And in July 1863, it was the men of the 20th Maine who held Little Round Top and by so doing made certain the North's victory at Gettysburg, which meant that the South would never win, never become independent.
And that today the Republican Party my great-great-great-grandfather was a founding member of in Pennsylvania as a Quaker Aboliti…
And in July 1863, it was the men of the 20th Maine who held Little Round Top and by so doing made certain the North's victory at Gettysburg, which meant that the South would never win, never become independent.
And that today the Republican Party my great-great-great-grandfather was a founding member of in Pennsylvania as a Quaker Abolitionist, has become the vehicle of the unreconstructed Southern Enemy is one of the great ironies of history, with the traitors claiming they are patriots by claiming the work of these men who would be as opposed to them today as they were back then.
TC, thank you for sharing your story. I found it interesting that Biden used Reagan’s words against the latest iteration of the unreconstructed Southern enemy.
I'm tired of people saying Biden is a bad speaker. He knows his history and he knows people. I like what he has to say and he continues to work for the good of all Americans, which is refreshing. Plus he has a sense of humor, not grievance.
Yesterday I posted the following: Our kind President cares about EVERY single person in this country. He stuttered as a youth and worked hard to overcome it, People still bully him if he mis-speaks one single word. He personally works with over 25 stutterers helping them overcome their struggle. Such a wonderful, caring man.
Have you listened to tfg speak in the last year? Lately he literally can't get through a sentence without confusing who is president, who was speaker of the House on Jan. 6, what country Orban is president of, on and on.)
Great and tragic ironies of history indeed, TC. And of course, the 18th Maine was reinforced by one of the most fascinating Renaissance men in American history, the fabulous and fabulously mustachioed Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
They were also reinforced by 10 men of the 17th Pennsylvania, who were the survivors of a 20-mile run in their wool uniforms in the Pennsylvania summer heat and humidity. Among them was a 15 year old kid from Catawissa, Pennsylvania, Henry Thomas; he celebrated his 16th birthday atop the hill on the Second Day, and survived the war to marry late (PTSD did that in the postwar period) and have a daughter named Mary who was my father's mother and my grandmother, who lived with us till she died when I was 12. She was the teacher who taught me to read when I was 4 - phonics, just as "word (non) recognition" came along to start our slow decline. Henry himself lived to 96 and died when his son-in-law and grandson were helping him clean out the root cellar; when they told him they'd found four jugs of "corn squeezin's" he'd forgotten about, he started down the ladder and tripped, breaking his neck when he landed.
Thank You, Suessl. I have been spelling "Foto" as do the Spanish, Turks, Russians, Greeks & every other fonetic language since getting into fotografy in 1984. I have only been chastised once for that by an English purist in England. As Spock, my Phavourite Vulcan would say, there is no logic to spelling F with a PH.
My husband's last name begins with two lower case f's. Which, in Wales, signifies an F, because one F signifies a V. ;-) (every proof-reader's nightmare.) I am in sympathy with the space aliens!
Have you seen "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" which is currently streaming on BritBox? One character's name is Henry Bassington-ffrench. I had never seen the "double f" used before so thank you for the explanation.
F and P are interchangeable across linguistic families: thus Pater or Padre and Father. Also V and B. The legacy of Ph fits into that story - and yes, we should go with Foto.
Yes, apparently V & B are interchangeable as in the Cyrillic alfabet B is pronounced V, and even in Spanish, Havana is spelled Habana. Speaking of Spanish, most everyone mispronounces "llama," calling it Lama instead of Yama. Double L in Spanish is pronounced as Y as in Guillermo (and surprisingly William).
My first post-college year was spent on The Rosebud Sioux Reservation in SD. I taught "English" to a small group of adults. I remember writing "ghiti" on the board, then asking what word did that spell, which is actually spelled another way, entirely. Answer: "fish." gh as in enough, i as in any short i, and ti as in tion (sh).
My kind students clearly did not know what the hell I was talking about. Nor could I blame them.
That, I believe was from George Bernard Shaw, a critic of the foibles of the English language as well as Shakespeare. (Good for a night but not for all time) His was "GHOTI" spelling FISH.
GH from enouGH, O from wOmen, and TI from ficTIon.
So by his reckoning ghonetic and ghotogragh would be more legit than with a PH.
There is logic to the ph sound f. It is based in Ancient Greece, and the Latin translation for phi. I was an Orton Tutor, and used to explain to my students, that English is a language not a subject. Therefore, some of our words have a base in other languages. It is no longer used. English is a very difficult language. For example, their and there, it can make u nuts.😂
Oh, I forgot to give a shout out to The Orton Society, if not for them, my brilliant dyslexic son, never would have learned to read or write. He was a math and science wizard. Taught me algebra, needed it to get my teaching degree. I taught Special Ed, for 25 years.
I once made the observation of how lucky I was to be born into this language and not have to learn it as a second language. Difficult doesn't even come close. Some of our words are nothing but Chinese Ideograms that have to be memorized as they have no connection to their spelling: (cough, though, people, Worchestershire, etc.) There, their, they're, I know the feeling. My grimace moment is when ppl interchange then & than - they are totally different words and yet I have a whole collection of published writers that used them wrong.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that we don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
So sorry about Henry, but truth be told, I can think of worse ways to shuffle off the mortal coil than tripping while seeking some lovely "corn squeezin's".
I suspect William Holden would be somewhat envious of your great grandfather.
The stories of guys who survived combat one would think was nearly impossible, to die of humdrum accidents after the war - just the ones I know - could fill a book.
I don't have any long-lived guys in my family tree, but I did have a dear friend who fit that bill. He was one of the founding members of the tuba ensemble that I play in, a WWII Navy veteran, who called me one day and said "I found an old sousaphone in my barn; I'll trade you some sweat equity for it." Said sweat equity was to strip the lacquer off the valve set and rouge the bell. He tried to teach me how to weld brass, but showed me how to fix the holes I made instead...
He went to one of our concerts in the park on Sunday, was up on his roof on Monday when he started feeling "not quite right". Got himself off the roof, put the ladder away, and dialed for an ambulance. He ended up in the hospital with a badly twisted intestine, and when offered the choice of surgery to correct it that had a 30% chance of success and leave him with a colostomy bag the rest of his life, he said "Nope. I'm done." Got to talk to both kids, and died within about 15 hours.
I put together a group of 30 tuba and euphonium players to play at his service, playing four pieces, each written or arranged by a dear friend, three of whom played in the service.
He did his life : His Way. I hope to be able to "cash in" if I am not able to take care of myself. I say "hope" because the brain has to be able to make decisions.....
Oh, and BTW: I tell people my age because I think it's ridiculous. Born in '39, but I was 30 just last year!!
I read a biography of the late great bluegrass star Doc Watson, who was blind all his life. During one visit to his home, his biographer found him repairing a hole on his roof (!!!) when he was in his 80s!
How about this guy: "Paul Alexander, who died at 78, (this week) was paralyzed with polio at age 6 and relied on the machine (an iron lung) to breathe. Still, he was able to earn a law degree, write a book and, late in life, build a following on TikTok."
Judith, when I was a kid, there was a well-known young man in our small city who was in an iron lung (this was in the '60s.) He was a bit of a local celebrity because he'd written a book, using a wooden dowel to type the manuscript. I had the opportunity to visit him on a couple occasions as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout. I'll never forget the image of him lying there in the iron lung.
It's unbelievable to think that polio is making a comeback due to anti-vaxxers. How tragically stupid.
