TBC (Yellow Dog Dem – Word Origin)

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Today’s word: Yellow dog Democrat

Fifteen or so years ago I used to consider myself one. As far as I knew, it meant I’d vote in every election, I’d vote for everyone on the party line- never splitting, and I’d vote for a yellow dog if there was a D next to its name. You could say I’ve evolved though I still can’t spell worth a dam.

I used the phrase recently in a conversation with a political neophyte who had never heard it before and I was asked indignantly what the hell I meant by that!  I tried to explain as best I could, when I was interrupted and asked “yes but why the term yellow dog?” as if I had just dissed every yellow labrador retriever fan on earth.  Labs are great! I really like them and they like jumping on me and licking my face! Honest!

So why the term yellow dog? I had to admit I was completely stumped. I guess I’m just not as well read and worldly as I pretend to be. Who’s the neophyte now she asks.

Following Auntie Mame’s advice, first stop, Merriam-Webster. Everyone one has had an Auntie Meme figure in their life right? To the inter tubes!

Definition of YELLOW-DOG

yel·low-dog adjective

1:  mean, contemptible

2:  of or relating to opposition to trade unionism or a labor union

First Known Use of YELLOW-DOG

1880

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: yellow-dog contract

Well that’s Not Cool. I’ve never considered myself anti union. Even back in 1998 when I was a self labeled YDDem. Mean & contemptible… well that depends on who you asked.

I had a vague recollection about yellow-dog contracts from a junior high history class. Better click on that to see how truly Not Cool this is.

Definition of YELLOW-DOG CONTRACT  

yellow-dog contract – noun

an employment contract in which a worker disavows membership in and agrees not to join a labor union in order to get a job

First Known Use of YELLOW-DOG CONTRACT

1920

Ugh. My 1998 self was not my best self.

So the first known use of Yellow-Dog was in 1880.

First known use of yellow dog contract was 1920.  

But wait, there’s more. Onto wikipedia.

Yellow Dog Democrats was a political term applied to voters in the Southern United States who voted solely for candidates who represented the Democratic Party. The term originated in the late 19th century. These voters would allegedly “vote for a yellow dog before they would vote for any Republican”.[1][2] The term is now more generally applied to refer to any Democrat who will vote a straight party ticket under any circumstances.

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The first known usage to date of “yaller dog” in relation to Democrats occurred in the 1900 Kentucky gubernatorial contest involving Kentucky Governor William Goebel. Theodore Hallam was criticized at a Democratic Party meeting for first supporting Goebel, then campaigning against him.

The critic pointed out that Hallam earlier had said “if the Democrats of Kentucky, in convention assembled, nominated a yaller dog for governor you would vote for him” and asked “why do you now repudiate the nominee of that convention, the Honorable William Goebel?” Hallam responded:

   “I admit,” he stated blandly, “that I said then what I now repeat, namely, that when the Democratic Party of Kentucky, in convention assembled, sees fit in its wisdom to nominate a yaller dog for the governorship of this great state, I will support him – but lower than that ye shall not drag me!“[7]

There are indications that the term was in widespread and easily understandable use by 1923. In a letter written in Huntland, Tennessee by W. L. Moore of Kansas City, Missouri on May 9, 1923, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, Moore writes:[citation needed]

   “I am a Democrat from inheritance, from prejudice and principle, if the principle suits me. But I have passed the yaller dog degree.”

Emphasis mine. The only wiki link I included in that quote from the yellow dog page was the one for that Democratic Kentucky Gov William Goebel. If you click through you’ll learn that he really was a pretty unscrupulous politician even by politician standards. As you might expect he shifted loyalties and principles as needed. Though after rigging his own election for Governor, he was shot the day before he was to be sworn in. He only served for 4 days before he kicked the bucket. No one was convicted. Cough.

More from the wiki:

The phrase “yellow dog” may be a reference to a breed of dog known as the Carolina Dog indigenous to the Americas, specifically the Southern United States, and not descended from Eurasian breeds.[3]

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The Carolina Dog, or American Dingo, was originally a landrace or naturally selected type of dog which was discovered living as a wild dog or free roaming dog by Dr. I. Lehr Brisbin. Carolina Dogs are now bred and kept in captive collections or packs, and as pets. A breed standard has been developed by the United Kennel Club that now specifies the appearance of these dogs.

