60 years ago

 

[VIDEO] I wanted to use this excuse to share this video from Mr. Beat who takes a look at the  assassination of the 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy which took place 60 years ago today.

I wasn't even thought about in 1963, and can never really appreciate the impact of this tragic event. I might understand the impact of the tragic event of 9/11. Right now people go on-and-on about 1/6/21.

So many people might still obsess over 11/22 because there are more questions than answers about it. People still debate whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald committed this crime. And then what about any roles by the Cubans, the CIA, the FBI, or even the Italian American Mafia.

Oh and Lyndon Baines Johnson, how badly did he want to be President? He was already a larger than life figure who had been relegated to the Vice Presidency, was he willing to go this far?

Again more questions than answers. However, allow me to emphasize that although JFK was only President for almost three years he has a decent record. He faced down the Soviets during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the economy was in good shape, he provided needed leadership in the emerging Civil Rights debate, and he was just starting his bold vision to send men to the moon & return them back to Earth. Also just remember at 43 he's the youngest man ever elected President and the youngest to die in office at 46.

He was just getting started and it ended quickly. :(

Two speeches - a Hollywood president vs our current President

[VIDEO] I've been somewhat comparing this speech from The American President with President Trump's speech at Mount Rushmore back in June. Two different speeches under two different circumstances, granted one was in a fictional reality and the other in a very history reality.

If you've never seen The American President it was written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Rob Reiner. It's a political movie with a romantic comedy subplot as the President in the above clip had to finally address his Republican rival for the presidency as there was a looming presidential election in this film.

Basically his romantic comedy subplot became an issue. President Andrew Shepherd played by Michael Douglas was taken by this beautiful environmental lobbyist in Sydney Ellen Wade played by Annette Benning. After a rather tough meeting where he somewhat intimidates her playfully he figured out how to ask her on a date. He wanted her as his date to the state dinner with the President of France - who was not at the time of the film's release in November 1995 Jacques Chirac.

So the public is taken with the idea that America's bachelor president who was also a single father is actually dating. People start taking positions as to whether or not a president should be having "relations" with a woman in the White House. The Republicans seize upon the president's girlfriends activist past. Hell there are newspaper clippings of her presiding over a flag burning.

So when Shepherd arrives in the White House Press Room he had lost Sydney and other aspects of his agenda is going up in smoke. Seemingly the Republicans have him on the ropes until he gives this briefing to the press resetting the agenda. For many years Shepherd was the Democratic president that I wished we had instead of President Bill Clinton who did have relations allegedly in the White House (and I don't know all the details but the name Lewinsky sadly will always be connected with him).

Allow me to post a video of President Trump's speech back in June at Mt. Rushmore [VIDEO]

Possible pandemic treatment suppressed???

[VIDEO] It's interesting what real information you can find out there. For roughly the past week I've seen nothing but memes making reference to the President thinking out loud about giving ill people I.V. with disinfectant. While he says it was him being sarcastic a lot of people who aren't happy with him are making jokes about it online showing people injecting themselves with disinfectants.

Another thing asserted in that press conference is the many ways that the coronavirus can be rendered ineffective. Isopropyl alcohol can kill this virus within seconds while bleach (presumably with chlorine) can kill it within minutes. Air can kill the virus within hours if not mere minutes, however, with UV light and especially light from the sun definitely kills the virus quickly.

So her we see Mark Dice looks at media coverage of Trump's response and especially his pronouncements of how to defeat this virus. Dice shows us the efforts by the media to suppress possible treatments including as the President puts it getting UV light directly into the body to kill the virus. There is a company out there working on this and shared their information online.

The video showing their concept of this treatment was taken off YouTube and the companies twitter account was suspended due to the efforts of a NY Times reporter. This virus is so bad and could kill millions - depending upon who you might listen to - why are there efforts to suppress this?

We see a doctor dismissing this idea, and it's OK to dismiss and of course he should have his reasons why this treatment is unfeasible. However, any efforts to really keep this virus handled should be looked at.

