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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave

By Rick Diguette
Although I have read Frederick Douglass' Narrative a number of times, I pulled it off the shelf this weekend to read again in the wake of the controversy surrounding The Marriage Vow pledge signed by Michelle Bachmann.  The Michelle Bachmann's of the world, and there seem to be more of them out there than I had imagined if the Iowa straw poll numbers are any indication, could learn an awful lot from Douglass' Narrative.  If she can actually read, that is.  Those eyes of hers make me wonder.

Comments

  1. avrdsAugust 14, 2011 at 5:58 AM

    I knew of that "pledge," but hadn't read it. That's downright creepy.

    And yes, I agree that voters have not done their part by, at minimum, staying informed. When you read the exit polls it's amazing to find out what people actually believe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. avrdsAugust 14, 2011 at 5:59 AM

    Not to mention, I should add, what candidates like Bachmann actually believe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rick DiguetteAugust 14, 2011 at 3:42 PM

    avrds -- The thing about voters, whether in Iowa or my benighted state of Georgia, is that they really believe they are staying informed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. avrdsAugust 14, 2011 at 4:38 PM

    More the tragedy of it. Fox News does not an informed electorate make.

    I was going to respond that if she does make it, she would make an easy opponent for Obama, but .... these days, given your point above, who knows. And given the cuts to education nationwide, it can only get worse.

    ReplyDelete
  5. James FergusonAugust 19, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    Enjoyed some badly needed R&R in Druskininkai this past week. Nice to see some new posts when I got back.

    This "marriage vow" business first cropped up last month when some Iowa yahoos got Michelle and Santorum to sign it. It was nice to see that Romney at least steered clear of it. This has to be the most outlandish "pledge" yet concocted with all its references to blacks in America, as if it was some kind of halcyon period back in those antebellum days. And, these teabaggers would like us to believe they are not racist. I can't even imagine any presidential candidate touching a "pledge" like this with a ten-foot poll.

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  6. Rick DiguetteAugust 19, 2011 at 9:24 PM

    Oddly enough, Bachmann signed the pledged but then claimed the copy she signed didn't include the stuff about slavery. Haven't seen anything to corroborate her version of events.

    ReplyDelete
  7. avrdsAugust 19, 2011 at 11:44 PM

    Or probably more to the point, she never bothered to read it. "I believe in marriage. Sure, I'll sign."

    Regardless, to pretend she doesn't believe that stuff now that she has been called on it is a little disingenuous. All these far righters seem to be feeding on a deep-seated racism, and a fear that they are losing their country demographically to non-white, non-protestants.

    As a friend said to me the other day -- we have become an extremely diverse country, and yet we are still dominated by a small number of white male conservatives. No wonder they are trying to restrict the right to vote around the country. Someone might stop and figure that out and actually vote them all out.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousAugust 20, 2011 at 8:04 AM

    Very scary that she and Perry seem to be the front runners for the repubs.Have a great new 23 inch all in one gateway with wifi and it still won't accept my google id here.bosox

    ReplyDelete
  9. James FergusonAugust 20, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse,

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/seven-ways-rick-perry-wants-change-constitution-131634517.html

    Maybe we should get rid of the 13th,14th, and 15th amendments as well?

    ReplyDelete

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