Capital Punishment-The Moral, The Just and The Just Plain Messed-Up

As the correspondent who asked this question knows, this column was a long time in coming. Let me break out this complex and troubling question into separate components:

The first aspect is the MORAL imperative, which all religions that I know about and all human societies subscribe to: THOU SHALT NOT KILL.

That's clear and absolute. In a perfect world, we would all obey and no further question would arise. That we live in an imperfect world is shown by the qualifiers that some otherwise religious people would put on this absolute moral imperative. It's okay, they say, to kill the rabid dog that is about to bite you or your child or some helpless person near you. Killing in self-defense or the defense of another is allowable, if there is no other choice.  Lots of other qualifiers are also bruited about: that it is not wrong to kill animals for food and sustenance or that is acceptable to kill other human beings in war. Note those other points for now and let's focus on the idea of self-defense, because I think that is central to the proponents of capital punishment.

What about human beings who kill other human beings? On an individual level, once again, all major religions agree that it is not acceptable. On the collective level, society in the abstract and government in the practical has the might (i.e. the weapons and legitimacy) to do what no individual should do and call it "justice".

The argument for that goes like this: SOME PEOPLE JUST NEED KILLING.

All justifications of capital punishment eventually boil down to this Texas bumper sticker. Defining the "SOME PEOPLE" is the difficulty. What actions make a human being into the equivalent of a rabid dog that must be put down to secure the safety of society? Long lists of crimes which invoke the death penalty have been seen in early legal codes, but the trend is for fewer and fewer crimes to be so considered. The death penalty for sex crimes or theft or political rabble-rousing or talking on your cell phone in public can actually hinder prosecution as an ethical person might/should hesitate to bring charges. The crime of murder is one in which the death penalty seems symmetrical--if someone intentionally takes a life their own life should be forfeit. Seems fair, right?

As I examine my own heart I find that I fully agree with the moral imperative THOU SHALT NOT KILL. My sense of self-preservation hopes that society will protect me from predators. Once I have assigned that duty to a government, I must be ruled by the consensus that creates the law by which justice is defined and meted out. I can understand the bitterness of friends and family of the victims; I can consider the agony the victim might have experienced. And even if the deterrence value is weakened by the delay in administering the penalty, it holds some weight to deter the rational offender. In other words, if society requires the execution of murderers, then I don't argue.

But when I look at the actual dispensing of justice in modern America, I don't always see it. What should be a justice system is JUST PLAIN MESSED UP. The courts as constituted do not provide equal treatment under the law. T. Cullen Davis and O. J. Simpson are names that spring to mind of wealthy men who beat the rap of murder. Confessed murderer Shane Ragland goes free because of his father's money. If you are a millionaire, you can command the legal talent to argue that the evidence against you is flawed.

This can be seen for all crimes at all levels of the American justice system: in cases such as that of Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the dismissal of the sexual assault charges against him. It was considered a great coup for  American justice that Strauss-Kahn was even arrested, but then it was found that the hotel maid who said he sexually assaulted her had fudged something in her background to get refugee status and misrepresented some circumstance to get housing. DSK admitted the sex, and the woman's bruises and other physical evidence at first convinced the prosecutor to yank the man off the plane and put him in handcuffs. But once the lawyers had succeeded in ferreting out and putting the worse possible implication on the hotel maid's legal forms, the prosecutor concluded that he couldn't put the case to a jury. Only a perfect woman, a combination of Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary, could bring such charges against such a wealthy man and have the prosecutor follow through.

The justice system is supposed to accept the release of the guilty to protect the innocent wrongfully accused. But the wealthy always seem able to obtain 'reasonable doubt'. Being innocent and poor will increase the likelihood a defendant will be convicted. In Illinois, the Innocence Project examined the cases of 25 inmates on Death Row about nine years ago and discovered serious flaws in 13 cases.

