A Message From History

December 19, 2024 by Heather Cox Richardson

Read on Substack

A "Patriot"

If we manage to come out of this with the republic more or less intact, it'll be a testament to something I can't quite get a handle on.

Via WaPo, a story from the Mineral County fair in Montana:

“He said [the boy] was disrespecting the national anthem, so he had every right to do that.”

A Montana man allegedly slammed a boy’s head to the ground at a county fair because the 13-year-old kept his hat on during the national anthem, a witness told local news outlets.

In a news release, Mineral County Sheriff Mike Boone said witnesses identified the suspect as 39-year-old Curt James Brockway. Brockway was apprehended at the fairgrounds, located in the western Montana town of Superior, and charged with assault on a minor — a felony crime.

The sheriff’s office declined to provide additional information on the alleged assault, including motive. But Taylor Hennick, who attended the event, told local news outlets that she overheard the attack near the Mineral County Fair and Rodeo’s entrance, just as the national anthem began to play.

It's a song. That jagoff was so overwhelmed with his own emotional reaction to a song that he was willing to come close to killing a 13-year-old kid because of it. A fucking song.

The Virtue Challenge

The New Colossus --Emma Lazarus 

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, 

With conquering limbs astride from land to land; 

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand 

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, 

and her name Mother of Exiles. 

From her beacon-hand 

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command 

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. 

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she 

With silent lips. 

“Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

#ThisIsVirtue

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years.
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America. America.
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Today's Today

If you're going to tell people the truth, make it funny - otherwise they'll kill you.

I'm not quite the Libertarian Mr Stanhope is. And based on the bit about everybody paying their share - I'm not convinced he's all that Libertarian either.

I get the point about living your own life and leaving people alone, and wanting to be left alone in return. Honest, I get it. The problem with being Libertarian is that it's short-sighted.

Just sayin' - there are caveats for just about everything.

Happy 4th, everybody.

Today's Eternal Petulance

45* is a fucking child - with a live hand grenade.

KDKA - Pittsburgh:

Digging deeper into a culture war that he’s repeatedly stoked, President Donald Trump on Monday called off a visit by the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House Tuesday, citing the dispute over whether NFL players must stand during the playing of the national anthem.

Trump said in a statement that some members of the Super Bowl championship team “disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”

None of the Eagles took a knee during the anthem in 2017.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney replied with his own statement, saying that he is “equally proud of the Eagles’ activism off the field” and that the players “represent the diversity of our nation — a nation in which we are free to express our opinions.”

“Disinviting them from the White House only proves that our President is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which no one wants to attend,” the statement continued.

Jim Kenney's got guts.

What It's About

The silly stunt that 45* and V45* pulled on Sunday was cynical and manipulative, and as much a waste of tax dollars as guys like Donald Trump and Mike Pence are a waste of otherwise perfectly good ectoplasm.

BTW, Eric Reid is proof that football is no longer a game for the average dolt - which could explain why Pence felt the need to leave in such a hurry.

Today's Tweet

That shit we keep hearing from the "conservatives" about how everybody's on their side?

Yeah - looks more like bullshit practically every day.

Veterans "take a knee" during the Pledge of Allegiance at today's city council meeting to support athlete's protests against injustice. pic.twitter.com/qg1v7Quj4B

— Joe Michaels KFBK (@RadioJoe1530) October 4, 2017

Another Look

A pretty good think piece from Kenneth Arthur at Rolling Stone:

As Eric Reid, a safety for the 49ers, recently wrote to explain why he decided to join Kaepernick: "We chose to kneel because it’s a respectful gesture. I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy."

- snip -

...the debates have often been heated, but for the most part the people involved have remained more interested in football than politics. The conversation around Kaepernick continues, but the talk was focused recently on his employment status, not the status of whether he's standing, sitting or kneeling. We know now that getting rid of Kaepernick does not mean getting rid of the message.

- snip -

"I'm not racist, but…" has now been transformed into: "I don't have a problem with their message, but…"

That's a huge part of the problem: That you'd be so disconnected from racial inequality and the state of it in America in the form of police brutality that you'd not even understand where a black person was coming from. Each player may have their own specific reasons for the protest, but Kaepernick did not mince words last August when asked why he sat during the anthem. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

This one is sticky and weird and strewn with landmines.

I have to stay on the side of "The First Amendment guarantees protection against retribution from your government, not your employer", but any employer understanding anything knows not to fuck with people's rights too blatantly without being sure he can do it more or less out of sight of the public. Which is definitely not what we're talking about with the NFL.

I think what we tend to neglect - what we need to focus on - is making the distinction between Expression and Action. So here's the wrinkle - if I'm honestly trying to point up a true injustice, I think you owe me the benefit of the doubt. If I start inciting violence (eg), then my "speech" has become an "action", and a whole different set of rules have to apply.

So, a team (or the league) can impose sanctions on an employee, but when POTUS calls for action against that employee, then we've got a real case for protection under the First Amendment.

Deep In The Heart Of Texas

Dale Hansen - the sports guy at WFAA in Dallas.

And oh yeah - if you buy this shit:

@Seahawks @NFL

THE PROTESTS ARENT ABOUT OUR FLAG???

RETWEET THE HELL OUT OF THIS#NFLBoycott#TakeAKnee#LockThemUp#MAGA pic.twitter.com/ba2iidqljW

— ᎿᖇᏌᏣᏦᏋᖇᎦᏊᎲᎰᏋ (@cjlongoria07) September 29, 2017

...I've got a border wall you might be interested in.

Especially when it's just too easy to find the real thing.

What do you do in the victory locker room? You victory dance.#SEAvsAZ pic.twitter.com/qJoVyG6ZM8

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 4, 2016

Please stop wondering why I call you guys Rubes, OK?

Choose

You can shit on this guy if you feel the need:

Or you can feel all proud and heritage-y about this guy:

You know what it makes you when you do both, and by now you gotta know I'm gonna call your ass on it.

What A Country

I'm not one for sloppy sentimental patriotism. But I saw this on Facebook today, and something kinda popped in my brain (sometimes I think it may be a stroke when that happens, but anyway...).

The US National Anthem isn't exactly 'the people's song', cuz it can be a real bitch to sing it.  But this is not the joint where we only do the easy shit.  We do the hard things - and we do those hard things by choice.

It's just possible that we're gettin' back to where we're at least willing to do the hard work of democracy again. And if we can do that, the rest will follow.

More Than One Way

At last count, the number of Congress Critters who've said they won't attend the inauguration is pushin' towards 60.

Cummings nails the point when he says it's about the need to defend our institutions, and he's doing it his way while everybody else does it their way.

It sucks that this is where are are now.

It sucks that we're just kinda stuck with this particular battle.

It sucks that, by default, we have to own this bit of history.

It just sucks.

All we can be expected to do is to what we're able to do,

Hoping to be surprised at how able we are.

Embrace the suck

Do what you can do

Stay in the fight

resist

...but take a break once in a while too

On Nationalism

Doug Stanhope

hat tip = Facebookster Doug R

Love Has No Labels

Flag Day

The First Step

From the premier episode of The Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin's latest attempt to remind us of the true greatness of what (and who) we once were; and to get us to think about how we can be great again.



As usual tho', reading the comments is depressing.