Good
morning,
Quote
of the day:
“If
England treats her criminals like she treated me, she doesn't deserve
to have any.”
Oscar
Wilde
Oscar
Wilde was jailed for having a years long homosexual affair with the
son of the Marquis of Queensbury...the son was not jailed, however.
Recently
those in charge of The Citadel decided to continue to allow the
Confederate flag to fly over this institution. The Citadel is a
private military school in Charleston, SC. It seems that some people
were “offended” and wanted the flag removed permanently. Did
y'all notice I wrote that it is a “private” institution and they
can fly any freaking flag they want. I am not offended nor is anyone
in my social group, do we count? What I am offended by is those
people that do not know one scintilla of the history of this nation.
All the hell they know is someone told them that they should be
offended by the Confederate flag because it means the advocacy of
slavery. That is not what it means to me and I am very, very
knowledgeable as to what happened between 1861 and 1865. Included in
that time period cadets from the Citadel assisted in the bombardment
and surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor that started the
Civil War. This volunteer action cost of several of their lives.
That flag flies over Citadel to this day in their honor. Here is a
quote: “Find out for yourself about what really happened because if
you just believe what you are told you are little more than a slave.”
That quote is from Al Campbell.
Here
is a story told by deceased Civil War historian Shelby Foote:
He
said that there was a squad of about 8 Confederates surrounded by a
company of Union infantry. A Union officer demanded their surrender
to no avail. The Confederates continued to fight ferociously until
there was only one Confederate left alive but not before grabbing his
rifle and swinging it like a baseball bat. The Confederate was
wrestled to the ground and subdued. Afterward he was asked why he
fought so hard. He DID NOT say “Because I want that fat cat down
in Mississippi to be able to keep his slaves.” What he DID SAY was
“Because y'all are down here.”
All
of you know that just a few months ago North Korea had threatened to
blow up the world. They launched a few missiles which prompted NATO
and SEATO to beef up their presence in the far east. The US Air
Force had supersonic and stealth bombers cruising over South Korea
along with nuclear submarines thick and fleas in the Yellow Sea. In
spite of all of that, the North Koreans have agreed to a peace
conference with South Korea and are in Seoul chatting as we speak.
There is no question in this horse's mind that the North Koreans were
just blowing a lot of smoke to see what they would have to deal with
in case of real war. This tactic is an old one going back to the
Bible and the exploits of Joshua and the Israeli army. There were
many incidents where Joshua would bluff an infantry attack so he
could see what power he was facing. The day before the final attack
on the Alamo, Mexican General Santa Ana ordered a daylight infantry
attack and withdrew after a short time. The defenders realized that
the attack was just so he could “count the guns”. He knew where
the weaknesses were after this. He ordered an all out attack the
next night and focused the heaviest attack at the weaknesses he had
seen the day before. As you know, he was successful....for a while.
About two weeks later General Sam Houston ordered his troops to
attack the encamped army of Santa Ana and they were all but
annihilated in 18 minutes. Remember the Alamo! Are you reading this
Nancy and Ted?
I
just read an item from a restaurant owner in San Diego. He said that
many years ago he went to a resort on the Pacific coast of Mexico.
It was there that he first experienced a fish taco. He then returned
to San Diego and began experimenting. There is a huge variety of
possibilities here. The various types of fish...how they are
prepared...the different toppings and sauces. He finally arrived at
four different ones and the demand exploded. I remember the first
one I ever had. It was two marinated (raw) tuna tacos at the world
famous Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island, SC. I was impressed. I
suspect they are available here in the Greenville but I have yet to
find a satisfactory Mexican restaurant here. The next place was a
small place on Pensacola Beach. I went there with my eldest
daughter. It was good too. I will have to get with my niece to see
where in this town I can find a good fish taco. She is a high roller
here in the land of the Gamecocks but I suspect she is not that fond
of fish...but way back in my memory I think I remember her telling me
of a good sushi restaurant...we will see.
This
Date in History June 12
1862 Earlier
General George McClellan had persuaded his military superiors to
allow him to bring the Army of the Potomac, 120,000 strong, to the
James River peninsula by ship and attack Richmond from the southeast
rather than from the obvious direction from the north. The plan had
merit but how do you unload 120,000 troops and their associated
accoutrements without being noticed. They were indeed noticed and
the Army of Northern Virginia 60,000 strong, CSA General Robert E.
