-american.html

** Republicans held a majority in both houses of Congress, at that time.

*** Just to be clear, during 1959 both Alaska and Hawaii became states, thus adding a total of 4 senators and increasing the Senate to an even 100 senators, where it has remained ever since. In the House of Representatives, each of the two new states received one House seat, until the Census of 1960 could be completed and new apportionment for House seats calculated; thus, temporarily, the number of seats in the House of Representatives rose to 437, from 435.

WORD HISTORY:
Chore-This word goes back to Indo European "ger/gers," which had the notion "to turn, to bend around." It is distantly related to Greek "gyros," "meat that cooks by turning." ^ The Indo European form gave its Old Germanic offspring "karisjanan," which also meant "to turn, to turn around." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the verb "cierran" (to turn, to turn back, change/convert; that is, turn something from one thing to another), which produced the noun "cierr" (a turn, a change, period of time changed from normal use to refer to business matter, work, occasion). "Cierr" then became "cherre," with the primary meaning "odd job;" that is, a change from routine work or time, and this then became "char," now rarely encountered except in the compound "charwoman," a term for a "cleaning lady," still in use at times in England. In the United States, the variant pronunciation "chore" for "char" prevailed, and the meaning "odd job" still remained somewhat, but usually with the meaning "routine personal jobs for one's own household," often, but not exclusively, used in reference to "chores" for kids, like "taking out the garbage, mowing the lawn, raking leaves, making small trips to the store." Some other forms in the Germanic languages: German has "kehren" (verb: return, turn around)  and "Kehre" (noun: sharp turn, sudden major change), Dutch "keer" (noun: occasion; that is,  change in normal time) and "keren" (verb: return).

^ Greek is an Indo European language related to English, but further down the family tree. English and many European languages have a number of words that trace back to Greek, although some came by way of Latin, which borrowed a number of Greek words, some of which were later passed on to English and others.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington & American Ideals

This 1939 film was produced and directed by Frank Capra, who had been born in Italy, but came to the United States as a kid. Capra often liked to show average people standing up against crooked and power grabbing business people. But he also showed how taking a stand against ruthless and powerful interests can be tough and downright dangerous, and that doing the right thing can be painful. 

In "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington," one of a state's U.S. Senators dies, just as an important bill is about to be voted upon in Congress. Jim Taylor, played by Edward Arnold, is the state's major businessman and the controller of a political machine there. He agrees to the appointment of Jefferson, "Jeff," Smith, played by Jimmy Stewart, a patriotic adult leader of a group for boys, called the Boy Rangers. Smith is filled with idealism about the United States and is a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln. Taylor wants the state's other senator, Joseph Paine, played by Claude Rains, to tell the young appointee how to vote, especially on the pending legislation, as there is a special clause in one section about a dam that will financially benefit Taylor tremendously. Years before, Paine was the best friend of Smith's father, and together they fought injustices, often losing, and earning for themselves the title, "Twin Champions of Lost Causes." Jeff's father, a publisher of a small newspaper, was shot in the back during a campaign he undertook for a miner against a mining syndicate. Paine, a lawyer, lost much of his idealism after his friend's murder and buckled under to the pressure and chose to support Jim Taylor, who not only got Paine elected to the Senate, but got him reelected a couple of times. Although Paine became a well respected senator, most people didn't know he was, and is, so beholden to Taylor for his position.

Jeff Smith is enthralled by the sights when he arrives in Washington, and he wanders off to visit various historical sights, including the Lincoln Memorial. He finally turns up at his office, where he meets his aide "Saunders," played by Jean Arthur. She has been around Washington for some time, making her cynical and fed up with the games played and with the corruption, so she wants to leave, but after she meets Jeff, she sees that he is a decent man who will need help to learn the ways of the Washington political establishment. Senator Paine and Jeff reminisce about Jeff's father, which hits home to Paine's former search to do right, even for lost causes. The new senator tells Paine he wants "to study the bills" to be voted on, which takes Paine back a bit, fearful that Smith will learn about the special section on the dam in their state. Paine tells Jeff he will instruct him on how to vote. He also tells Jeff to write and introduce a bill of his own on a new boys' camp in their state, which gives Smith a lot of excitement. He wants the government to put up the money for the camp, and then be repaid from contributions by kids from all over the country.

