{"id":3321,"date":"2014-01-09T16:16:55","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T16:16:55","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-07-22T22:44:03","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T05:44:03","slug":"not-having-nixon-to-kick-around-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/franklycurious.com\/wp\/2014\/01\/09\/not-having-nixon-to-kick-around-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Having Nixon to Kick Around Anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NixonOn this day in 1901, Chic Young<\/a> was born. He was the creator of the comic strip Blondie<\/i>. I really liked it when I was a kid. Now, it seems kind of pathetic. But I think it is like all art: you have to put it in historical context. Look at the other comic strips of the 1930s: they’re dreadful. What is most amazing is that the strip is still actively being produced. Young’s son Dean writes it and it is drawn by whomever. He is currently on his fifth artist since he took over the strip from his father in in 1973. By the way, the Dagwood Sandwich really is named after Blondie’s husband.<\/p>\n

The great guitarist Jimmy Page<\/a> is 70 today. I’m not a big Led Zeppelin fan, but Page was a very innovative guitarist. But I’ve look for a decent bit of video of him playing his guitar somewhat recently. All I find is a lot of Led Zeppelin that really annoys me. So go look it up yourself if you want.<\/p>\n

Other birthdays: playwright Thomas William Robertson<\/a> (1829); composer John Knowles Paine<\/a> (1839); chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge Joseph Strauss<\/a> (1870); actor Fernando Lamas<\/a> (1915); one of the greatest villains in film history, Lee Van Cleef<\/a> (1925); playwright Brian Friel<\/a> (85); football player Bart Starr<\/a> (81); actor Bob Denver<\/a> (1935); actor J K Simmons<\/a> (59); actor and crush of mine Imelda Staunton<\/a> (58); and singer-songwriter Dave Matthews<\/a> (47).<\/p>\n

The day, however, belongs to my beloved Richard Nixon<\/a> who was born on this day in 1913. Look, the man was imperfect. He had a real paranoia problem—but not without cause. And his foreign policy was a disaster. But was it worse than Johnson’s? Well, I don’t know. It certainly wasn’t a lot worse. And he did eventually decide it was time to pull the cord. He also wasn’t bad on domestic issues. But the reason that I love him is that he is the most successful loser in the history of humanity. Even at the peak of his fame, I think he still felt like a loser. And, of course, there are my puppet plays about the Nixon administration. So in a sense, Nixon is no longer a person to me; he’s a character. And in that group, he’s an okay guy. Kind of a Caspar Milquetoast compared to the rest of the cast.<\/p>\n

Here’s another thing. Here’s what Nixon said after he lost his election to become the governor of California:<\/p>\n