My Red Hat Moment

So the President goes to France, and he sees all those French tanks and various and sundry implements of destruction. Now, our President loves a good parade as much as the next man, and he thinks to himself: "Hey, I'm the Commander-in-Chief. Why can't we put on a dog-and-pony-show like this one back in the good old U S of A???" He's finding out the reason the hard way, as both sides of the controversy -- you know, the one about duplicating Bastille Day on the National Mall tonight -- might be making a mountain out of a molehill.

Yes, there is a possibility in theory of "politicizing" a non-political event. Those who command the military are rightly concerned about what is called "The Hatch Act." That is a statutory law that imposes limits on partisan political activity of those who work for the government. That includes the military. That also includes Presidential appointees while they're in office. And yes, that also includes the President. And it is an unusual expense, even for this occasion.

And given relatively short notice, not to mention a logistical nightmare in the last 48 hours.

But as much as the lamestream media would have you think otherwise, this isn't the first time a sitting President put on a big show on the National Mall on Independence Day. Nor is it the first time a sitting President put on the aforementioned big show while running for re-election. But to listen to them, you'd think it was another routine campaign stop on the taxpayer's dime.

In other words, they think you'll believe anything. Meanwhile, I came across this.

Thomas G West, senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, has noted that the theological significance of The Great Seal has been largely lost because of the common misconception that its symbols are rooted in Freemasonry.

Misonception? Hmmm, put THAT in your red hat and spin it around!
 

The View From Charlottesville

Concerning the recent violence in Charlottesville, the home of Thomas Jefferson in the heart of the great Commonwealth that is Virginia, there are four lessons to be learned.

First, those in the so-called "alt-right" movement speak of defending their "European, American, and Christian heritage." Catholics, specifically traditional Catholics, must bear in mind that for most of American history, "Christian" was a euphemism for "Protestant." Until the 1960 election of John Kennedy as President, most Protestants, alt least in the South, did not consider Catholicism to be Christian. Most if not all of the neo-nazi and KKK types marching in Charlottesville despise Catholics every bit as much as they do Jews and persons of color. Those of the "alt right" would also be loathe to remember that the very flower of Western civilization, that of the rise of Christendom in Europe, was specifically Catholic is its origins.

In other words, while "American heritage" is inherently Protestant, what they proclaim as "European heritage" is inherently Catholic.

Second, the incident may have been sparked by an attempt to remove the statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee, but in the end it had little to do with that, never mind that Lee himself would never have approved. The history of the War Between the States (more commonly and misleadingly known as "The Civil War"), and the tensions between North and South until that time, had to do with a lot more than slavery. If it did not, then explain why blacks fought on both sides of the war, and to this day, black men comprise part of the membership of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and proudly carry the Southern Cross in public.

PHOTO: A counter-demonstrator used a lighted spray can against a white nationalist demonstrator. (Steve Helber/Boston Globe)

Third, acts of violence were initiated by elements of both sides of the confrontation, but the mainstream media likes simple little bedtime stories of "good guys" and "bad guys," and the truth doesn't fit the narrative. And both sides, including the counter protesters, gave the purveyors of dirty laundry exactly what they wanted. Those who didn't want violence would have accomplished more by staying home.

"Both sides sprayed chemical irritants and hurled plastic bottles through the air."

And one poor woman was killed by a maniac.

Fourth, and finally, the cause of political and social conservatism, and whatever heritage it embodied, has been set back by years, thanks to a bunch of stupid jack@$$ rednecks with time on their hands, and no real idea of the ideals for which they claim to stand.

And so it goes.

Lorena

One hundred and fifty years ago today, the War Between the States finally ended -- I mean, really ended, at least in the eastern theater. Most of us associate that event with the surrender of General Robert E Lee of the Confederacy to General Ulysses S Grant of the Union at Appomattex Courthouse, Virginia, on the 9th of April in 1865. But news traveled much slower back in those days. Thompson's Brigade surrendered on the 11th of May, Confederate forces of North Georgia surrendered on the 12th, and Kirby Smith surrendered on the 26th, an action that was made official and in writing on this date in 1865.

This writer would have hoped to have shared two stories from that conflict that are of particular and personal import, both of which occurred in 1863. Hopefully this can happen before the end of the year. For now, we present a bittersweet love song that was popular among both the Blue and the Gray.

We loved each other then, Lorena,
Far more than we ever dared to tell;
And what we might have been, Lorena,
Had but our loving prospered well --
But then, 'tis past, the years are gone,
I'll not call up their shadowy forms;
I'll say to them, "Lost years, sleep on!
Sleep on! nor heed life's pelting storms."

