Gettysburg 1918 Now And Today, November 19, 2020 The mud sticks to your shoes. Hard to walk in the gray shadows between sun and night, night and sun. Can't remember which they are. You try to scrape the mud off by rubbing one shoe against the other. A few steps and stop. A few steps and stop. The third time you realize something. The ground you're walking on is getting softer and wetter and … [Read more...]
Learning From the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Day 90
June 9, 2020 by
By early December 1918, more than 360,000 Americans have died since early September. That's more than 100,000 every month, every thirty days, as of December 4, 1918, the 90th day since influenza broke out of Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Thankfully, as of now on the 90th day, though the sickness has not completely stopped, it has certainly declined. The lowering scale of death is … [Read more...]
Abraham Lincoln, Ariana Grande, and the Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address
November 18, 2019 by
Ariana and Abraham. Grande and Lincoln. A warm June night in Manchester, England, UK. A cold November day in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Three hours in 2017 and three minutes in 1863. A universe apart. Across such a span, is there anything they can say to one another? I've thought about this question for more than a year. I've searched the span and I think the answer is yes. They can speak … [Read more...]
With The Smoke And Ash: A Few Thoughts On The Burning Of Notre Dame
April 17, 2019 by
>> The venerable church stood as the Black Death raged, the anti-religious terror of the French Revolution exploded, the crowds of the Paris Commune rioted, and two world wars rained violence. But it is the incompetence and carelessness of poor renovation that did the damage. >>It's been a tough year for France. A vital organ has been bruised. >>Watching people crying at … [Read more...]
The Virtue Of The Desk Drawer
February 23, 2018 by
Flat-out angry and boiling mad. That was Abraham Lincoln as he sat behind his desk. He wielded the pen in his hand like a knife, writing words and sentences that sliced into the person meant to receive this harshly-drawn letter. It was mid-July, 1863. Lincoln was furious at US General George Meade. Lincoln believed Meade had allowed the enemy of the United States, the rebel army led by … [Read more...]
A Past Slice For Today
June 9, 2016 by
This is a 20 dollar gold piece from, you guessed it, 1854. You were doing one if you had these in your pocket. Let's take a slice from it for our use today, in 2016. In trying to sort through the confusion and strangeness of the 2106 presidential campaign, I've been thinking about an earlier time when the American political party system exploded. That was in 1854, the same year that freshly … [Read more...]
A Different View of History and John Kelly–A Reply To Noah Rothman
I'm a big fan of Commentary magazine, a faithful subscriber. My remarks below pertain to one of my favorite Commentary writers, Noah Rothman and his recent article entitled, “General Kelly's Disastrous Interview.” If you haven't read it, click https://www.commentarymagazine.com/american-society/john-kelly-bad-ideas/ before proceeding with my post. I offer my thoughts as a fan might at a football … [Read more...]