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Carolina Dogs were discovered during the 1970s living in isolated stretches of longleaf pines and cypress swamps in the Southeastern United States.

Clicking through to the wiki on Carolina Dogs, it seems unlikely anyhow that Abe Lincoln and the others that used the term Yellow Dogs were referring to this breed or any other yellow haired dog. You could break it down a bit more and look up all the possible meanings of the word Yellow and the word Dog. But I don’t think that answers the deeper question of how this phrase came to be used as a point of pride. That will take someone better than me.

This Day in History

News & Blogs below

Breakfast News

Catalonia sets independence referendum for 9 November – but Spain says vote is illegal

Natasha Culzac, The Independent

Saturday 27 September 2014

As Mr Mas called the referendum, hundreds of pro-independence supporters congregated outside the government building, waving flags and banners which read “Live free or die” and “We are a nation”.

A ‘yes’ vote for the Catalans would not immediately result in secession, but could be leveraged by Mr Mas to engage independence negotiations.

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Oriol Junqueras, the leader of left-leaning pro-nationalist party ERC has previously suggested that civil disobedience could occur should the vote be vetoed, while a Spanish judges’ association warned that the organisers of an illegal referendum could face up to 15 years in prison.

Catalans defy Spanish government and call independence vote

Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian

Saturday 27 September 2014 11.37 EDT

“Catalonia has the right to decide its political future,” said Mas. “We know that democracy is the most civilised way to resolve difficulties between nations.” The 9 November referendum would see two questions put to Catalans: whether Catalonia should be a state and, if so, whether it should be an independent state.

The central government has repeatedly insisted that any regional vote on independence would be illegal, pointing out that the country’s 1978 constitution means major questions must be put to all Spaniards and that only they can call a referendum. Barcelona, in turn, asserts that the non-binding nature of its regional vote allows it to take place within the legal confines of the constitution.

Recent days have seen the People’s Party government in Madrid make it clear that no such vote will take place on its watch. On Saturday the deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, vowed that the central government would immediately seek to have the Catalan law and decree struck down by the country’s constitutional court. “This referendum is unconstitutional and will not take place,” she said, adding: “We deeply regret the initiative of the president of Catalonia and believe it is an error. It fractures Catalan society, divides Catalans and pushes them further away from Europe.” Prime minister Mariano Rajoy, who on Saturday was flying back from China, has convened a cabinet meeting on Monday.

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Mas is under pressure to defy any court order by the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left (ERC), the left-leaning party that props up his minority government. It is this party that analysts predict could make big gains if Mas were to call early elections, leaving Madrid staring down a Catalan government more ardently committed to independence. Earlier this month, ERC leader Oriol Junqueras said that Catalans should consider civil disobedience, “just like Martin Luther King,” if the central government denies them the chance to vote.

Hong Kong clashes, arrests kick-start plans to blockade city

By James Pomfret and Yimou Lee, Reuters

Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:35pm EDT

Violent clashes between Hong Kong riot police and students galvanized tens of thousands of supporters for the city’s pro-democracy movement and kick-started a plan to lock down the heart of the Asian financial center early on Sunday.

Leaders and supporters of Occupy Central with Love and Peace rallied to support students who were doused with pepper spray early on Saturday after they broke through police barriers and stormed the city’s government headquarters.

“Whoever loves Hong Kong should come and join us. This is for Hong Kong’s future,” publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of China’s communist government who has backed pro-democracy activists through publications that include one of the city’s biggest newspapers as well as donations, told Reuters.

Michael Brown’s mother: ‘We just got rudeness and disrespect’ from the police

By DeNeen L. Brown and Mark Berman, Washington Post

September 27 at 8:46 PM

Two days after Ferguson’s police chief issued them an apology, Michael Brown’s parents said they have no confidence in the justice system in Missouri, where a grand jury will decide whether the officer who shot their son will be charged in his death. The lack of trust, they said, began the day their son was shot, when they rushed to the scene but were confronted by officers who “gave us the finger” and “sicced dogs” on the crowd.

“We just got rudeness and disrespect,” said Lesley McSpadden, the mother of the unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot Aug. 9 by a white police officer in the small suburb outside St. Louis. “I got the middle finger in my face from an officer on the scene.”

