Dumbidity

The RWR Currency Conspiracy - Update No. 6

This update is substantially that there isn't much to update save for the completion of a very necessary step - the United States Postal Service issuing a commemorative postage stamp honoring the late President Reagan's memory.

Boy, it's a doozy. That portrait could look pretty good on a Twenty, doncha think?

They don't normally issue them so soon after the subject's passing (in fact, everyone other than former Presidents aren't even eligible until RIP+10 years), but since they traditionally debut them on the birthday, it was either now or 2006 - when they might not sell quite so briskly. Those guys are getting more and more like a real business every day.

I'm not much on philately - after their Super Bowl meltdown on Sunday, I doubt many from Philadelphia are much on 'em either right now - but I'd consider getting a framable sheet for the asthetic value. I'd wallpaper parts of the house with it, but lately I've been having trouble with a large clumsy primate splashing paint everywhere - but that's another story.

It's a Monkey Paw Sort of Thing

I wisht

I got.

Uh-oh.

Long Story Short:
I made a case to get all this new stuff at the saltmine.
They bought it.
Now they (most unreasonably) want the case.

It's gonna take a while, and a lot of my time.

errrrrf.
*erfs*

I been wanting cool stuff at home, like a Dremel (the tool of choice for the Obsessive-Repulsive/Anil-Contentive).

My Dear Sweet Wife prioritized a project or two that could marginally justify actually getting one. It was even on sale at the Homely DePot, (but WAIT, there's MORE) with scadses of accessories also on sale.

Now she expects all aspects of the projects to be done forthwith ("...and quite reasonably so," he said without the slightest hint of sarcasm).

It's gonna take a while, and a lot of my spare time.

So, when any of the little voices out there in schmed's e-wilderness start cryin' about how terribly they miss his wit and whizzdom, they can just picture him all elboes and essoes, whether at hearth and home or in the deep dark depths of the salt dome.

All because he wisht...

Cheap Shot Redux

I got a little closer to my webloggish goal of being linked by Opinionjournal's Beast of the Web Toady.

I zipped an abridged copy of my Cheap Shot post to them, and they included it amongst their choice responsizzles here.

You needn't really hurry over there, just take my word for it.

(It was the second item from the top when I checked it a few minutes ago.)

Another Cheap Shot by a Damn Yankee

Last week, political corruption on a massive scale manifested itself in the form of soon-to-be former New Joisey Gubbinor, RuPaul Jim McGreasy McGrievey distracting the press with his "I'm gay and the homophobes in Law Enforcement are after me, so I quit!" [petulant foot-stamp for emphasis] speech.

Nevermind that his resignagle won't take effect until after the special election cutoff so his Dembot™ buddy, NJ senate president Richard Codey, can assume office. On this point, New Jersey has out-Louisianaed all the other states and most industrialized nations, because not only will the Honorable State Senator Codey be head of the Executive Branch, he'll remain in control of half the Legislative Branch too, because NJ law permits him to hold two elected positions simultaneously! Even Huey Long had to have Alvin King and O.K. Allen stand in as Governor while he was U.S. Senator trying to out-FDR Roosevelt (and still running Louisiana). I bet The Kingfish is clawing his way out from under his multi-ton monument on the state capitol lawn at this very minute.

Now the erstwhile John Fund weighs in with an opinionista piece entitled "Louisiana North" in which he points out some specifics of the Garden State's political structure that makes rampant corruption on a massive scale all but inevitable. Nowhere in the article does Mr. Fund compare/contrast these elements with those of Louisiana, and while I'll grant him that such comparisons are readily available (in bulk lots), on that basis, I'm calling him on committing flagrant stereotyping. Fifteen yards and loss of down.

[Note: Nowhere in his online bio does it say that Mr. Fund was born north of the Mason-Dixon line, but he works in New York City (NEW YORK CITY!?!), so he may not be a damn yankee by birth, but he sure is by association.]

There is a slight possibility that Mr. Fund did not entitle his article in such a pejorative fashion. In fact, Opinionjournal editor James Taranto is back from vacation today, and that sort of title is right up his editorial alley. I'm sure some of their best friends are from Louisiana and they wouldn't freak out if their daughter(s) married Boudreaux and Thibodeaux in a dual ceremony at St. Joseph's in Grosse Tête, but it's just not right.

Even so, I hope all their electronic clocks had to be reset after Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Depression Charley came to visit 'em. High-falutin' yankee bastards.

The RWR Currency Conspiracy - Update No. 5

All on his own, and without much prompting from anyone else, Co-Conspirator dave has created a rather nice prototype of the Reagan $20 bill I've been instigating.

