Daily History

Good morning,




Quote of the day:

“I can hardly wait until the Democrats start blaming me for the unrest in Egypt.”

Sarah Palin



A few weeks ago at a road block near Camden, South Carolina the cops stopped a car that was up to scuppers in marijuana. The driver was arrested and he and several others were put into a paddy wagon taken to the Kershaw County Jail. Along the way the driver of the car gave the cop in the front seat a huge ration of shit. He even threatened to murder the cop, his wife and children and his parents. Needless to say, the arrested driver was in handcuffs. After arriving at the jail, the cop that was in the front was waiting at the back door and snatched that man out of the paddy wagon and delivered 26 blows with a metal baton. The man was on the concrete sidewalk curled up into the fetal position yelling his ass off. The cop finally ceased and escorted the now beaten and bruised man to a jail cell. The only problem is that all of this action on the sidewalk was recorded by a security camera. The beaten man filed a civil right violation against this cop especially since he was handcuffed. There are very strict federal laws against using excessive force on restrained persons. I have mixed emotions here. If anyone and I mean anyone, threatened to kill me, my kids and/or my parents I would be hard pressed to restrain myself. But I ain’t a trained law enforcement officer…but I am human. The cop’s defense was that the man refused to go where he was told and he felt the need to use force. All of that is well and good, but if the individual is lying on the sidewalk screaming getting the crap beat out of him, it is unlikely he would be able to go anywhere anyway.

By the way, Kershaw County was named for CSA General Joseph Kershaw who was in command of the 3rd South Carolina Sharpshooters at the intense battle in the “Wheatfield” at Gettysburg in 1863. He was blond haired with pale blue eyes and was well thought of by his superiors, especially James Longstreet.



If y’all can believe this, the United States Democratic Party has chosen to hold their 2012 presidential convention in the Queen City, y’all. That’s right; I am talking Charlotte, North Carolina. Yes, the Charlotte, North Carolina where the NASCAR Hall of Fame is located and is usually very big in Bluegrass conventions. Downtown Charlotte is a great place. I had many a good time there but the streets full of prancing Democrats does not compute. I’ll bet the Charlotte “men in blue” can hardly wait.



This date in history February 2




1943    Earlier on June 22, 1942, in spite of an existing treaty, Adolph Hitler ordered an enormous German army divided into three sections to start an invasion of Russia. Hitler’s military advisors had warned Hitler that if the attack could not begin by the first of May it should not begin at all because of the severe Russian winters. The German army was not ready by the first of May but Hitler ordered the invasion to begin late anyway. The Germans made progress by leaps and bounds primarily because they had control of the air. The slaughter they inflicted on the Russian army and civilians was beyond comprehension. They laid siege to Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad and cut off any supplies to those cities and thousands upon thousands starved to death. It was the German 6th Army that had Stalingrad surrounded. Russian premier Josef Stalin was not about to let the city named after him to surrender and ordered the residents and the Russian Army defending the city to resist to the bitter end and resist they did. The Germans bombed the entire city into rubble trying to break their spirit. It did not work and the Russians used the rubble to establish formidable defenses. The Germans had no choice but to send in small squads of 8 or 10 to try and root out the defenders. That did not work either. The Russians proved to be formidable street fighters. In October the worst winter in fifty years arrived as advertised. The drop in temperature caused a break in the attack and gave the Russians defending the city time to reorganize and receive reinforcements. In November the Russians army launched a merciless counter-attack. The Italian and Romanian soldiers surrendered immediately but not the Germans. They held out until they were surrounded by the Russians and all of their supplies had been cut off. The German army that had surrounded Stalingrad in the beginning numbered about 200,000. On this date the remaining German army at Stalingrad numbering only 90,000 surrendered ending the siege of Stalingrad. Of the 90,000 Germans that went to prison camps, only 5,000 lived to see Germany again. I had given some figures about this siege in the past that were inaccurate, these numbers are accurate.



1847    In October of 1846 a group of wagons gathered at South Pass, Wyoming to cross the formidable Sierra Nevada Mountains into California. The assumed leader of this wagon train was George Donner. All they had to navigate by was a crude map out of a magazine. They were warned that it was too late in the year to try to cross the mountains and should wait until spring. They left anyway. They ran into some tough terrain and at one point made only 36 miles in 13 days. As you might suspect the winter snows caught them in a narrow pass and they had to abandon their wagons loaded with tons of meat and flour plus their oxen. I suppose all of ya’ll know the story of the Donner Party but it was on this day that the first person died. The final number was 42 dead and those that survived did so by cannibalism. It was dark days in that mountain pass just a few miles from Lake Tahoe.



