PARALLEL UNIVERSE: R.I.P. Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick 1926-2006: One of My Heroines

By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network

Hinton, WV   – Let’s pause for a minute to remember a woman the Wall Street Journal says makes outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton look like Little Bo-Peep by comparison, Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick, who died at the age of 80 of congestive heart disease on Dec. 7, 2006.

Jeane Kirkpatrick was still a Democrat – a Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy Democrat – when President Reagan nominated her as the U.S. ambassador to the UN, the first woman to serve in this position. She served from 1981 to 1985 and definitely was no Little Bo-Peep! Jeane Kirkpatrick is one of the people responsible for me rejecting Jimmy Carter in 1980 – I voted for Carter in 1976, to my eternal regret – in favor of Reagan. I never told my mother, who died in 1984, about my Reagan vote. It would have led to an earlier demise! I returned to the fold in 1988, but strayed to third party candidates like Ross Perot and various Libertarians until voting for Kerry-Edwards in 2004.

Why the explanation of one guy’s voting pattern? Because I didn’t leave the Democratic Party – it left me. For the record, I’m still a registered Democrat, with libertarian leanings, rather than neocon ones. I don’t have the faith in the human spirit that true neocons possess. A birthright Democrat from Duncan, OK, Jeane Kirkpatrick finally left the party in 1985, becoming a Republican.

Kirkpatrick was a brainy – she earned a doctorate in political science from Columbia University in 1968 – outspoken, strong figure who inspired many disillusioned Democrats who were dismayed at the hard left turn of their big tent party – including the present writer.

Like many neoconservatives, Kirkpatrick started out as a lefty: As a freshman at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1945 she joined the Young People’s Socialist League of the Socialist Party of America. She was influenced, she wrote, by one of her grandfathers, who was a founder of the populist and socialist parties in Oklahoma. It must have taken guts of steel on the part of the young Oklahoman to join the YPSL in deepest conservative Missouri.

At Columbia University, her principal adviser was Franz Neumann, a revisionist Marxist. In 1967, before earning her Ph.D, she joined the faculty of Georgetown University. She became a full professor of political science in 1973.

Sad to say, the hard left wing of my beloved party is still focused on the “Blame America First” position Kirkpatrick described in the mid-1980s. Her comments about “San Francisco Democrats” at the 1984 GOP Convention ring loud and clear with the upcoming coronation of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA as Speaker of the House. Baltimore native Pelosi is from San Francisco.

For an appreciation of Kirkpatrick, see this link:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=25945

For the Wall Street Journal Editorial, see:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009365

TV REVIEW: ‘Sleeper Cell’ Showing 2nd Season on Showtime Cable Network

By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network

Hinton, WV  – Exactly one year ago today, I reviewed a Showtime series called “Sleeper Cell” that knocked me – a diehard “24” fan – out of my chair. The second season began Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006 and continues through the end of this week. Don’t miss it.

Back in the second season are Michael Ealy as Darwyn, an undercover FBI agent who has infiltrated a radical Islamic terror cell in Los Angeles. Farik, the head of the cell, was captured at the end of last season as the Federal agents – with the help of Darwyn – foiled a plot to blow up Dodger Stadium. Darwyn’s love interest from the first season returns; she’s Gayle Bishop, a single mom played by the very attractive and talented University of Virginia graduate Melissa Sagemiller.

Farik, played by the Israeli actor Oded Fehr, is being held in a CIA prison, where he is being interrogated to find out more information about the surviving members of the cell – information that Darwyn doesn’t have access to. Below are the episodes of this outstanding miniseries, which will probably be repeated on Showtime. The episodes air at 9 p.m. eastern time, with a repeat at 11 p.m.

Caution, this series contains scenes of violence and torture, along with brief nudity. It’s an outstanding television event.

10 Dec 06 Al-Baqara
11 Dec 06 Salesman
12 Dec 06 Torture
13 Dec 06 Faith
14 Dec 06 Home
15 Dec 06 School
16 Dec 06 Fitna
17 Dec 06 Reunion

PARALLEL UNIVERSE: Relax, Marshall Field’s Fans: Macy’s Didn’t Ruin Your Favorite Store!

By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network

Chicago, IL  – It’s been a Holiday tradition for many decades, traveling to Chicago’s Loop and viewing the gigantic Christmas tree at Marshall Field’s State Street flagship department store. Most people make a day out of it, shopping at Field’s and other stores on State Street and enjoying a meal at one of the restaurants in the store or nearby.

Given the relatively compact dimensions of the Loop, it’s possible to see a musical, stage play or opera, have lunch or dinner and shop, all in the same day during the holiday season. When I was there in early December, an unseasonable cold wave made that experience something only Mumble the penguin (the star of the hit film “Happy Feet”) would enjoy, but I have that extra native-Midwesterner cold weather gene that permits people like us to venture out when the weather is life-threatening.

Now that Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores has rebranded the Field’s stores as Macy’s, many people familiar with Chicago are wondering what’s in store (couldn’t resist that one!) for a really Big Box institution that occupies an entire city block (Wabash Avenue to the east, State Street to the west, Randolph Street to the north and Washington Street to the south) in the Loop.

Relax, fans of FrangoLand: The store and overall chain, acquired by Federated in 2005, appears to be in good hands after several years of ownership by Minneapolis-based Target. The Marshall Field’s “As Chicago as it gets” slogan has been replaced with Macy’s “Way to Shop” and the famous dark green Marshall Field’s awnings are now Macy’s black. Those Macy’s red stars are also present in abundance. (By the way, Frango was not originally part of Marshall Field’s: It was acquired when the chain purchased the Frederick & Nelson department store chain in Seattle many decades ago).

The tree is a wonder to behold. On my recent visit, I took the elevator to the 8th floor to view the tree and the diners around it in the Walnut Room. Speaking of Frango candies, they have a favored spot in the basement level, where they share space with the Marketplace food court, an excellent dining place that’s much less formal than the Walnut Room.

My sister Natasha Yuhas, who – until her retirement a few years ago — worked in the furniture department at Field’s, concurs in my assessment, saying the store is much cleaner than it was during the heyday of Target, formerly known as Dayton Hudson. Prior to that chain, Field’s was owned by Batus, British American Tobacco; it really hasn’t been owned by the descendants of the original Marshall Field for many years. My sister advises the few people still protesting the name change to get over it – the store is in good hands, she says.

The building is an historic landmark, so the Marshall Field & Co. plaques are still in place around the building’s exterior. The two signature State Street clocks — at Randolph and at Washington — are there and are favored meeting spots for Chicagoans.

State Street is looking better than ever, with many new shops, including one from the very trendy and affordable Swedish H&M chain and the spruced up Sear’s store. A few years ago, the Daniel Burnham designed Reliance Building – one of the best Chicago landmarks that survived the wrecking ball – was renovated into the Hotel Burnham.

The Block 37 development – directly to the west of the Macy’s/Field’s store – is apparently on track. Ground was broken in November 2005 by the Mills Corp. of Arlington, VA for a mixed-used development on the long-vacant site, now called 108 N. State. This past August, the respected Chicago-based developer Golub & Co. bought the residential and office portions of the massive development, expected to be finished in 2008.

One sad note: Carson Pirie Scott & Co., another Chicago landmark, is closing its State Street store in March of 2007. Carson’s, occupying since 1904 one of the most distinguished buildings on the street, the landmark Louis Sullivan-Dankmar Adler designed building, is owned by Bon-Ton Stores. It was formerly owned by Saks Fifth Avenue. The State Street store will house a collection of boutique shops, according to news accounts.