It was actually fairly common. If you consider that 2/3 of the men in the country participated directly in the war. The phenomenon then was called "reverie." Much of the social dislocation in this country can be traced to the undiagnosed/untrreated PTSD of the war. All these guys were having terrible dreams and were drugging themselves with alcohol; domestic violence is commonly associated now with PTSD, and boy was it common then. With any untreated problem, it spread through the generations as the children grew up thinking that was the way adults behaved, then married other survivors (birds of a feather, flock together) and repeated what they knew, and on and on.
In my case, most people of my generation with Civil War forebears speak of great-great grandparents. My civil war ancestors are my great-grandparents. There's a whole missing generation. The civil war kids were kids - 16-19 for Henry, 18-20 for Alem Cleaver and he spent nine months in the Libby Prison concentration camp, which "changed him forever." The fist Thomas McKelvey (I'm named for him) was older - a 26 year old history professor when the war began, but he experienced three of the worst battles and the Georgia-Carolinas campaign (which includes The March To The Sea). Henry Wiest was the youngest drummer boy on that march; after the war he became a buffalo killer and an Indian Fighter - I have a photo of him from 1882, when he is 32 and you can see the spider veins in his nose and he is no one you would cross; I consider him Patient Zero in the family because he had 11 children he infected with his insanity, and they have been propagating ever since and I am the only one who ever realized this. None of them married till 10 years or so after the war. Then their children repeated that, and then their grandchildren did (my mother was an unheard-of at the time 32 when she had me, the oldest kid), and - voila! - you lose 25-28 years.
Many of the social movements postwar were in reaction to the PTSD. There was virtually no prewar Temperance Movement, but it became widespread after the war, trying to find ways to get the men to stop drinking.
This is a whole avenue of history that has been ignored (if you think about it, public discussion of abuse and self-identification by victims only began to take hold in the 1980s after the TV movie "Something About Amelia" raised family incest publicly). And you add in to the Civil War the PTSD from World War II (I well remember the boys I knew who had the "scary" fathers; you only went to their house once). PTSD itself was never discussed till the Boomer Generation came home from Vietnam.
I’m saddened but not surprised your post didn’t receive more attention. As a country we are really struggling with mental health and will we ever deal with it
The disaster that was WWI also left an entire generation or three (parents, some of whom at least would have been alive if not have fought in the US Civil War, soldiers and nurses, children) scarred for life - at least, those that survived, and then survived the influenza epidemic. It seems we're condemned to repeat these terrors every generation or so, the legacy of the PTSD of the people who fought the prior war (maybe?), economic troubles (soldiers unable to find jobs after the war, the razing of an entire generation of young men meaning that generation of women unable to marry or have children, scandals such as Whiskey Ring, Credit Mobilier, Teapot Dome (although that was between WWI and WWII), etc.), and etc. Then half a decade or so of depression, and another war. Then another war, and another - they seem to be coming more frequently, as recently as the last few middle East conflicts. (I'm omitting the century or so, 1785 through 1915, of the various "Indian wars" - that list makes chilling reading. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States) Since we in the US at least are experiencing reasonable prosperity for the moment, and (I hope) the most recent crop of soldiers can get treatment for PTSD, is it reasonable to hope that in spite of Ukraine and Gaza, there will not be a world war inflicted on the current generation?
I've been starting to wonder if it's a twisted form of 'natural' population control, where humans generally evade other natural measures in animal populations, like disease or starvation. It's a theory.
In 1932, the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous became the beginning of some kind of recovery from the results of PTSD. As bad as the truth of what happened to people who participated in the wars, we now have hope!
Yes, and unfortunately AA is run by humans. The originator - Bill W - believed women couldn't be alcoholics (hate to tell him he was wrong), and then he 13th stepped every female alcoholic who ever came to him for help, and told members they should smoke. Sorry, I have no use for a "cure" with a 12% "cure" rate. All Bill W ever did was transfer his addictions from alcohol to tobacco (which will kill you worse than alcohol) and use his reputation to make things worse for the women who came to him for help. I have nothing to do with that organization and I never will.
This is a huge missing context in the history of our country. I'm married to the daughter of a WWII vet and she had really put a point on the 'children of vets' thing for me. All my grandparents emigrated from Ireland in the 20s. They had atrocious trauma histories, then came here and my paternal grandfather shipped out to the South Pacific. My father, as a young man, was adjudicated into the Army, but was injured in a pre -deployment jump accident and couldn't go. We would do well to be mindful of these dynamics. They seem to lend into this 'rigged individual' ethos that has left this country rent fifty different ways.
TC, you could embellish the story by disclosing that Henry darn well KNEW 'bout the corn squeezin's and wanted to retrieve them afore the son-in-law and grandson got 'em, but having already had a couple o' shots before comin' up the ladder, he was in no shape to attempt another descent. Even Fred Astair might not have survived an attempt to dance down the stair after a couple of slugs of corn squeezin's. And corn squeezin's are not to be confused with Mazola cooking oil.
It's very strange, my family is the only one I know that can document itself back to Peter Klebber, who arrived in the first year of the Pennsylvania colony. There was an old bible, in which the elder of each generation recorded the lives of the family in his time. My father recorded it all before he donated it to the Quaker Museum.
My family didn't emigrate to Canada until after the infamous potato famine. Most people associate this with the Irish, but it was more widespread than that, my ancestors were nearly all Scottish.
And as you probably know, after the Civil War, Joshua Chamberlain went on to serve 2 terms as Governor of Maine & also was President of Bowdoin College, his alma mater.
Your ancestor would indeed be horrified by what’s going on, and resolute in their determination to not let it happen.
Here’s a quote from author and scientist Primo Levi in his 1975 book “The Periodic Table.” I’m reading this now. Levi was also an anti-Fascist who was arrested and incarcerated in Auschwitz.
“Fascism was not only a clownish and improvident misrule, but the negator of justice; it had not only dragged Italy into an unjust and ill-omened war, but it had arisen and consolidated itself as the custodian of a detestable legality and order, based on the coercion of those who work, on the unchecked profits of those who exploit the labor of others, on the silence imposed on those who think and do not want to be slaves, and on systematic and calculated lies.”
It’s a good book, some real moments of brilliance… overall though I found it kind of choppy and not cohesive enough for the “element” titled chapters to pull it all together
Yes, it sounds all too familiar. And the problem with book burning and other current attacks on education and facts is that people are being denied the opportunity to learn from history.
Hey, TC ~ If you're ever "trending into Maine," come to Brunswick and I'll give you a tour of the Joshua Chamberlain House and Museum, where I'm a docent. It honors that other great Maine defender of a slave-free Union who valiantly commanded the 20th Maine Regiment that fateful day on Little Round Top!
Stand at the stone wall on Little Roundtop that Maine regiment lay behind, looking down at the Devils Den where the Alabama troops were, and think about what the command, “fix bayonets” meant. That courage blazes even today.
Well, Marj, if you ever get back, and are interested in Chamberlain, get in touch with the Pejepscot History Center, owners of the Chamberlain House Museum, make an appointment, ask for me, Peter Tenney, and I'll give you a tour! (Open regular hours June - October; private tours available November - May, by appointment.) https://pejepscothistorical.org
Oh yes. The Republican victory is driven by specious rhetoric. Of the Southern Strategy with Lee Atwater's 'How to be a Racist, Without Sounding Like One' leading to Leonard Leo's Supreme Court majority whose black robes barely hide their white sheets. And Reagan's and Gingrich's movement conservatism in bed with the religious right leading to Bush's Politics of Faith and Putin as the savior of Christian Nationalism. The Republican tragedy is that having introduced irrational habits of mind into politics to sell 'trickle down economics' they have spawned an electorate which swallows the notion of Trump as President RamboJesus. Whom cynics like Mitch McConnell et al are still hedging their bets on to deliver the money shot - even at the expense of upending a system which was reliably shoveling government benefits into their corporate troughs and private nosebags. Oh the quandaries of the Charles Kochs et al. And oh their faith that they can hollow out the foundations and be spared when the roof falls in.