Lorena was penned by Rev Henry D L Webster in 1856, in the wake of a broken engagement. It was put to music by his friend Joseph Philbrick Webster. It reminded soldiers on both sides of the conflict about their wives and sweethearts back home, and the heartbreak of never seeing them again. It is performed here by the late banjoist/fiddler John Hartford.
 

Keeping America Awesome

Why is America so awesome?

Is it because we almost always win our wars? Is it because we consume a disproportionately high percentage of the world's natural resources? Is it because we appear to rule the world, getting into everyone's business whether they want us to or not? Is that what makes us so great?

No, not really.

We did not originally intend to be one big-@$$ country, but rather a union of “free and independent States.” Even as the Constitution provides for a strong central government, the several States are not merely arbitrary administrative jurisdictions. They enjoy limited sovereignty over their internal affairs. Each and every one of them has been the place of refuge for people from all over the world. The best, the brightest, the most ambitious, the greatest dreamers the world has to offer -- all come here, more than anyplace else. (Yes, even you, Canada.) Even Sal, who came here from her native Philippines twelve years ago, and became an American citizen five years later, says to this day that her adopted homeland is “the land of opportunity” for the likes of her, one that was worth leaving behind her home, her family, her standing in the local high society, and a considerable fortune of her own making.

So today, there will be hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, and families headed to the pool. And tonight, here in the Nation's capital city, there will be fireworks on the National Mall. Over a hundred thousand people will be on the grounds surrounded by police in full tactical gear to make sure no one has too much fun, watching a concert with top-name stars, one that they could just as easily see on public television without being surrounded by police in full tactical gear. The celebratory display will be repeated, if on a smaller and humbler scale, in great cities and little hamlets "from sea to shining sea." Together, they will celebrate a great experiment, an idea, one that still works, still draws the world to itself, in spite of everything.

And what of those who were the architects of that opportunity? Were they just a bunch of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants who conspired to preserve their fortunes in a strange and faraway land? No, they were White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (and one Catholic, Charles Carroll of Maryland) who made a choice they initially were loathe to make, that of breaking allegiance with the British crown. Nor was it a decision reached lightly, having pledged “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” John Hagee explains in the video above how much they had to lose, and how much many of them DID lose.

When the Nation's founders finished their work, someone asked Benjamin Franklin what had been created. “A republic, if you can keep it.” In a recent general election, Americans frustrated with the current political situation still looked for a savior, someone with all the answers, someone who can give them more "free stuff" than the other guy. But we can no longer deceive ourselves like we've been doing for the past six years. We must concede that the work of keeping America as a great nation will not be one of a single-person-as-panacea. It will be that of each and every one of us. If our "free and independent States" are less free, less independent than they were intended to be lately, it is because we sat back on our expanding posteriors, and allowed someone to take that freedom away from us, and because we lack the resolve to take it back. Are we going to settle for that in the next general election?

The intentions of Harry Truman aside, the buck no longer stops in Washington anymore; it stops with who we see in the mirror. We must ask ourselves if we are a republic worth keeping. Remember that before you get your hopes up, America.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: The Willis Clan “My Favorite Things” Remixed

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

This week, a story of triumph out of tragedy.

“Twenty years ago in a horrific accident on I-94, Pastor Scott Willis and his wife Janet lost their six youngest children … [but] God has blessed the Willis family in suprising ways. One of the older three Willis children who was not in the van now has twelve children who are currently appearing on America’s Got Talent ...”

And so, on a televised talent show, a family that would never listen to Howard Stern on the radio managed to leave an impression even on him. Fact is stranger than truth.

(H/T to Kathy O'Donnell.)
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Shirley Temple (1928-2014)

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

The pre-eminent child actress of the classic movie era, Shirley Temple, died on Monday at her home in Woodside, California, surrounded by family and loved ones. She was 85 years old.

Beginning her movie career in 1931 at the age of three, Temple went on to star in over ninety films in the three decades that followed. As an actor, dancer, and singer, her career peaked as she reached adolescence, for reasons undetermined at this writing, although she did marry for the first time at seventeen, and was a stay-at-home mother when her children were growing up. Even so, she managed to continue performing on stage and screen into the television years. Temple also participated in numerous charitable causes, and became a diplomat, serving as United States Ambassador to Ghana, Czechoslovakia, as well as Chief of Protocol.

The little girl known as "America's Sweetheart" appears in this video clip as she might best be remembered, tap dancing with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in a scene from the 1935 film The Littlest Rebel.
 