Dice's thoughts on this activity is that any attempt to back up the President should be suppressed. Strange times we're living in...

VIDEO - Bush 4141: Custom-made train to carry George HW Bush to his final resting place #Remembering41

[VIDEO] This is pretty cool. A custom made locomotive dedicated to a former POTUS. And while he only took one ride on it, he will ride on it again.

Union Pacific locomotive 4141 will carry the body of former Prez. George Herbert Walker Bush to his final resting place at his presidential library at Texas A & M University. And the livery makes it attractive as it mimics Air Force One and he took that bad boy for a spin one-time! Cool!

I wish I could have a locomotive when I become famous. :P

George Herbert Walker Bush 41st POTUS R.I.P.

At this point, it's old news as it happened last night. George Herbert Walker Bush was not only the 41st POTUS (he was also the father of the 43rd POTUS George W. Bush) passed away on Friday night.

I was very young when he was president. Remembering that the 1st President Bush was the commander in chief that presided over the first Iraq War. Bush was able to organize and push back Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein back in their invasion of Kuwait back in 1990. It was a short war, but a successful one. Unfortunately this war didn't help his re-election bid the next year.

Not to be negative, but Bush had been the last one term President having been defeated by the 42nd POTUS Bill Clinton. Often we were reminded by Bush's quote at the 1988 GOP National Convention with regards to new taxes. [VIDEO]

Also understand Clinton's favorite slogan "It's the economy stupid".

Either I learned how even if Bush had been a Republican president at the end of the day he was an American. I remember when Clinton as POTUS had asked for a day of service Bush was one public figure who rose to the call and he asked "What's wrong with one American helping another American?" Mr. Bush is right.

Before Bush became President he had been a businessman, a member of the House of Representatives from Texas, Ambassador to the United Nations, Director of Central Intelligence, Chairman of the Republican Nat'l Committee, and Vice President of the United States. He had a very long career in public service. Let's not forget before he returned to Yale to finish college, he had also fought in the 2nd World War as a naval aviator.

I also want to note he came from a political family as his father Prescott Bush was a former US Senator from Connecticut, his aforementioned son himself also became President, another son won the Governorship of Florida, and a grandson was elected Texas Land Commissioner. So it appears the Bush family's commitment to public service continues!

My best wishes to the Bush family as his wife and former FLOTUS Barbara Bush had passed away in April 2018.

BTW, in the history of this blog Bush was the second President to have passed away. The first was one Gerald Ford who passed away in 2006.

BTW, was George Bush a fan of pro-wrestling. Here he is with a Texas promoter Paul Boesch in a post provided by the National Wrestling Alliance - NWA. Boesch had been referred to as a Bush friend.

View this post on Instagram

President George H.W. Bush with legendary NWA promoter Paul Boesch in Houston, TX.

A post shared by NWA (@nwa) on Dec 1, 2018 at 6:03am PST

 

Volokh: Blocking of Twitter Users from @RealDonaldTrump Violates First Amendment

I'm sorry I missed this yesterday, the President of the United States can't block twitter users from his personal twitter account. WOW! The Volokh Conspiracy further explains a ruling from a federal district court.

Capitol Fax: Emulate President #Trump at your peril

I shared this recent column by Rich Miller over at Electric Moleskine this morning. It's worth expanding on here and of course Miller looks at the Illinois angle to this:

Earlier this month, an unopposed candidate for an Arlington Heights village board spot named Joe Favia had to drop out of his race after posting something truly stupid about women on Facebook. After the national women’s marches in January, he posted a meme which read “In one day, Trump got more fat women out walking than Michelle Obama did in 8 years.”

Again, he was an unopposed candidate. You don’t usually get a more sure thing in politics than an unopposed campaign. Not for that dude. He gone.

Danville Township Assessor Rick Rohrer, a Democrat, posted the very same meme to his Facebook page, and the chairwoman and treasurer of the Vermillion County Democratic Party were so furious that they both resigned in disgust.