"The Republican tragedy is that having introduced irrational habits of mind into politics to sell 'trickle down economics' they have spawned an electorate which swallows the notion of Trump as President RamboJesus."
You have a way with words. First time I've been moved to follow someone in long time.
Agree, having family members from the NYC brigade buried in Gettysburg makes this a sensitive topic for me. It drives me bonkers when draft dodgers Trump, and con men and women (uhhh Katie Britt are you listening) lie and say they are patriots. Really!!! And I have a bridge for sale!
Well.... I popped in to say Hi to a few, and came off with the first thing that crossed my mind from ancient memory that still functions somewhat. Then I thought, wait a minute, there were 2 different commanders of the Maine infantry on Roundtop; the first one got killed early on, then another took over and led the famous bayonet charge down Roundtop - our friend below mentions his name. Not fresh in mind the name of the dead commander and certainty of his origin, I went back in and edited. I should have just said in my edit... "and other Mainer's - bravo Maine and happy b'day." lol ~ Cheers TC !
I love this story...and the thread you inspired, TC! My family are Italian immigrants on both sides from the 1890's, so I am always fascinated by folks who can trace their family tree back so many generations. At 78, I find your 96 yr old grandfather a true inspiration! 💕
How about some UpToDate news about Maine's coming elections:
‘A new Maine poll shows former President Donald Trump ahead of President Joe Biden by 6 percentage points if the election were held today, with 30% saying they want another candidate or are undecided.’
‘The 63rd Pan Atlantic Research Omnibus Poll released Monday also asked Mainers how they feel about the economy, who they’ll likely support in Tuesday’s primary and how much they like prominent politicians.’
‘In the Trump v. Biden matchup, Trump earned support from 38% of those polled, followed by Biden at 32%, “another candidate” at 21% and undecided at 9%.’
‘Sen. Angus King, an independent up for reelection in November, has the highest net favorability rating at +32%, followed by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden at +20%, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree at +19% and Republican Sen. Susan Collins at +6%.’(PUBLISHED 10:01 AM ET FEB. 27, 2024 IN SPECTRUM NEWS)
‘More broadly, the state has a history of electing both Republicans and Democrats and is seen as something of a swing state, depending on the race.’ (ABCNews)
‘Republican Susan Collins (first elected in 1996) and Independent Angus King (first elected in 2012) are Maine's current U.S. senators, making Maine one of seven states to have a split United States Senate delegation.’
‘The 2024 United States Senate election in Maine will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Maine. Primary elections will take place on June 11, 2024.[1] Incumbent two-term Senator Angus King, who is an independent but caucuses with the Democratic Party, was re-elected with 54% of the vote in 2018. He is running for a third term.’
Angus King has not announced whether he would support Bidden or Trump for the presidency but supported Biden in 2020.
'Susan Collins was one of seven Senate Republicans to vote to convict Trump on the impeachment charge of inciting insurrection during his second Senate trial in 2021. ‘
‘Collins said she didn’t formally endorse Haley at the outset of the race because she was friendly with other candidates like former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as well as with Haley and ‘“didn’t want to choose among them.”
‘She played a key role in crafting the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress passed in 2021, which Trump opposed. She was also one of three Republican senators who voted to derail Trump’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017.’
‘Collins made her remarks at a time when more and more GOP senators are lining up behind Trump’s campaign, including Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), who previously raised questions about Trump’s viability in a general election.’ (TheHill) See link below.
'Republican senator Susan Collins refuses to endorse Trump after Haley exit.'
'Ms Collins backed Ms Haley before she dropped out but declined to endorse either Mr Trump or President Joe Biden when speaking to The Independent on Wednesday. (The Indedpent, 3/6/24)
'Independent Sen. Angus King will be challenged from the right and left in upcoming election'
BY: ANNMARIE HILTON - MARCH 14, 2024 4:03 PM
'Former Maine Republican Party Chair Demi Kouzounas announced her plans to run in late January and will submit her petition signatures for the June primary to the Maine Secretary of State on Friday. David Costello, a Democrat from Brunswick, filed for his run earlier this week, according to the Secretary of State’s website.'
'__ A newly-announced Republican challenger to U.S. Sen. Angus King — former Maine GOP chair Demi Kouzounas — has a record of making conspiratorial statements about the pandemic, elections and the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a review of her public comments. Kouzounas headed the state party from 2017 until she was ousted in early 2023 … (Maine Morning Star)
‘A self proclaimed “government reform advocate,” Costello is running to strengthen democracy and the economy by addressing climate change, inadequate health care, underperforming schools, among other issues. His campaign website says he wants to protect rights and freedoms — including women’s reproductive rights.’
‘In addition to his policy priorities, Costello outlines what he calls his reform agenda. This includes abolishing the electoral college and establishing a system of directly electing presidents that uses ranked choice voting in situations with more than two candidates. (Maine Morning Star) See link below.’
Susan Collins, despite some bipartisan work and some independence when McConnell doesn't need her vote, is reliably in McConnell's pocket. She'll play it close to the vest until folding at the last minute.
We split our electoral college votes. Clinton and Biden won CD1. Trump won CD2 twice.
Maine voters can be perversely independent. They elected self styled 'Trump before Trump' TeaParty Paul LePage governor by plurality twice. The first time third party political Pied Piper and now convicted child pornographer Elliot Cutler had an almost credible chance of beating the party candidates. Almost. It was a dangerous bet. The second time our Hancock County Democratic Committee, in predominantly conservative CD2, had the data to demonstrate that Cutler did not have the support to win but had enough support to split the vote and give LePage the win. Again. Cutler kept on with his self indulgence at the expense of Maine's most vulnerable residents.
The LePage plurality wins motivated Mainers to fight hard for Ranked Choice Voting. Which is how Jared Golden, probably the most conservative Democrat in the House, won and has held onto the seat. Despite Republicans doing all they can to overturn Ranked Choice Voting. The hero here is a Federalist Society Federal Judge who, contrary to almost all of that crew, actually upholds constitutional protections for voters. The constant threat to flip the seat Republican is leftish 'independent' voters who might not vote for Golden as their first or second ranking. Even with the House in the balance.
Even with the Senate in the balance, Costello's spoiler campaign may have the rhetoric to gain support, although realistically he's not promising anything Sen. King hasn't already achieved or supported. Costello may appeal to the 'change for change sakes' crowd and from those ignorant of the processes involved with effecting the big changes Costello is touting. And from those somehow entirely ignorant of Angus King's good record on civil rights, environmental protections, domestic and foreign policy.
Lin, thank you for your in-depth summary of the candidates, particularly Collins (current term ends on January 3, 2027) King, Golden and Costello, most of whom will be candidates in 2024. You have provided the level of background needed by Maine voters and all of us who support, protect and strengthen Democracy in the US! Being engaged citizens and voting are crucial now and always.