FAMW: Obligatory “Super Bowl Ads” Review

For the last several years, we at man with black hat have reviewed the television commercials for the Super Bowl. The game itself is the most-watched sporting event on television, and quite possibly the most-watched program of any type, making advertising space an expensive commodity. For last year's event, the average cost of a 30-second advertisement was around $4 million. The ads have become a phenomenon in their own right, apart even from the game.

The ads have also become a bellwether for trends in popular culture, and are thus not without controversy. There are so many to review, but we will take this occasion to highlight five of them.

The USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter is an annual survey taken of the commercials in a live poll. Its most popular-rated commercial this year was that of (who else?) Budweiser, who also won last year's Meter. This year's submission is about the special friendship that develops between a puppy from an adoption agency and a Clydesdale horse. Naturally it has a happy ending, for both the puppy and the horse. The ad is set to "Let Her Go" by Passenger.

That one was a tear jerker. This next one, not so much.

Coca-Cola featured young people singing "America the Beautiful" in languages in addition to English, and included what appears to be a young Arab girl wearing a hijab, or head covering. Worn as a sign of modesty among women in the Arab world, regardless of religion, more than a few wingnuts accused the company not only of being unpatriotic, but of pandering to Islamic extremism.

Actually, the Coke ad was less unpatriotic than it was absurd. A national anthem, while often officially rendered in more than one language (Canada's in English and French, Philippines' in English, Spanish, and Tagalog), that of the United States is customarily sung only in English, which makes this confusing from a marketing standpoint. Why does singing an anthem that is a sign of our unity become a means to highlight our differences? Pandering, yes, but less to good will among Americans of diverse origins, than to the appearance of political correctness.

(Personally, I really don't care; I'm a Pepsi man myself.)

As if to compensate for a supposed lack of patriotism elsewhere, this year's ad for Chrysler features folksinger-songwriter Bob Dylan extolling pride in American workmanship. A bankrupt city like Detroit obviously needs all the help it can get, but this attempt would have been dismissed a generation ago as "selling out to the man," probably even by the very guy doing the ... well, the selling out. Then again, there are the gritty scenes of old diners and blue-collar workers in dingy pool halls, contrasted with sepia-toned street scenes of luxurious black cars with gleaming chrome and ... is that Bob Dylan stepping out of one?

There were a few surprises (more pleasant than the above), such as the one for General Mills' Cheerios cereal, which just happened to show a bi-racial couple and their little girl. "Gracie" is informed that she is going to have a baby brother. In return for the news, she wants a puppy. Some talking heads expected a conservative backlash, forgetting that the hoopla over bi-racial families has essentially disappeared from American society. Even the US Census Bureau has begun to allow for multi-racial classification. Relax, everybody. The right wingers got over it, as if they ever had to.

Hmmm, a puppy. Maybe she and the Clydesdales can do some business.

Of course, the Super Bowl would not be complete without a Doritos contest, where people make up commercials and the winner gets theirs on the air. For this year's pick, Mister Smith is in for a surprise when Jimmy invites him into the time machine. It's amazing what kids can do with cardboard boxes these days.

There's more where those came from Go to the website for USA Today's Super Bowl XLVIII Ad Meter, and get more than you bargained for, courtesy of this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

The Reverend Doctor King: A Footnote

While researching something else entirely, I came across the following at the website for The Martin Luther King Jr Center for Nonviolent Social Change (aka “The King Center”), located in Atlanta, Georgia. It received very little attention in the press at the time, possibly overshadowed by events related to the end of a millennium:

After four weeks of testimony and over 70 witnesses in a civil trial in Memphis, Tennessee, twelve jurors reached a unanimous verdict on December 8, 1999 after about an hour of deliberations that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. In a press statement held the following day in Atlanta, Mrs. Coretta Scott King welcomed the verdict, saying:

“There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. And the civil court's unanimous verdict has validated our belief. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations. This verdict is not only a great victory for my family, but also a great victory for America. It is a great victory for truth itself. It is important to know that this was a SWIFT verdict, delivered after about an hour of jury deliberation. The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. I want to make it clear that my family has no interest in retribution. Instead, our sole concern has been that the full truth of the assassination has been revealed and adjudicated in a court of law ...

My husband once said: ‘The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ To-day, almost 32 years after my husband and the father of my four children was assassinated, I feel that the jury's verdict clearly affirms this principle. With this faith, we can begin the 21st century and the new millennium with a new spirit of hope and healing.”

