“You can tell a lot about a fella’s character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful.” ~ Ronald Reagan explaining why he liked to have a jar of jelly beans on hand for important meetings.
Our mission at BigDawg Music Mafia is to unite and encourage conservatives with creative abilities to get engaged in the culture revolution – to promote American exceptionalism through the arts. While many of us are using our talents to draw attention to the destruction of liberty by the current administration and those on the far left, there are times when we can use our creativity to bridge that partisan divide, even if only in a light-hearted way. This was one of those times.
Taking a cue from Senators Harry Reid and Chris Dodd who recently visited the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s grave site to channel his bipartisan spirit by pouring whiskey on his grave and reciting a prayer in hopes the Super Committee would reach an agreement on the budget cuts, BigDawg Music Mafia decided to answer their call for bipartisanship in a mission we dubbed “Operation Jelly Bean.”
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Having heard radio’s Rush Limbaugh talk about the Super Committee’s failed attempt to reach an agreement and how the two Senators contributed to the process by their visit with Kennedy; and having heard the challenge Limbaugh posed to one of his callers to visit Kennedy’s grave site on his behalf, BigDawg Music Mafia Co-Founder, Andrew (a.k.a. BigDawg) convinced me we needed to take that challenge since the caller indicated she was not local. My friend Reese and I, however, are.
Here’s what Rush asked of one of his callers:
If you’re ever in Washington and you stay at a hotel, grab a bottle of scotch, one of those mini-bar bottles of scotch, and go to Ted Kennedy’s grave and pour it on the grave.
As both Andrew and I are retired military, and Reese’s husband is a vet, Arlington National Cemetery is sacred ground to us so we wanted to ensure we maintained proper decorum in what we did.
Instead of just pouring some scotch on Kennedy’s grave (respecting the fact that we were on hallowed ground) we decided to concoct a brand new “bipartisan” adult beverage. We thought since Kennedy liked Chevis, and Reid and Dodd already poured some on his grave, why not answer their call for bipartisanship and mix some of that Chevis with something enjoyed by many of us on the right? What better than Rush’s fabulous Two If By Tea … and what better garnish than President Ronald Reagan’s favorite sweet treat, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans?
Two If By Tea Manhattan
1 part Chevis
2 parts Raspberry Two if By Tea (regular or diet)
3 Jelly Belly jellybeans (garnish)
- Blue jelly bean representing the left
- Red jelly bean representing the right
- White jelly bean representing unity/bipartisanship
We brought the sealed bottle of Chevis and a small cooler of Two If By Tea with us … placed the bottle of Chevis and a bottle of Two if By Tea in front of Ted’s headstone … along with one of each color of the Jelly Belly jellybeans (that came with Rush’s Two if By Tea gift set as a tribute to President Ronald Reagan) to channel Ted’s “spirit” … or love of spirits as it were.
Since Virginia has an open container law and alcohol consumption is not allowed on the National Mall and surrounding federal park lands we made sure we kept the Chevis sealed until we got home.
So, in honor of our fallen brothers and sisters, we did not follow Rush’s challenge as posed to his caller. Instead, we waited until we got back to my house, then mixed the drink and offered the following toast – in honor of Mr. Kennedy:
We heard you were visited by Dodd and by Reid
In the spirit of bi-partisanship you’ll be pleased
Rush sends his regards but we’ve added a twist
Your Chevis, his Tea make a tasty new mix
A drink in your honor that’s smooth as satin
Reagan Jellybeans with a Two If By Tea ManhattanCheers to ‘The Lion of the Senate’, ‘The Doctor of Democracy’, and ‘The Gipper’.
Believe it or not, this is a very smooth, sweet and refreshing drink!
While at Arlington, Reese and I also paid a visit to the grave site of Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes, one of the six men immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II, and left a bottle of Two if By Tea, some Jelly Belly Jellybeans, and a copy of a CD from the great new patriotic rock bands at our site, Madison Rising, who just hit the top 100 rock albums on Amazon, and will be doing a cover of “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” in the near future. The story of Ira Hayes is one that needs to be told as it highlights the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which so many of our veterans are suffering from today. Who better than a band whose lead singer, David Owen Bray, is a veteran himself? Their debut CD, Madison Rising, has a song called “In The Days That Reagan Ruled” which ends with the following chorus:
Tearing down an iron wall
Acting in his greatest role
Made all his critics look like fools
‘Cause even jelly beans were cool!
We truly enjoyed executing this mission; the weather was gorgeous, the symbolism of what we were doing there was priceless, and we ended up with a great new cocktail to enjoy just in time for the holidays!
President Reagan would be proud.
Cheers!