I refused to move to Maine until LePage was out of office, though we had wanted to for several years. I have met people that seemed otherwise sensible except for the incomprehensible support for LePage. When I asked it was usually for some staff help with getting around red tape for problems particular to them or their friends, perhaps a bit of selective whack-a-mole, to me.
I want a governor that takes the best care of all the people and though not as well informed on all of his actions, was opposed from the very first time I heard of his financing from people that wanted Private Profit Prisons in his first campaign.
I agree with Bernie Sanders and Angus King on the guns that Americans should have reasonable access to but am disappointed by finding out Maine had one of the biggest contributors to the 24,000,000 AR-15 or other similar assault rifles sold to the public, starting from the small Bushmaster Company in Wilton, Maine, 30 miles north of Lewiston. See https://www.propublica.org/article/how-bushmaster-made-ar-15-into-best-selling-rifle-us
That article made even my most ardent 2nd Amendment friends take pause. Another friend had suggested we could make a lot of money on their stock after Sandy Hook, but we both chose not to. Most friends sold off most of their unneeded guns to Law Enforcement Officers or people like Court Officers or State Dept types that may need personal protection a lot more than any of the rest of us. I split up the pieces of a 1911A1 willed to me by a brother-in-law since I had preferred that as a sidearm in Vietnam (traveling throughout most of Vietnam and Thailand in late '67 to '68), until my son could find a legitimate buyer (at a lot lower price than the $1,000 some friends said I could get for it.
I would never effectively sell my soul to make money the way Richard E. Dyke did.
'WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November.'
With Mitch's power in the Republican Party much diminished by Trump, will Susan Collins grow her own thumb? Where will she land, under Trump's thumb as most elected Republicans have done?
'Mitch McConnell ramps up his criticism of Chuck Schumer in CNN interview'
'Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ramped up his scathing criticism of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the aftermath of the New York Democrat’s stunning call for a new leadership in Israel amid the brutal war in Gaza, underscoring the growing partisan divide over Israel – a rare issue that had long unified the two parties.'
'In an interview with CNN, McConnell said Schumer’s speech was a direct contradiction of US policy and called on the White House not to go down that road.'
“You can’t spend years hyperventilating about foreign interference in our democracy and then turn around and tell allies, particularly democratic allies, who their leader should be and when they should have elections,” McConnell said. “It’s just completely at variance with the way we typically operate in a foreign country, which is to deal with whatever government has been chosen in a democracy.”
'For a long time, Schumer has aligned himself with Benjamin Netanyahu, but broke with him Thursday on the Senate floor as he characterized the Israeli prime minister as an obstacle for peace.'
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed, radically, since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” 'Schumer said.'
'Asked if Schumer being the first Jewish Senate majority leader in US history – who has been outspoken on Israel for years – gives him the right to call for a change in leadership there, McConnell pushed back.'
“Just because he’s Jewish doesn’t give him a pass to advocate something that’s completely inconsistent with our past approach to democratic countries,” 'McConnell said about Schumer, whose speech he watched as it was delivered from his office in the Capitol.'
'McConnell rejected calls for conditions on military aid to Israel – something some Democrats have called for in an effort to tamp down civilian deaths.'
'In his speech, Schumer explained his deep misgivings about the toll on innocent people in Gaza.'
“I am anguished that the Israeli war campaign has killed so many innocent Palestinians,” he said. “I know that my fellow Jewish Americans feel this same anguish when they see the images of dead and starving children and destroyed homes.”
McConnell didn’t offer any criticism of the Israeli government, even as a growing number of Democratic leaders and voters have called for an immediate ceasefire.
“I’m not here to criticize our democratic ally and what they feel they need to do to settle things down. This is, if you’re looking for a parallel, what do you think we would do if we were attacked by the Mexicans or the Canadians? They have to live next door to this. Completely inappropriate for us to be dictating these policies for certainly the government of a democratic ally,” 'he said.'
'McConnell blamed the Biden administration for micromanaging the war in Gaza and said Schumer’s calling for “regime change” in the wrong country.' (CNN) See link below.
Seriously, McConnell?“ You can’t spend years hyperventilating about foreign interference in our democracy and then turn around and tell allies, particularly democratic allies, who their leader should be and when they should have elections.” You are trying to conflate the secret interference by Russia, ONE OF OUR ENEMIES, in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, with the US openly telling ONE OF OUR ALLIES that we cannot in good conscience support its position in a war, but that with policy (and controlling party) change, we can do so? Not buying it, Mitch.
“You can’t spend years hyperventilating about foreign interference in our democracy and then turn around and tell allies, particularly democratic allies, who their leader should be and when they should have elections,” McConnell said. “It’s just completely at variance with the way we typically operate in a foreign country, which is to deal with whatever government has been chosen in a democracy.” The U.S. was involved in dismantling MULTIPLE country's political systems, then walked away as tyrants took over. I've been watching a horrifying documentary series on Netflix, "Turning Point: "The Bomb and the Cold War" basically about our near constant state of war with Russia. I recommend you watch. Several episodes show how the U.S. got involved with other countries, then walked away, and the chaos that occurred in those countries as a result. (There are nine episodes, I've made it through 6. The magnitude of nuclear and hydrogen bombs is horrifying. I grew up in an area that was 'downwind" from testing sites of Nevada.)
There are massive protests occurring IN Israel over Netenyahu's 'leadership', his allowing genocide in Gaza. I think his days are close to an end (hopefully).
ELD, thank you for your documentary recommendations. I am familiar with the impacts of the US on the governance of the Philippines, Nicaragua, Chile, Iran... and list goes on.
'The centuries that followed the arrival of Europeans were years of tremendous upheaval, as the expansion of settler territory and the founding and growth of the United States resulted in Native American communities being moved, renamed, combined, dispersed, and, in some cases, destroyed.'
'These dislocations and changes took place across many centuries, and each individual episode was marked by its own set of unique circumstances, from public negotiations and careful planning to subterfuge and deceit; from declarations of friendship to calls for genocide; from disease, starvation, and bloodshed to perseverance, resistance, and hope in the face of persecution. But all were driven by the relentless expansion of European settlement and U.S. territory, and by U.S. government policies that relegated the independence and well-being of Native Americans to secondary status, if that.' (Library of Congress)
And in July 1863, it was the men of the 20th Maine who held Little Round Top and by so doing made certain the North's victory at Gettysburg, which meant that the South would never win, never become independent.
And that today the Republican Party my great-great-great-grandfather was a founding member of in Pennsylvania as a Quaker Abolitionist, has become the vehicle of the unreconstructed Southern Enemy is one of the great ironies of history, with the traitors claiming they are patriots by claiming the work of these men who would be as opposed to them today as they were back then.
TC, thank you for sharing your story. I found it interesting that Biden used Reagan’s words against the latest iteration of the unreconstructed Southern enemy.
I'm tired of people saying Biden is a bad speaker. He knows his history and he knows people. I like what he has to say and he continues to work for the good of all Americans, which is refreshing. Plus he has a sense of humor, not grievance.
Yesterday I posted the following: Our kind President cares about EVERY single person in this country. He stuttered as a youth and worked hard to overcome it, People still bully him if he mis-speaks one single word. He personally works with over 25 stutterers helping them overcome their struggle. Such a wonderful, caring man.
Have you listened to tfg speak in the last year? Lately he literally can't get through a sentence without confusing who is president, who was speaker of the House on Jan. 6, what country Orban is president of, on and on.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YofSo-GTN4
I agree wholeheartedly! He is a wonderful man and the people’s President.