If this writer has learned one thing in more than thirty years of living and working in the Nation's capital, it is never to put anything past anybody. For the right price, for the right incentive, most people will do anything, anything at all, and sleep like a baby that night. Some of the "nicest guys" I ever met in this town, are guys I wouldn't trust farther than I could throw them (which is an option I have considered in those cases). It is a sad commentary on the human condition, and yet, if you ever doubt the ability of man to do unspeakable evil without regret, tell that to nearly half a million people who will converge on this city the day after tomorrow.

They don't need convincing. Do you?
 

FAMW: More Than A Glitch

Has anyone noticed that, in the last few years, this venue's political commentary has been a little less -- oh, I dunno -- political; that is, compared to a few years ago? Maybe it has to do with being a career civil servant during the day in times like these (at a time that is most assuredly not devoted to this endeavor). Whatever the reason, the prospect of demonstrating that a button-down power-tied wing-tip-shoed conservative think tank like the Heritage Foundation can have a sense of humor, if only for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

Seriously.
 

#T2SDA

In response to certain measures taken by the federal government in response to the shutdown, the bikers are returning to DC, as are various veterans groups. But the first big one to hit town were the truckers. A group called “Truckers Ride For The Constitution” (formerly "Truckers to Shut Down America" and found on Facebook if the website crashes again) began by meeting at two rendezvous points both north and south of the DC area, and then proceeded to get on the Capital Beltway and take up two lanes (leaving one for emergency vehicles), holding the speed limit at 55 miles per hour. The plan is to do this throughout the weekend.

It is absolutely not true that the President will federalize the National Guard and block all entrance ramps to the Beltway. Since the eastern half is part of I-95, the major artery of transportation for the entire East Coast, it would be an overplaying of the hand currently held by the White House with respect to its current disagreement with some Republicans in Congress, and the least we would expect in the wake of such a decision, is that governors of several mid-Atlantic states would be on the phone protesting interference with the lines of commerce. What is true, is that the truckers are cooperating with the State Police in both Maryland and Virginia, and expect no trouble.

Other drivers are called upon to show support by having the Twitter hashtag visible from their vehicle: #T2SDA

Oh, one more thing ...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

... as long as this is still America. HOO-rah!

(H/T to ABC affiliate WJLA-TV, for giving this much attention to something this obvious.)
 

Shutdown: What It Is, What It Ain’t

This past midnight, the United States government not only did not have an annual budget (and has been without one for the last four years), but also lacked what is called a "continuing resolution," that to which Congress and the President agree as a means of operating at "present spending levels" for a specified time of up to, but not usually, a fiscal year. This short-term fix has kept the nation's government operating for at least four years. But after continued parlays from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and (when it comes down to it) both sides of the political aisle, the luck ran out.

This morning, all federal employees deemed "non-essential" were required to spend up to four hours on duty for "shutdown operations," after which they were sent home. They will get paid for those hours -- eventually. Once a budget or continuing resolution is passed and signed by the President, all employees will return to duty. Whether they will be paid retroactively is a separate decision made by the Congress. In the past, they have done so, but the present general sentiment indicates that they most likely will not. (Relax, all 535 elected members of the legislature who have been dicking around for the past four years are considered "essential." They will get paid on time, if they have to run the presses and print more money by themselves.)

Now, I know what at least one of you is thinking: “Dude, we never know the difference when [begin dripping sarcasm] non-essential workers [end dripping sarcasm] are sent home for a few days, or a few weeks, so, like, um, why should we care? You should suffer just like the rest of us.” My initial response would be thus:

You're an idiot.

That's right. You merely think there's no difference, as long as your Aunt Minnie still gets her Social Security check on the same date every month, and you yourself are not otherwise inconvenienced. Tell that to the war veterans who literally tore down the fences blocking the World War II Memorial today (with the help of at least two members of Congress), because all national parks are now closed. You gotta hand it to them; at this age, these old grunts haven't lost their touch. Meanwhile, dear old Auntie will get her check -- eventually. You see, the money may come from a separate fund, but most of the people responsible for processing it have just been sent home, you big dummy! So you may have to float the old gal a few hundred until the unpaid masses yearning to assist you get to return to their jobs and do just that.

Now that I've got what's left of your attention, let's take a closer look at that, using big words that you'll have to read slowly, to see how some of you will be inconvenienced.

FINANCIAL SERVICES. The Small Business Administration will stop making loans, federal home loan guarantees will likely go on hold, and students applying for financial aid could also see delays and backlogs in applications.

HEALTH CARE. The National Institutes of Health will stop accepting new patients and delay or stop clinical trials. Medicare and the Veterans administration will continue paying out benefits, but new filers could face delays and doctors and hospitals may also have to wait for reimbursements.

