Obit Request Spurs National Outpouring-Sally Baron Hailed as Hero by Many (FR mentioned)

The Capital Times (Wisconsin's Progressive Newspaper) ^ | Saturday, August 23, 2003 | Lee Sensenbrenner

[kristinn]

The story of Sally Baron, a Stoughton woman whose obituary asked that memorial funds go toward the removal of President Bush, was catching hold across the country as her family held memorial services Friday.

Dozens of people from around the United States have written to The Capital Times saying they will make donations to various organizations in her name, and the request was aired on national TV Thursday night.

Baron's story is also being hotly discussed on online bulletin boards, among both liberals and conservatives.

Baron "has become a sort of poster girl for all of us who despise George Bush," wrote Nancy Tonies of Appleton.

Baron raised six children, one of whom died of leukemia at age 21, in the timber and mining country of Iron County. Her husband was crushed and nearly killed in a 1969 mining accident and died seven years ago, shortly before Baron moved to Stoughton.

Her family described how their mother - a waitress, cook and factory assembly worker - was furious with Bush for what she saw as a stolen election and dishonest statements. Baron's favorite nickname for Bush, which she used to shout at the TV, was "whistle ass."

"I did not know Sally at all, but I wish I had had the opportunity," wrote Linda Brown, a retired teacher in Thousand Oaks, Calif. "We would have had fun shouting back at the TV together. I suspect my language would have been worse than hers."

Online comment on the politically left Web site democraticunderground.com embraced Baron as a hero.

"We can't lose now. We have a very special angel on our side," a person posting under the name "shirlden" wrote.

Another said: "I am amazed at how much more hope, more peace I feel after reading the story of this family of such generous spirit. Too often I feel such despair about our current situation, but here just one wonderful story lifts me up."

Others said they had made T-shirts with her picture on it, and would blow whistles to acknowledge Baron's nickname for Bush.

On the political right, those posting on the Web site freerepublic.com were not so kind.

"Pack of rust belt commies," one person offered. "Screw 'em. Screw 'em all."

A joke that was repeated by several on the site was whether Baron would keep voting after her death. One person wrote: "May she be remembered forever as a testiment to media propiganda and political slime."

But there was one area of consensus between the conservative and liberal commentary: Many people were taken with the nickname, and wondered where Baron had come up with it.

"Whatever else this article says pales in importance next to this useful insult. I really do like it," a freerepublic.com poster wrote.

"Has this insult been around long? If so, I'm sorry I missed it. I'm going to try to slip it into every conversation I have today," someone called "LanPB01" wrote on the same site.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who hosts "Countdown," repeated Baron's request and her nickname for Bush on his Thursday night broadcast.

Baron's family members said they weren't sure of its origin, only that Sally had used it for a long time and it was her favorite term for Bush.

[Timesink]

"We can't lose now. We have a very special angel on our side," a person posting under the name "shirlden" wrote.

The laughableness of this statement aside, I'm amazed anyone over there is able to post a message that even hints at the possibility of a higher power of any sort without being banned.

[LanPB01]

Yes! I've hit the big time, now!

[Paul Atreides]

I was thinking the same thing.

[Paul Atreides]

Congratulations!

[exit82]

Doug, thanks for saving me the trouble of typing my almost exactly same reaction as yours.

Special angel, my whistle-@##.

[LanPB01]

Check it out! A new "whistle ass" story, complete with a quote from me!

[LanPB01]

PING for more "whistle ass" madness!

[LanPB01]

Check it out! I've been quoted by a progressive paper!

[Willie Green]

"Whatever else this article says pales in importance next to this useful insult. I really do like it," a freerepublic.com poster wrote.

Can anybody please provide a link to the thread with this quote?

[LanPB01]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/968683/posts

[Libertina]

propiganda
We must remember to use spellcheck ;)

[fightu4it]

"Has this insult been around long? If so, I'm sorry I missed it. I'm going to try to slip it into every conversation I have today," someone called "LanPB01" wrote on the same site."

She couldn't even get her insult right.

The proper term is "whistle dick".

[Willie Green]

Thanks. Chalk me up as one who got a chuckle out of the "whistle-ass" moniker.
This woman sounds like she was a decent, honest, hard-working Blue Collar American. Not necessarily a liberal 'Rat like so many are quick to assume.

"She was the den mother. She was the 4-H leader. She is the lady that taught all of us how to swim, how to play softball, how to camp," said her son, Joe Baron, who owns a plumbing business in Prairie du Sac.

Scouts, 4-H, Camping, Son's a small business owner...

No, these folks aren't the Hollyweird liberal elite 'Rats or welfare poverty pimps that the bushbots are squawking about.

Hmmmm... "whistle-ass"... Yep. I like it!

[schlitzsmoke]

Jeez...no better way to look like an illiterate redneck "whistle-ass" than to spurt off with misspellings, word-manglings and poor grammar. For chrissakes, keep a dictionary next to the computer, and if you're too lazy to do that, just come up with a suitable (and easier-to-spell) substitution for whatever word you can't spell.

[schlitzsmoke]

Nope, she's just another ignorant (no insult intended) "Roosevelt Democrat" who never woke up and realized that the party started to go downhill with the emergence of McGovern and his uber-liberal ilk. You know these folks... the ones who say "the Democrats are for the 'little guy', the Republicans are for the rich fatcats" and all that other populist Barbra Streisand that's been drilled into them since the '30s.

[Willie Green]

Nope, she's just another ignorant (no insult intended) "Roosevelt Democrat" who never woke up

Nope. "Roosevelt Democrats" have all morphed into neocons.
But there's a good chance she could've been a "Reagan Democrat".
Nothing wrong with that in my book, but the neocons sure don't like it.

[Cathryn Crawford]

You are so, so awesome. :-)

[Feiny]

My guess is that it was a typo....i & o are next to each other on the keyboard. I am a horrid typist after a few glasses of wine and I refuse to preview or proofread my posts.

[Feiny]

Check post 39...it was spelled properly. The paper misquoted...an accident I am sure.

[Feiny]

Make that post 31 by Porterville....