So even if you subscribe to the principle of SOME PEOPLE JUST NEED KILLING, it's rather hard to argue that the justice system is doing a good job of defining who those folks are. So that brings us back to the moral imperative: THOU SHALT NOT KILL. Given that, suspending all executions in this country to allow for a nationwide Innocence Project is something that I can support. Show me that the system can be fixed. Suggest ways to presume innocence for the rich and the poor and make justice blind to wealth.

Downstate IL Innocence Project

The Innocence Project

A book review: Rin Tin Tin - Was the author dog dazed?

The first half of this book, where the author talks about Lee Duncan and his dog was fabulous. Here is a gripping saga of a boy who spent part of his early life in an orphanage, growing up and going to war, befriending a mother dog and her litter of puppies on a battlefield in war-torn France. We learn where the name "Rin Tin Tin" originated and why Rin's mate was called "Nanette". This is an enthralling saga of a dog who became a movie star.

The author also discusses other dogs who performed in the silent movie era and notes what was about Rin Tin Tin that made him so special, despite the dark coat that made him hard to light for the camera.

I loved this part of the book. I enjoyed the author's chronicle of her search for the town where Lee found the puppies and how hard it was, since the name and spelling of the town had changed in the years since World War I.

There is real value in these pages about the early days of movie making and the changing culture of the times. In silent films, a dog actor closely bonded to his human trainer could give a more natural and affecting performance than a human overacting to compensate for the lack of words. Attitudes toward animals were changing. All these factors allowed for Rin Tin Tin, but the essential element of the story was and remains the bond between the human and the dog. And the dog was something else as anyone lucky enough to have seen even a snippet of one of his silent films can attest.

But the latter half of the book is about the branding and marketing of Rin Tin Tin, of the lesser dogs that succeeded him, of the plastic figurines that depicted them, of the declining fortunes of his trainer, of the TV producer who created a show to capitalize on the name and of all the tawdry schemes and hoaxes and frauds and cheats and dog breeders who tried to exploit that. And of the lawsuits.

And none of that had anything to do with the dog. I really wish I could give the author five stars for the beginning of the book. I really wish she had found some redeeming twist at the end. In fact, she only fantasizes about an ending; it becomes all about her. What I felt as I ground my way through the last chapters was that the author had lost sight of her subject completely and was desperately padding out her material to achieve some predetermined length.

Or else she was betrayed by her own first sentence: "He believed the dog was immortal." She seemed to believe that she could go on and on, talking about tangents that weren't really about the dog in the hope this would prove her point. As if exploiting the name "Rin Tin Tin" somehow was the same as immortalizing our animal hero--but it isn't. I came to the end of the book feeling ashamed -- my interest in Rin Tin Tin the real dog had been exploited by the author. If I had wanted to read a book about showbiz lawsuits and marketing I would have looked in a different section. I can't recommend this book to animal lovers...maybe fans of pop culture would have a different take on it.

----this same review appears on the Amazon product page of the book under the title "Dog Dazed"----

Rin Tin Tin -book product page on Amazon

Hot Dogs VS Hot Dog Buns

The question, posted to my facebook page is

Why do hot dogs come in a ten pack and buns come in a twelve pack?

The standard answer is that meat is sold by the pound but baked goods traditionally are sold by the dozen. However, digging a little bit deeper one discovers that the "standard" is, um, loose. Hot dogs do indeed come ten to a pound; however JUMBO hotdogs are eight to a pound and some supersized varieties are only four to a pound. Hebrew National puts 7 skinny wieners in a pound package. Other types of sausages and brats, which are also consumed in "hot dog buns" can be all over the map with four brats or six spicy Italian sausages in a package. I have even seen one long lonely sausage in a package which the consumer chops up as need be: check out that 3lb monster!

When one examines the bakers, the most common number of buns in a package was eight. My questioner faced the dilemma of having two extra buns but most of America has the opposite problem: two naked wieners running rampant, just begging to be eaten. One man has faced this issue head on, and confronted the giant corporations that are making our lives miserable and taken steps to resolve this problem: Courageous activist fights to rectify the hot dog/bun imbalance!