PUBLIC SAFETY. The Environmental Protection Agency would stop reviewing environmental impact statements and food inspectors would stop conducting workplace inspections unless there is an imminent danger. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms could stop processing applications for permits.

SECURITY AND TRAVEL. The Department of Homeland Security would suspend the E-Verify program, which helps businesses determine the eligibility of employees, creating hiring delays. The State Department will also likely halt new passport and visa applications.

PARKS AND RECREATION. The National Park Service sites and the Smithsonian Institution will be shutdown. During the 1990s, 368 sites closed down and approximately 7 million visitors denied entry.

DISASTER RELIEF. In preparation for a potential shutdown, the Utah National Guard is holding off on sending a team to help rebuild areas in Colorado devastated by massive floods last week. More National Guard engineers are desperately needed to repair major roads and bridges in Colorado. Roughly 240 Colorado National Guardsmen currently working on flood missions are also in danger of losing funding.

NUTRITION FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Though food stamps will still be available in the event of a shutdown, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program, a service meant to help new and expecting mothers and their young children get nutritious foods, will not. If a shutdown lasts for more than a few days, the roughly 9 million Americans who rely on WIC could see their assistance dry up, leaving them food-insecure.

The article at ThinkProgress.org couldn't be more biased against Republicans for allegedly causing this, as the party that didn't control both houses of Congress when the no-budget scenario began, doesn't have one of its own for President who won't sign it without that which most Americans do not want. and didn't have one of its own say that "you'll have to pass the bill to see what's in it." All that aside, the above is a pretty good indication of what you will be missing until this is straightened out. Granted, some things will be missed by some people more than others. But a great portion of the population will be at least mildly inconvenienced while its tax dollars are not at work, including anyone with a government contract that's waiting for their business to be conducted smoothly. That last one will hurt the small businesses the most.

All the crybabies who think they can get along without the government, still want to feed from the federal trough. They are used to it. The most ardent Tea Party member wants their Medicare and Medicaid benefits. They paid for them, right? Well, yes, but you also pay for people to make sure you get them. You also pay for the federal government to swoop down on your little hamlet if there's a tornado, even before the governor of your state can ask them, which is required.

And last but not least, federal employees pay for the same things, with taxes, just as you do. They often get much of the blame for that over which they have absolutely no control. This brings up one more subject. Salaries and benefits are a substantial percentage of a state budget, but only a fraction of a percent of the federal budget. The savings to the federal debt incurred by three years without a cost-of-living increase for federal employees, will amount to about one-fourth of one percent. The woman who once told me -- in full view of Twitter, of all places -- that federal workers should suffer like others do is an ill-informed little twit! What possible benefit will come from wishing ill on people who try to make an honest living? If she can think of one, she can tell it to Federal defense worker Rob Merritt, a husband and father of four, who would have gone bankrupt from a furlough due to medical bills from heart surgery.

(As for me, I am one of the lucky ones. I have a contingency in place, so there will be no "tin cup rattle" campaign at this venue anytime soon, at least not to pay my mortgage.)

What can you do about what's wrong with Washington? Hold your elected representatives accountable. Quit re-electing the same bozos every time they want to keep their miserable job with exorbant benefits, and exemption from many of the laws they pass (including the Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare"). That goes ditto for you idiot Republicans in Arizona who keep sending that geezer John McCain back to Washington. For pity's sake, stop making that poor old man think he's indispensable, and let him retire in peace.

That, and quit crying to me about it. We get the leaders we ask for, the leaders we deserve. That means you, too, buckaroo!
 

Patriots Without Permission

Here we feature a biker's view of America's 911 ride in 2011, from the site of the Flight 93 crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The music is by James Horner (first piece) and Bear McCreary (second piece).

For this year's Two Million Bikers' Rally, the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police estimated that over one million motorcycle riders came through the Nation's capital today. Having been denied a permit by the United States Park Police (which has jurisdiction over national park territory, including the National Mall), the DC Police (many of whom were bikers themselves) were pleased to cooperate with the hundreds upon hundreds of riders who just happened to be passing through their city, all at the same time, observing all traffic regulations, and making a statement about themselves, and the republic for which they stand. On the way they passed through towns and hamlets that opened their hearts, and cleared the main drags, to welcome them.

Let them ride on this day every year. Let their numbers increase with every year. “We don’t need no stinkin’ permit!”

God bless America.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Nine-Eleven Plus Twelve

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

Anheuser-Busch, the makers of Budweiser, aired this commercial shortly after the tragedy of twelve years ago (some of which yours truly saw with his own eyes). They only showed it once, so as not to benefit financially from it.

