Trick or Treat Today for Megyn Kelly

For Megyn Kelly's first (and perhaps last) year with NBC News, the highly paid anchor was coerced to dress up like  Shania Twain.  Unbeknownst to her, Ms. Kelly's karaoke was interrupted by an ambush by the country superstar.

Hillary Clinton Fantasizes About Her Halloween Costume

It's surprising that Mrs. Clinton did not say Wonder Woman.

Perusing the Political Pumpkin Patch

The Jack-O'-Lantern is a Halloween tradition associated with the strange flickering lights over peat bogs thought to made by will-the-wisps or Jack-O'-Lanterns. To emulate this flickering light, the flesh of a pumpkin is scooped out and an image, which is usually comical or grotesque, is carved out on the gourd. 

Pumpkin carving can be traced to the mid-nineteenth century in American and the British Isles. But today, pumpkin carving is not confined to crudely hewn scary faces for Halloween. This allows folk artists with stencils to create all sorts of scary countenances and images from the political pumpkin patch. While most of these carvings depict faces, some renditions are more conceptual.

The President is often a subject for pumpkin portraits.

But a lame duck President like Barack Obama just may not be scary anymore. Or more likely, we have to live the nightmare not vex over it. 

Partisans may create Jack-O'-Lanterns to depict their favored party in a positive light.

Top contenders from the Presidential nomination often get the pumpkin carving treatment.  Former First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-AR NY)  seems to be a favorite to depict for both supporters and detractors.  

Surprisingly, cursory searches could not find carvings of Hillary clad in more Halloween attire.

Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the other leading contender in the Democrat primaries, also had many depictions in pumpkins.  

It took twelve hours for that folk artist to carve the pumpkin homage to Sanders. Many progressive Jack-O'-Lanterns may also  "Feel the Bern".

There was a curious quirk among Republican pumpkin carvings.  Logic would lead one to believe that the most popular candidates would be more likely to be popular carvings.  But it there is nary a carving to be found of current frontrunner Dr. Ben Carson.  

Could this be because the Seventh Day Adventist Church frowns on Halloween for occult associations?  Not very likely.  A more reasonable explanation is that Jack-O'-Lanterns traditionally depict comical or monstrous images.  Opponents may disagree with Dr. Carson but his characteristic soft spoken and thoughtful delivery makes it difficult to demonize.

On the other hand, there were plenty of Jack-O'-Lantern depictions of  strong second place challenger for the Republican Presidential nomination--Donald Trump. 

While this rendition of "The Donald" was colorful and employed multi-media, it only merited fifth place in the Oklahoma State Fair.  It would be a huuuuuge mistake to associate "The Donald" with anything but the best.  So a more traditional pumpkin carving is in order.

Although I suspect that stencils may be out there, it was hard to find carvings for Gov, Jeb! Bush (R-FL) or Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). And the carving for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) paled in comparison to his eminence during the GOP CNBC Debate.

By this time next year, as we will be in the culmination of the Election 2016 campaign cycle, there this little doubt that there will be many more adorned gourds in the political pumpkin patch 

As Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st) has become speaker of the House, there was no need for the Boehner-O'-Lantern

Too many knives seemed to have spoiled the Jack-O'-Lantern.

Michelle Obama on Trick or Treating

Skittish Chicago-land School Censors Christ Costume

Marshon Sanders in Jesus costume  (via Facebook)

Marshon Sanders, a 17 year old senior at Highland Park High School in Chicago's northern suburbs, took part in the school's tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween.   But Sanders was removed from class after two teachers complained that Marshon was dressed like Jesus Christ.

After being dismissed from class, school administrators deemed his costume as being potentially offensive and violating the dress code policy that no costume should "be offensive or perpetuate a stereotype of someone's culture, gender, sexual orientation, heritage or religion."  At first, Marshon was told to remove his large pectoral cross.  Later, Sanders was instructed that in order to return to class, he needed to remove his white robe, red sash, cross and head scarf. 

Highland Park High's Director of Communications Melinda Vajdic stated that the costume could be interepreted as poking fun or perpetuating a "religious stereotype".   Vajdic further pontificated, "Costumes trivialize. I’m sure that wasn’t his intent, but we want to maintain a culture of mutual respect.”  But surely this same condescending standard should have applied to students costumed as Mormons, Moses and priests. 

Before Marshon went back to class, the student contacted his mother.  Angela Frison urged her son to wear a costume that was uplifting and approved of his choice.  Some might say that Frison's son was doing All Hallow's Eve right.   Marshon chose the figure who was most important to him.  When Ms. Frison asked the school dean what was so offensive about Marshon's costume, she was not given a direct answer.  Frison thought that those teachers who were offended might have been due to the notion of a black Jesus.

After the ad hoc Parent-Teacher meeting, the school seems to have changed its tune with the prospect of bad publicity. The administrators reconsidered and ruled that Marshon was not being offensive and gave permission to wear his outfit but the chagrined teen declined.  The school later put out a press release in the afternoon confirming that Marshon had been told that he could wear the costume. 

Nearly 40 years ago, the show Good Times, set in the projects in Chicago (implicitly Cabrini-Green), created controversy over a depiction of a black Jesus.  It would be a pity if Norman Lear's polemical plot still holds sway in enlightened north shore of  Chicago-land.

