Election Day

Vote Today!

(legally, of course!)
It looks like people are turning out to vote today, all over the country. We will be joining in later this afternoon. I hope that there is not a line. My knees can't take that. Maybe I'll take a chair.

In some places, there are problems with rain and cold weather, with voting machines not working when people touched the screens with wet hands, power outages, etc. Here, it is a beautiful day. Perfect weather, with a perfect temperature of 75.
I just hope that we have a good, clean election and that the best person to preserve our country and way of life will win.
In my last post, I talked about my experiences with cartooning. The above cartoon is one that I did last year when it seemed that no perfect candidate had appeared. Politicians seemed to "talk with forked tongues", as in the cartoon above. We still don't have a perfect candidate. Sarah Palin seems to be the best who has appeared. I heard John McCain speak here before he ran for president and I didn't agree with a lot of things he said. But, he is the best candidate we have who will work hard to preserve and defend this country and our American way of life. He has proven himself and we know what he is about. You can't say any of that for Obama. I feel sure that he is intent on destroying everything good about our country. I don't believe one word that comes out of his mouth. Everything about him is just wrong. And Joe Biden is an absolute joke. With friends like him, who needs enemies. So, that is where I stand. I just had to put in my two cents worth.
Most of the Democratic Congress needs to be replaced. They are the ones who have gotten the country in the mess that we are in. And, even the ones who have been outstanding, seem to be giving in and following along with the radical leaders. The thing that really ruined the Democrats is things like the Super Delegates and the undemocratic way they now have of operating. It's just totally unfair.
I probably will vote for one or two Democrats, although I am hesitant after their recent support of Obama and people like Nancy Pelosi. I tend to vote for people I know and with whom I have been able to talk and watch over a period of years. Unless I absolutely disagree with them.
Chet Edwards used to come to the Calvert Hotel a lot when I was writing for the newspapers. So I got to talk to him frequently. I found that he and Joe Barton and Phil Graham were very nice people, and very approachable. In fact, they called me when they had news. They were very open to our efforts to promote the arts in Robertson county and our area. I know that Chet has done a lot for our area over the years, and for veterans, A&M, etc.
Joe Barton is no longer representing our area, but I like what he says when I have heard him speak on tv. He kindly came to Calvert and spoke in the bandstand when we opened our Sesquicential event there. He was going to help us show some of our local art in D.C., but we couldn't afford the expense of shipping and framing. Another option was to show our work, not in the office building, but in a D.C. hotel. But I moved away before any of that could happen. Wouldn't that have been great! To have Robertson County art shown in Washington D.C. !
Another person I know who is on the ballot is Mary Helen Bonilla Berlanga of Corpus Christi. She is a native of Calvert and is running for the State Board of Education. She has held her position on the board for 26 years, so she is certainly knowledgeable and qualified.
I was disappointed that more candidates did not appear at the George Bush Library. I try to see them all, if possible. Mitt Romney came, but it was for a fundraising event, not to just talk to the public. Bill Clinton came to Reed Arena to speak briefly during the primary to get voters for Hillary. We learned about it too late to see him. But his plane did fly over us as we drove to campus to hear a band concert. And, of course, early on, John McCain spoke at the Library. Bill Frist was also there, early, but he announced that he was not going to run for president.
I thought that, today, I will share some of the cartoons that I did during the long, very expensive run for president.

Remember when McCain was not doing very well and he cut staff, expenses, and it looked like rats leaving a sinking ship? He was carrying his own luggage at the airport, traveling alone, etc. But McCain did what had to be done and kept plugging away. And look how far he came. I wasn't supporting him, or anyone else, at that time. My big concern was health care for myself and no one had or has any plans that would benefit me. But these thoughts came to me as I watched events on tv.

Remember the big "Lock In" or "Sleepover" in the Senate? Some of the Senators seemed to stand around and talk (and brag) all night, some took advantage of the facilities and slept or ate. Some looked really fresh when they were called on to talk on camera. I remember one woman who looked like she had just stepped out of the beauty shop or a makeover. I thought that Hillary overslept or no one called her in time to do her makeup and her hair after she had a nap. She looked really tired and was missing her makeup. John McCain looked to be the winner of the Sleepover. He was fresh, alert, and ready to go while the others just wanted to go home or sleep.

Some were criticizing McCain because of his age. He held up a lot better than most of the "younger" folks. I know that he has endured more than most people could hold up to. Age? He's just right! A nice young man, I think.
These are a few of my observations, through cartoons.

I apologize for the big spaces. I don't know how to get rid of them. With each cartoon I added, they went to the top of the page. When I moved them around, I was left with a huge space at the bottom of the page. I'm not sure why there are spaces between lines of print when I keep trying to move them together. Computers will always do mysterious things, I guess.