And so it goes.
 

“My country, ‘tis of y’all ...”

It was George Bernard Shaw (or Oscar Wilde, depending on who you ask) who once said that “England and America are two countries separated by a common language.” This may be true enough even among Americans. Our regional accents are the result of more than two centuries of settlement and immigration, where the primary influences were of one people or another from the "old country," whichever country that was for them, and in whichever part of America they settled.

If we want someone else to repeat something we didn't quite make out, we would say "Come again?" or "I'm sorry?" or "Say what???" In the southwestern part of Ohio where I grew up, along the edge of the "German triangle" (the corners more or less being Saint Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati), the response of "Bitte?" became "Please?" I don't believe I ever heard it anywhere else. I lost that quirk of speech within a few years of moving to DC. Saying "eye-ther" instead of "eee-ther," and/or "nye-ther" instead of "nee-ther" took a bit longer. I still remember when I was but a little “schnickelfritz” (a term of endearment that somewhat literally translates as "mischievous boy," but is equivalent to "little rascal") and hearing some of my Dad's aunts or uncles speaking with a slight guttural sound to their voice. This would have been common to the French accent as spoken by their grandparents, who mostly came from the Rhineland region of Alsace-Lorraine. When I addressed him, I'd call him "Dad" with a slight "y" tone to the vowel, to sound just a little like "Dayud," whereas my East-Coast-born-and-bred son just calls me plain old "Dad" (when he isn't accidentally calling me "Dude").

Even now, whenever I return to "Cincinnatuh," I start speaking like a native within a couple of days. And yet, even in an era of constant migration, where the suburban flight has peaked, and people are moving back into the cities (as in an article and illustration from Business Insider), New Englanders still speak of having to "pahk the ka" before going into the store. And way down South, they still make "shoo-fly pie" and say "y'all," except in urbane, sophisticated oases like Atlanta.

What a country! Let's hope we can still get along without screwing things up.
 

Keeping America Awesome

Why is America so awesome?

Is it because we tend to win our wars? Is it because we consume a disproportionately high percentage of the world's natural resources? Is it just that we appear to rule the world, getting into everyone's business whether they want us to or not? Is that what makes us so great?

No, not really.

We did not originally intend to be one big-@$$ country, but began as a union of “free and independent States.” Even as the Constitution provides for a strong central government, the several States are not merely arbitrary administrative jurisdictions. They enjoy limited sovereignty over their own affairs. Each and every one of them has been the place of refuge for people from all over the world. The best, the brightest, the most ambitious, the greatest dreamers the world has to offer -- all come here, more than anyplace else. (Yes, even you, Canada.)

So today, there will be hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, and families headed to the pool. And tonight, here in the Nation's capital city, there will be fireworks on the National Mall. Over a hundred thousand people will be on the grounds, watching a concert with top-name stars, one that they could just as easily see on public television. The celebratory display will be repeated, if on a smaller and humbler scale, in great cities and little hamlets throughout the land. Together, they will celebrate a great experiment, an idea, one that still works, still draws the world to itself, in spite of everything.

When the Nation's founders finished their work, someone asked Benjamin Franklin what had been created. “A democracy, if you can keep it.” In a recent general election, Americans frustrated with the current political situation still looked for a savior, someone with all the answers. But we can no longer deceive ourselves like we've been doing for the past five years. We must concede that the work of keeping America as a great nation will not be one of a single-person-as-panacea. It will be that of each and every one of us. If our "free and independent States" are less free, less independent than they were intended to be lately, it is because we sat back and allowed someone to take that freedom away from us, and because we lack the resolve to take it back. Are we going to settle for that in the next general election?

The intentions of Harry Truman notwithstanding, the buck doesn't stop in Washington anymore; it stops with who we see in the mirror. Remember that before you get your hopes up, America. Stay tuned, and stay in touch.
 

“Don’t it make you wanna go home ...”

We interrupt our normal blogcasting, to admit we've been on the road lately.

IMAGE: Aerial photograph of Milford, Ohio, looking northeast, from around 1957. The old downtown is at the lower left, while the postwar development to the east (including this writer's "old" neighborhood) is at the upper right. Photographer unknown. From the Alexander Family Archives.

Right now I'm sitting in the home in which I grew up. For the past eleven months, it has been subject to a good going over, as possessions of the last five and a half decades are found in the dark corners of the basement storeroom, and old cedar chests that we attempted to open to our peril, until now. And so, some of our regular features will not be making an appearance this week. But we do have one irregular feature, which is expected (with our fingers crossed) to see the light of bandwidth tomorrow.