Actor James Amos playing James Evans, Sr. in Good Times (1974)

While race might be the case, a concurrent stream of influence is a fanatical secular political correctness which aims intensely upon Christianity .  There are so many stories of public schools bowing at the altar of political correctness and harboring an acute sense of Christophobia. Consider cases where children are sanctioned against reading the Bible during lunch.  Or valedictory speeches that must be censored so as not to mention Jesus.  So it is not surprising that teachers would be skittish about a positive portrayal of Christ in the schools, even on Halloween.

For Halloween costumes, the Priests and Mormons get-ups certainly could have satirical or salacious connotations, but depicting the Messiah might have been too positive of a Christian costume.  And such a positive Christian influence, even coming from a student would not be kosher, so to speak, when trumpeting multi-cuturalism that is non-judgmental, except for traditional Judeo-Christian mores.

h/t:  Christian Post
         Chicago Sun Times 

Obamascare Video -- Haunting the District of Calamity

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) continued his campaign to #MakeDCListen by releasing a video which tells the scary truths about Obamacare.





The video "ObamaScare--It's Coming to a Mailbox Near You" is remarkable for several reasons.  Cruz did not end his efforts to oppose Obamacare after his 21 hour plus hour quasi-filibuster from late September.  Nor is Senator Cruz taking his cues from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who cut a backroom deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)  for a short-term Continuing Resolution and Debt Ceiling Hike with no quid pro quo.  Moreover, McConnell promised not to use the prospects of another government shut down as the next deadline approaches.

Through this ObamaScare video, Cruz continues to point out the real world consequences of Obamacare implementation, specifically skyrocketing premiums for lesser coverage and people losing their current health insurance.

Senator Cruz is capitalizing on social media to get the message out, rather than relying upon the liberal elite media (a.k.a. the Lamestream Media).  The message is timely, full of pop reference (horror movie motifs) and is well produced.  This ObamaScare video seems more like infotainment which people want to share.

This ObamaScare social media strategy is in stark contrast to  the blitz of bludgeoning gubernatorial ads for Virginia Democrat Terry McAliffe (D-VA) which have been blanketing the airwaves between-the-beltways.  While these patently political hit pieces may lower the female vote for Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA), but it is not a message which viewers are eager to share.

In the District of Calamity (sic), it is not unusual to see multi-media ads throughout the year about legislative initiatives.  These ad often run on news and politically oriented radio stations, some local segments of cable news channels and early evening local access time.  Normally, the commercials are produced by monied interests who are using wholesale marketing to achieve their objectives by ginning up constituent calls.  What is different about Cruz's media blitz is that it is a Senator at the helm to generate public support on legislation.

In the run up to the fiscal new year, Senator Cruz inspired radio ads ran on conservative talk radio.  In addition, Cruz made many media appearances to market his message. Now Cruz is continuing to share the public policy landscape through viral social media.


Those who haunt Cocktail Parties in the District of Calamity should not be scared of the fancy Halloween decorations in Georgetown.  The lead title to the ObamaScare title is "Brought to you by Congress". Cocktail Party types should be frightened of a back bencher who they thought was the walking dead after his filibuster fizzled.  They thought Cruz could be buried by backroom deals and bad press.  Yet the ObamaScare viral video shows that he may rise again and be more powerful than before.


The Cocktail Party crowd should be afraid, very afraid.  But not of a
zombie attack between the beltways, as Zombies feed on brains and they know better than to feast in the District of Calamity (sic). But at some time, they will have to return to their home districts.  At that point, Katey bar the door.

Selma Bovier on Fashion

Marge Simpson on Parenting

Have a Surreal Halloween

Halloween originally was a pagan holiday that likely linked to the a feast for the  Celtic God Samhain, which was Old Irish for “Summer’s End”.  Other historians associated it with Paternalia, the feast for the dead to commemorate Pomona, the Roman Goddess of fruits and seeds. Either way, the festivals  recognized the fruits of the harvest and the unsettling change to the fallow fields of winter. Catholics tried to convert the pagan holiday into Halloween (Old Scottish for “All Hallows Eve”) in the 16th Century which evoked influences from purgatory.

Some traditions of celebrating Halloween readily spread through North America, like going door to door “guising”, but in the New World children did not beg for sustenance for All Saints Day or prayers for All Souls Day but “trick or treating” in costumes to get sweets.  As Erma Bombeck wryly put it “A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween”.  Back in Scotland, it was a tradition to carve images in turnips.  Those celebrating Halloween in the New World continued this tradition but they used the more plentiful and larger pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns.

 In the last twenty years, Halloween has also transitioned to being a secular pagan festival for adults, as it is the third busiest night at bars behind New Years Eve and St. Patrick’s Day.  So many adults now delight in donning costumes and spending an evening posing in another guise.

Surrealism is a style that juxtaposes familiar subjects in unconventional settings, hence it lends itself to the fantasy and phantasmagoria of Halloween.  Those who are not Salvador Dalí devotees might conclude that much of his oeuvre was Halloween-esque.  As Dalí himself once mused:  “I have Dalinian thought: the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.”

SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com