COWBOYS AND PRESIDENTS

Garry Willis in “The Kennedy Imprisonment” compares the president to a gunslinger in a western movie. The town (country) faces problems too great for the old sheriff. A gunslinger (Clint Eastwood or John Wayne) is brought to town to deal with the problems. He moves on after a period of time. Then new problems arise and a new gunslinger comes to town.

I wondered what other plot types could be applied to American politics

The problem with this one is that the gunslinger in the movie solves problems and leaves a town of happy people. Presidents seldom leave the voters happy.

Since Ronald Reagan, we have not been looking for solutions. We cling to old solutions like “trickle down economy” even knowing that didn’t work.

The Koch Brothers are the problem gunslingers who will not leave.

The other problem is that our presidents sometimes create problems; they don’t always solve problems.

The country has been paranoid about drugs and national security since Nixon. Were drugs really a problem great enough to declare war on them? We now have the largest prison population in the world. Are we still the land of the free? We have government spying on our people, listening to our cell phone conversations and reading our emails.

Barack Obama promised us single payer national health system. He did not deliver. The insurance companies are still in town and more powerful than ever.

Instead of a gunslinger, we need a school teacher to explain common decency and manners to Donald Trump and his followers.

Where the gunfighter image works is in the expectations of liberals. We liberals expected Bill Clinton and then Barack Obama to come to town and clean up the conservative mess. Then we put our hopes on Elizabeth Warren, but in 2016, she did not saddle up. Can Bernie Sanders save us? Is he the hero we have been waiting for?

Our western movie fails to end the way we want it to.

PRESIDENTS, KENT MCCORD AND COMEBACKS

Learn about a president each day for a month. Presidents 1-31 were George Washington to Herbert Hoover. On the 1st look up Washington in a good encyclopedia. On the second of the month look up John Adams. keep going. What about presidents 32-44? That would be Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Barack Obama. The 22nd and the 24th would be Grover Cleveland who was president twice. On the 24th look up a president who came after Herbert Hoover. You might also want to skip number nine, William Henry Harrison, because he was only president for one month and he was sick for all of that time. He was, however, an interesting historical character, the victor at the battle of Tippecanoe. After you have done this for a month, on the second month look up the presidents who came after Hoover. That would be 13 names. After you have looked up all the presidents up to President Obama and whoever comes after him, go back and look up some presidents that you think had interesting terms.

For next month look up the Roman emperors or the kings and queens of England. You might start on the popes, or famous scientists or explorers. There are 365 days in a year. That’s 365 interesting people to learn about. When you study, be a kid again. We lost the joy of learning back when we were in school. Let’s get it back.

In “Burning Man” by Alan Russell, actor Kent McCord, tells the following joke: “So this man has to work late, and when he’s driving home he gets pulled over for speeding. Now the cop notices the driver has these tired looking eyes, so he says to him, ‘Sir, I can’t help but notice your eyes are bloodshot. Have you been drinking?’ The driver isn’t happy with the insinuation, so he says to the cop., ‘Officer, I can’t help but notice your eyes are glazed. Have you been eating doughnuts?’ “ Page 8.

Come backs: My dog doesn’t need a muzzle; my tongue does. Alan Russell. “Burning Man.”

HOW DO I WRITE A TOPIC SENTENCE?

How do I write a topic sentence?

Think of a main idea as an umbrella. It’s usually one sentence long. It covers everything else in your essay. The main idea itself should be a statement that has to be proved and it is also called a thesis statement. It should invite examples, definitions, and comparisons. Some ideas are broader than others; some are narrower than others.

Decide: How long does you essay have to be? Make sure your main idea is broad enough to fill out X number of words or pages in the assigned essay?

Example: All of our U.S. presidents, with a few exemptions, have had wonderful people skills. That is a main point, but it would take at least a very thick book to cover all our presidents and their people skills or lack there of.

Example: John F. Kennedy possessed a wonderful sense of humor. Better. But if my essay has to be ten pages long, I had better make sure, I have enough examples to fill that many pages.

Beware of main points that degenerate into lists:

Example: Several of our early presidents were deists.You may have to define deists, but after that a list will be all you need. Instead craft a topic sentence that explains why these presidents were deists and how it affected their decisions.

Several high school and college texts have lists of topic sentences. Some are there to provide essay ideas. Some English books have lists of sentences that are really topic sentence tests. Which of these possible topic sentences is indeed a usable topic sentence? Then you have to read the sentences and do as I did above. You have to determine why they would make poor topic sentences. I suggest you look for some of these lists, to help you identify good topic sentences and how to write them when you have an essay assignment.

ANSWERS TO PRESIDENTS QUIZ

QUESTIONS:

1. In what year were each of the four men with birthdays in February born?

2. Who was the first president born in the 19th century?

3. Who was the first president born in the 20th century?

4. Who was the first president to be born after the American Revolution?

5. What president had the campaign slogan, “I like Ike.”

6. Teddy Roosevelt’s niece Eleanor married a future president while Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House? What was the name of her husband?

7. Who was president when the Berlin Wall was torn down?

8. What president wrote the best selling book, “Profiles In Courage”?

9. How many presidents were assassinated?

10. What president had a popular dog named Fala?

ANSWERS:

1. Washington 1732, William Henry Harrison 1773, Lincoln 1809, Reagan 1911.

2. Milliard Fillmore 1800.

3. John F. Kennedy, born in 1917,

4. James K Polk was born in 1795.

5. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower.

6. Eleanor Roosevelt marrie her fifth cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

7. George Herbert Walker Bush

8. John F. Kennedy.

9. Four

10.Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Pick up a biography of one of our presidents or first ladies and read about his or her life.

When historians are asked to rank the presidents, the three top ranked are George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. Look these men up in an encyclopedia. Why do you think they rank at the top?

A QUIZ ON U.S. PRESIDENTS

This is a month of presidential birthdays. George Washington, February 22; William Henry Harrison, February 9; Abraham Lincoln, February 12 and Ronald Reagan, February 6.

Just for the fun of it, lets learn something about presidents.

Here is a short quiz. Look up the answer if you don’t know it.

1. In what year were each of the four men with birthdays in February born?

2. Who was the first president born in the 19th century?

3. Who was the first president born in the 20th century?

4. Who was the first president to be born after the American Revolution?

5. What president had the campaign slogan, “I like Ike.”?

6. Teddy Roosevelt’s niece Eleanor married a future president while Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House? What was the name of her husband?

7. Who was president when the Berlin Wall was torn down?

8. What president wrote the best selling book, “Profiles In Courage”?

9. How many presidents were assassinated?

10. What president had a popular dog named Fala?

Find the answers in tomorrow’s blog.