Joey Bishop passed away today. The versatile comedian was perhaps the least known of the late 50's/early 60's original "Rat Pack" quintet which also included Sinatra, Davis, Martin, and Lawford. The high flying five set up shop in Vegas and have become synonymous with Kennedy era/pre-Vietnam Americana. As the Pack (and Elvis) faded a bit from view, the Beatles ushered in a new season of youthful music and rebelliousness which reached its height with the festival at Woodstock, New York. That both Woodstock and Mr. Bishop would be spoken of in the same newscasts today speak volumes to the cultural divide that still haunts our nation. Senators Schumer and Clinton (both from New York) had attempted to use approximately $1 million in federal funds to help develop a Woodstock museum to commemorate the watershed event. Chicken feed in federal budget realities, conservatives in the Senate seized upon the request to defeat the proposal and to paint Clinton as some sort of drug popping senior citizen hippie. There should be no doubt that the majority of the same GOP senators would have been happy to pass the funds for a "Rat Pack" museum that would celebrate what they would consider a more placid time. That the "packers" were involved in drinking, illicit sex, and gambling would not phase these Senators who still look askew at the drugs, open sex, and revolutionary music that was on stage at Woodstock. Clinton and Schumer both pointed out that their job is to bring jobs and funds to their state (in this case tourism). But just as the "Swift Boaters" painted the decorated war hero, John Kerry, as a radical Vietnam vet, today's Republican cowards were trying to make a similar affront upon Ms. Clinton's image. Perhaps to appease her critics, Clinton should move to Tennessee and ask for funds for the Grand Ole Opry.
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