This Side of the Rainbow - The Bitter Slipper

Today marks the 76th anniversary of the release of the Wizard of Oz.  Mark Steyn marked the occasion of the 75th anniversary as only he is capable, detailing the genesis of the film's hit number, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, embedded below.  As a kid, I always loved the Wizard Of Oz, and felt, growing up, I did not live in Kansas, or as Steyn put it: . . . in drab, dusty, cheerless, broken-down black-&-white Kansas.  I lived in Oz. The pace of technical innovation in this country was charging ahead starting in the 1960s and Tomorrowland was my favorite themed area of Disneyland.  But lately I have been more pessimistic, thinking that the underlying cultural conditions that allowed such technical progress were being rapidly eroded.  I have started to feel like the dreary Kansas of the movie is taking over America, because everything is politics, and politics is thin gruel for the soul.  And it makes me wonder about Dorothy.  What did she think when she got back to Kansas.

You clicked your heels and said "There's no place like home" three times.  The magic in those ruby slippers sure seemed sweet.  And now you're back in Kansas; but frankly after the technicolor splendor of Oz, Kansas isn't all that. There's chores and the farm and Auntie Em. . . and that's about it. Those ruby slippers seem a little bitter now, and maybe you want to be back in Oz. So this drink's for you Dorothy.

This drink takes off from the Ruby Slipper, linked above and seems a fitting drink for the age.

Bitter Slipper.  Ingredients:

• 3 oz. Crown Royal (or other slightly sweet whiskey such as Bulleit Frontier Whiskey)
• 2 oz. 7-up or lemon-lime soda
• 3/4 oz. of Grenadine
• 3 shakes of Angastoura bitters

Mix over ice in an old-fashioned glass, garnish with maraschino cherries.  Toast Dorothy.

A picture of the actual slippers from the movie.

My Not Very Sober Take on the #GOPDebate

Watched all of the #GOPDebate and drunk tweeted on my @BDaddyLiberator account. I wasn't going to, because, as I told Mrs. Daddy, it's just entertainment.  Her response was that it was the best entertainment we had available last night.  Sadly, she was right.

My take in brief:

1. The Donald followed Steve Sailer's advice and went all in for the white male vote.
2. Rubio impressed, surprisingly.  It is an important point he made that Mexico is not the prime source of illegals.  But he failed to leap to the easy solution, pay Mexico to keep Hondurans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans out of our country.
3. I disagree with friends about Jeb Bush who thought he looked good; he looks like way too try-hardy, or as @Warden_AoS said, born with a silver stick up his ass. Plus, Bush has Wall Street connections, so eff him.  To be fair so does Billary, but eff them too.
4. Everybody missed a really important point from Christy (whom I loathe) about social security; the promises to seniors have already been broken; its just a matter of when that bill comes due.
5. Walker did himself no favors and he is my favorite, with Perry right behind.
6. No matter how good Fiorina, Carson or Trump look, President of the United States is not an entry level political position.

Finally, does anyone really believe that election of a Republican President will make one iota's difference with respect to our immigration mess?

What You Should Be Reading:

• Mark Steyn, again, because he stipulates that love of country may trump devotion to the GOP.
• Dalrock gives some advice on fighting the abortion argument.
• WC Varones takes on Fiorina's business record at HP.