Comments on: 5 Things Worth Knowing About Pork-Barrels

By: RP Collins

RP Collins — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:12:21 +0000

Actually the first known use of “pork barrel” in the sense of “public largesse” is by E.E. (not E.K.) Hale in a story published by Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper in 1863, not 1865. The first chapter of the story is called “The Pork Barrel,” but the story is “The Children of the Public” and can be found online. The “pork barrel” metaphor is a positive one. It refers to the benefits that the ingenious but poor protagonists receive from the public, whether through the state, through charities, or by the kindness of respectable strangers. The story contains no reference to “the desperate slaves engaged in a feeding frenzy.” I’d be interested to know where that quote actually came from.

By: motorkitty

motorkitty — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:57:41 +0000

so Bassman, you’re saying Jimmy Stewart’s characters are greater than the man himself?

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:28:52 +0000

BassMan, there’s nothing wrong with being, as you put it, a “right wingnut”. As the saying goes, opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one and most of them stink. My father, another “right wingnut”, taught me that I can have any opinion that I want, as long as I can back up that opinion with fact. Can you back up all your opinions with facts? Jimmy Stewart could.

By: BassMan

BassMan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:14:12 +0000

I always loved Jimmy Stewart. It broke my heart when I found out he was a right wingnut. His most famous characters were always greater than that.