Great and tragic ironies of history indeed, TC. And of course, the 18th Maine was reinforced by one of the most fascinating Renaissance men in American history, the fabulous and fabulously mustachioed Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
They were also reinforced by 10 men of the 17th Pennsylvania, who were the survivors of a 20-mile run in their wool uniforms in the Pennsylvania summer heat and humidity. Among them was a 15 year old kid from Catawissa, Pennsylvania, Henry Thomas; he celebrated his 16th birthday atop the hill on the Second Day, and survived the war to marry late (PTSD did that in the postwar period) and have a daughter named Mary who was my father's mother and my grandmother, who lived with us till she died when I was 12. She was the teacher who taught me to read when I was 4 - phonics, just as "word (non) recognition" came along to start our slow decline. Henry himself lived to 96 and died when his son-in-law and grandson were helping him clean out the root cellar; when they told him they'd found four jugs of "corn squeezin's" he'd forgotten about, he started down the ladder and tripped, breaking his neck when he landed.
The fact that phonics begins with a p is why aliens fly right by us.
Thank You, Suessl. I have been spelling "Foto" as do the Spanish, Turks, Russians, Greeks & every other fonetic language since getting into fotografy in 1984. I have only been chastised once for that by an English purist in England. As Spock, my Phavourite Vulcan would say, there is no logic to spelling F with a PH.
My husband's last name begins with two lower case f's. Which, in Wales, signifies an F, because one F signifies a V. ;-) (every proof-reader's nightmare.) I am in sympathy with the space aliens!
Have you seen "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" which is currently streaming on BritBox? One character's name is Henry Bassington-ffrench. I had never seen the "double f" used before so thank you for the explanation.
F and P are interchangeable across linguistic families: thus Pater or Padre and Father. Also V and B. The legacy of Ph fits into that story - and yes, we should go with Foto.
Just make sure Frodo is there as well.
Yes, apparently V & B are interchangeable as in the Cyrillic alfabet B is pronounced V, and even in Spanish, Havana is spelled Habana. Speaking of Spanish, most everyone mispronounces "llama," calling it Lama instead of Yama. Double L in Spanish is pronounced as Y as in Guillermo (and surprisingly William).
My first post-college year was spent on The Rosebud Sioux Reservation in SD. I taught "English" to a small group of adults. I remember writing "ghiti" on the board, then asking what word did that spell, which is actually spelled another way, entirely. Answer: "fish." gh as in enough, i as in any short i, and ti as in tion (sh).
My kind students clearly did not know what the hell I was talking about. Nor could I blame them.
Hope,
That, I believe was from George Bernard Shaw, a critic of the foibles of the English language as well as Shakespeare. (Good for a night but not for all time) His was "GHOTI" spelling FISH.
GH from enouGH, O from wOmen, and TI from ficTIon.
So by his reckoning ghonetic and ghotogragh would be more legit than with a PH.
There is logic to the ph sound f. It is based in Ancient Greece, and the Latin translation for phi. I was an Orton Tutor, and used to explain to my students, that English is a language not a subject. Therefore, some of our words have a base in other languages. It is no longer used. English is a very difficult language. For example, their and there, it can make u nuts.😂
Oh, I forgot to give a shout out to The Orton Society, if not for them, my brilliant dyslexic son, never would have learned to read or write. He was a math and science wizard. Taught me algebra, needed it to get my teaching degree. I taught Special Ed, for 25 years.
Of course you did Fylis :)
I once made the observation of how lucky I was to be born into this language and not have to learn it as a second language. Difficult doesn't even come close. Some of our words are nothing but Chinese Ideograms that have to be memorized as they have no connection to their spelling: (cough, though, people, Worchestershire, etc.) There, their, they're, I know the feeling. My grimace moment is when ppl interchange then & than - they are totally different words and yet I have a whole collection of published writers that used them wrong.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that we don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
--James D. Nicoll, 1990
I'm sure that has to be one of a 'few' factors, for sure
Suessl !
🤣
HA!
Ha-ha, Suessll !
😂
Wow! That is so cool, TC!
So sorry about Henry, but truth be told, I can think of worse ways to shuffle off the mortal coil than tripping while seeking some lovely "corn squeezin's".
I suspect William Holden would be somewhat envious of your great grandfather.
I laughed out loud. that was truly sad, that he went like that.
With the promised land in sight!
Love the term "corn squeezing" and I did smile at your story, TC.
The stories of guys who survived combat one would think was nearly impossible, to die of humdrum accidents after the war - just the ones I know - could fill a book.
Thank you for your story.
He was 96!....He had no problem taking on a ladder! He should have just let his young kinfolk bring it up.
I'm sure he was like every other long-lived guy in my family tree - thought he was 30 years younger than he was.
I don't have any long-lived guys in my family tree, but I did have a dear friend who fit that bill. He was one of the founding members of the tuba ensemble that I play in, a WWII Navy veteran, who called me one day and said "I found an old sousaphone in my barn; I'll trade you some sweat equity for it." Said sweat equity was to strip the lacquer off the valve set and rouge the bell. He tried to teach me how to weld brass, but showed me how to fix the holes I made instead...
He went to one of our concerts in the park on Sunday, was up on his roof on Monday when he started feeling "not quite right". Got himself off the roof, put the ladder away, and dialed for an ambulance. He ended up in the hospital with a badly twisted intestine, and when offered the choice of surgery to correct it that had a 30% chance of success and leave him with a colostomy bag the rest of his life, he said "Nope. I'm done." Got to talk to both kids, and died within about 15 hours.
I put together a group of 30 tuba and euphonium players to play at his service, playing four pieces, each written or arranged by a dear friend, three of whom played in the service.
He did his life : His Way. I hope to be able to "cash in" if I am not able to take care of myself. I say "hope" because the brain has to be able to make decisions.....
Oh, and BTW: I tell people my age because I think it's ridiculous. Born in '39, but I was 30 just last year!!
Lovely story, thanks.
Just like my 96-year-old Mom, who insists on climbing the ladder herself!
I read a biography of the late great bluegrass star Doc Watson, who was blind all his life. During one visit to his home, his biographer found him repairing a hole on his roof (!!!) when he was in his 80s!
How about this guy: "Paul Alexander, who died at 78, (this week) was paralyzed with polio at age 6 and relied on the machine (an iron lung) to breathe. Still, he was able to earn a law degree, write a book and, late in life, build a following on TikTok."
Judith, when I was a kid, there was a well-known young man in our small city who was in an iron lung (this was in the '60s.) He was a bit of a local celebrity because he'd written a book, using a wooden dowel to type the manuscript. I had the opportunity to visit him on a couple occasions as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout. I'll never forget the image of him lying there in the iron lung.
It's unbelievable to think that polio is making a comeback due to anti-vaxxers. How tragically stupid.
I love this story. Marrying late due to “PTSD.” ❤️ #Gettysburg
It was actually fairly common. If you consider that 2/3 of the men in the country participated directly in the war. The phenomenon then was called "reverie." Much of the social dislocation in this country can be traced to the undiagnosed/untrreated PTSD of the war. All these guys were having terrible dreams and were drugging themselves with alcohol; domestic violence is commonly associated now with PTSD, and boy was it common then. With any untreated problem, it spread through the generations as the children grew up thinking that was the way adults behaved, then married other survivors (birds of a feather, flock together) and repeated what they knew, and on and on.