Just last week, the sports anchor for the most-watched television station in Chicagoland, Mark Giangreco, was slapped with a weeks-long suspension for tweeting something stupid about the president and his supporters: “America exposed as a country full of simpletons who allowed this cartoon lunatic to be ‘elected.’ “ ... So, when probable Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker woke up early one morning last week and, according to an aide, decided to mock the far right’s incendiary rhetoric by tweeting, “As a protest against Trump’s rescinding protections for trans kids, everyone should use the other gender’s bathroom today! #protecttranskids,” he should’ve first taken a deep breath, had another cup of coffee, maybe called a friend or two and then realized he was about to make himself look like just another billionaire who can’t control himself on Twitter. Please leave the jokes to the professionals (who, by the way, are regularly put through the public meat grinder for their misfired attempts at humor).

Either way Donald Trump changed the rules of the game for himself. As of now only he could get away with a sexually charged hot mike conversation from over a decade ago. Only he can get away with making his own crazy statements especially some of what many of us have seen on Twitter.

If you're nowhere in Trump's league try your own style and don't attempt to be as outrageous as the President has been during the campaign and during his administration. It's certain to backfire.

So what's going on over there in the Ukraine???

Sometimes I wish I knew something about cartography. I could create a visual aid illustrating Russian movements into the Ukrainian region of Crimea. Crimea is bounded on this map provided between the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

The Urkaine is a former Soviet republic that became independent with the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Also on the map provided I learned for the first time that Chernobyl is actually located within that nation's borders.

Anyway, we're learning that there's some instability occurring in that nation. A government was essentially overthrown although that government still claims that they're the rightful regime. While a new regime is trying very hard to defend against a Russian incursion who's stated purpose is to protect Russian citizens within the Ukraine.

It's bascially decided that Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to behave like a thug in the long line of Russian autocrats, I'm concerned that it could get ugly. In fact a Canadian Foreign Minister referred to Russia's recent campaign as akin to the Nazi's invading the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

We see that President Obama is interested in this development as he has made comments condemning Russia. It seems he had a very cool relationship with his fellow head of state in President Putin. So who knows if Obama's word will have an effect on the situation.

Here's hoping this situation doesn't develop to be much uglier than it seems to be so far.

Progressive Racism

This article from the National Review seeks to connect the current generation of progressives with those of one full century earlier. Specifically they point out the racial policies of President Woodrow Wilson who during his term of office from 1913 to 1921 had set out to racially re-segregate the federal bureaucracy. Found this article interesting perhaps there is someone out there who disagrees!

Hat-tip Newsalert!

Marathon Pundit: More good news on the endangered Chicago Reagan apartment

832 E. 57th St. on Jan 6th by John Ruberry

Marathon Pundit: More good news on the endangered Chicago Reagan apartment:

Well it looks like while demolition is going on at the site of Ronald Reagan's Hyde Park apartment building, the building itself remains in tact for now with a 90-day hold. The Alderman who represents that area where the University of Chicago hospital seeks to expand is more serious about a plaque to mark President Reagan's Hyde Park residence.

BTW, Ruberry at Marathon Pundit offers those concerned an e-mail address to this alderman to let them know to keep Reagan's old Chicago apartment in tact! Feel free to let her know what you think about demolishing this building.

PREVIOUS POSTS

• Marathon Pundit wants to save President Reagan's former Chicago home 
• Who knew Hyde Park had a Reagan connection?

Slate: The Secret Histories of Other U.S. Presidents

I so thought of this in light of the new movie Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter although in this case I thought about a different President chasing "Big Foot". To be sure though a sasquatch and big foot are interpreted by me as the same mythical creature.

Chester A. Arthur: Sasquatch Assassin

Chester A. Arthur, our 21st president, vigorously pursued civil service reform during his time in office. He also vigorously pursued the roving bands of Ape-Men that terrorized his home state of Vermont and claimed the lives of his parents in 1845.

Check out other secret histories of US Presidents over at Slate (via Instapundit).