In the course of my research, I discovered that there really isn't a standard for the number of buns either. A few bakeries allegedly sell ten buns to a pack. However, they are shy and avoid all publicity on the internet. However, I did find a one place that sells eight hot dogs in a package and surprise, surprise they also sell their buns to match. I suppose it would have been too cruel to sell ten buns with only eight franks:

Park East Kosher - 8 buns to a package

Or another place which will sell some of their products in packages of sixteen: 

Piantedosi - 3 products come in packages of 16

The term "hot dog" is credited to the American cartoonist Tad Dorgan, (Tad Dorgan's colorful expressions) mainly because he did not know how to spell dachshund. The story, along with other hot dog facts may be found at: Hot Dog FAQ

 St Louis argues that it invented the modern hot dog in 1893 at the St Louis Browns baseball park. However, sausages with that suggestive shape date all the way back to the 15th century and some European village known as Frankfurt has given its name to the "frank" or "frankfurter". Not sure I would brag...unless my name was Anthony Wiener.

The 1904 World's Fair in St Louis was the place where hot dogs met the modern hot dog bun. That magical place also saw the birth of the ice cream cone, ice tea, the hamburger in a bun and cotton candy. Thus the habit of walking around and eating at the same time was born. The 1904 fair also witnessed  the debut of peanut butter, chili and Dr. Pepper. 

In one of those transcendental karmic coincidences, yellow mustard was introduced in 1904 by the R. T. French Co. Just when the world had a hot dog on a bun and wondered what to put on it, the answer was given. Just as I have done for you, lovely Elizabeth...

Is There a God?

(Doesn't anybody screen these questions?)

God knows if He exists, honey, but you won't find his address and phone number in the phone book. That's not an argument one way or another it just indicates that God isn't limited to a particular location or mode of communication which is exactly what His followers claim.

Certainly some people have reason to believe. I am reminded of a story about a Marine during World War II, fighting in the Pacific under General MacArthur. His unit participated in a bloody island assault. His friends were killed but he was unhurt. Fresh troops were brought in to fill the gaps; he went on another assault and once again was unhurt but only a few men survived. The same thing happened again. This man went through a meat grinder and not only did he live but he was unhurt. He felt that God must have preserved him for a purpose and after the war he spent his life working for a publisher/distributor of religious books.

I wouldn't argue with that man, or with any believer. Faith is not a subject for argument or even for rational discourse. Faith comes as a gift from God; it isn't something for mere humans to meddle with.  I find that I come closest to faith when I listen to the music written by believers:


The 99 Names of God

Andreas Scholl singing Bach

About 2400 years ago, Buddha told the parable about the blind men and the elephant. Each man got hold of a different body part: trunk, tail, flank, leg, etc. and stubbornly maintained that his was the one true nature of the elephant. In this story, the elephant stands in for God and the blind men are the religions of the world. Once there was a disciple of the Buddha who threatened to leave because Buddha had not revealed whether God existed or not. Buddha asked if he had ever promised that to the disciple who said no, Buddha had never promised that. Buddha said, "And I never will. You are asking the wrong question because it is unanswerable. I am trying to teach you the path to Enlightenment."

Buddha wanted his followers to reach for Enlightenment because that was attainable. I think this is wisdom, because if one needs a God to scare or reward you into proper behavior, then I think you may be truly damned.

If God exists, then the proof is found in the actions of his believers. Certainly the idea of God has been a force for centuries...in small acts of of kindness that work greatly upon the individual or in huge acts of evil that blight generations. Ideology is not the same thing as God, but it sometimes substitutes for Him in this imperfect world.

