For some strange unknown reason, the year that sticks out for me is 1775, when the Continental Army was authorized.

Probably has to do with the big cake in the DFAC tonight…

1940- German troops occupy Paris. While I am not old enough to remember this, my French teacher in elementary school thru high school was from Paris and she did indeed live thru the occupation of Paris.  She was a great teacher.  The things I remember most about her were the stories of WWII Paris and how her family survived.

Don’t forget today is Flag day, commemorating the 1777 resolution of the Continental Congress authorizing the stars and stripes.

That date happens to be also the occasion of my birth - and almost that long ago.

Flag Day!

#1—I just saw an interesting article on Military.com entitled “Why Isn’t Our Birthday Cool Like The Marine Corps’?”  Having served both in the USMC and the Army, I can tell you I celebrate November 10th every year, but I didn’t even know today was the Army’s birthday.  Interestingly, the first thing my wife says to me every November 10 (and she is the least military person you have ever met, with the possible exception of my daughter) is “Happy Birthday”.

Happy birthday, CBH! May this festive day usher in a joyous new year.

Chesterton’s death. Vichy was a stop on the train from Paris to Clermont Ferrand when i used to travel on that route. I was tempted to get off and explore but never did.

A slightly reactionary friend once observed that Americans have mostly avoided the catastrophic mistakes of other nations. But when we do make them we go all out. He cited four in a row that were all connected…
The 16th Amendment (income tax)
17th Amendment (direct election of senators)
18th Amendment (prohibition)
19th Amendment (women’s suffrage)

All four of the so called “progressive” amendments were closely linked to the prohibition movement.

A national income tax had no public support until the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League (probably the most powerful special interest lobby in the history of the country) got behind it. The reason they backed it was because at the time around half all federal revenue came from taxes on brewed and distilled spirits. The brewers and liquor industry had no fear of national prohibition for the simple reason that no government would vote to eliminate half of it’s revenue. Until the ASL came up with the idea of a national income tax. The national brewers association was slow to realize the threat and by time they started to rally, it was too late.

The 17th amendment was passed under pressure again from the ASL and WCTU not because it was more democratic (though arguably it was), but because they couldn’t pressure men who didn’t have to stand for open election to vote “dry.” The ASL was a single issue pressure group that didn’t care what party you belonged to or even whether or not you drank. All they cared about was that you voted dry. And if you didn’t they marked you for political extermination. Until the 17th amendment was passed the Senate never even came close to voting for prohibition.

The 19th Amendment was also a product of the prohibition movement. Various small groups had called for women’s suffrage since the early 19th century. But it was a miniscule fringe movement that was either ignored or dismissed as a joke by just about everyone… until the 1870’s. In 1874 Frances Willard, one of the founding movers in the WCTU became its president. And shortly thereafter she had an epiphany when it dawned on her that men were NEVER going to vote to outlaw demon rum. She created a political earthquake when she announced her support for women’s suffrage and overnight a laughable fringe movement with a few thousand supporters nationally became a movement of hundreds of thousands.

By 1913 every single state in the Union that had granted women the right to vote had also voted itself either partly or totally “dry.” Usually within 2 years of giving women the vote.

And now, with apologies to Paul Harvey, you know the rest of the story.

It is the day in 1839 when the first Henley Royal Regatta took place, definitely an outstanding event.

Oh, and it’s the Druid’s birthday.  Happy Birthday to the Druid.

And I suppose we give thanks today for the end of the Falklands conflict and the return of freedom for the Islanders.  Celebrate is probably the wrong word, remembering the many young people who lost their lives some of whom were known to my family.

So many children growing up without fathers, parents without sons, empty places in families, and trauma for those who survived.

One of the men whose direct actions encouraged the invasion of the Islands has been given the job of chairing the CNC to choose the Druid’s successor.  While one believes as a Christian in the power of forgiveness and restoration, what were ‘senior figures’ in the church thinking of in recommending him?  Does lightening strike twice?

My daughter’s birthday -25 years ago!
diffugere nives ....

The 1841 “union” of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Québec: “lower” as in downriver) continues to cause problems. At that point the population of Québec was quite a bit larger than that of Ontario, but Québec agreed to an equal union—of two partners (this is important)—rather than rep by pop.

That worked well only until Ontario’s population exceeded that of Québec ... at which point Ontario insisted on rep by pop. Much of the ongoing “separatist” struggle can be reduced to one simple dynamic—people in English Canada now consider Québec one partner in ten, and believe they should behave with appropriate deference.

Most people in Québec (and I lived there for thirteen years) continue to believe they are one partner of two. That difference cannot be reconciled, yet Canadian politics has for two generations been dominated by attempts to square that particular circle.

Re #12
clarin wrote

My daughter’s birthday -25 years ago!
diffugere nives ....

Many years!