BTW, I wish there could be a Doctor Who episode about a President who was involved in some otherworldly crisis even if it wasn't a 20th or 21st century President. Actually there was such an episode featuring Richard Nixon!

When street renaming goes wrong?

According to Unknown Chicago on this date in 1924, the Chicago City Council wanted to honor former US President Woodrow Wilson who had died earlier that same year in February:

Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, died on February 3, 1924.  He'd been an icon of the Progressive movement and had led the country through the First World War.  The Chicago City Council wanted a suitable way to honor him.

Well, the city had little issue renaming 12th Street to Roosevelt Road in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt not long after he had passed away. The Chicago City Council wanted to rename Western Avenue to Woodrow Wilson Road. Alas there was some issue made by property owners especially with the expense in renaming the street. Eventually the City Council renamed Woodrow Wilson Rd. back to Western Avenue as it is today.

There is already a Wilson Avenue, but it wasn't named for the late former President. Hence Western Avenue was briefly renamed Woodrow Wilson Rd.

Anonymous Political Scientist: Less Marxism is More...

Dr. Drew Offers Tips For a Better State of the Union Address

Well this didn't offer much except a swipe at Obama's past. This was written late last month and at least three days before the President's State of the Union address.

I think I know why Obama never released copies of his undergraduate transcripts from either Occidental College or Columbia University. His poor marks would be consistent with the utter failure of the stimulus package to live up to all the Democrat party hype.

My recommendation as a political scientist who has read a lot of history and taught courses on the office? Lay-off the vodka martinis, the cigarettes and the nicotine gum. Bring in new people who understand that the Midwest Academy, Bill Ayers, Alice Palmer and Rev. Wright all have the wrong recipe for turning around the U.S. economy.

I would like more thoughts on this. Of course I can agree that it's entirely possible that Obama wasn't ready or prepared for this new position. Well indeed can anyone really be prepared to take on leading a nation. Fact is that in 2008, I wasn't certain if Obama had a skill set that could predict success as President. Of course it may not be very easy to predict anyway.

Also while I understand the swipes at some of his associates, the academic record matters very little to me. That's primarily because in voting for Obama, his past academic record wouldn't even be a consideration. No more than a tax return for either Governor or Mayor as it has been recently. Let's not forget that even if Obama had poor marks as an undergrad he still went to Harvard Law School as well.

If it's true that Obama was overwhelmed by the Presidency then more needs to come out about that. In fact it has as I had blogged earlier about an interview with an Obama insider. I hope it's less about his collegiate marks and more about his current performance as President.

Also read this link (via Instapundit) about Bill Maher believe Obama is less a Christian more a "secular humanist". Hey you thought I was going to say a Muslim didn't you?

Washington Journal on Reagan's birthday centennial

I caught some of this segment tonight so it's worth sharing this 1 hour segment here. May have to watch it with you.

Richard Norton Smith talked about the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth and the former president’s legacy as well as what it means for the future of the Republican Party. He also responded to telephone calls and electronic communications.

Who knew Hyde Park had a Reagan connection?

832 E. 57th St.

ALSO note that this home was the subject of a post over at Unknown Chicago, a ChicagoNow blog.

So Hyde Park can now claim two Presidents although one of them spent only a brief time in this area of my city. Brought to the fore thanks to this Sun-Times article:

Locked up, abandoned and forgotten, the vacant six-flat standing at the northeast corner of 57th and Maryland has no plaques or statues and few clues to its history.

Now, the little-known childhood home of Ronald Reagan in Hyde Park could soon be torn down by the University of Chicago, which has quietly plotted its demolition, the Sun-Times has learned.

The plan has made unlikely allies of conservatives who consider Reagan an icon and liberal Hyde Parkers who say the university’s secrecy is typical of how it has treated its neighbors for decades.

It puts the school that provided the intellectual force behind “Reaganomics” in the awkward spot of attempting to destroy what was until the election of Barack Obama the only home in Chicago where a president has lived.