I left Ohio in December of 1980. People ask me how long it took me to get used to living in the DC area, and this is what I tell them: “The first twenty years were the hardest.” It was only after that long that I really had a sense of home. There were other factors as well; making somewhat of a name for myself in one field of endeavor or another, buying a home, and ... well, maybe Sal had a lot to do with it. But even then, there is a familiarity that comes with having been "bread and buttered" in one place. There is even a Facebook group for people like us called "You know you're from Milford, Ohio, if ..." Milfordites both residing and expatriated gather to compare memories and look up old friends and neighbors.

When I drive down the main drag (which would be US Route 50), I have to remind myself of where I am, and where I ain't. The pace of life is more moderate here, and so the temptation to drive 35 or 40 on a four-lane road must be resisted, as the speed limit is only 25 because it's in town, and I know where they might be watching.

The idea of moving back to the Cincinnati area when I retire (probably around 2020, at the end of which I will be sixty-six) is on the table, but I don't know if I could actually move back to Milford. It's nice to come back and visit, but Milford has changed, and I've changed. The old downtown area is now the domain of antique stores and overpriced restaurants, with any number of strip malls and office buildings hanging "For Lease" signs in front for months, even years. The city's leaders (to use the polite term) are annexing one cow pasture after another, and bending zoning laws to the limit to encourage development, when the city can't fill the commercial space it has now.

But when I drive down main street, a part of me doesn't see a collection of stores, most of which sell things that most people could probably get along without (other than the coffee bar where the jewelry store used to be). I see the old A&P food store, the hardware store, the furniture store, the gas station where my dad would hang out for want of something better to do (as it was either that or the bars, and he got his fill of hanging around drunks as a boy), the old village hall -- that's right, people, these yokels actually moved it completely outside of downtown into some innocuous looking office building -- and, get this, the "Odd Fellows Hall." Every small town has at least a few of them, and they have to meet somewhere.

You can see in these illustrated maps, the path of I-275, what was once called the "Circle Freeway." When the eastern section was completed by the mid-1970s, the nearest access to Milford was on a flood plain near the East Fork of the Little Miami River, so environmentalists put up a fierce battle for years. Eventually they lost, and now there is development at the "River's Edge," where nature never intended it. The fields we wandered playing baseball and collecting arrowheads, the creek where we went swimming and building makeshift dams, all replaced by a giant "athletic park" and a collection of strip malls and big box stores. Still, it was too little too late, and the real development took off to the south (roughly where the map says "Summerside" and which is actually called "Eastgate"). A shopping center a mile inside the "circle" has been at least one-third empty since practically the day I left. It was simply not close enough to the freeway to get the big traffic, and that which is in town was simply not enough.

Milford has changed, and I've changed.

In the early 1990s, when I lived in Georgetown, I got used to city living, and being able to walk to work, to the grocery store, the hardware store, to the movie theater, and to church. I have that for the most part where I am now, and I can't imagine it any other way. I would only want to live in a small town if I could still do that. For all the pretensions of whomever makes the decisions around here, to make it seem otherwise, a small town is all Milford will ever be.

Ain't nuthin' wrong with that, don'tcha think?

Or don'tcha?
 

A Prayer for Government

The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, first Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence.

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We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name. We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope N., the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation. We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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An observation by our correspondent Tim Ferguson is worth nothing, that Chief Justice John Roberts has become the first man to administer the oath of office four times to the same President. It was necessary to fulfill the constitutional requirements yesterday at noon, as the 20th of January fell on a Sunday, and that the public recreation of the same take place today. Historically, republics tend to endure for little more than two centuries. Inasmuch as this is so, we have been blessed.

So far.
 

Aaron Swartz (1986-2013)

Everyone who works on or uses the Internet (including yours truly) owes a lot to this man. Today was his funeral.

In 2010 and 2011, Aaron Swartz downloaded a lot of academic documents from JSTOR (the online library of scholarly articles) with the intent to distribute them because he believed more information in more hands would make the world a better place. A noble idea, but the Department of Justice decided to make an example of him. Aaron faced 35 years in jail and $1 million in fines before he decided to commit suicide. Watch this moving talk from 2012 about how he helped stopped COICA and SOPA, two congressional bills that would have essentially created a great American firewall and made it easy to censor the Internet.

Writer and internet advocate Mischa Nachtigal has provided the above content, and has also furnished time-coded highlights of his friend's testimony. If you have 23 minutes to spare, if you use the internet (kinda like you are now), and you prefer that the government not be in your business any more than it absolutely has to, you owe it to Aaron, to Mischa, to say nothing of yourself, to give ear to listen.