Saunders begins the process of helping Jeff draft his new bill, but when Smith tells her the new boys' camp will be around Willett Creek (often pronounced colloquially as if, "crick"), Saunders is startled, as she is already aware of the dam to be going there (she had worked for the recently deceased senator, who also was under Taylor's thumb). She doesn't tell Jeff, but she gets a reporter friend of hers, "Diz," played by Thomas Mitchell, to show up for the next day's session in the Senate, when Smith will read his bill, including its location on the land around Willett Creek. She tells Diz to keep his eyes on Senator Paine and on one of Taylor's henchmen, who is seated in the visitor's gallery. Sure enough, when Smith utters the words "Willett Creek," Paine immediately leaves the Senate floor and the other man leaves the gallery. The savvy Saunders knew exactly what she was talking about (everyone calls her by her last name, "Saunders," but her first name is "Clarissa"), and she finally tells Jeff about Taylor and about the dam being a crooked deal for Taylor to profit. When Smith goes to Senator Paine and tells him, the senator advises Jeff him not to interfere, as there are powerful interests involved.

Taylor flies to Washington and meets Jeff Smith. The ruthless, greedy businessman tells the young senator he wants him to cooperate, and in return, he will make sure he is a senator for as long as he wishes. The honest and idealistic Smith is unimpressed, and thus he begins a battle against the tremendous power of Jim Taylor. Jeff goes to Senator Paine and tells him what Taylor has said, but the next day, when Smith rises to tell the Senate about the crooked deal included in the bill, Senator Paine asks Smith if he will yield the floor, which he immediately does, because it is Senator Paine asking. Now the new senator begins to learn what he is up against, as Paine tells the Senate he has information that the land for Smith's boys' camp is owned by Smith, who will benefit greatly from the camp going there; thus, making it look as if Jeff is taking money from kids for his own benefit, as kids are already sending contributions to pay for the camp. Unknown to Jeff and to the Senate, Taylor has had the land records changed to show Smith as the owner. With the respected Senator Paine now speaking out against Smith, the senators want to expel Smith from the Senate. Taylor, through Paine, has witnesses appear before a special Senate committee and testify against Smith. Jeff is so distraught by the lies and forged documents, he leaves the hearing and goes to the Lincoln Memorial. He feels betrayed and stupid at allowing himself to be set up, and for believing in American ideals, but the once cynical Saunders shows up, figuring he will be at the memorial, and she gives him a good pep talk, telling him that his hero, Mr. Lincoln, had his Taylors and Paines to contend with too, and that he would want Jeff to "root out the Taylors into the open." With his spirit restored, the two devise a strategy.

In this battle, Jeff is helped along by Saunders, who sees someone she likes for his honesty and decency, and also a man to whom she has taken a fancy. Senator Paine is stunned the next day when Smith calls out "HERE," in answer to the roll call. Saunders sits with Diz in the Senate gallery and periodically gives signals to Jeff to help him along with the Senate rules. When the Senate is about to vote on his expulsion, she signals to Jeff, and he rises to be recognized by the chair (Senate president), when another senator rises at the same time to try to prevent Smith from being heard at all. After some comments back and forth, and a cry from the gallery by Saunders to, "Let him speak," the President of the Senate,* played by Harry Carey (Sr.), recognizes Senator Smith, and we're off to a filibuster.** Smith tells the senators that he will speak to the people of his state from the floor of the Senate and he proceeds to tell them about Taylor and his political machine, and how he saw three congressmen in Taylor's hotel suite when Taylor met with him. Senator Paine is so respected, the other senators still believe Smith is the bad guy. The first dent in the Taylor/Paine armor comes when Paine rises and accuses Smith of tying him to corruption. Smith speaks up and says he had said no such thing; that he never said Paine was in Taylor's room, but inadvertently, Paine blurts out, "I was in that room." This brings gasps from many, but Paine quickly tries to explain it away by saying what an honorable man Taylor is and that he met with him simply to receive the evidence against Smith from him. As the situation goes on, Paine has pangs of conscience, but he can't bring himself to go against Taylor, as he is in so deep with him, something he is reminded of by Taylor, who tells him that if anybody starts believing Smith, "you (Paine) just as well blow your brains out." Taylor has his men back in his home state make sure all of the newspapers and radio stations (no television back then) speak out against Smith and not publish or report anything Smith is saying in Washington. He also has them send telegrams condemning Smith. When Diz learns what is happening, he tells Saunders, who calls Jeff's mother and has her and the Boy Rangers use the club's little printing press to print leaflets telling the truth. Taylor's men confiscate the leaflets, often smacking around some of the boys in the process. Taylor's men even use vehicles to run over and destroy the kids' wagons used to distribute the leaflets.