This is what the need for preservation is about:

Hyde Park Historical Society board member Jack Spicer, also the president of all-volunteer Preservation Chicago, said the Reagan six-flat — just a mile south of President Obama’s Kenwood home — is the finest remaining example of what was once a solid working and middle-class black neighborhood. Destroying it would create “a medical canyon” that separates the hospital from the city and risks deepening long-standing wounds in university-resident relations, he said.

“Whatever you think of Reagan — once the building’s gone, it’s gone forever,” he added.

Landmarks Illinois president Jim Peters also said that he would like to see the block preserved. Reagan’s home is protected by a zoning giving critics 90 days to object if and when the university announces a plan to destroy it, he said.

Further headaches could come from conservatives keen to name everything from aircraft carriers to schools in Reagan’s honor.

How did they find this place?

Park Ridge resident Tom Roeser, 82, discovered the link in the early 1980s when he pressed Reagan for details of the home during a visit to the White House. Reagan couldn’t remember the address, but passed on a message: “My father was picked up often as a common drunk — the police records should have that fact.”

Records confirmed that John R. Reagan was arrested by Chicago Police for drunkenness in 1915, giving the 57th Street address, said Roeser, a former op-ed columnist for the Sun-Times and a former Quaker Oats vice president.

You never know what place or places have an historical connection.

Ronald Reagan would've been 100 years old

I wrote about him in year one. Back then it was only less than a year after  his state funeral that I'm sure was watched by many of his admirers. I don't consider myself a fan but I watched as much of the festivities as I could during that period of time.

It was probably the first state funeral for a former President I had ever seen. It could've been Nixon, but thanks to how he left the White House a state funeral for him may well have been inappropriate.

All the same, Reagan was liked by a great many people. The left may not like him, but certainly his influence is unquestioned on the right. Reagan brought an optimism to the White House that wasn't seen during the preceding four years under his predecessor Jimmy Carter.

I barely remember the 1980s which was the decade of his Presidency, but when the decade was over I regretted that I hadn't experienced enough of it.

This year is his centennial birthday and people are celebrating it like they are another Illinois President, Abraham Lincoln, in 2009. Lincoln would've been over 200 years old if he were still with us today. It seemed like a year or two before his birthday there were festivities planned until his actual 200th birthday. There aren't any long celebrations for Reagan, but apparently his Presidency is of note and worthy of a centennial birthday note.

BTW, I will have a post of interest up later today. I had no idea that Reagan briefly lived in the Hyde Park neighborhood. So he was a Chicagoan briefly, however, it didn't work out for his family as they moved once again. In any case stay tuned for that.

All that crying last month and he's still coming to Chicago

Remember when such Black luminaries in this town such as Congressman Danny Davis, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (CMB) and even Jesse Jackson Sr. were all upset about the former "1st Black President" was coming to town to stump for Rahm Emanuel? Well President Clinton is coming anyway according to Greg Hinz:

Despite protests from some African-American leaders, former President Bill Clinton apparently is going ahead with a trip here to push Rahm Emanuel's campaign for mayor.

   The ex-president will appear at a rally for Mr. Emanuel on Tuesday at the Chicago Cultural Center, according to Mr. Emanuel's campaign. He also will appear at a nearby fundraiser that hotel scion and investor J. B. Pritzker is hosting.

   News of the event leaked out several weeks ago, drawing protests from then-candidate Danny Davis and others who said that Mr. Clinton — sometimes known as America's first black president — ought not to be getting involved in Chicago.

What some of this was about is fear that Clinton, who may well still have a following among Blacks in the nation, would take something away from the "consensus" Black mayoral candidate. Davis is out of the race so the only major name in the race is CMB. While there is a long way between now and next month's election day, it can basically be said that CMB may not be a huge factor in this municipal election.

That clears the way for Clinton to come to town and stump for a former member of his administration.

Since today started talking about Mayors...