If the world would practice peace and meditation, if all human beings could strive for and achieve Enlightenment and find their inner Buddha, and deal on the basis of compassion and clarity rather than passion and ignorance...then by that light, I suspect we would all see God, that he has been hidden from us only by ourselves. By that light we would have no problem in submitting to God as a good Muslim or loving our fellow men as a good Christian--we would have attained the Buddha's Nirvana. But I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

So the answer is "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." Go off and read that essay which was written by a much wiser man than I. Remember that it was a tale for little children and take it with a grain of salt. If you know enough to ask the question, then I suspect you are already pretty far down the road into doubting God's existence. That's an intelligent, rational choice and I'm not one to argue with either faith or reason. Either one gets you only halfway down the road. If you have both legs, use them. If you have only one leg, hop. It may take longer but you will get there when you arrive, and no sooner.

Shameless Self-Promotion, The Fun of

Coming out of the grocery store late one night, I noticed this Chevy that had been turned into an advertising billboard. The car itself is American, a weensy little wannabe truck built on a car platform and the idea of turning a car into a moving billboard for your business is very American. As an aspiring writer, I'd been thinking about the need for self-promotion and reading a lot of advice about having a blog and getting a website and making bookmarks and going around to bookstores and all the other things authors are told they have to do when they get published. If you get published, your publisher will want you to do all this and if you self-publish you better do all this, because with 300,000 books being published every year, if you don't do something, you will never find any readers.

So a lot of my author friends are self-promoting like crazy, and total strangers want me to read and review their books on Amazon. These folks have spent years alone at a computer, honing their writing craft. They aren't at ease with the idea that now they have to go out, meet people and actually talk about their stuff. The results can be awkward and a bit pathetic, like a bunch of nerd trying to market their wares on Facebook, or a little scary, like the email I got from an aspiring author who inadvertently hit all the "stalker alert" alarm bells by offering to hand deliver his book to my home.

Everything about this car charmed me from the mention of the First Amendment on the windshield to the very idea that one could slap a snazzy paint job on one's personal transportation and drive around, thereby killing two birds with one stone, i.e. get where you're going while you spread your message. As I was taking a picture, the owner of the car accosted me.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Taking a picture of your car, because I just love it," I said.

So he told me about how he had six other cars just like it, one for each of his radio stations. And he gave me a business card and two T-shirts and told me all about his latest radio station. He was a lot of fun to talk to, because he totally enjoyed promoting himself and believes in radio. His name is Bob Romanik, the station is KZQZ 1430 AM and he also goes by "The Grim Reaper of Radio". His talk show airs from 4pm-5pm Monday through Friday and I'm pretty sure he's nuts. Here's a link to his website: KZQZ 1430 AM - mission statement

Talking to Bob was an education in and of itself. He's doing all the right things to promote himself, his show and his businesses...and because he finds it fun, he's fun and interesting to talk to.

That strikes the right chord with me. If you asked me why I write, the bottom line is that writing fiction is the most fun you can have in a room by yourself. Most of the time that I'm writing I'm intensely engaged in that search for the right word or phrase that will most tellingly convey the motion picture unrolling in my head. Sometimes, I cackle with evil laughter over the predicaments I get my imaginary people into. Once in a while I move myself to tears. Twice a month, I trundle off to a meeting of my writer's group and test what I've written by reading it aloud to a gang of fellow writers. If I can engage them, make them laugh or once in awhile, get them to cry, then I feel that I am on the write track to become a writer worthy to put my stuff out to keep people quiet and interested for the time it takes to sit down and read a book.

Life can be tough, Liberty requires eternal vigilance, but the Pursuit of Happiness is about having fun. That's what it is all about, ultimately.

The 99% - Their Words May Be Vague But I Hear Them

As I was flipping channels last week, I came up a dismissive and derisive broadcast by Fox News where they interviewed inarticulate young people in the OccupyWallStreet movement and then made fun of their aspirations for "world peace" or "an end to greed".

As usual Fox News speaks for the moneyed interests of Rupert Murdoch and his family, whose media empire is so lost to decency that they will hack into the cell phones of murder victims solely to get the pathetic messages of frantic family members trying to reach their missing child.