Meanwhile, Smith talks for hours, reading the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Saunders receives a call from Jeff's mother telling her how boys have been hurt by Taylor's men all over Jeff's hometown. Inside the Senate, the final showdown is near, as Paine has baskets full of anti-Smith telegrams brought into the Senate chamber. Jeff glances at several telegrams, and disheartened, he looks at the Senate president, who gives him a smile, prompting a slight smile from Jeff in return. Worn out and with a weakened voice, Jeff says, "I guess this is just another lost cause... You people don't know about lost causes, Mr. Paine does. And he fought for them once." He stands right before Paine as he continues to remind Paine of his younger days, when, as a young lawyer, he, and Jeff's father, took on rich and powerful interests to help those with little or no money. With the whole Senate watching and listening, Jeff tells them they think he's licked, but that he plans to continue the filibuster until someone listens to him, but he collapses. Paine dashes from the Senate floor. As some members try to revive Smith, gunshots are heard, with the scene then shifting to a room outside the Senate chamber, where a senator or two are trying to stop Paine from shooting himself. He screams that he's the one the Senate needs to expel, that he's not fit for office or fit to live. Paine charges out onto the Senate floor screaming, "Every word that boy said is true, expel me, not him!" The audience cheers and the President of the Senate leans back in his chair and smiles.

* By the Constitution, the President of the U.S. Senate is the Vice President of the United States. For times when the vice president is not present, the Senators will have chosen a "temporary president" (actually in the Constitution in the Latin expression, "pro tempore;" that is, "for temporary time," or, "for the time being"). This temporary president is an actual member of the Senate and can, therefore, vote on any and all matters before the Senate. The vice president is NOT a senator and can only vote if there is a tie. While the film never makes it clear, "apparently" the role played by Harry Carey is that of the Vice President of the United States.

** A "filibuster" is "a deliberate, but proper, delay of proceedings in a legislative body, often to prevent a vote on some issue, and/or to gain time to make a case on the issue." In the U.S. it is most commonly associated with the U.S. Senate. While the movie depicts only Senator Smith as launching the filibuster, more than one person can participate, and this gives the filibuster more chance to continue, as each participant can pass the floor on to another participant; thus, each gets a rest period. During a filibuster, participants may talk about matters TOTALLY beyond the subject at hand in the legislation. 

Photo is of the 2008 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD 

WORD HISTORY:
Creed-This word, distantly related to "cardiac" (a word borrowed by English from French, which had it from Latin, which had borrowed it from Greek) and "credit" (a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English from French), but also, "heart" (an original English word of Germanic derivation), goes back to Indo European "kerddeh," which meant, "to put into the heart;" thus, "to believe," as the heart was judged by many of our ancient ancestors as the center of emotion and belief (root of "kerd" being the ancestor of "heart, credit and cardiac," and several more words). This gave Latin "credere," meaning, "to believe," the first person singular of which, "credo," came to be used as a noun (beside the verb form) to mean, "religious belief," initially, "Christian belief, set of Christian beliefs." This was borrowed into Old English as "creda," with the same meaning. This then became "crede," before the modern version, and the meaning broadened beyond religious beliefs. 

Dumplings: Rumaki Liverwurst Filled

Rumaki liverwurst* filled dumplings is something I came up with on my own; not that it took a period of deep thought.

To make this a very simple process, you can buy the dumpling dough already made, rolled out and cut. They are sold in many supermarkets in the refrigerated section, and, of course, Asian markets will have them. 

Brush the edges of the dumpling with water. Add a small clump .... I mean, amount, of liverwurst. Fold the dumpling over and press the edges together. Use a fork to press and "seal" the dumpling edges. Put the dumplings into simmering water. They will float when done, but I always give them about 30 seconds more, but not much more; you don't want them to split open. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain.

With Sweet & Spicy Thai Chili Sauce on the side **

* The recipe for Rumaki liverwurst is at this link:   http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/08/rumaki-liverwurst.html

** The recipe for the Thai Chili Sauce is at this link:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/10/sweet-spicy-thai-chili-sauce.html

WORD HISTORY:
Scale-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this is the noun for "a device for weighing." This word is closely related to "shell" and to "scale;" that is, the word of the same spelling, but meaning, "covering for fish," and, "flakes of dry skin." This form of the word goes back to Indo European "skel," which had the notion "to cut, to split, to chip." This gave Old Germanic "skela," meaning, "shallow vessel for food or drink made by splitting apart mollusk shells." This gave Old English "scealu," which meant, "shell;" thus then, "cup, bowl;" thus, "dish or pan used to hold items for weighing on a scale of balance," with the latter meaning later transferring to the whole weighing device by the late 1300s to early 1400s. The Danes, who spoke Old Norse, reinforced the word, and influenced its pronunciation by bringing their form of the same word, "skál" (bowl), to England. Relatives in the other Germanic languages have largely kept the original meaning, "cup, bowl, dish:" German "Schale" (cup, shallow bowl, and it was once spelled "scala"), Dutch "schaal" (dish, bowl, but also dish/pan for a scale), West Frisian "skaal" (dish), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "skål" (bowl, dish; long ago, the word also meant "drinking cup," which brought about the use of "skål," as a drinking toast; like, "cheers," "to your health"), Icelandic "skál" (bowl, basin). "Apparently," Low German dialects no longer use a form, but Low German Saxon once had "skala," then, "schale." 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part One