Congressman Danny Davis has a problem with former President Bill Clinton coming to town to campaign for former Congressman and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. He even plays the dreaded race card to keep Pres. Clinton out of this city's Mayoral race. For a guy who wasn't very visible in the 2011 mayoral race when Rahm finally did return to town he sure is feeling someone breathing down his neck right now!

An anniversary recently passed

The arrest of Rod Blagojevich. No one felt like celebrating according to Rich Miller. What is there to celebrate? The celebration happened the day he got arrested and eventually removed from office.

Miller wrote this column talking a little about that Chicago magazine article that I mentioned a few nights ago. This is one reason how Blago got re-elected the second time when he really shouldn't have:

The biggest reason Rod Blagojevich was re-elected four years ago was because a real effort wasn’t made to defeat him in the Democratic primary. The people who run the Democratic Party didn’t go after Blagojevich because the last time they primaried out a sitting Democratic governor, the Republicans took control of the office for the next 26 years. But that decision was a huge mistake. The Republicans were too weak in 2006 to make any sort of inroads. Illinois’ independent voters are as scared of the GOP as Iroquois County voters are of the Democrats.

So in 2006 it was more important to keep the Republicans out of the governor's mansion for another 26 years instead of removing a dead weight on their ticket. Four years late the state Dems came very close to losing the Governor's mansion so how much worth it was protecting Blagojevich. Oh yeah and I also recognize that 2006 was a wave year for the Democrats as well.

Miller also knocks down a theory about corruption in Illinois:

“If you’re out on a farm, there isn’t all that much to be corrupt about,” former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Gary MacDougal told Chicago Magazine.

Back in the mid 1970s, my father was a deputy sheriff in Iroquois County. Most Chicagoans probably don’t even know where that is, but it’s a huge, rural farm county with almost no people. Its northern border is only about 70 miles south of the city on I-57.

It may be geographically close to Chicago, but it’s a whole other world. Iroquois is and always has been one of the most Republican counties in the state. It was one of the few that went for that wacky Marylander Alan Keyes over Barack Obama in the 2004 U.S. Senate race, for instance.

Anyway, my dad says the sheriff back then had a company that leased the deputies’ police cars to the county. The sheriff had a company that sold police uniforms to his own officers. Every week, as dad tells the story, the sheriff would stop by the jail to pick up a big package of meat that the county ostensibly bought for the inmates.

So much for MacDougal’s theory.

So the Chicago mag article stated that Illinois government isn't as clean as our neighbors in Iowa or Wisconsin. If those states are mostly rural, well Iowa is mostly rural, then how do we know that this story doesn't occur there. It brought to mind this scene in HBO's Truman.

In that film, Harry Truman was building his political career. He was elected to a county commissioner position thanks to a political machine in his part of Missouri, the Pendergast machine. He wanted to building some road by the political boss himself wanted it done because he already owns businesses that could benefit.

BTW, if that name rings a bell it should. The movie was about the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman.

Reagan's birthday!

Had he lived he'd have been 99 today, next year he would've been 100.

Early during the first year of this blog I had written about him on his birthday (just as I am today) and connected his legacy to the term of President George W. Bush. My views may have changed somewhat today on that, but there are a lot of people obviously who have great admiration and repsect for President Reagan.

BTW, when I wrote that post five years ago the President had died the previous summer. Many of us watched the events around his state funeral in Washington, DC. The affection for President Reagan was on display during that occasion.

One idea hasn't changed since that first post, the recent Bush administration was supposed to be a resurgence of sorts of the Reagan philosophy. But it does seem that the presidency of George W. Bush fell far short of that milestone. Both have fairly strong foreign policy objectives, however, one can only wonder if Reagan would have been on board with some of Bush's foreign policy execution. Would Reagan have been willing to go into Iraq for example?

Anyway, in the future we'll see someone similar to him. We may have one such person in the White House today, although there is no guarantee that he may have the high esteem of the American people behind him. But we'll see by 2012 or even later than that when historians will truly re-evaluate President Obama's legacy.

Right now, we see who has love for President Reagan!

Also read this story from the LA Times!