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January 09, 2005

What would Grandma Mildred say?

A rather dismissive and snarky "report" on the inaugural festivities can be found here, pointing out again how loathsome some "blue-state" anointed media find middle-America. Reading the "report" one can just sense the flared nostrils and arched eyebrows when sentences such as these were written:

Susan Graham, a first-family friend who has warbled for the Bushes before. She may be a grand opera singer, but she's a mezzo-soprano from Midland. You can't get any more middlebrow than that.
This actually goes to the heart of the kerfluffle (royalites now owed to James Taranto for use of the word) concerning Kid Rock. The fact that the invitation has caused "outrage" in some corners of the GOP is eliciting sniggers among those elites who truly believe that Republicans are obsessive/compulsive bluenoses. And they believe that as one of the more benign Republican traits.

Certainly, the discussion on the internet on this subject has been lively, thoughtful, at times raucous, and even unpredictable. Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom ran with this yesterday and his thread is now knocking on the door of 300 comments. Enough comments for Michelle Malkin to have noticed. Michelle, herself, contributed to the brushfire that has yet to burnout here. Michelle says:

In response to a flood of calls, the inauguration committee has apparently backpedaled, according to WND.

Good. Glad to see that some conservatives aren't embarrassed about upholding decency

So, Michelle, I take it committing an indecency to "uphold" decency is ok with you? To eschew the proper and the right thing to do and thus hold yourself to public ridicule from those who do engage in such behavior on a regular basis can be excused with a sophist appeal to "decency"?

There's a saying many people use to approach the big moral questions -- "What would Jesus do?" It's a statement to give one pause to reflect. In social situations where questions of etiquette and common decency come up, my own touchstone is "What would Grandma Mildred say?"

My late maternal grandmother was born in 1904 in Michigan, moving with her parents and siblings to Los Angeles when she was 16. A lively young woman with a beautiful singing voice and an accomplished pianist, LA was the place to be in the 20's. There are old family photos of her, Millie the flapper -- her hair bobbed and dyed platinum blonde. She dated Jack Benny and generally enjoyed the glamour of Hollywood. She would meet my grandfather, Robert, there, as he worked for a couple of the studios as a camera or stunt driver (Hal Roach studios and on a couple of Harold Lloyd films). They were married in 1925. They would always maintain their ties with Hollywood as my grandfather later worked for over 40 years at Forest Lawn, Glendale, as a memorial counselor.

For all the wildness of her youth to the tinsel-town ties, my grandmother always maintained that class was not a product of income or station; it was a state attained by a person who operated with an ethos grounded in the Golden Rule. Among the things I learned from my grandmother:


Y'all remember jr. high school? Well, playing games in regards to who is invited or disinvited to parties is usually one of the uglier experiences of that trying chapter in our lives. I would hope that we all eventually outgrow that.

Oh, I know some don't. The parent who makes their kid disinvite the peer from the wrong side of the tracks or the woman who avoids phone calls from a friend for a while because she is throwing a luncheon for some "classier" acquaintances and doesn't want to explain to her friend why she's embarrassed by her.

And wasn't there that politician who was invited to speak at the Democratic Convention who was then disinvited to speak because he was a known pro-lifer? Even though his speech at the convention would have had nothing to do with his views outside of the convention?

Goodness. Nothing like Republicans acting like the snarky "reporters" from Wapo. Nothing like acting just like the Democrats we were so quick to criticise for their "disinvitation." :::sigh::: I thought Republicans were better than that.

Some more recommended reading on this subject:


Posted by Darleen at January 9, 2005 11:03 AM

Comments

I love your Grandmother!

Posted by: Diana at January 9, 2005 01:53 PM

I knew we were on the same page about this "kerfluffle." Maybe I didn't address it in this way, but in the end, we're on the same side.

Posted by: Beth at January 9, 2005 02:04 PM

As I said in Mr. Goldstein's comments, I am *only* defending the the committee *if* they were acting on *new* information, not on peoples' opinions.

If the committee did not know about Mr. Rock's misogynistic or pro-sexual exploitation lyrics until *after* they had invited him, then *I* can understand the reason in disinviting him.

If they knew about his earlier lyrics and are only now disinviting him to avoid grief from some groups, then I find their actions spineless.

As I said at Protein Wisdom, I am sure your grandmother was both more compassionate and tolerant than I, but I have a hard time seeing her welcoming an unrenconstructed misogynist into her home and making him a center of her party's entertainment.

Posted by: Eric Sivula at January 9, 2005 02:04 PM

Eric

I have a real, not baiting, question for you. I don't know KR, and his music is nothing I'd waste time listening to on any regular basis. I'm an old-foggy classic rock kinda gal.

But outside of KR's music and stage schtick, what has he done to earn the "misogynist" label?

I mean, how is his music different than novels written by, say, Stephen King? Certainly you wouldn't disinvite King from a party because some people objected to his work featuring "occult" themes?

Posted by: Darleen at January 9, 2005 02:45 PM

- Thought the thread was a little "wordy", although the "plank owner" with the thin skin was interesting.... and of course as always the graphics were awe inspiring.... *chuckle*....

Posted by: Big Bang Hunter at January 9, 2005 11:29 PM