With so much political turmoil going on in the country right now, and with the involvement in that turmoil of groups long affiliated with the southern part of the United States, more especially, with the former Confederacy, I thought I'd put together some basic political history on those states and their relationship to the Democrats and Republicans. I've chosen to start with 1930, as that year began the shift and realignment in the political system, giving a decided edge to Democrats in the following years. Essentially all of this information is available on the websites of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, respectively.  

The Great Depression, and the failed three and one half year response to it by the Republican administration of Herbert Hoover, helped to give the incoming 1933 Democratic administration of Franklin Roosevelt and a heavily Democratic Congress the chance to make Democrats the majority party, potentially, for years to come. That's just what happened, with Roosevelt winning four presidential terms (there was no term limit at that time), the fourth of which was completed by Harry Truman, due to Roosevelt's death in mid April 1945, and then Truman won a term in his own right in 1948. The Democrats dominated elections for the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, with overwhelming support from the states of the former Confederacy. Beginning with the midterm election of 1930, * the Democrats had a majority in the House of Representatives until the election of 1946 (members taking office in 1947**). In the Senate, Republicans barely held on (they had had a 12 seat majority before the election), as the two parties each had 48 seats, but with the vice president able to break any tie vote, this guaranteed Republican control. *** The Democrats gained control of the Senate in 1933, following the election of 1932. They kept control of the Senate until 1947, in the wake of the Republican victory in the 1946 election. 

The states that had composed the Confederacy were solidly Democratic. Here is the break down by state when Congress convened after the 1930 election in 1931:

Alabama U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members-10 Democrats
Arkansas U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 7 Democrats
Florida U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 4 Democrats
Georgia U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 12 Democrats
Louisiana U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 8 Democrats
Mississippi U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 8 Democrats
North Carolina U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 10 Democrats
South Carolina U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 7 Democrats
Tennessee U.S. Senators- 2 Democrats; House members 8 Democrats, 2 Republicans
Texas U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 17 Democrats, 1 Republican (died in office, replaced by Democrat, making all 18 members Democrats)
Virginia U.S. Senators-2 Democrats; House members 9 Democrats, 1 Republican

I have to admit, I was more than a little surprised to find 2 Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representative delegation. They represented two districts in the eastern part of the state, which had elected Republicans in the past. Similar was the case of the one Republican congressman from Texas, who represented a district in eastern Texas in the Houston area for several terms. It is important to remember, the two major political parties were not totally of the same philosophical views as today. 

* During the actual election in 1930, the Republicans retained control of the House by a small margin, but several special elections followed before the House went into session, and Democrats won enough seats to gain a majority. Unlike Congress in more modern times, which meet for a good many months each year, the House members elected in 1930 did not actually convene for legislative purposes until December 1931 (!), by which time, Democrats had won a majority.

** Just to be clear, elections take place in the fall of a year and the new Congress does not meet until the next year. Up until, and ending with, the election of 1932, presidents did not take the oath of office until March 4 after an election, and Congress would convene then, although not necessarily for legislative purposes at that time. Beginning with the election of 1936, presidents were sworn in on January 20 following the election, and Congress "typically" has convened in early January after an election, usually in legislative mode.

*** There were 96 senators in those times, 2 senators x 48 states, as neither Hawaii nor Alaska were yet states. Democrats actually had 47 seats (22 of those in the former Confederacy), and there was 1 senator from the Farm-Labor Party of Minnesota, who often voted with the Democrats. The Vice President of the United States at that time was Charles Curtis.        

WORD HISTORY:
Move-This word "likely" traces back to Indo European "meueh," which had the notion of "move by pushing, push." This gave Latin "movere," with the meaning "move, put into motion." Old French, a Latin-based language, inherited a form of the word as "movoir" ("to move"), which was taken to England by the invading Normans and became "moveir" in Anglo-Norman. By the 1200s the word had become part of English as "moven," before the modern version. The word also took on the added meaning "to be moved emotionally." The noun form was derived from the verb about a century later.

How Were Things In Nazi Germany?

While I wrote this in 2017, it is unfortunate that it is still more than a little relevant now ...