See how nice it looks?

dave also posted a couple of irreverant versions over on one of his sites which I'm sure will be co-opted by our opponents with the Forces of Dorkniss.

I can't wait to see how it looks printed out.

The RWR Currency Conspiracy - Update No. 4

Townhalldotcom columnist John McCaslin appears to be an operative in our RWRC conspiracy.

He reports in an item dated June 24 (fourth item) now that Reagan is securely entombed, the Forces of Dorknis are mustering outrage at any effort to change U.S. coin or currency.

The aptly named Jennifer Petty, Executive Director of DAF (Democrats for America's Future), reveals the Dems have bitten on our feint which targets the FDR dime and JFK (the Kennedy JFK) half-dollar. Petty speaks out against any effort "to trash the memories of FDR and JFK to honor Ronald Reagan." McCaslin cites a D.C. lawyer who questions the trashing of Benjamin Franklin's memory less than a year after JFK's death and helps perpetuate our secondary feint, that if we put Reagan on the dollar coin, people might use it.

Almost lost in his report is a bit of news reflecting real congressional developments on the issue. Evidently Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee has appointed 4 senators to submit recommendations by mid-July on a proper Reagan commemoration (they will also consider that commemorative coinage not intended for circulation the U.S. Mint loves to sell).

So if you are related to or know Sam Brownback of Kansas, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania or Ted Stevens of Alaska, make sure they know that Ronald W. Reagan would make our twenty dollar bills look very dignified.

If I had a sample, I'd recommend mailing one to each of them.

The RWR Currency Conspiracy - Update No. 3

Continuing their uphill struggle against a longstanding reputation of "slow but steady," officials at the United States Postal Service yesterday wasted no time in announcing plans for a U.S. postage stamp honoring the late President Reagan.

While date of issue is scheduled for 06 Feb 2005 (Reagan's birthdate), no design elements are available.

OK, so that base is covered.

I wonder what a twenty-dollar bill might look like with RWR on it.

The RWR Currency Conspiracy - Update No. 2

Not surprisingly, the Reagan-on-currency concept is not an isolated phenomenon.

FOXNews.com features a story today about the Reagan Legacy Project redoubling their efforts to replace Alexander Hamilton's portrait with Dutch's.

They have the infrastructure moreso than us grass-rooters, but they could sure use our help. If you use their e-mail template, simply replace references to the $10 bill with $20, and/or Twenty-for-20th-Century-Hero" related comments.

The article included some information which could prove useful to us RWR Currency Conspiricistas:

("Alexander Hamilton: A Life" author Willard Sterne Randall) said a more logical switch would be to take Jackson, a Democrat, off the $20 bill because he was a slave owner and inflicted great suffering on Native Americans.

(Reagan Legacy Project spokesbeing Chris Butler) said the biggest opponents of the Reagan naming project are the same people who opposed the Great Communicator while he was in office: "People who thought it was foolish and impossible to stop the Soviet Union," he said.

Proponents of changing the $10 bill say a consensus is now emerging to put Reagan's image on the note. Grover Norquist, chairman of the Reagan Legacy Project, has been talking to lawmakers for years. He said it would be easier to replace Hamilton on the bill because he was never president.

The project is planning on launching its major congressional effort next week, and Butler said he is encouraged by the level of backing the initiative has gotten so far. "We have seen a major groundswell of support."

Among the efforts on Capitol Hill to honor Reagan have been a number of currency initiatives.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had been pushing for the $10 bill switch. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., wants to bump Jackson from the $20 bill.

On Tuesday, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., introduced legislation to have Reagan replace JFK on the 50-cent piece.

Earlier this year, Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., sought to have dimes bear the likeness of Reagan. But the dime effort ran into problems when Democrats, who strongly resisted removing Franklin Delano Roosevelt from the 10-cent piece, and Nancy Reagan, the former first lady, opposed the initiative.

Don't misinterpret Nancy Reagan's veto of the RWR dime initiative. I don't think it had anything to do with an aversion to the overall concept of honoring her husband on currency. Many Reagan biographers have noted his admiration for FDR (he was a Democrat back then), and it's likely he would have vetoed it on those grounds. I also think the move may have forced her to think about his mortality during what must have been an incredibly difficult time for her.

The RLP site takes comments, and yesterday, this one fella, David E. Grimm, gave 'em more than his simple opinion on the matter:

(See his site for a larger image.)