Today, we go out to vote, with lots of prayer and great hopes for our country. Tomorrow, it will be a day of rejoicing for some, tears for others, and lots of arguing and blame on the media. This is the way it is, through my eyes.

Calvert Sufferagettes

Calvert Sufferagettes

personal photo

During Hillary Clinton's speech tonight, she mentioned that this is the anniversary of the Suffragette movement. ( I looked it up and noticed that the sign in this photo is spelled sufferagette, while online it is spelled suffragette. I went with the way the sign in my picture has it spelled. After all, the photo shows women who were involved and, if that's the way they spelled it then, that's fine with me.)

I thought it would be appropriate to remember the women (and men) who were involved in obtaining voting rights for women. Many of them went through a great deal.

Do you know who these women are?

Flossie gave me this wonderful old photo and asked if I know who the ladies are. I don't have any idea. But it's a great historical photograph of a time that we don't often hear about.

We assume that they are Calvert ladies.

The fire escape steps behind them sort of remind me of the fire escape that is on the back of Calvert High School, leading from the auditorium down past the cafeteria. However, depending on when this picture was taken, the school may not have even been there, yet. I don't really know where the picture was taken.

While women couldn't vote, in times past, they still could persuade their husbands, in a lot of cases.

By the time I was old enough to vote, Texas had a poll tax. Most husbands would pay the money for their wives, if they were supportive of their wives. However some still had the idea that wives were something like property, or were to be kept dependent, or "barefoot and pregnant", as the saying went. Stay in the kitchen and out of anything that was deemed really important. The fee was a whopping $2.50, but you would have thought it was a small fortune. And, in most households, the men controlled the pursestrings. Women had to beg for everything they got, trick their husbands, or they had to save back something from anything that they were able to get their hands on.

I had been sick and had to go back home to live at the time that I was old enough to vote. My notice, and my mother's, came in the mail. I wondered how you knew about how to vote, since we didn't have a lot of communication back in the 1950s. Not much in the way of tv, but there were newspapers, radio, newsreels, magazines, and, sometimes, a candidate might come through town to make a speech or shake hands along Main Street. The main thing was to listen to the elders and see who they were endorsing, it seemed. People would visit all along Main Street in small groups, seeing who the elders or their bosses were endorsing. I tried to listen and watch as much as possible.

But, when it came time to pay that poll tax, all I heard was "Women are too stupid to know how to vote right." And there went our opportunity to vote.

Later, when I was working, I was able to pay the tax and vote. And, I've tried not to miss voting since. And I encourage others to participate as well. It hasn't been that long ago when a lot of men probably thought that their horses had more sense than their wives or daughters.

"We've come a long way, baby," from having to fight to get to vote, having to beg for $2.50 to pay the poll tax, to having a woman, "a traveling pantsuit sister", run for our highest office and make a speech before thousands while her husband, a former president, looks on.

Wouldn't the ladies in the photo be thrilled !

*****

Hope that you enjoy seeing this photo as much as I have. There are some wonderful old pictures of Calvert. We really should try to get as many as possible together and do something with them. We talked about that in 1986 for the Sesquicentennial.

This is also a good reminder to label your pictures while you remember who is in them and where they were taken!

******

If you can identify these ladies, let me know.

Election Day in Texas

(To the tune of "When It's Roundup Time In Texas")

It's Election Day in Texas

And the sun is shining bright.

Not a cool north wind a blowing,

Nor the sky high cost of gas,

Gonna stop us all from voting

Spin that little wheel on the stand,

Just to think of all

Who've made us free and all

Drinkin' coffee while we can.

You can hear the candidates calling,

Beggin' for every vote they can.

Hear the boring ads

All through the whole day long,

And the pundits everywhere.

They're a flying, flapping, yapping,

with their planes and SUVs,

Flitting place to place

Spending lots of cash,

Wanting votes from you an' me.

Hear the anchors just a wailin',

Hopin' for a scoop each day.

Watch them trying to be there

With their pretty suits,

And the big ole satellite trucks.

Just a readin', watchin', thinkin',

Whose the best to vote for.

To keep our country safe,

To stay free always,

To preserve our sacred ways,

So we can all be healthy, happy,

Smart and secure,

When it's voting day in Texas.

Who to vote for? That is the question.

With apologies to Shakespere!

Boy, has it been busy and exciting around here. I'm just in awe about the people who have been and who are here because of the election.