(No Word History for this) 


How were things in Nazi Germany? Now we have at least a partial idea from the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. I say "partial," because, with the exception of the dwindling remaining survivors from those times, we cannot even imagine the terror experienced for many in Germany, and in Europe, from the sound of Nazi chants and jackboots on the pavements. With Trump giving cover to Nazis and other Nazi-like groups, many adherents of these groups have come out from under the cover of the Tea Party, a group which designated itself a band of patriots and swore up and down they weren't racists and bigots. Maybe we needed to make them say, "We swear on our swastika armbands."

It is up to TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOTS, and citizens from around the world, to make sure no one learns by experience more than this already partial terrible element we witnessed in Charlottesville. Please don't stay on the sidelines, or think, "this doesn't affect me." Pay attention, don't fall for all of the lies, deceit and self promotion by Trump, who may soon take credit for sunshine, and for rain in a drought.    

Where Are McConnell & Ryan, Other Republicans?

Note (8/17/17): A few Republicans have been gradually issuing some critical statements directly naming Trump, including a statement by Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, which questions Trump's "stability" and "competence."  

No "Word History" for this today... 

We all know what Donald Trump said, and didn't say, about the White Supremacists, Nazis, the KKK and White Nationalists, first on Saturday, then again on Tuesday, interspersed with a reluctant condemnation of violent racist groups on Monday. It should be CLEAR to ALL Americans, the REAL Donald Trump IS the ONE many of us have been saying he IS for so long. No longer can ANY Americans bury their heads in the sand and deny or fail to address this abomination. After Trump's statements on Saturday and Tuesday, many Republican leaders and officeholders made their way to Twitter to say how much they condemned these same groups, with a few even admonishing Trump for his diluting a long tradition of strong, unequivocal condemnation of such violent racists, although not all mentioned Trump by name. I only say "Trump" or "Donald Trump," because I refuse to dignify this total abomination with the title "president." I also do NOT accept those who say how they've known him for years, and that he is not a racist. Open your eyes and ears, DONALD TRUMP IS A RACIST.

A big question is, where are Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan on things, besides weak-kneed Tweets? These two, and many other Republicans in both houses of Congress, sure didn't waver in their attempt to strip health care from millions of Americans. And as for other Republicans, including those serving in the Trump administration, when do you stop acting like Trump did on Monday, while appearing to be forced to make his condemnation statement, and you stand up and condemn and divorce yourself from Donald Trump? When will YOU lead your constituents and followers to stand against these groups, instead of seemingly fearing the retribution of these groups at the voting booths. The GOP has been courting these groups for many years, now bringing their party to this point in their history. Speak out NOW and ACT! YOU have already been complicit, end that complicity NOW!    

Rumaki Liverwurst

Rumaki is "typically" an appetizer or hors d'oeuvre with marinated chicken livers and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon and held together with a toothpick. Exactly where this dish originated is something I could not find, but it has been "tied" to Polynesian-themed bars and restaurants since the post World War Two era. I've chosen to make this recipe into a type of liverwurst or pâté.

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken livers, washed and trimmed of most fat
5 slices smoked bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 inch piece of peeled ginger, roughly chopped
1/4 onion, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar (light or dark)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon brandy
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon fresh chili, finely chopped

Use a food processor. Since you will be processing the mixture, it isn't necessarily important to uniformly chop some of the ingredients, but I would not leave them whole, as you want the flavors spread throughout the liverwurst. Put all ingredients into the processor and process until well blended. If you like "chunkiness" for this, withhold a few livers from processing, chop them to whatever texture you wish, then add the pieces to the mixture, before baking. I line a loaf baking pan with parchment paper, then I add the mixture and make sure it settles. Bake at 350 F for 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool, and it is better to cool it and then refrigerate it. It will be somewhat crumbly. If you want it to be less crumbly, you can add butter or margarine (there are margarines with various types of fat used, so whatever suits you), but you will be adding extra calories and/or cholesterol, as adding just a tablespoon or so will not really do much to reduce the crumbly texture.

Rumaki liverwurst on a half roll, also herb butter on a half roll, blue cheese stuffed olives (larger) and anchovy stuffed olives and tomato pieces

 

WORD HISTORY:
Butter-This word goes back to some ancient Iranian language, ^ likely with the general meaning of "cow cheese, curds." This was a compound which was then borrowed into Greek as "bouturon" (transliterated form from the Greek alphabet), with the meaning "cow milk cheese," from Indo European "gous/bous," which meant "cattle, oxen," and Indo European "turos," which meant "cheese, curds." Latin picked up the term from Greek as "butyrum," where it took on the more specific meaning, "butter." The word was then borrowed long ago by the West Germanic branch of Old Germanic as "butero," which gave it to its offspring as Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "butere," which then became "butter." The other West Germanic languages also have: German "Butter," Low German "Botter," Dutch "boter," and West Frisian "buter."

