A Washington Post obituary:

Marian McQuade, 91, who persuaded governors, Congress and then-President Jimmy Carter to set aside a day to honor grandparents, which has proved to be a boon to the greeting card industry …

Who could have seen the greeting card boon when well-meaning Jimmy Carter signed this?

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

As we seek to strengthen the enduring values of the family, it is appropriate that we honor our grandparents.

Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us. Whether they are our own or surrogate grandparents who fill some of the gaps in our mobile society, our senior generation also provides our society a link to our national heritage and traditions.

We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, and who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy. Because they are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.

The Congress, by joint resolution (H.J. Res. 244), has authorized and requested the President to designate the first Sunday of September following Labor Day of each year as National Grandparents Day.

Now, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Sunday, September 9, 1979 and the first Sunday following Labor Day in each succeeding year as “National Grandparents Day.”

I urge officials of Government at the national, State, and local levels, and of voluntary organizations to plan appropriate activities that recognize the importance and the worth of the 17 million grandparents in our nation. I urge all Americans to take the time to honor their own grandparents or those in their community.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth.

JIMMY CARTER

Wall Street Journal (via Shenanigans):

The traditional Jewish head covering is usually plain, with solid colors or simple patterns. But this year, a number of American Jews will observe the Jewish New Year, which begins Monday night, with yarmulkes promoting presidential candidates.

Shlomo Perelman, owner of Judaism.com, said political yarmulkes first became popular during the 2000 election season, when Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut became the first Jew on a major-party presidential ticket. That year, Mr. Perelman sold 60 of the yarmulkes, also known as kippahs. This year, they are making a bigger splash in the Jewish community. Mr. Perelman has sold about 160, and another retailer, Shmuel Tennenhaus, has sold more than 400. “You’re going to have quite a political statement in all the [synagogues] around the country,” said Mr. Perelman.

Color us old-fashioned, but we’re still suckers for nostalgia …

And Bill Clinton, too, looked downright smashing in one of those things …

… and so far we think, we think, we think, we, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

We’ll do anything to plug Dire Straits … even show this…

… make sure you’re watching the action unfold on the sensational C-SPAN Debate Hub.

Perennial debate moderator Jim Lehrer says debate tension is this compelling:

“You can smell it. It’s under your arms and in your toes.”

Yes, it’s quite revolting.

Don’t mess with Zohan.  Or OPM.
The Post cites Howard Weizmann, deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management, at a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing yesterday:

One problem the OPM has with the legislation is that it would allow an employee in a same-sex relationship to get family benefits once that partnership is certified with an affidavit. “OPM believes this process could lead to fraud and abuse in the programs we administer,” Weizmann said.

To bolster his point that worries about cheats are realistic, he cited an unusual source: “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” an Adam Sandler movie about two firemen in Brooklyn who pretend they are gay so they can get domestic partner benefits. “The subject was . . . insurance fraud,” Weizmann said. “This is not farfetched.”

That might be the best mention of Sandler’s impressive body of work since this …

Did President Bush’s address to the nation on the economy remind you of Jimmy Carter’s 1979 “malaise” speech?

Probably not if you remember Carter’s speech done to opera.

Here’s what that would sound like…

Here’s what she’s singing from the Carter ‘79 speech.  Follow the bouncing ball…

“…all the legislation in the world can’t fix what’s wrong with a fundamental threat to American democracy. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. The confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the Fourth of July.
We’ve always believed in something called progress. We’ve always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own. Our people are losing that faith, in government in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered material goods cannot fill the emptiness.
But it is the truth and it is a warning. These changes did not happen overnight. They’ve come upon us gradually over years that were filled with shocks and tragedy. These wounds are still very deep. They have never been healed.
It is a true challenge of this generation of Americans. Let your voice be heard. Let your voice be heard. Let your voice be heard. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country. Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the American spirit. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail. We cannot fail.”

Poor Joe Biden.  His home state is going to hell in a blue hen basket.  And whose fault?  Well, let’s consider the views of Abby Betts, the Democratic Party’s Kent County chairwoman:

“People in Legislative Hall have worked hard on that budget.  The other side [Republicans] would like to say it’s all the Democrats’ fault. But they played a part. It’s not just Democrats destroying Delaware. They’re on those committees, too.”

A classic Henry Kissinger anecdote in today’s Post:

Stuart Spencer on President Gerald Ford’s 1976 gaffe proclaiming that there was “no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe”:[I] was sitting next to [National Security Adviser] Brent Scowcroft in the holding room watching this. I heard [Ford] say it, and I didn’t think anything about it. Brent, in his style, punched me and said, “You’ve got a problem.” I said, “What’s the problem?” He said, “What Jerry just said about Poland. He means ‘emotionally.’ . . . There are x-number of divisions in Poland.” . . . I said, “How many is that?” He said, “Some 240,000.” I go, “Oh God, these are Russians, 240,000 Russians, and they don’t have control of Poland?”

I go out. By this time, [White House Chief of Staff Dick] Cheney and I were spastic. We get back to the house. Henry [Kissinger] is already there, secretary of state. He’s saying, “You were wonderful, Mr. President. You did a wonderful job.” He gets through, and Dick and I say, “Goddam, what are you talking about, Henry?”