In my case, most people of my generation with Civil War forebears speak of great-great grandparents. My civil war ancestors are my great-grandparents. There's a whole missing generation. The civil war kids were kids - 16-19 for Henry, 18-20 for Alem Cleaver and he spent nine months in the Libby Prison concentration camp, which "changed him forever." The fist Thomas McKelvey (I'm named for him) was older - a 26 year old history professor when the war began, but he experienced three of the worst battles and the Georgia-Carolinas campaign (which includes The March To The Sea). Henry Wiest was the youngest drummer boy on that march; after the war he became a buffalo killer and an Indian Fighter - I have a photo of him from 1882, when he is 32 and you can see the spider veins in his nose and he is no one you would cross; I consider him Patient Zero in the family because he had 11 children he infected with his insanity, and they have been propagating ever since and I am the only one who ever realized this. None of them married till 10 years or so after the war. Then their children repeated that, and then their grandchildren did (my mother was an unheard-of at the time 32 when she had me, the oldest kid), and - voila! - you lose 25-28 years.
Many of the social movements postwar were in reaction to the PTSD. There was virtually no prewar Temperance Movement, but it became widespread after the war, trying to find ways to get the men to stop drinking.
This is a whole avenue of history that has been ignored (if you think about it, public discussion of abuse and self-identification by victims only began to take hold in the 1980s after the TV movie "Something About Amelia" raised family incest publicly). And you add in to the Civil War the PTSD from World War II (I well remember the boys I knew who had the "scary" fathers; you only went to their house once). PTSD itself was never discussed till the Boomer Generation came home from Vietnam.
I’m saddened but not surprised your post didn’t receive more attention. As a country we are really struggling with mental health and will we ever deal with it
I sent This post to one friend and three relatives
The disaster that was WWI also left an entire generation or three (parents, some of whom at least would have been alive if not have fought in the US Civil War, soldiers and nurses, children) scarred for life - at least, those that survived, and then survived the influenza epidemic. It seems we're condemned to repeat these terrors every generation or so, the legacy of the PTSD of the people who fought the prior war (maybe?), economic troubles (soldiers unable to find jobs after the war, the razing of an entire generation of young men meaning that generation of women unable to marry or have children, scandals such as Whiskey Ring, Credit Mobilier, Teapot Dome (although that was between WWI and WWII), etc.), and etc. Then half a decade or so of depression, and another war. Then another war, and another - they seem to be coming more frequently, as recently as the last few middle East conflicts. (I'm omitting the century or so, 1785 through 1915, of the various "Indian wars" - that list makes chilling reading. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States) Since we in the US at least are experiencing reasonable prosperity for the moment, and (I hope) the most recent crop of soldiers can get treatment for PTSD, is it reasonable to hope that in spite of Ukraine and Gaza, there will not be a world war inflicted on the current generation?
Why do we do this to ourselves?
I've been starting to wonder if it's a twisted form of 'natural' population control, where humans generally evade other natural measures in animal populations, like disease or starvation. It's a theory.
In 1932, the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous became the beginning of some kind of recovery from the results of PTSD. As bad as the truth of what happened to people who participated in the wars, we now have hope!
Yes, and unfortunately AA is run by humans. The originator - Bill W - believed women couldn't be alcoholics (hate to tell him he was wrong), and then he 13th stepped every female alcoholic who ever came to him for help, and told members they should smoke. Sorry, I have no use for a "cure" with a 12% "cure" rate. All Bill W ever did was transfer his addictions from alcohol to tobacco (which will kill you worse than alcohol) and use his reputation to make things worse for the women who came to him for help. I have nothing to do with that organization and I never will.
This is a huge missing context in the history of our country. I'm married to the daughter of a WWII vet and she had really put a point on the 'children of vets' thing for me. All my grandparents emigrated from Ireland in the 20s. They had atrocious trauma histories, then came here and my paternal grandfather shipped out to the South Pacific. My father, as a young man, was adjudicated into the Army, but was injured in a pre -deployment jump accident and couldn't go. We would do well to be mindful of these dynamics. They seem to lend into this 'rigged individual' ethos that has left this country rent fifty different ways.
OMG .......
TC, you could embellish the story by disclosing that Henry darn well KNEW 'bout the corn squeezin's and wanted to retrieve them afore the son-in-law and grandson got 'em, but having already had a couple o' shots before comin' up the ladder, he was in no shape to attempt another descent. Even Fred Astair might not have survived an attempt to dance down the stair after a couple of slugs of corn squeezin's. And corn squeezin's are not to be confused with Mazola cooking oil.
Bears assisted living.
Let us know when your book is in print!
What a fascinating family you have TC. Great informative history.
It's very strange, my family is the only one I know that can document itself back to Peter Klebber, who arrived in the first year of the Pennsylvania colony. There was an old bible, in which the elder of each generation recorded the lives of the family in his time. My father recorded it all before he donated it to the Quaker Museum.
My family didn't emigrate to Canada until after the infamous potato famine. Most people associate this with the Irish, but it was more widespread than that, my ancestors were nearly all Scottish.
Good for you bringing this forward Fay. There's too much "ignored" history.
Wow! What a story! I'm really enjoying all this history.
What a visual TC. The poor man must have been quite quenched.
Thanks for sharing…Though he lived a long life, what a sad ending to his life…
TC, you gotta tell us more about this on TAFM.
What is TAFM?
Jocelyn,
Sorry about that. It is his substack That's Another Fine Mess:
https://tcinla757.substack.com/
Thanks!
Excellent addition, TC. Thank you.
And as you probably know, after the Civil War, Joshua Chamberlain went on to serve 2 terms as Governor of Maine & also was President of Bowdoin College, his alma mater.
Googled his image, and you weren't kidding! FABULOUS furry lip!
Astute observation!
Your ancestor would indeed be horrified by what’s going on, and resolute in their determination to not let it happen.
Here’s a quote from author and scientist Primo Levi in his 1975 book “The Periodic Table.” I’m reading this now. Levi was also an anti-Fascist who was arrested and incarcerated in Auschwitz.
“Fascism was not only a clownish and improvident misrule, but the negator of justice; it had not only dragged Italy into an unjust and ill-omened war, but it had arisen and consolidated itself as the custodian of a detestable legality and order, based on the coercion of those who work, on the unchecked profits of those who exploit the labor of others, on the silence imposed on those who think and do not want to be slaves, and on systematic and calculated lies.”
Sound familiar?
another author and book for my TBR list
It’s a good book, some real moments of brilliance… overall though I found it kind of choppy and not cohesive enough for the “element” titled chapters to pull it all together
Yes, it sounds all too familiar. And the problem with book burning and other current attacks on education and facts is that people are being denied the opportunity to learn from history.
Ryan..yes, thank you for this quote from Primo Levi's courageous writings.
This is an inspiring summation, Many Thanks.
Hey, TC ~ If you're ever "trending into Maine," come to Brunswick and I'll give you a tour of the Joshua Chamberlain House and Museum, where I'm a docent. It honors that other great Maine defender of a slave-free Union who valiantly commanded the 20th Maine Regiment that fateful day on Little Round Top!
Stand at the stone wall on Little Roundtop that Maine regiment lay behind, looking down at the Devils Den where the Alabama troops were, and think about what the command, “fix bayonets” meant. That courage blazes even today.
Brunswick ME is one of my favorite places. Haven't been in years.
Well, Marj, if you ever get back, and are interested in Chamberlain, get in touch with the Pejepscot History Center, owners of the Chamberlain House Museum, make an appointment, ask for me, Peter Tenney, and I'll give you a tour! (Open regular hours June - October; private tours available November - May, by appointment.) https://pejepscothistorical.org
Thank you!
Oh yes. The Republican victory is driven by specious rhetoric. Of the Southern Strategy with Lee Atwater's 'How to be a Racist, Without Sounding Like One' leading to Leonard Leo's Supreme Court majority whose black robes barely hide their white sheets. And Reagan's and Gingrich's movement conservatism in bed with the religious right leading to Bush's Politics of Faith and Putin as the savior of Christian Nationalism. The Republican tragedy is that having introduced irrational habits of mind into politics to sell 'trickle down economics' they have spawned an electorate which swallows the notion of Trump as President RamboJesus. Whom cynics like Mitch McConnell et al are still hedging their bets on to deliver the money shot - even at the expense of upending a system which was reliably shoveling government benefits into their corporate troughs and private nosebags. Oh the quandaries of the Charles Kochs et al. And oh their faith that they can hollow out the foundations and be spared when the roof falls in.
"The Republican tragedy is that having introduced irrational habits of mind into politics to sell 'trickle down economics' they have spawned an electorate which swallows the notion of Trump as President RamboJesus."
You have a way with words. First time I've been moved to follow someone in long time.
"You have a way with words" is exactly what I thought and was going to write myself before I saw you beat me to it.
Ha. Blush. ThankYou
"...Leonard Leo's Supreme Court majority whose black robes barely hide their white sheets."
A perfect turn of phrase, lin•.
"Whose black robes barely hide their white sheets..." Great line.
Agree, having family members from the NYC brigade buried in Gettysburg makes this a sensitive topic for me. It drives me bonkers when draft dodgers Trump, and con men and women (uhhh Katie Britt are you listening) lie and say they are patriots. Really!!! And I have a bridge for sale!
Beg pardon TC; the 20th Maine. *edit, in fairness, the 18th also.
You are right, I have 18 going on in my mind with part of my next book. I think I will go make that change :-) (DONE)
Well.... I popped in to say Hi to a few, and came off with the first thing that crossed my mind from ancient memory that still functions somewhat. Then I thought, wait a minute, there were 2 different commanders of the Maine infantry on Roundtop; the first one got killed early on, then another took over and led the famous bayonet charge down Roundtop - our friend below mentions his name. Not fresh in mind the name of the dead commander and certainty of his origin, I went back in and edited. I should have just said in my edit... "and other Mainer's - bravo Maine and happy b'day." lol ~ Cheers TC !
I love this story...and the thread you inspired, TC! My family are Italian immigrants on both sides from the 1890's, so I am always fascinated by folks who can trace their family tree back so many generations. At 78, I find your 96 yr old grandfather a true inspiration! 💕
How about some UpToDate news about Maine's coming elections:
‘A new Maine poll shows former President Donald Trump ahead of President Joe Biden by 6 percentage points if the election were held today, with 30% saying they want another candidate or are undecided.’
‘The 63rd Pan Atlantic Research Omnibus Poll released Monday also asked Mainers how they feel about the economy, who they’ll likely support in Tuesday’s primary and how much they like prominent politicians.’
‘In the Trump v. Biden matchup, Trump earned support from 38% of those polled, followed by Biden at 32%, “another candidate” at 21% and undecided at 9%.’
‘Sen. Angus King, an independent up for reelection in November, has the highest net favorability rating at +32%, followed by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden at +20%, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree at +19% and Republican Sen. Susan Collins at +6%.’(PUBLISHED 10:01 AM ET FEB. 27, 2024 IN SPECTRUM NEWS)
‘More broadly, the state has a history of electing both Republicans and Democrats and is seen as something of a swing state, depending on the race.’ (ABCNews)
‘Republican Susan Collins (first elected in 1996) and Independent Angus King (first elected in 2012) are Maine's current U.S. senators, making Maine one of seven states to have a split United States Senate delegation.’
‘The 2024 United States Senate election in Maine will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Maine. Primary elections will take place on June 11, 2024.[1] Incumbent two-term Senator Angus King, who is an independent but caucuses with the Democratic Party, was re-elected with 54% of the vote in 2018. He is running for a third term.’
Angus King has not announced whether he would support Bidden or Trump for the presidency but supported Biden in 2020.
'Susan Collins was one of seven Senate Republicans to vote to convict Trump on the impeachment charge of inciting insurrection during his second Senate trial in 2021. ‘
‘Collins said she didn’t formally endorse Haley at the outset of the race because she was friendly with other candidates like former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as well as with Haley and ‘“didn’t want to choose among them.”
‘She played a key role in crafting the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress passed in 2021, which Trump opposed. She was also one of three Republican senators who voted to derail Trump’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017.’
‘Collins made her remarks at a time when more and more GOP senators are lining up behind Trump’s campaign, including Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), who previously raised questions about Trump’s viability in a general election.’ (TheHill) See link below.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4426835-collins-wont-endorse-trump-2024/#:~:text=Sen.,Republican%20Party's%20nominee%20for%20president.
'Republican senator Susan Collins refuses to endorse Trump after Haley exit.'
'Ms Collins backed Ms Haley before she dropped out but declined to endorse either Mr Trump or President Joe Biden when speaking to The Independent on Wednesday. (The Indedpent, 3/6/24)
'Independent Sen. Angus King will be challenged from the right and left in upcoming election'
BY: ANNMARIE HILTON - MARCH 14, 2024 4:03 PM
'Former Maine Republican Party Chair Demi Kouzounas announced her plans to run in late January and will submit her petition signatures for the June primary to the Maine Secretary of State on Friday. David Costello, a Democrat from Brunswick, filed for his run earlier this week, according to the Secretary of State’s website.'
'__ A newly-announced Republican challenger to U.S. Sen. Angus King — former Maine GOP chair Demi Kouzounas — has a record of making conspiratorial statements about the pandemic, elections and the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a review of her public comments. Kouzounas headed the state party from 2017 until she was ousted in early 2023 … (Maine Morning Star)
‘A self proclaimed “government reform advocate,” Costello is running to strengthen democracy and the economy by addressing climate change, inadequate health care, underperforming schools, among other issues. His campaign website says he wants to protect rights and freedoms — including women’s reproductive rights.’
‘In addition to his policy priorities, Costello outlines what he calls his reform agenda. This includes abolishing the electoral college and establishing a system of directly electing presidents that uses ranked choice voting in situations with more than two candidates. (Maine Morning Star) See link below.’
https://mainemorningstar.com/briefs/independent-sen-angus-king-will-challenged-from-the-right-and-left-in-upcoming-election/
From Maine.
Susan Collins, despite some bipartisan work and some independence when McConnell doesn't need her vote, is reliably in McConnell's pocket. She'll play it close to the vest until folding at the last minute.
We split our electoral college votes. Clinton and Biden won CD1. Trump won CD2 twice.
Maine voters can be perversely independent. They elected self styled 'Trump before Trump' TeaParty Paul LePage governor by plurality twice. The first time third party political Pied Piper and now convicted child pornographer Elliot Cutler had an almost credible chance of beating the party candidates. Almost. It was a dangerous bet. The second time our Hancock County Democratic Committee, in predominantly conservative CD2, had the data to demonstrate that Cutler did not have the support to win but had enough support to split the vote and give LePage the win. Again. Cutler kept on with his self indulgence at the expense of Maine's most vulnerable residents.