I'm a news junkie. I guess that's because of my time writing for newspapers and teaching journalism. My daughter said that I just learned to be nosey in my home town. Everyone turned out for everything, appearances, programs, church, wrecks, fires, trials, meetings-you name it-night or day. I still want to be there for everything. And I don't like to vote for anyone who I haven't at least had the opportunity to see in person.

Well, I got to see John McCain when he was here last spring. Didn't agree with him on many things except the war. He is someone to be admired, though.

Mitt Romney came, but it was a closed event. I wasn't invited, so that ruled him out as someone to vote for.

Mike Huckabee was here, but I couldn't get over there. That ruled him out. Besides, I only think of him as wanting everyone to lose weight, just because he did.

Personally, I think that we haven't seen the candidate that this country really needs.

Sunday afternoon, I took my grandson over to campus to hear the Texas Aggie symphony and concert bands at Rudder Tower. Being the news junkie that I am, we had to, first, go by the MSC to see the Fox News crew, with Shep Smith as anchor, broadcasting from the Flag Room. I couldn't see anything because of the big tv lights! But, I am still thrilled that I got to be in the same room with Shep! I really enjoy Shep and Greta Van Susteran reporting on Fox. Wish I could have met him.

We went on to the concert, came back to see if Shep might still be around. The lights were still on, but the crew was gone. So, we went through one of the several art galleries in the MSC. I had been wanting to see the exhibit of art by actor Anthony Quinn, along with some of his collection of art. Just outstanding!

I told my grandson, "I want to do that!", looking at three large paintings at the entrance.

Of course, after sitting through a band concert, my grandson was tired and wiggly and wanting to go home.

When we got home, I was so surprised that Shep was broadcasting again on Fox News! I thought he had left for the day.

He was back there yesterday for his program, and will have a special election party in the Flag Room later this afternoon. Did my heart good yesterday to hear the Aggie yell leaders, leading some traditional yells with some of the students, and to hear the group doing "The Aggie War Hymn" with "Saw Varsity's Horns Off" ! They needed that great Texas Aggie Band, too. Hope that Shep and crew got to see a lot of Aggieland and its great traditions while they are here.

Also, Sunday, we heard that Bill Clinton was going to be in town for an appearance at Reed Arena. But, no one, including the local tv station, knew if it was by invitation only. So, we ruled that out and decided to go on to the band concert as planned. (Turned out that it was open. I learned that people knew about it from phone calls and Hillary's website.)

Would have been nice for my grandson to be able to say that he saw the former president. I'm not supporting her, but I just like to see and hear everyone that I possibly can.

But, we did get close! As we drove past the airport to campus, Clinton's plane flew over us-really low! I don't think that I can count that as seeing him, though!

I used to support Hillary, as a woman. And she became more human when she and Chelsey had makeovers with a Mary Kay consultant while she was in the White House. I am keenly aware that everyone needs to be able to have healthcare, (It's just criminal to deny healthcare to anyone because of lack of money or adequate insurance, to my way of thingking) so I was listening to that. But, her bad remarks against the president, wanting to bring troops home immediately, and learning that everyone is going to have to buy healthcare, and her "listening to the squeaky wheels" instead of doing what this country needs, just turned me off.

Obama makes nice speeches, but I think he is all wrong for this country. No real plans that could be carried out, too inexperienced, and I don't trust him at all.

So, it looks like I may have to do the old coin toss to make up my mind when I get to the voting place. I've been leaning toward McCain. If our country is not strong and secure, then all our other issues are not going to matter much. But, then, I'm thinking that Hillary needs our support in order to beat Obama. At one point, I thought that it's just too much! Maybe I'll just stay at home and send the rest of the family to vote! Can't do that, though. This is too important.

In times past, back home, when I was growing up, men walked up and down the street, met at the Post Office, in cafes, the grocery stores, etc., talking about who to vote for. Grandpa would sort of "hold court" around the stove and the chairs at the dry goods store, and men would talk about the issues. He would also get Daddy, and his brother, together, to talk about who they were going to support.

They were all involved.

The ladies, however, never talked about politics or issues, that I remember. They were busy with cleaning, cooking, entertaining and such. Some were not allowed to vote, despite the fact that they got the vote, because of the poll tax. If the men didn't want the women to vote, they just refused to pay the poll tax for the ladies. Most of the men controlled the purse strings, and everything else. Some men thought that women were "too stupid to know how to vote right." They wanted to be sure that the candidate they supported won and to keep the women out of it all. Sometimes it was really hard to get hold of that $1.50 or $2.00.

Anyone doing "the Texas Two Step"? That's getting a lot of news coverage.

Today, I hope that we all vote "right", whatever that may be.

This isn't meant to be any kind of endorsement, or anything like that. Just my observations and experiences on this important day.