Lee commanding, headed down the peninsula to see what McClellan had
in mind. What resulted was later known as the Battle of the Seven
Days in which these gigantic armies slugged it out for seven days
with McClellan admitting defeat and he took his young ass and his
army back to the end of the peninsula and headed back north. But
before the battles began in earnest, on this date General Lee tasked
his cavalry commander, CSA General J.E.B. Stuart and 1,200 troopers,
to reconnoiter McClellan’s left flank for weaknesses. Stuart
starts out and takes a look at the Yankee left but decides to keep
going eventually rides completely around the Army of the Potomac
arriving back to Lee with a wealth of information but not before
raising hell with McClellan’s supply wagons. The ironic thing
about this whole trip was that Stuart was chased by several Yankee
cavalry units, one of which was lead by US General Phillip St. George
Cooke. General Cooke was Stuart’s father-in-law. After the
battles began observers said that they could see McClellan begin to
sag when he saw how battle chopped and mutilated his men. It is
believed that the horror of this vision took most of the fight out of
him and later he was relieved because the lack of energy and
aggressiveness. In truth, I think it might have the same effect on
most of us.
1994 On this date
the ex-wife of NFL star O.J. Simpson, Nichole Brown Simpson and a man
passing by named Ron Goldman were found stabbed to death just outside
Nichole’s home. Brown had been to lunch at an upscale restaurant
on Los Angeles and had left her sunglasses and Goldman, a waiter at
the restaurant, was bringing her the sunglasses on his way home. The
immediate suspect was O.J. Simpson because the police had been called
to Brown’s house of several occasions because Simpson had been in a
rage and trying to break in to her house and had indeed beaten the
crap out of her more than once. After a bizarre ride through
Hollywood in a White Bronco driven by O.J.’s friend Al Cowling, the
truck arrives at O.J. s house where he is arrested. There is no use
in me describing the overwhelming evidence the prosecution had
against O.J. that should have been more than enough to put a needle
in that murderers arm, but he had something the prosecution did not.
He had Johnny Cochran, F. Lee Bailey and assorted other superior
legal minds in the country. He also had a jury that was 75% black.
I am not saying that the jury was prejudicial, but when they came out
of deliberations, one of the black jurors raised a clenched fist with
a big smile. There is little question that O.J. Simpson got away
with murder. But one of these days he will go on to his reward and
he will be alone.
1876 Earlier New
York Herald journalist Marcus Kellogg was on a train headed to
Bismarck, North Dakota and met with a United States cavalry officer
and his wife. It was Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his wife
Elizabeth. The train ran into an unexpected snow storm and the train
was stuck in a snow bank. Somehow Kellogg was able to get to the
telegraph lines along side the railroad and was able to get a message
to Custer’s brother Tom and he came and rescued them in a sleigh.
Custer was on his way to take command of the 7th
Cavalry and begin an expedition against hostile Indians who refuse to
go to a reservation. Custer asked Kellogg if he would like to go
with the 7th
on this trip and write a few dispatches to be sent back to New York
during his trip. Kellogg immediately agreed.. On this date, Kellogg
wrote his last dispatch saying that the 7th
was leaving the Rosebud River area and were headed to the Little Big
Horn River and should encounter the “red devils” soon. Four days
later they did indeed encounter the “red devils” and were
annihilated including Kellogg. Had Kellogg survived and had been
able to write a white man’s account of the battle he would have
been a celebrity. As it turned out, he filled a grave near Colonel
Custer cut to pieces like the rest.
1940 The failure of
the invasion of Dunkirk left thousands of British and other Allied
troops still in France in spite of the attempt to rescue them back
across the English Channel to England. On this date 54,000 British
and other allied troops surrender to German Field Marshall Erwin
Rommel near the French border town of St Valery-en-Caux. This
surrender virtually assured the capture of Paris, France. This was
amplified when French General Maxime Weygand notified the French
military governor in Paris to declare Paris an “open city”
meaning that the French military planned no resistance to German
occupation, capitulation in other words. All of this happened in
spite of Winston Churchill going to France himself and tried to
encourage the French leadership to resist but It was for naught. It
is disgusting, isn’t it?
Born today:
1802 English
journalist Harriet Martineau. She said “Men who pass the most
comfortably through this world is the ones with good digestions and
hard hearts.” My digestion is suspect but the other is not.
1929 British writer
Bridget Brophy. She said “I refuse to put all men in the nursery.
I insist in believing that some of them are my equal.” Bridget,
please note the sprig of mistletoe attached to the tail of my shirt.
Died today:
1936 Austrian
writer Karl Krauss. He said “Education is a crutch with which the
foolish use on the wise to prove they are not idiots.” Where did
you go to school, Karl?
1972
US political activist Saul Alinsky. He said “Power is not what
you have; it is what the enemy thinks you have.” Sound wisdom,
Saul.
1972
US critic Edmond Wilson. He said “There is nothing more
demoralizing than a small but adequate income.” How true, y'all,
how true.
Thanks
for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.
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