I'm not altogether wild about the specific picture he used, and I'd criticize the inconsistency of the color if I thought I could do any better, so I won't. I bet someone with finely-honed photoshop skills [hint channelers enabled] could mock up a great RWR Twenty which I would proudly publish here.

The RWR Currency Conspiracy - Update No. 1

I've quickly discovered that this ain't like getting a postage stamp to honor your average celebrity. We've got 7 spots on currency (counting the $2 bill) and 6 coins, so we're dealing with a very scarce resource.

Let's look at some practical realities as well:

The $1 bill - If it changes at all, it will simply be retired because it's not a cost-effective piece of currency. There is a profound resistance to do even that - not only does it serve as an icon of financial stability, it's got George Washington on it. Couple that with the conveniently PC Golden Dollar coin spiraling into obscurity (just like the PC Susan B. Anthony), and I wouldn't make a lot of noise for a RWR dollar coin either.

The $2 bill - If (and I stridently stress the if) the dollar bill gives way to a dollar coin, the Two might (and I mightily stress the might) get more circulation. I say might, because retailers still don't have a place to put a dollar coin in their registers and would probably use the old $1 slot. And while Tommy J is a two-fer by virtue of spending 66 years on the nickel, he is a founding father after all, writing the Declaration of Independence and most of the Constitution longhand without filing a worker's comp claim for carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Sawbuck - Honest Abe's another two-fer, and unless Alan Greenspan divides our money by 10 to make the penny relevant to retail trade again, the pesky penny is done for (condolences to Common Cents). Now say the words "take Abraham Lincoln off the five" out loud - I'll wait. *waits* Whattaya think, a lead balloon or a veritable Baby Ruth in the hot tub? Yeah, me too.

The Ten - Alexander Hamilton (a non-president) established the United States banking system and a sensible base 10 (decimal) currency system, simplifying it and further distancing us from the British. I have to think twice about advocating his retirement, but it could happen. It would be a worthy "settle for" choice.

The Twenty - This is my first choice for a Reagan portrait. An argument can be made that Ol' Hickory was a people's president and a bunch of other stuff too. I kinda like him on account of the Battle of New Orleans, but I like a lot of other American Generals and Admirals too. I think Andy could join Martha Washington, Samuel P. Chase, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson in the Currency Hall of Fame. I thought about shifting him to the fifty, but it would cause a great deal of confusion - especially considering the two recent major revisions to both bills. If anybody has photoshop skills they'd like to show off (hint-hint to dave), take the etching of RWR (in previous entry) I appropriated from Opinionjournaldotcom and put it on this.

The Fifty - This is my second choice, primarily because I don't see much reason that U.S. Grant should've been on currency in the first place, nor does he seem the least bit relevant today. Might as well put JFK on it because it circulates about as much as the half-dollar.

The C-Note - I sorta like old Ben on the hundred, not that he hangs with me much. This would be my third choice, although a close third to the fifty.

Coins. Nancy asked Congress not to replace FDR on the dime with RWR a year ago. I already spoke my piece on the penny and the Golden Dollar and alluded to the fact that the half-dollar is about as obscure as the two-dollar bill.

The quarter and five-cent piece are tied up in other historical recollecterances, with the quarter committed through the latter part of the oughties - 2008 will honor the last 5 states. If (and all that if stress again) the dollar bill would be retired, then the Washington quarter might be sacrosanct. The nickel could be another matter, so my fourth choice would be a RWR obverse with the Statue of Liberty on the reverse. (Another apology to Common Cents who suggested the Berlin wall coming down, but dude, it's in a foreign country.)

Now the most essentialist, mandatoriest criticality is that Nancy Reagan be amenable to the idea. When she asked Congress to drop the dime idea, nary a protest was made. Congress won't do this simply because she asked, but she has the moral veto power and I have to respect that. Furthermore, I don't think right now would be a good time to bring up the subject.

So, BRAINSTORM EVERYBODY!

That Shining City in the Sky

This afternoon, former President Ronald Reagan died. The flag outside our house has been at half-mast since we learned of his passing. I pray for Nancy Reagan, the rest of his family and closest friends during this time of of relief and sorrow.

On his last birthday, I wished him well and thanked him for his exemplary leadership of this country. I do so again today.

Once proper respects have been paid at his funeral this week, I hope we can show our thanks in a more tangible way. I've said it before, half in jest, but I really think we should honor President Reagan by giving him a place on our currency. I think the twenty dollar bill would be appropriate because of his profound role in the fall of communism - the scourge of the twentieth century.

But for now, I thank him again for helping us see America as "that shining city on a hill" as he goes to that shining city in the sky.

May God bless you, Mr. Reagan.