Jim Flanigan Looks at the World
Wasting Your Time & Mine Since 2015
I firmly believe that Western Civilization is on the decline. Not Northern or Southern, and maybe just some of Eastern, but definitely all of Western Civilization.
You want evidence?
Not good enough for you? Well …
Still not convinced? Fine, then take a look at this.
Continue reading “Evidence of the Decline of Western Civilization”
As a Democratic Precinct Committeeperson, I worked for the election of billionaire JB Pritzker as Governor of Illinois. He won. I received no monetary remuneration for my work, despite the whole billionaire thing. I did get some tickets to go see President Obama speak last week, courtesy of the JB Pritzker campaign.
It was a 3PM rally with doors opening at 1:30PM. I didn’t need to sit close. I figured I would stroll in about 2:55PM and sit in an upper deck seat. Nope. It was suggested to me that I best be in line at noon … in the cold … in the rain … with my 10 year old, because of this fine print …
I was really pleased with the name and logo I chose for my winless fantasy football team in my family’s league last week … Supreme Injustices.
For this week, I wanted to feature Paul Manafort, especially after hearing that he made a court appearance sitting in a wheelchair in prison clothes while missing a shoe. When I think of Manafort in a wheelchair, I start wishing for this …
I decided to keep the Baby Blimps for one more week as the name and logo for my winless fantasy football team in my family’s league.
Why? That’s an easy answer. I finally got to meet my team logo.
I knew it was going to be a rough business trip this week when I awoke on Tuesday morning, threw back the drapes on my hotel room window, and saw this …
I voted early in the Illinois primary. See, I have proof. I have a sticker.
I voted with my middle daughter, which I thought was kinda’ cool. I did tell her it was a crime if she didn’t take a sticker. She bought it!
It also felt weird, but good, to be voting with one of my kids. How did she get to be 21 and why do I still have a much younger daughter not even in double-digits yet in age? What felt even weirder was knowing that she voted for me.
Where I live in Illinois, the race for Governor in 2018 is starting to heat up which typically means more politicians will be going to jail. A couple of months back, I saw Democratic candidate for Governor Chris Kennedy speak, and while blogging about it, pondered why gubernatorial is used rather than governal. There is fascinating history behind the word “gubernatorial” which I am happy to share with you in this essay.
The origins of the word “gubernatorial” can be traced back to the pre-Civil War Deep South. Back in those days (and still today in some southern states), educated people were mocked and ridiculed. Those literate types running for public office like governor were regularly called derogatory names. One of the most popular derogatory name thrown at candidates was “goober.”
At southern political rallies in the early 1800’s, one could always hear taunts of “hey you goober!” directed at the candidates. Southerners are not known for being long-winded, and as the 1800’s drew close to the mid-point, the “you” in “hey you goober” was combined with the “goober” part to create a single word taunt of “guber!”
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 