I listened to those young people and remembered a time when I marched to end a pointless and unjust war. Yes, I, too, wanted world peace and an end to an unjust draft. And President Nixon brilliantly let all the air out of the "anti-war" movement by ending the draft. I watched in dismay as others of my generation, particularly the long-haired radical guys, immediately turned to making money any way they could. They really didn't care about world peace, you see. They just wanted an end to uncertainty so they could get a job and get on with their lives.

And there is nothing wrong with the vague goals of the young folks Occupying Wall St or Washington or Seattle or any of the other place where these movements are springing up. Unemployment among young people 20-24 years old is 14.7%, much higher than the national average. Their signs speak of student debt and postponing all the milestones of life: marriage, getting a house, having children. They are living at home with the parents, if lucky.

I graduated during the Reagan recession with a degree newly minted for an energy analyst, but found that corporate doors were closing just as I had obtained the credentials I needed to get my foot in. It was painful having to readjust my horizons, but I did it and within two or three years I got my foot on another career ladder, but that little dip in the economy had a lasting impact on my earning expectations and opportunities.

With a totally stagnant economy that might not recover for a decade, and a past decade that has relentlessly eroded the aspirations of middle-class Americans, folks at the centers of power need to sit up and pay attention.

These young people are camping out for me, enduring arrests for me and inarticulate or not, speaking for me. They want a fair shake, a chance to prove themselves, gainful and meaningful employment...THEY WANT A JOB!

They want the certainty that if they work hard and pay into a government program all their lives, politicians won't treat it like a slush fund to vote inflated benefits to 'the greatest generation' and then cut or end the program before the people who have been paying for it can cash in.

They want a banking system that loans to businesses here in the USA to create jobs here in the USA. They want fair laws protecting consumers from bad food, filthy water, unsafe products and unscrupulous mortgage lenders, credit card companies and banking fees.

They want a government for the people, by the people, of the people...not a bunch of cynical, shrill-voiced fund-raisers who will kiss the butt of any corporation or wealthy person who will donate to their next political campaign. Just voting the current set of bastards out will not be enough, because the new bastard will just get bought out. We need a Congress that will pass a budget and watch for corruption and waste in the executive branch; we need an executive branch that will fight tooth and nail for the interests and rights of the ordinary people; we need a Supreme Court who knows the difference between a person and a business. We need a government that will roll up its sleeves and get to work. We need an economy that works for America...until you have that, the deficit will continue to grow, the economy will falter and unrest will grow.

Congress missed the boat by having the wrong debate this summer. Cutting costs is not the real issue; meeting the aspirations of the American people is. Get this, fat wads, these kids are not asking for a handout, not like the politicians and political parties spamming my inbox daily. They represent the best of us; they are are our future. Stop arresting them and start thinking how to create that future.

Where Igor Lives

This is my personal assistant, Sammy. He doesn't run errands, take phone calls or do laundry. I pay him an exorbitant salary to keep squeaky dog toys strewn evenly throughout the house, to sleep right where I need to walk and to sound the weather alert during tornado season. He generally beats the National Weather Service by 10-15 minutes and he seems to be able to distinguish between loud thunderstorms and actual tornadoes. When he says "Take cover!", we evacuate to the basement even though that is where Igor lives.

I have never seen Igor but deduce his existence from the weird thumping and banging that goes on down there. I used to pretend that it was the old furnace but then I got a new furnace which is whisper quiet, but still, when the fan turns on, Igor thumps and bangs.

Most of the time, Igor and I co-exist quite happily, like roommates who work different shifts and never, ever see one another. Oh, I change the furnace filters and once in a while when I get a new computer or something in a nice box, I throw the box down the stairs for Igor to play with. He's got some furniture we surface dwellers have no use for and plenty of spiders for company. Seems quite content.