1971    On this date Major General Idi Amin, commander of the Ugandan Army and Air Force declares himself President. A week before the government of Ugandan President Daniel Obote had collapsed. Amin immediately began a purge of two different tribes and virtually annihilated them. Next he ordered the Asians out of Uganda and the Indians and Pakistanis fled in swarms. Very soon thereafter the economy of Uganda goes down the toilet because it was the Asians that were the financial base of the country. In 1979 Amin invades Tanzania in order to gain a disputed section of land but the real reason was to take away attention from the bad conditions in Uganda. The army of Tanzania accompanied by a group of people that had been kicked out of Uganda met Amin’s army and kicked the living shit out of them. Amin and a few of his cronies fled the country and landed in Saudi Arabia. And that is where lived until he died in 2003. It is estimated that Idi Amin was responsible for the death of over 300,000 Ugandans. I believe the movie “The Last King of Scotland” is a bio of Amin.



1781    Yesterday I wrote about the Battle of Cowan’s Ford and the death of William Davidson during the Revolutionary War. Today’s lesson is a continuation of that saga. Patriot General Nathanial Greene was waiting at Steele’s Tavern near Salisbury, North Carolina for the militia that was engaged in the Cowan’s Ford attack the day before. Greene was to meet with the militia at the home of David Carr which was six miles south of Steele’s Tavern. The militia did not arrive as agreed because they were attacked by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s Dragoons at Tarrant’s Tavern five mile south of David Carr’s house and 10 or 50 Patriots were killed. While waiting at Steele’s Tavern, Greene struck up a conversation with his doctor that was staying there also and mentioned that he was very hungry and was penniless. The owner of the tavern, Elizabeth Maxwell Steele overheard Greene and offered Greene breakfast and gave him two bags of gold coin. Greene was elated because he could now pay his troops. There was a portrait of British King George III hanging in the Tavern. Greene went to the portrait and wrote on the back “O George, hide thy face and mourn” and turned the portrait toward the wall. This portrait and inscription is kept in the Thyatira Presbyterian Church museum near Salisbury to this day. Greene now fed and with cash is further elated upon the discovery of 1,700 muskets and ammo near Salisbury. Greene sacrificed much for the Patriot cause and we should be grateful for his presence during this trying time.



1980    The ABSCAM scandal is exposed to the public. ABSCAM was a program initiated by the FBI to root out corruption in United States federal government officials. The premise was that a representative of an Arab sheik was looking for backing for a project and was willing to pay for it. As you might suspect there were several Senators and Representatives that were on the take. The FBI has filmed all the offers and payoffs and this evidence was presented at the trial of those that took the bribe. All but one resigned to avoid expulsion from their elected office including South Carolina Representative John Jenrette. We need to do more of this. I guess ya’ll read about Vietnam War hero and Navy ace pilot “Duke” Cunningham was convicted of influence peddling and sentenced to a long term in the slammer plus losing everything he and his family had ever owned. The bad part was that Duke had a menu for all to see that had a percentage of how much the person looking for his influence were expected to gain and what his cut of the profits would be. Of all the people in our government Duke would be the last person I would think could do this. Power corrupts, total power corrupts totally.



Born today:



1745    English writer Hannah More. She said: “Going to the opera is like getting drunk, both sins carry their own penalty, and a severe one at that.” Been there, done that.



1754    French politico Charles Francis de Talleyrand. “The French court is an assembly of noble and distinguished beggars.” About forty years after this the French people rose up and began rolling royal heads with a guillotine during the French Revolution and that was the end of the French Monarchs and royalty in France.



1859    English writer Havelock Ellis. He said “The only place where optimism endures is in the lunatic asylum.” Tack on the that “or a singles bar after last call”



1901    Russian violinist Jascha Heifetz. He said “No matter which side of the argument you are on, you always find some one on your side that should be on the other.” Been there, done that, too. Do not have a tee shirt.



1915    Israeli politico Abba Eban. He said “History has proven to us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.” Eban was the Israeli representative to the United Nations. I remember watching him speak to the United Nations during one the several wars Israel had with the Arab nations. He was a gifted orator and had a commanding presence.







1923    US writer James Dickey. He said “A poet is a person that stands out in the rain hoping to get struck by lightning.” It was Dickey that gave the immortal novel Deliverance He was also Writer-in-Residence at the University of South Carolina. He has since gone to that great laptop in the sky.



1931    US writer Judith Viorst. She said: “Love is better to be in than an automobile accident, a tight girdle, a higher tax bracket or in a holding pattern over Philadelphia.” Judith, shut up.



Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow