the attitude with arnie arnesen the Friday edition Feb 13

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Arnie Arnesen

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Feb 12, 2026, 8:39:23 PM (7 days ago) Feb 12
to AttitudeArnieArnesen
the attitude with arnie arnesen
opening thoughts: lonely eagles
producers: Dave Scott and Stephanie Collins
Chloé LaCasse (the best of the attitude)
streaming live at wnhnfm.org noon EST on the dial-94.7FM Concord NH
podcasts available at
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/attitude-with-arnie-arnesen/id1634055179
opening thoughts: 

Lonely Eagles By Marilyn Nelson

for Daniel “Chappie” James, General USAF            
and for the 332d Fighter Group

Being black in America
was the Original Catch,
so no one was surprised
by 22:
The segregated airstrips,
separate camps.
They did the jobs
they’d been trained to do.
 
Black ground crews kept them in the air;
black flight surgeons kept them alive;
the whole Group removed their headgear
when another pilot died.
 
They were known by their names:
“Ace” and “Lucky,”
“Sky-hawk Johnny,” “Mr. Death.”
And by their positions and planes.
Red Leader to Yellow Wing-man,
do you copy?
 
If you could find a fresh egg
you bought it and hid it
in your dopp-kit or your boot
until you could eat it alone.
On the night before a mission
you gave a buddy
your hiding-places
as solemnly
as a man dictating
his will.
There’s a chocolate bar
in my Bible;
my whiskey bottle
is inside my bedroll.
 
In beat-up Flying Tigers
that had seen action in Burma,
they shot down three German jets.
They were the only outfit
in the American Air Corps
to sink a destroyer
with fighter planes.
Fighter planes with names
like “By Request.”
Sometimes the radios
didn’t even work.
 
They called themselves
“Hell from Heaven.”
This Spookwaffe.
My father’s old friends.
 
It was always
maximum effort:
A whole squadron
of brother-men
raced across the tarmac
and mounted their planes.
 
            My tent-mate was a guy named Starks.
            The funny thing about me and Starks
            was that my air mattress leaked,
            and Starks’ didn’t.
            Every time we went up,
            I gave my mattress to Starks
            and put his on my cot.
 
            One day we were strafing a train.
            Strafing’s bad news:
            you have to fly so low and slow
            you’re a pretty clear target.
            My other wing-man and I
            exhausted our ammunition and got out.
            I recognized Starks
            by his red tail
            and his rudder’s trim-tabs.
            He couldn’t pull up his nose.
            He dived into the train
            and bought the farm.
 
            I found his chocolate,
            three eggs, and a full fifth
            of his hoarded-up whiskey.
            I used his mattress
            for the rest of my tour.
 
            It still bothers me, sometimes:
            I was sleeping
            on his breath.

part one: If it is friday it must be Texas a conversation with Harvey Kronberg publisher of the Quorum Report
topics:
Houston-area school boards vote to reject daily prayer periods: 'A logistical nightmare'. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/school-districts-daily-prayer-period-21331673.php

Inside the influencer proxy war roiling the Texas Senate race The new breed of citizen journalists play by their own rules, forcing candidates to adapt on the fly. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/state/article/inside-influencer-proxy-war-roiling-texas-senate-21331902.php

Who are the biggest donors to Texas' U.S. Senate race? See the top 15. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2026/article/texas-senate-campaign-donors-21345627.php

Rep. Chip Roy calls out growth of Islam in Texas during Sharia law hearing https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/chip-roy-islam-sharia-law-21345625.php

Why Trump's decision not to endorse in races in Texas and Georgia could be costly https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/trump-s-decision-not-endorse-texas-georgia-costly-21343639.php




Texas labor unions are increasingly divided on which candidate to endorse for governor https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/11/texas-labor-unions-abbott-endorsement-teamsters-gina-hinojosa/

The Race for Texas’s Most Boring Office Is Exciting. That’s Concerning. In the battle between the traditional business wing of the Texas GOP and far-right Christian billionaires, the billionaires are winning.

First Democratic senator backs Talarico in Texas Senate primary https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5733765-sen-heinrich-endorses-talarico/?tbref=hp

House Democrats think Pam Bondi just helped them in the midterms
Tensions flared between Democrats and the Attorney General during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/11/pam-bondi-judiciary-epstein-trump-00777293

part two:
Bill Curry  was a Connecticut state senator, comptroller and two time Democratic nominee for governor who served as Counselor to the President in the Clinton White House. He has written for Salon, the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post and the Hartford Courant and has provided commentary on National Public Radio, MSNBC and many other news outlets.  

Robert Hennelly Award-winning investigative journalist, broadcast and print reporter for more than 30 years, covering federal, state and local politics, public policy, labor, the environment, law enforcement and national security. Currently Robert writes for laborpress.org  Salon.com and InsiderNJ.com and author of Stuck Nation. Bob previously worked for WNYC and NJ public radio

topics:


Nurses' union pressures NewYork-Presbyterian members to end monthlong strike https://gothamist.com/news/nurses-union-pressures-newyork-presbyterian-members-to-end-monthlong-strike

These New Yorkers had homes. They died outside in the freezing cold. https://gothamist.com/news/29-year-old-who-died-in-bronx-park-in-extreme-cold-lived-in-apartment-nearby-family-says

Kathy Hochul Is a Good Problem for Zohran Mamdani to Have https://jacobin.com/2026/02/hochul-mamdani-nyc-endorsement-left

Under Capitalism, Democracy Stops at the Economy https://jacobin.com/2026/02/capitalism-democracy-economy-politics-socialism

Trump’s Plan for an American Gulag Just Got a Major Boost in Court. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/02/trump-plan-texas-gulag-supreme-court-analysis.html


GOP senators express relief over failed DOJ effort to indict Democrats https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5734392-republican-senators-defend-democrats/


--
KEEPING THE POT STIRRED SO SCUM DOESN'T RISE TO THE TOP -  Anonymous 

D. ARNIE ARNESEN
15 Rumford Street
Concord NH 03301
nha...@gmail.com
(C) 603-321-7654

Host of "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen"
Award Winning Public Affairs Show (NHAB 2018)
airs noon to 1pm and 7pm EST M-F at 94.7FM (concord nh)
Home Station - wnhnfm.org
Part of the Pacifica Network
go to wnhnfm.org for streaming live 

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