But tonight I had to venture into Igor's realm....out of season. It's that time of the year when it is too cold for tornadoes and too warm to turn on the furnace. So Igor couldn't be expecting me.

But I needed a big box and a lot of packing peanuts. I really wanted to do it before the sun had set because as the light fades, things that live in the dark get bigger and braver...but I needed to get the box up to get the package ready and I finally had a use for all those packing peanuts. So I descended into Igor's realm:

This time I grabbed my camera. If I did finally meet Igor, I was going to be prepared. 

And amazingly,

I actually got to meet Igor for the very first time!

Rare footage, only 3 seconds long,

Igor in my basement.

Igor at the bottom of the stairs!

P.S. and a really nice box and some Styrofoam shapes. The saddle fits fine and I will get it shipped as soon as I can get to the post office....but that's another tale....MWAHAAHAAAAA!

Why Do Some Southerners Still Fly the Confederate Flag?

...asks a correspondent from a state not even in the Union at the time of the Civil War.

First, as a cultural American icon, the "Confederate Flag" might also be considered a sort of second flag of the USA. The fact that it is a divisive, politically-charged, polarizing and deeply offensive icon to a lot of people makes it even more typically American. People who are not Southerners use it, so in order to address this question we have to look at who uses it and the context of that usage. In my experience as a Southerner, you get these types of people sporting the Confederate Flag:

• Southerners who know their history and fly this flag as an emblem of Southern culture. They may not mean to be divisive or offensive because they know the Old South was built by black and white people together...but consider this a minority usage.
• People who think "being a rebel" is kind of cool, drunks, idiots, fans of NASCAR and all sorts of folk who don't know the history behind this symbol and don't care...I consider this to be the majority or 'redneck' usage. These folks might not be racist but some are, as are some people who proudly display Old Glory.
• The Confederate Flag has been used as a protest icon, an anti-federal government marker. Folks who use it this way are usually politicians who choose a deliberately divisive symbol. I'll observe that scoundrels wrapping themselves in a flag, any flag is not a new thing. Lots of scoundrels put an Old Glory lapel pin on when going out to campaign.

In my own mind, I've labeled these groups as the Old Fogies, the Stupid and the Evil. (What? Okay, call them Traditional, Popular or Political if you want...I call 'em as I see 'em.)

If you hear someone refer to the "Stars and Bars" here is the flag that a strict Traditionalist would envision:

--Oh my goodness, you say, that looks a lot like the Stars and Stripes but with big fat stripes. This is the official flag enacted by the legislature of the Confederacy in the first flush of new statehood. Southern folks wanted a flag as much like that of the "old country" as possible because they claimed they were the true heirs of the American Revolution. (The version pictured shows 13 stars including the border states of Kentucky and Missouri. Other versions show 7, 9 or 11 stars.)

The problem with the Stars and Bars was that it looked TOO much like the Stars and Stripes. At the battle of Bull Run or 1st Manassas, Southern General P. G. T. Beauregard (stands for Pierre Gustave Toutant -can yawl tell he's from Louisiana?) got rather annoyed because he couldn't tell who he was supposed to be shootin' at. He listened to a frustrated flag designer whose idea had been rejected by the politicians. The general wound up adopting a "Battle Flag" which became closely associated with the Army of Northern Virginia and Robert E. Lee. Eventually this design became widely popular: Please note that it is square. The overwhelming number of Confederate forces used the square flags as their battle flags. A couple of Southern states even incorporated this square battle flag in their own flag design to celebrate this heritage.

Folks who want to bask in the glory of the Lost Cause and celebrate their history and tradition should at least be using the square design. Lots of people admire Robert E. Lee as a man, an engineer, a general and an educator. Folks whose ancestors fought under his command might justly want to display his battle emblem. I can sympathize. Some USA military units in WW2 used the Confederate Battle flag as a mascot in the early days of the conflict. By the end of the war, they'd stopped.