^ Iranian is from the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo European languages and is thus related to English, but further down the family tree.

The Golden Girls, Thank You For Being A Friend

This hit show of seven seasons began in the mid 1980s on NBC and had three well known actresses to boost it to fame, and a fourth actress came to fame from the series:

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur was best known, up to that point, for starring in "Maude," a comedy on CBS that ran for much of the 1970s. "Maude" was a spinoff from "All In The Family," as Bea Arthur played Edith's cousin Maude in a couple of episodes of that show, where she bedeviled Archie with her liberal feminist political beliefs. Prior to that, Bea Arthur became known to Broadway audiences for her role as Vera Charles in the musical "Mame," starring Angela Lansbury, from the mid 1960s, a role Bea Arthur also portrayed in the movie version of the 1970s, starring Lucille Ball.* In The Golden Girls, she played Dorothy Zbornak, a divorced school teacher, who had been married for 38 years. She was tough, but caring, and a number of episodes have Dorothy dealing in some way with her ex husband Stanley, played by Herb Edelman, but most often she spends her time worrying over or arguing with her mother, Sophia (see below). Dorothy is known for her dry and sarcastic remarks, given in her rather deep voice.

Betty White had been in the public eye for some time, and she was known for hosting the Rose Parade for a number of years for NBC. Then she furthered her career in the role of Sue Ann Nivens on the 1970s CBS comedy, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," as well as appearing on "The Match Game," ** and some other television game shows, including "Password," *** a popular game show hosted by her husband, Allen Ludden. She has been a long time advocate for animal welfare. On the Golden Girls, Betty White played Rose Nylund, a widow of Norwegian descent from St. Olaf, Minnesota, known for driving her roommates crazy with Viking and St. Olaf stories. Rose is a super good person who is always willing to help others and she's almost always cheerful, but she's not the sharpest tack on the bulletin board, and her mistakes provide plenty of hilarity. In one episode, Dorothy is looking to earn some extra money and she has Rose take an ad in to the newspaper, but Rose mistakenly places Dorothy's ad in the "personals," and the ad says, "Will do anything for $8.00 and hour." The men start calling and coming to the house! In another episode, Rose's cousin is coming to visit and she buys him a cake. The problem is, the cake is from a sex bake shop and the cake is shaped like a certain part of male anatomy. When the other girls see the cake, Blanche says, "Why that's in the shape of a .." But Dorothy interrupts her, saying, "We know what it's in the shape of," but Rose says something like, "But I bought it because I thought it was in the shape of Florida." 

Rue McClanahan was best known for her role on "Maude," as Vivian Harmon, Maude's close friend. She played widowed, but sex crazed, narcissistic Southerner, Blanche Devereaux, on the Golden Girls. Blanche is always worried about her appearance, and she's not afraid to claim how attractive she is. On the more serious side, Blanche at times laments her shortcomings as a mother, and in one episode, when her young teenage grandson (her daughter's son) comes for a visit, he tells his grandmother and the other girls how his parents argue and pay virtually no attention to him. The boy is given lots of attention during his visit, including some discipline, which he comes to accept. At the end of his visit time, he tells his grandmother that he wants to live with her permanently. Blanche calls her daughter and tells her she wants to keep her grandson there, and her daughter refuses, but Blanche firmly scolds her daughter and tells her to give the boy love, "or I'm gonna kick your uppity butt until Hell won't have it." The other girls are sitting nearby and congratulate Blanche on her strong words. Blanche tells them she'd love the chance to raise her grandson to try to make up for her failures with her daughter. It's a pretty memorable scene.
   
Estelle Getty was something of the ''new girl on the block," as she was unknown to the general American public when the show started, but her performance as Sophia Petrillo, the Sicilian widow and mother of Dorothy, quickly changed all of that and made her a star. Sophia was known for her quick and outspoken remarks, as well as lending her storytelling to help the other three women during times of trouble. Her stories almost always start with, "Picture it.... Sicily, 1920," or whatever year she would use.

In real life, the four actresses were strong advocates for gay rights and helped to raise money for gay causes and for AIDS research. Bea Arthur, who passed away in the spring of 2009, even left hundreds of thousands of dollars to help provide housing for homeless LGBTQ youth in New York City. Betty White openly supported gay marriage and said something to the effect that, "anti-gay people should mind their own business and not worry so much about what other people are doing. I don't care whom you sleep with, rather are you a good person?" (This is NOT a direct quote, but rather a paraphrasing.)