Michael Brown Sr. recalled how officers pushed them back at the scene on Canfield Drive, where his son was shot by Officer Darren Wilson, who had confronted the 18-year-old about walking in the middle of the street. “They sicced dogs on us to move us back,” Brown said. “We were treated like trash. There was no concern.”

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The also reiterated that they have confidence in a Justice Department investigation, despite U.S. Attorney Eric H. Holder Jr.’s announcement last week that he plans to resign. Holder met with Brown’s parents when he visited Ferguson last month.

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The parents said they trust Holder to be true to his word. “I don’t feel like he is going to exit and not do what he set out to do,” McSpadden said.

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Wilson has not been seen publicly since the day of the shooting. Police said earlier that he was relocated to provide protection for him and his family. McCulloch declined to say whether Wilson had testified before the grand jury. Crump said he believed Wilson had testified for at least four hours before the grand jury.

John Kerry praises Abdullah and Ghani as Afghanistan’s struggles continue

Martin Pengelly, The Guardian

Saturday 27 September 2014 12.32 EDT

Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday saluted what he called the triumph of “statesmanship and compromise” in Afghanistan, which will inaugurate its new president on Monday. On the same day, however, the Afghan government said it would delay paying the October salaries of hundreds of thousands of civil servants, because it does not have enough money.

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Kerry wrote: “This moment was not easily arrived at, and it belongs primarily to the millions who courageously went to the polls to vote in April and June in defiance of Taliban threats. The voters’ message was unequivocal: No improvised explosive device and no suicide bomber would stand in the way of their country’s democratic future.”

Aside from continuing the fight against the Taliban, one of the key issues facing Ghani and Abdullah – financing the government – became clear on Saturday, as the director general of the country’s treasury told Reuters his country could not afford the $116m needed to begin processing monthly salaries for October.

Alhaj Mohammad Aqa said the shortfall would not affect salaries for members of the military and police engaged in the fight against the Taliban, and said Afghanistan had asked for $537m in emergency funding from the US, an injection that has not yet been approved.

Kerry, who noted that both Ghani and Abdullah had committed to signing the necessary agreement for US troops to remain in the country beyond the end of this year – a key sticking point with Karzai – said the new Afghan government was built on “a common vision for economic reform, honest government, security and peace”.

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“For those at home who are quick to question Afghanistan’s democracy,” he wrote, “they might ask themselves whether they believe that – in less than 90 days – two US presidential candidates could transform a bitter and hotly contested campaign into a unity government with an exceptionally strong mandate to govern.”

Referring to the contested presidential vote which eventually returned George W Bush to power over the Democratic nominee Al Gore, he added: “Flipping the pages of our own history back to the 2000 election, the answer might provoke some humility or at least some perspective on how difficult it can be.”

How Former Treasury Officials and the UAE Are Manipulating American Journalists

By Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept

9/25/14

The tiny and very rich Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar has become a hostile target for two nations with significant influence in the U.S.: Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Israel is furious over Qatar’s support for Palestinians generally and (allegedly) Hamas specifically, while the UAE is upset that Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (UAE supports the leaders of the military coup) and that Qatar funds Islamist rebels in Libya (UAE supports forces aligned with Ghadaffi (see update below)).

This animosity has resulted in a new campaign in the west to demonize the Qataris as the key supporter of terrorism. The Israelis have chosen the direct approach of publicly accusing their new enemy in Doha of being terrorist supporters, while the UAE has opted for a more covert strategy: paying millions of dollars to a U.S. lobbying firm – composed of former high-ranking Treasury officials from both parties – to plant anti-Qatar stories with American journalists. That more subtle tactic has been remarkably successful, and shines important light on how easily political narratives in U.S. media discourse can be literally purchased.

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In other words, a senior Treasury official responsible for U.S. policy toward the Emirates leaves the U.S. government and forms a new lobbying company, which is then instantly paid millions of dollars by the very same country for which he was responsible, all to use his influence, access and contacts for its advantage. The UAE spends more than any other country in the world to influence U.S. policy and shape domestic debate, and it pays former high-level government officials who worked with it – such as Epstein and his company – to carry out its agenda within the U.S.

What did Camstoll do for these millions of dollars? They spent enormous of amounts of time cajoling friendly reporters to plant anti-Qatar stories, and they largely succeeded.