The LePage plurality wins motivated Mainers to fight hard for Ranked Choice Voting. Which is how Jared Golden, probably the most conservative Democrat in the House, won and has held onto the seat. Despite Republicans doing all they can to overturn Ranked Choice Voting. The hero here is a Federalist Society Federal Judge who, contrary to almost all of that crew, actually upholds constitutional protections for voters. The constant threat to flip the seat Republican is leftish 'independent' voters who might not vote for Golden as their first or second ranking. Even with the House in the balance.
Even with the Senate in the balance, Costello's spoiler campaign may have the rhetoric to gain support, although realistically he's not promising anything Sen. King hasn't already achieved or supported. Costello may appeal to the 'change for change sakes' crowd and from those ignorant of the processes involved with effecting the big changes Costello is touting. And from those somehow entirely ignorant of Angus King's good record on civil rights, environmental protections, domestic and foreign policy.
Lin, thank you for your in-depth summary of the candidates, particularly Collins (current term ends on January 3, 2027) King, Golden and Costello, most of whom will be candidates in 2024. You have provided the level of background needed by Maine voters and all of us who support, protect and strengthen Democracy in the US! Being engaged citizens and voting are crucial now and always.
I refused to move to Maine until LePage was out of office, though we had wanted to for several years. I have met people that seemed otherwise sensible except for the incomprehensible support for LePage. When I asked it was usually for some staff help with getting around red tape for problems particular to them or their friends, perhaps a bit of selective whack-a-mole, to me.
I want a governor that takes the best care of all the people and though not as well informed on all of his actions, was opposed from the very first time I heard of his financing from people that wanted Private Profit Prisons in his first campaign.
I agree with Bernie Sanders and Angus King on the guns that Americans should have reasonable access to but am disappointed by finding out Maine had one of the biggest contributors to the 24,000,000 AR-15 or other similar assault rifles sold to the public, starting from the small Bushmaster Company in Wilton, Maine, 30 miles north of Lewiston. See https://www.propublica.org/article/how-bushmaster-made-ar-15-into-best-selling-rifle-us
That article made even my most ardent 2nd Amendment friends take pause. Another friend had suggested we could make a lot of money on their stock after Sandy Hook, but we both chose not to. Most friends sold off most of their unneeded guns to Law Enforcement Officers or people like Court Officers or State Dept types that may need personal protection a lot more than any of the rest of us. I split up the pieces of a 1911A1 willed to me by a brother-in-law since I had preferred that as a sidearm in Vietnam (traveling throughout most of Vietnam and Thailand in late '67 to '68), until my son could find a legitimate buyer (at a lot lower price than the $1,000 some friends said I could get for it.
I would never effectively sell my soul to make money the way Richard E. Dyke did.
'WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November.'
With Mitch's power in the Republican Party much diminished by Trump, will Susan Collins grow her own thumb? Where will she land, under Trump's thumb as most elected Republicans have done?
'Mitch McConnell ramps up his criticism of Chuck Schumer in CNN interview'
'Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ramped up his scathing criticism of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the aftermath of the New York Democrat’s stunning call for a new leadership in Israel amid the brutal war in Gaza, underscoring the growing partisan divide over Israel – a rare issue that had long unified the two parties.'
'In an interview with CNN, McConnell said Schumer’s speech was a direct contradiction of US policy and called on the White House not to go down that road.'
“You can’t spend years hyperventilating about foreign interference in our democracy and then turn around and tell allies, particularly democratic allies, who their leader should be and when they should have elections,” McConnell said. “It’s just completely at variance with the way we typically operate in a foreign country, which is to deal with whatever government has been chosen in a democracy.”
'For a long time, Schumer has aligned himself with Benjamin Netanyahu, but broke with him Thursday on the Senate floor as he characterized the Israeli prime minister as an obstacle for peace.'
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed, radically, since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” 'Schumer said.'
'Asked if Schumer being the first Jewish Senate majority leader in US history – who has been outspoken on Israel for years – gives him the right to call for a change in leadership there, McConnell pushed back.'
“Just because he’s Jewish doesn’t give him a pass to advocate something that’s completely inconsistent with our past approach to democratic countries,” 'McConnell said about Schumer, whose speech he watched as it was delivered from his office in the Capitol.'
'McConnell rejected calls for conditions on military aid to Israel – something some Democrats have called for in an effort to tamp down civilian deaths.'
'In his speech, Schumer explained his deep misgivings about the toll on innocent people in Gaza.'
“I am anguished that the Israeli war campaign has killed so many innocent Palestinians,” he said. “I know that my fellow Jewish Americans feel this same anguish when they see the images of dead and starving children and destroyed homes.”
McConnell didn’t offer any criticism of the Israeli government, even as a growing number of Democratic leaders and voters have called for an immediate ceasefire.
“I’m not here to criticize our democratic ally and what they feel they need to do to settle things down. This is, if you’re looking for a parallel, what do you think we would do if we were attacked by the Mexicans or the Canadians? They have to live next door to this. Completely inappropriate for us to be dictating these policies for certainly the government of a democratic ally,” 'he said.'
'McConnell blamed the Biden administration for micromanaging the war in Gaza and said Schumer’s calling for “regime change” in the wrong country.' (CNN) See link below.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/politics/mitch-mcconnell-interview-schumer-reaction/index.html
Seriously, McConnell?“ You can’t spend years hyperventilating about foreign interference in our democracy and then turn around and tell allies, particularly democratic allies, who their leader should be and when they should have elections.” You are trying to conflate the secret interference by Russia, ONE OF OUR ENEMIES, in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, with the US openly telling ONE OF OUR ALLIES that we cannot in good conscience support its position in a war, but that with policy (and controlling party) change, we can do so? Not buying it, Mitch.
“You can’t spend years hyperventilating about foreign interference in our democracy and then turn around and tell allies, particularly democratic allies, who their leader should be and when they should have elections,” McConnell said. “It’s just completely at variance with the way we typically operate in a foreign country, which is to deal with whatever government has been chosen in a democracy.” The U.S. was involved in dismantling MULTIPLE country's political systems, then walked away as tyrants took over. I've been watching a horrifying documentary series on Netflix, "Turning Point: "The Bomb and the Cold War" basically about our near constant state of war with Russia. I recommend you watch. Several episodes show how the U.S. got involved with other countries, then walked away, and the chaos that occurred in those countries as a result. (There are nine episodes, I've made it through 6. The magnitude of nuclear and hydrogen bombs is horrifying. I grew up in an area that was 'downwind" from testing sites of Nevada.)
There are massive protests occurring IN Israel over Netenyahu's 'leadership', his allowing genocide in Gaza. I think his days are close to an end (hopefully).
ELD, thank you for your documentary recommendations. I am familiar with the impacts of the US on the governance of the Philippines, Nicaragua, Chile, Iran... and list goes on.
'The centuries that followed the arrival of Europeans were years of tremendous upheaval, as the expansion of settler territory and the founding and growth of the United States resulted in Native American communities being moved, renamed, combined, dispersed, and, in some cases, destroyed.'
'These dislocations and changes took place across many centuries, and each individual episode was marked by its own set of unique circumstances, from public negotiations and careful planning to subterfuge and deceit; from declarations of friendship to calls for genocide; from disease, starvation, and bloodshed to perseverance, resistance, and hope in the face of persecution. But all were driven by the relentless expansion of European settlement and U.S. territory, and by U.S. government policies that relegated the independence and well-being of Native Americans to secondary status, if that.' (Library of Congress)
ThankYou Hancock County Democratic Committee. I do not speak for them. But they work for all of us. Mostly as volunteers.
https://hancockdems.org/
TC, that is indeed one of the great ironies of history.
Thank you TC, very enlightening post.