One of my recent personal study projects has been outlining the Constitution. One picks up on so much more and retains so much more when one has to actually write something out or summarize it point by point. **My chief impression is how odd it is that we continue to use and hold such reverence … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: Some Constitution Impressions
America
Songs at the Heights of Empire
In 17 B.C., having brought peace and prosperity to the whole Roman Empire after centuries of non-stop war, revolution, and upheaval, having, indeed, brought peace to the Mediterranean world for the first time since man began to live there, Caesar Augustus decreed the holding of the Secular Games: six days of athletics, entertainment, and religious … Continue reading Songs at the Heights of Empire
Friday Flotsam: Hodge-Podge
1. Intellectual Key Stone: Wealth is not money; wealth is what you own or can produce. 2. In 1856, the anti-Catholic Know-Nothing Party only carried Maryland, which had been founded as a Catholic colony, when it ran Millard Fillmore, the first major Presidential Candidate to have had a meeting with the Pope. History is weird. … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Hodge-Podge
Wednesday Politics: A Summary of My Political Views
It took me a while to settle on a political ‘name’ for myself that I liked. I'm not a Conservative, since most of what I would have wanted to conserve has already been destroyed (and I differ from most American Conservatives on a lot of points). I don’t like ‘Reactionary’ because it makes it sound … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: A Summary of My Political Views
Luther Martin Calls It
Luther Martin was the Attorney General of Maryland and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was in favor of strengthening the central government, but also of maintaining the sovereignty of the States, and he quit the Convention when he judged they'd gone too far and was one of the most out-spoken Anti-Federalists. From … Continue reading Luther Martin Calls It
President’s Day List
A little while ago I ran down the Presidents and made a list of the first thing that came to mind for each one. Here's the resulting list: Biden - SenileTrump - LoudObama - WimpBush Jr. - "Freedom on the march"Clinton - SmarmBush Sr. - Oh yeah, him.Reagan - 'Murica!Carter - MalaiseFord - FootballNixon - … Continue reading President’s Day List
Wednesday Politics: On America’s Military Record and Its Consequences
"America has never lost and will never lose a war" says Patton in the opening speech of the classic film. This, of course, rang sadly ironic to audiences in 1970 as the Vietnam War wound down, and is even more so today, though as someone pointed out, even at the time it required Patton to … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: On America’s Military Record and Its Consequences
A Telling Exchange
The following conversation occurred in Washington in early 1861 between fellow West Point alumni Irvin McDowell and William T. Sherman, both seeking commands in the newly-forming Union Army: McDowell: "Hello, Sherman, what [rank] did you ask for?"Sherman: "A colonelcy."McDowell: "What? You should have asked for a brigadier general's rank. You're just as fit for it … Continue reading A Telling Exchange
Friday Flotsam: Lincoln, Civil War, and More Manga
1. This week for my US History class I learned why most people only quote the first paragraph or so of Lincoln's 'house divided' speech; because after that it kind of devolves into a paranoid rant of how the Democrats want to impose slavery upon all the states, including speculation that Stephen Douglass etc. were … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Lincoln, Civil War, and More Manga
A Touch of Grim Historical Irony
Everyone knows that Francis Scott Key wrote our beloved national anthem The Star Spangled Banner while observing the bombardment of Fort McHenry from the deck of a British ship while a guest of his Majesty's. Turns out there is a little-known, unhappy sequel to the story. Key's grandson, Frank Key Howard, became a newspaper editor … Continue reading A Touch of Grim Historical Irony
Serpent's Den 