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The point here is not that Qatar is innocent of supporting extremists. Nor is it a reflection on any inappropriate conduct by the journalists, who are taking information from wherever they can get it (although one would certainly hope that, as Kirkpatrick did, they would make clear what the agenda and paid campaign behind this narrative is).

The point is that this coordinated media attack on Qatar – using highly paid former U.S. officials and their media allies – is simply a weapon used by the Emirates, Israel, the Saudis and others to advance their agendas. Kirkpatrick explained: “propelling the barrage of accusations against Qatar is a regional contest for power in which competing Persian Gulf monarchies have backed opposing proxies in contested places like Gaza, Libya and especially Egypt.”

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What’s misleading isn’t the claim that Qatar funds extremists but that they do so more than other U.S. allies in the region (a narrative implanted at exactly the time Qatar has become a key target of Israel and the Emirates). Indeed, some of Qatar’s accusers here do the same to at least the same extent, and in the case of the Saudis, far more so. As Kirkpatrick noted: “Qatar is hardly the only gulf monarchy to allow open fund-raising by sheikhs that the United States government has linked to Al Qaeda’s Syrian franchise, the Nusra Front: Sheikh Ajmi and most of the others are based in Kuwait and readily tap donors in Saudi Arabia, sometimes even making their pitches on Saudi- and Kuwaiti-owned television networks.”

Inside the New York Fed: Secret Recordings and a Culture Clash

by Jake Bernstein, ProPublica

Sep. 26, 2014, 5 a.m.

At the bottom of a document filed in the case, however, her lawyer disclosed a stunning fact: Segarra had made a series of audio recordings while at the New York Fed. Worried about what she was witnessing, Segarra wanted a record in case events were disputed. So she had purchased a tiny recorder at the Spy Store and began capturing what took place at Goldman and with her bosses.

Segarra ultimately recorded about 46 hours of meetings and conversations with her colleagues. Many of these events document key moments leading to her firing. But against the backdrop of the Beim report, they also offer an intimate study of the New York Fed’s culture at a pivotal moment in its effort to become a more forceful financial supervisor. Fed deliberations, confidential by regulation, rarely become public.

The recordings make clear that some of the cultural obstacles Beim outlined in his report persisted almost three years after he handed his report to Dudley. They portray a New York Fed that is at times reluctant to push hard against Goldman and struggling to define its authority while integrating Segarra and a new corps of expert examiners into a reorganized supervisory scheme.

Obama-Holder friendship at the heart of their partnership

By David Nakamura and Sari Horwitz, Washington Post

September 26, 2014

“They have a very similar outlook on the world. Both men have often found themselves with the distinction of being the first,” said Tony West, the former associate attorney general who left the administration this month. “That carries with it a set of expectations and sometimes burdens that not everyone who is successful carries. There was a bond between them based on that.”

Holder regularly coordinates his summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard to overlap with Obama’s and Jarrett’s, and his wife, Sharon Malone, has become good friends with first lady Michelle Obama.

Last month, the Holders and Obamas had dinner on the Vineyard, along with national security adviser Susan Rice and former U.S. trade ambassador Ron Kirk and their spouses. Holder had reportedly planned, later in his vacation, to discuss his future with Obama, with associates predicting that the attorney general would leave by year’s end.

But the follow-up meeting never happened, as Holder departed the island to deal with the fallout from the racially-charged protests in Ferguson, Mo., after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed African American teenager.

Microsoft offers first look at new Windows – and gives it a name

By Bill Rigby, Reuters

Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:07am EDT

Microsoft Corp will unveil a new name for its best-known product on Tuesday when it offers the first official glimpse of its latest Windows operating system.

The project, known for the past few years as “Threshold” inside the software company and “Windows 9” outside it, will likely get an entirely new brand, or just be called Windows, analysts said, ahead of its full release early next year.

The name change is symbolic of a new direction and style for Microsoft, which is veering away from an aggressive focus on Windows and PCs, the hallmark of previous Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer. The new, quieter emphasis is on selling services across all devices and is championed by new boss Satya Nadella.

The switch also represents a desire to erase the ill will generated by Windows 8, an ambitious attempt to redesign Windows with tablet users in mind, which ended up annoying and confusing the core market of customers who use mice and keyboards.

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