Thursday

                        Musing and History

 Quote of the day:

‘What would Jesus do?’ may be a good philosophy for some but it doesn’t help when I am trying to figure out how much to tip a hooker.”

                                       Charles Gulledge

Trivia question of the day:

What famous US Army officer went to West Point and is the only one that graduated without a single demerit? Answer at the end of the blog.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans in Mississippi have requested a commemorative automobile license tag for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The people that are opposed to this strengthen their position by saying that Forrest was a leader of the KKK. What Forrest was all about is this:

Forrest was a very wealthy Tennessean that joined the Confederate Army as a cavalryman after the outbreak of the American Civil War. Forrest’s leadership and skill in cavalry tactics became evident very soon. He quickly worked his way into a generalship. His cavalry unit was the most feared by the US Army. US Grant called him “That Devil Forrest”. J.E.B. Stuart called him “The greatest cavalry officer ever foaled.” His exploits in defeating Union army units while severely outnumbered are legendary. After the end of the war in 1865 a group of bored and angry ex-Confederate soldiers gathered in Pulaski, Tennessee and organized the first KKK unit. Their purpose was to play pranks and raise general hell primarily because they were going to lose their lands and fortunes in “Reconstruction”. This did not meet with the approval of the general population and Forrest was recruited in 1866 to instill some discipline into this mob. Forrest did indeed form this group into a quasi-military unit and they did not go and do anything that did not have a redeemable purpose. After about 18 months the mob went back into their old habits and Forrest ordered the dissolution of the KKK and went back to his old profession. Forrest and his brother were prolific slave traders and that is where they made their fortunes. Forrest died and is buried in Memphis. The denial of a commemorative license tag should NOT be based on his dealings with the KKK, but maybe because of his business of buying and selling other people’s souls. I will get some grief about this synopsis from some of my subscribers but it is my opinion none the less.

                This Date in History   February 14

1929 Earlier the New York mob decided to expand their operations in Chicago and sent Alphonse Capone to head up the operation. The only problem was that the larger portion of the Chicago crime income belonged to a man named “Bugs” Moran. “Bugs” was not about to give up his Chicago kingdom to anyone, especially a snot-nosed Sicilian. These two fenced back and forth trying to take total control of the city. Moran had called a meeting of his captains for conference about future strategy against the Capone organization. The meeting was set for at a warehouse owned by CRT Cartage and there were seven members of the Moran organization that were supposed to be at the meeting. Somehow Capone got wind of the meeting. On this date the seven members arrived at the warehouse a waited for Moran to arrive. Instead of Moran, three policemen crashed into the front door and told Moran’s men to turn around and face the wall and they opened up with Thompson sub-machine guns and shotguns cutting the seven to ribbons. Moran was approaching the warehouse when he saw the policemen go in so he just kept walking. It wasn’t policemen y'all, they were assassins from Detroit hired by Capone. This event was called The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. The next day Moran said “Only Capone kills like that”.

1779 Earlier one of the greatest explorers in history had paid two visits what was later to become the Hawaiian Islands. Captain James Cook was on a five year exploration trek and was expected to circumnavigate the earth. On this date he returned from exploring the north Pacific and sailed into Kealakekua Bay. Little did he know that this date was a holy one to the Hawaiians and especially on this particular day. The Hawaiians believed that the fertility god Lono resided in this bay and this was the day that the god was worshiped. Well, the Hawaiians were not pleased that two boatloads (HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery) of honkies interrupted the ceremony and when Cook and a small boat load of sailors headed for shore, they were met with the Hawaiians throwing rock and other missiles. Cook did not know what the hell was going on, he was met by the smiling Hawaiians on the other two trips. He had no way of knowing of the ceremony worshiping Lono. Anyway, when Cook’s boat reached shallow water, the Hawaiians waded out and cracked Cook upside the head with an oar-shaped war club and killed him. A few of the sailors on Cook’s small boat made it back to the safety of the Resolution. The next day the English got their revenge by opening up with a broadside of their cannon and killed 30 Hawaiians. Needless to say, honkies were persona non-gratis in these islands for a generation.

1943 Earlier Hitler sent his ace general Erwin Rommel into North Africa to bail out the inept Italian Army that was losing its grip of territory previously gained. Rommel organized one of the best fighting groups ever assembled in the vaunted Afrika Corps. The Afrika Corp relied heavily on armor such as tanks and self propelled artillery. There was a thunderous battle between Rommel and British General Montgomery in which Rommel was forced to retreat westward toward Tunisia. The American army had landed in North Africa behind Rommel’s lines and was headed east to cut off Rommel’s retreat. Rommel decided that he should take the offensive against the newly arrived Americans and decided that the weakest point is Kasserine Pass, a two mile gap in the Dorsal Mountains in Tunisia. Rommel’s first attack was repulsed and he brought up more armor and ran through the American lines like greased lightning. The first major battle against Rommel was won by Rommel. Then the American brought up their best tank commander in General George Patton. After this it was all downhill for Rommel.

Born today:

1913 Immortal football coach of Ohio State Woody Hayes. He said “If we did not have winners, there would be no civilization.” Woody was fired from Ohio State the day after he hit Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman in the chin after Charlie had intercepted an OSU pass and ran out of bounds in a Bowl game that sank Woody’s hopes of winning…forever.

Answer to the trivia question:

The only US officer that graduated West Point without a single demerit was Robert E. Lee. Lee was a 30 year veteran of the US Army before the outbreak of the Civil War.

              Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow