Farewell to Eartha Kitt & Eartha stands up to Lyndon Johnson on his own turf

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Christmas Day is normally a quiet day in the "blogosphere." I just noticed, however, that over a thousand people stopped by All This Is That on Christmas Day to read an article we published here Saturday, May 7, 2005 about Eartha Kitt standing up to the formidable, sometimes heroic, and often monstrous Lyndon Johnson.

This is one of those times all the blogging is actually worth it. For some reason, there aren't many references on the internet to the Eartha Kitt-LBJ dust-up--All This Is That pops up early in a G.I.S. of Eartha Kitt + LBJ. And all these people are coming here to read the story of how the diminutive Eartha stood up to LBJ in the White House--his home ground!--to question why he was sending hundreds of thousands of our boys to war. It is a fitting tribute for people to remember how she stood up to LBJ.

I saw Eartha Kitt at Jazz Alley in Seattle in 2003. Eartha Kitt, 2003. Jazz Alley, Seattle. Her campy act was a lot of fun; she's was a tease with a sly, cabaret sort of sense of humor. . You can read her obits everywhere, and read about her affairs with Orson Welles, and her stint as Catwoman, but like many people who were alive back then, I admire her for the way she stood up to LBJ at the White House . I wrote about that confrontation earlier here, and included the great picture (above) of LBJ staring her down... She was a hell of a woman, and it's almost shocking she had died. She may have been pushing 80 when I saw her last, but you wouldn't have guessed it from her energy, her voice, or her hoofing.
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