In our modern era, I don't condone any use of the Confederate flag. This is a result of my own history and experience which tinges this design in any shape with the taint of racism and the blood of men and women struggling for their freedom and their civil rights. The Confederacy was born of the desire of the wealthy to continue to exploit other human beings for material gain. The cry of "State's Rights" was a charade--the only right they cared about was the so-called right to own slaves. If you doubt me, look at the speeches of the Secessionist Conventions. That image of the Southern gentleman and his hoop-skirted belle is not so romantic when one realizes that the wealth and ease of the few were obtained by suffering and deprivation of the many.

A flag is a square of cloth; it has just that symbolic importance one attaches to it, but it remains cloth. To celebrate and preserve your history, educate your children. The states who have flown this flag over their capitals or incorporated it in their own state flags also have a history of trying to deny equal education to ALL children within their borders. It's great to have a history but without a future what are you preserving the history FOR?

And being cool, drunk or ignorant doesn't excuse bad behavior. Most uses of the modern rectangular version of the Confederate flag are just plain rude. Putting the emblem on your belt buckle, beer can holder or pickup truck license plate is a cheapening of a symbol that men once fought and died under (which should offend the Traditionalist). Trying to ignore that this is a symbol used by and for racists is just plain stupid as well as offensive...Southern culture includes Southern courtesy and my mother said that meant being nice to everybody no matter what they looked like or where they came from. I don't think that anybody's flag should be used as a belt buckle or mudflap.

My harshest criticism is reserved for those politicians who would embrace the flag of Dixie as a symbol to set one group of people against another. Evil, vile and despicable are too mild. After 9/11, there is no excuse to raise the flag of a failed rebellion of 150 years ago for any reason. Our soldiers serve overseas in harsh conditions. I'm a Southerner and I'm proud not only of my heritage but of the civil rights movement and the modern progress hard fought and hard won. The flag that hangs off my front porch is the Stars and Stripes...Forever. I'll stand with Captain William Driver and here's why:

Captain Driver and "Old Glory"

Costumes - or Dressing up to go someplace

These musings are prompted by the recent photograph of First Lady Michelle Obama, wearing an ugly gray baseball cap and sunglasses to go shopping at a Washington DC area Target. Critics of the First Lady allege that she did it as some kind of "image adjustment".  See Critics Slam 1st Lady's Target Trip

If Michelle Obama had known that the AP photographer would be taking her picture, I submit that she would have chosen a better looking hat. The problem with alleging that she dressed up like an ordinary middle class housewife for some kind of political purpose is that for most of her life, she was an ordinary middle-class housewife. And even if she did don a "disguise" what's the problem?

Ordinary people, especially sci-fi and fantasy, enjoy dressing up to go to conventions. Here are some of the folks wondering around Archon 35 on Saturday Oct 1 which is the big day for the Masquerade Contest:

Steampunk with cell phone

Love that handbag!

Pipe, program and water bottle!

Let's settle this disagreement like nerds.

This lady had Harry Dresden's long leather duster and sunglasses...

Shows the eclectic nature of the costumes...

Humans and Klingons can still be friends.

These "riot police" were on hand to arrest your friends for charity...

Steampunk ruled, with quasi-Victorian gentlemen and ladies outnumbering space and medieval fantasy themed costumes by a large number. It's an intriguing genre harking back to such Victorian era titans as H. G. Wells and Mark Twain but with a technological and cultural twist. I love history and I adore fantasy but I admit having a hard time dealing with speculative fiction that tries to combine the two. However, the steampunk costumes combine an elegance and flair that invites creativity. I was impressed with the number of contestants who made their own costumes, jewelry and accessories.

The folks who are griping about the First Lady dressing down to go to Target would probably not be friendly to the ordinary people dressing up to go the Archon 35. What we wear and where we go are basic liberties that hark back to that memorable phrase in the Declaration of Independence 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness'. So the First Lady was looking for a little liberty outside the White House walls; the Archon 35 Masqueraders were pursuing happiness; and the critics...they need to get a life...