HERE A WHORE, THERE A WHORE, EVERY WHERE A WHORE-WHORE

"Nixon wasn't so bad...he got us out of Vietnam ...and kept us out of Ireland."
DICK GREGORY

From a long time ago... but we are in election season and with the Economy, the Mae-Mac Twins, and AIG going down the shitter, who is to say that FDIC isn't the next thing to go. I am going to the Bank, withdraw my $29.15 and tape it behind my Millet painting, "The Gleaners" I believe it is. If you are going to rip me off, please leave the Millet.

I have been seeing a tag that has been circulating as of late which concerns books we have read. The first question is the book that has beeen most influential in our life. There were two that came to mind very quickly.
After further thought., however, I came to believe that there were two others that were probably better candidates.Both were written by Mr. Dick Gregory( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory) and I read them in the 10th Grade.

It was a time when there was much to protest. Abby Hoffman, Ken Kesey, Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter Thompson and Timothy Leary were all in the headlines.
I spent a few lazy summer stoney days watching Judge Scirrica and the Watergate Investigation unfold.
I cannot tell you what drew me to Mr. Gregory. Perhaps it was my childhood in Detroit during the riots that was thirsty for a Black perspective on what was happening. Maybe I just wanted to be different from my fellow 16 year olds and WASP upbringing.
The first book of his books I read was "Nigger".
The second was "No More Lies; The Myth and Rhetoric of American History".
I don't think either of these would have appeared on a recomended reading list.

I had had my Drivers licsense for only a week when I saw that Mr. Gregory would be at the local College for a lecture. I talked a friend of mine into going with me. I don't know that I was anymore enlightened than any other 16 year old, but I would bet Dollars to Doughnuts that I was the only 16 year old there.
My friend thought I was nuts.

It was a time when I was too young to be a real hippie/protester but too old to not have an understanding of what had happened and was still happening to the country. It was from Mr. Gregory that I heard the story of "The Chicago Seven' and illuminated what the song "Chicago" was about.
I read "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee", "I will Fight No More, Forever" "The Strawberry Statement" and "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail".
It was Dick that sent me.
The next year, while I was barely passing most of my classes, I was making A's in Government, Philosophy and Speech.
It was Dick that sent me.
I was making Speeches that could tear your heart out. Men openly wept.
I joined the Debate club when I was a Senior. The Affirmative that year was:
"Resolved; The United States should significantly change the method for selecting and electing Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates"

My partner Kathy and I actually won a Debate tournament when I used Gregory's analogy comparing the two party system to choosing a whore.
"After all, no matter how many candidates are running, or whores you have to choose from," Mr Gregory had pointed out to me 2 years prior "They are still all whores".
My partner, Kathy, nearly fainted!
It came to be known in our club as "Steve's Great Whore Case".
Sweet!

So today I am waiting to see which one of these whores that have been nominated is going to fall apart.
Will it be the old boring one, or can his dynamic mate save him?
Or will it be the new shiny one whose campaign is based less on the Affirmative, and more on the rebuttal.
I am getting pummelled (an overstatement) by people to make up my mind, but we have yet to have a single Debate between these whores.
Not that it matters that much...but we shall see.