The general gist of the series is that four women live together in a home in Miami and become supportive friends to one another, in spite of their individual lifestyle differences and personalities, as their strong common friendship overcomes any differences, which they come to see as far less important. When the show first started, three of the women are in their fifties, with Blanche being the youngest, while Sophia is about 80, if I remember correctly. The series was bold and it provided steps for people to accept gay relatives, and indeed, gay people, in general, as in one episode, Blanche struggles to accept her brother, when she learns he is gay. In another episode, Dorothy's lesbian friend comes to visit and ends up falling for Rose, something the narcissistic Blanche finds unacceptable, since she can't imagine any person not taken with her. She also confuses the word "lesbian" with "Lebanese." It's hilarious! But there is also the serious side, as Dorothy asks her mother how she would feel if she found out that one of her kids was gay. Sophie answers, "I wouldn't love them one bit less, and I would wish them all the luck in the world," a bold statement for television in the 1980s, the era of Reagan, Jerry Falwell and the Religious Right.

* For more about "Mame," here is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2015/03/mame-life-is-banquet.html

** The Match Game was on NBC for a number of years in the 1960s, and then shifted to CBS for much of the 1970s. 

*** Password aired on CBS for much of the 1960s, then on ABC in much of the 1970s, before switching to NBC (as "Password Plus") in the late 1970s. 

Photo is from the Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Touchstone Television DVD (Fourth Season, all seven seasons are available)

WORD HISTORY:
Six-This numerical word goes back to Indo European "seks," which meant "six." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "sehks," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "siex," which then became "six," where it has remained for many, many centuries. The other Germanic languages have: German "sechs," Low German "sess," West Frisian "seis," Dutch "zes," Danish and Norwegian "seks," Icelandic and Swedish "sex."

Phantom of the Opera (1943)

The basis of this 1943 color film is French author Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera." The film title omits "The" from the title. 

The film is set in Paris and the opening scenes show us two men who are in love with promising opera singer Christine DuBois, played by American actress/singer Susanna Foster. The first man is also one of the stars of the opera, Anatole Garron, played by American actor/singer Nelson Eddy, while the second is a policeman, Raoul Daubert, played by American actor Edgar Barrier. Throughout the picture Anatole and Raoul add some lighthearted moments as they continually compete for Christine's attention. Then we find there is still another man, a mild mannered violinist, Erique Claudin, played by London-born actor Claude Rains, who is also in love with Christine. Claudin is losing the use of his hand, which ends his long career at the opera. Claudin has been secretly financing Christine's voice lessons, which will have to end, as he has no income. Claudin then decides to have a concerto published to raise some money. When he goes back to the publisher he becomes convinced that the publisher is stealing his music and Claudin strangles him, but an assistant to the publisher throws acid (used for etching) in Claudin's face, terribly disfiguring him. Claudin seeks shelter by entering the Paris sewer system, which leads into the large basement area beneath the opera house. Before long, a costume, two masks and some food are reported stolen. The police inspector finds evidence that Claudin has also been in love with Christine. We occasionally see the shadow of a figure in a cape and a sort of slouch hat, and at one point, Christine hears a voice in her room at the opera house tell her that she is going to become a great and famous singer, and that, "I'll help you." The shadow of the caped figure then vanishes.

During one of the performances, the lead female singer, Madame Biancarolli, played by American actress Jane Farrar, collapses off stage after drinking some drugged wine in a scene with Anatole. Christine, her understudy, is immediately substituted for the incapacitated singer and she gives a stunning performance, for which the audience gives her a standing ovation. Not so, the drugged singer, who accuses Anatole of having drugged her to get Christine into the lead role. The head of the opera company tells Biancarolli to forget the matter, as there is no proof, but the self-centered singer will grant such a request only if Christine is replaced as her understudy and sent back to the chorus, with no mention to be made in the newspapers of her having performed in the opera in the lead role. When Anatole protests, she threatens to charge both Anatole and Christine with attempted murder.

Afterwards, the Phantom appears in Biancarolli's room and kills her and her maid, then barely escapes the pursuing Anatole through the upper portion of the opera house. Later the Phantom leaves a note telling the authorities that Christine must take the place of Biancarolli, but Raoul wants Christine to be replaced by another singer to lure the Phantom into the open for capture. Not to be outdone as he continues his quest for Christine, Anatole gets none other than Franz Liszt to agree to play Claudin's concerto to help trap Claudin/The Phantom at the end of the opera. Before the performance, another note is found warning that Christine must sing that night, or that there will be consequences. The plan to use another singer continues, although Christine also comes to the opera. Raoul has policemen in costume as extras for the opera to provide protection, but Claudin strangles one of the men and takes his place. Raoul finds the murdered policeman and he now knows Claudin is present, but is in disguise.

