Fifty years ago today, Kenya became independent of the United Kingdom. So all you conservatives out there, don’t you see? Obama isn’t a Kenyan interloper, he’s a British spy. “Obama, Barack Obama.” By the way, what’s with that? Public Policy Polling found that 51% of Republican voters thought that Obama was born in Kenya (United Kingdom). A CBS News/ New York Times poll found that fully one-quarter of all Americans thought the same thing. You would think it would be like the family member who spent three years at Sing Sing for child molestation: something everyone knows but no one talks about. That’s why I don’t think these people actually think that Obama was born in Kenya (United Kingdom). It’s just a way of yelling at a president who pretty much agrees on policy with the vast majority of Republicans—at least until Fox News and Michael Savage get done with them.

On this day in 1745, the under-achiever of the Federalist Papers authors John Jay was born. An American aristocrat, he was good for sending over to Europe to talk to the aristocrats there. And he did write 5 of the 85 Federalist Papers, so that’s something. The thing is, the more you know about the Founding Fathers, the more they are like Jesus. I don’t mean great; I mean mythical. There isn’t a whole lot to like about them. It’s a pretty standard story: a bunch of rich men rebelling against a bunch of richer men. There are a few I like, but mostly it’s just Thomas Paine who rocks my world. But look at him today. Glenn Beck wrote his own version of Common Sense, and pretty much avoided Paine the whole time. Thomas Paine was too radical 200 years ago for conservatives (and many liberals) today. But John Jay would be welcome on Fox Businuess.

German expressionist Edvard Munch was born in 1863. He is best known for The Scream. Other than the fact that it has been really easy to parody, I’m not that fond of the painting. But Munch was a great painter. And he’s a lot more varied than people think. Sometimes his work reminds me of Gauguin. Others like Hopper. Still others like Magritte. But clearly his enduring style is seen in The Scream and my personal favorite: Madonna:

Frank Sinatra was born in 1915. In general, I’m not a fan of the man. I hate to see him in movies, where I think he is terrible. Except that he is great in The Man with the Golden Arm. And I love his singing. I don’t know what it is. Actually, I do: he totally ripped off his phrasing from Billie Holiday and it works perhaps better for him than it does for her. Here he is doing “Send In The Clowns” from A Little Night Music where it is sung by a woman. I very much like the payoff, “Don’t bother, they’re here.” Because they are always here. We are all clowns—especially about our love lives:

Other birthdays: abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805); novelist Gustave Flaubert (1821); actor Edward G Robinson (1893); game show legend Bob Barker (90); Ed Koch (1924); one of the very best abstract expressionists Helen Frankenthaler (1928); singer Connie Francis (75); film producer Paula Wagner (67); actor Bill Nighy (64); and singer-songwriter Hank Williams III (41).

The day, however, belongs to the great playwright John Osborne who was born on this day in 1929. He pretty much invented the “angry young man” archetype in his play Look Back in Anger, he was capable of writing just about anything. I always found it amusing that he wrote the screenplay for the delightfully funny Tom Jones. Personally a bastard, he seemed to understand that fear and longing were the basis of anger. Here is a bit from Look Back in Anger starring Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. It really does provide a whole (and I think more accurate) rendering of the play where Jimmy is quite sympathetic. The whole play is on YouTube if you wish to watch it.

Happy birthday John Osborne!