Thanks, Mischa. Rest in peace, Aaron.
 

What Has America Become?

So is the question asked by one Ken Huber of Tawas City, Michigan, a town of just over two thousand on the shores of Lake Huron, in a "letters to the editor" page of a small Michigan newspaper.

... in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer ...

To answer his question, America has become exactly what we allowed it to become.

No one forces us at gunpoint to settle for the version of the truth as told by the mainstream media. We are free and able to seek out reliable alternative sources. No one forces us not to believe in God, and we can still (for the time being) worship him as we choose. Those of the Muslim faith, to the extent that they get their way in the public square -- remember, "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for "God" -- do so because they have learned to show collective outrage at any affront to their beliefs. Do not blame them for something that Christians in America used to do without hesitation. They hold sway because they frighten us. The extremists among them know this, and the moderates among them take advantage of this.

No one took over this country by force. We sat back and allowed an effete and articulate minority to influence opinion, to the point where they have taken over the bully pulpit, and have cowed us into submission. They earn personal fortunes, and enjoy the good life, by mimicking the cry of the poor, showing generosity with someone else's money.

Mister Huber asked all the right questions. What will he do with the answer?

What will YOU do?

Discuss.
 

Giving Thanks 2012

Every year, the President of the United States declares a national Day of Thanksgiving.

This tradition began with our first President, George Washington, and continues to this day. Eventually, the date was set at the fourth Thursday of November. Every year, the day before remains the worst day to travel anywhere on the Easter seaboard.

The aforementioned origin of the feast is, of course, the official mainstream American (that is, Protestant) line.

The fact is that the idea of a day for giving thanks in America is (naturally) a Catholic one. It was brought to the New World by the Spaniards, more than half a century before those Protestant upstarts farther north along the coast.

Robyn Gioia was a fifth-grade teacher from St Augustine, Florida. A few years ago, she published a book, America's REAL First Thanksgiving.

An article in USA Today elaborated ...

What does REAL mean? Well, she's not talking turkey and cranberry sauce. She's talking a Spanish explorer who landed here on Sept. 8, 1565, and celebrated a feast of thanksgiving with Timucua Indians. They dined on bean soup ...

The article is worth reading, and worthy of reflection for those who underestimate the Catholic heritage in what is now the USA. It might be one more positive by-product of a growing Latino population, that the birthday of Our Lady was the true inspiration that we would have reason to give thanks.

When I was married, it was a day to ensure that everything was perfect. Children who grow up with alcoholic parents have a way of making that a priority, giving themselves a sense of control over their surroundings, and telling themselves that all is right with the world, even when it is not. In the years that followed, from the 1990s onward, it varied. They say that no one should be alone on Thanksgiving Day. But one year, I was, and I managed to find an IHOP that was actually open that day (as this was over a decade ago), and had a traditional turkey dinner with all the "fixin's," all by myself. At the time, it beat the alternative.

It's been easier these days. As this is written, Paul is in the living room, sleeping on the couch, having caught the early morning flight out of Atlanta for BWI. Following the usual rapid-fire debate over what's wrong with the world, he needed to rest up before tending bar tonight. He'll make more in tips for three nights in DC, than he would for ten nights in Atlanta. He knows where the money is.

He won't be alone, but at least it's something of his choosing. The major "big box" stores like Target and Walmart have discovered that their employees don't really need a day for giving thanks. Given the not-so-living wages they dish out, they might be right. But all the more reason to make their little minions come into work today, at the regular non-holiday rate, to get a jump on Black Friday, so that other people can ruin their holiday voluntarily, by getting great deals on stuff for which they will drive all over town, when they could order it online on "Cyber Monday" (which is what I'll probably end up doing).

It seems a long time ago, but it was only last year that Nordstrom showed its admirable restraint.

At Nordstrom, we won't be decking our halls until Friday, November 23rd. Why? Well, we just like the idea of celebrating one holiday at a time. From our family to yours,

Happy Thanksgiving

Nordstrom will be closed Thanksgiving Day. On Friday, our doors will open to welcome the new season.

And so, later today, we'll head out to the western hinterlands of suburban Virginia to a friend's house, and from there, after dropping Paul off at the subway, proceed to her family's place. A vast table will be spread, and I won't understand a word most of them are saying -- but more than they think I know. You got that right, pare!

I could do worse. I already have. Here's hoping for you, dear reader, in spite of everything, to have reason for giving thanks.