With the opera performance fully underway, Claudin climbs to the top of the opera house, where a huge chandelier is suspended by chain over the main seating area. He uses a saw to cut the chain, bringing the chandelier crashing down on a part of the audience. In the chaos, Claudin finds Christine and has her come with him, as she believes him to be a policeman. He takes her down into the underground passages of the opera house, and she realizes that he is not a policeman, but it is too late. Claudin tells her she will now be able to sing for him. Things have settled down above and Liszt begins to play Claudin's concerto, and the sound carries down into the room where Claudin has a piano and he begins to play along with the music from upstairs. Anatole and Raoul begin searching the underground passages, and while Liszt's playing is heard, they can tell that there is also playing coming from the downstairs. As they move along toward the music, Claudin has Christine begin to sing. The two men see the water worn walls that are crumbling in spots and they have to avoid falling sections of these walls.

Meanwhile, Christine gets into a position to pull the mask from Claudin, exposing a terribly disfigured face. Anatole and Raoul enter the room and Claudin grabs a sword, but Raoul draws a pistol. Anatole blocks his arm as he fires, causing the bullet to strike the ceiling, but the shot brings the ceiling crashing down onto Claudin, who is killed. The men and Christine get to safety and Anatole explains Claudin's music and the basic melody being from a song long known in the same region of France from which both Christine and Claudin hailed.   

The scene shifts to Christine's room at the opera house after a performance. A knock comes at her door and it is Anatole, who praises her singing and asks for her to accompany him to supper. She tells him that Raoul has already asked her to supper, and indeed, Raoul comes to the door just then. As the two men bicker over who will go out with Christine, she suggests the three of them go together, something not looked upon kindly by either of the men, but Christine hears her adoring fans outside her door and she chooses to go out to meet them, thus symbolizing her choice to follow her music career, so helped along by Claudin. The two men decide to go to supper together. 

      
Photo is from the 2014 Universal Home Entertainment DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Venue-This word goes back to Indo European "gwem/gwam," which had the notion of "to come, to go." This gave Latin (from the Italic branch of Indo European) "venire," which meant "to come." This produced a participle form "venir," inherited by Old French, a Latin-based language, as "venue," with the meaning "coming, coming together, assembling for battle." The word was then borrowed by English in the first half of the 1300s, with the "assembling for battle" meaning carried to "legal battle," and a place where legal matters were contested, a meaning still in use today, but an additional more general meaning later developed for "a location of an event," which then became commonly used for concerts.    

Trump Is Our Il Douche

While the leaking of conversations between President Trump and a couple of foreign leaders is very disturbing, the information is what it is, and it shows what a manipulating, but insecure, man Trump really is. For years, and especially in the last couple of years, Trump has cultivated an image of a tough leader and negotiator, strutting around like former dictator Benito Mussolini. Trump stood at rallies and thundered about building a wall along the border with Mexico, a wall Mexico would pay for, he said. Now we find in a leaked transcript of a telephone call with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, an Il Duce much more on the order of Il Douche, asking the Mexican president to help him fulfill his campaign rhetoric and to stop saying that Mexico will not pay for the wall. Trump then threatens to stop meeting with Mexican officials if President Nieto doesn't stop publicly saying Mexico won't pay for the wall. The point is, he tells President Nieto how he used the "wall issue" for two years, but now he has to deliver something, although "(the wall) is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important (we) talk about." So like Mussolini, the posturing and strutting are all for show to get some voters to buy into this, but in reality, Il Douche has gotten himself into a bad position politically, with a promise that was easy to scream from the podium at rallies, but which is not so easy to fulfill.

WORD HISTORY:
Douche-This word, distantly related to "duke" (also to Italian "Duce"), and more closely related to "duct," goes back to Indo European "deuk," which meant "to lead, to guide, to draw or pull along (that is, "to cause to move along"). This gave Latin "ducere," with the same meanings, which then gave Latin the noun "ductio," meaning, "a conduit, something that leads to a place." This gave Italian  "doccia" meaning, "pipe to conduct water/liquid in a stream or spray;" thus, "drain," or "shower." This passed to French as "douche" (shower). The word was borrowed by English in the mid 1700s with the "shower, stream of water," meaning. Circa 1840s, the word began to be used in reference to female hygiene, which moved the word out of common public mention and into more discreet use. Close relative of English, German, also borrowed the word as, "Dusche," meaning "shower." Both English and German have verb forms developed from the nouns.    

A Friend in West Virginia, Part Twenty-Three

At one point, my friend told me his dog had died. Whether this was actually true, I don't know, as I didn't ask others who know him. Over the years, my grandmother's dogs and my own dog were very special and important to me. I sent my friend a special E-card about the loss of a pet, but he wouldn't even pick it up. I didn't care about the money for the card.