TR, FDR, and Eleanor. This undertaking, like his other disparate programs, presents history writ large. Burns weaves an interesting tableau as he relates the story of this famous family. If you missed all/part of the program go to PBS.
In her National Review article, "Progressives Enthroned," Amity Shales likens the program to an extravaganza. A central point is that "The Roosevelts [FR and FDR] both favored active progressivism and denied that any other presidential posture could do the trick. What “26” and “32” hoped, as one of the commenters in the film, George F. Will, notes, was that 'the role of the central government from now on [would be] to secure the well-being of the American people.'” If it can be argued that TR & FDR re-defined the possible role of the president, Eleanor, then dramatically continued that tradition as she proceeded to forever re-define the role of First Lady, for herself and all future presidential spouses.
The subjects of Burns's other documentaries are truly diverse: The Civil War, Baseball, The [Second World] War, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Prohibition, and The Central Park Five. It was, of course, The Civil War (September 1990) that first brought him national and international acclaim.
Myths of the current crisis with ISIS. An article from Foreign Policy lists five and I leave it to you to read (or not) the entire article.
In her National Review article, "Progressives Enthroned," Amity Shales likens the program to an extravaganza. A central point is that "The Roosevelts [FR and FDR] both favored active progressivism and denied that any other presidential posture could do the trick. What “26” and “32” hoped, as one of the commenters in the film, George F. Will, notes, was that 'the role of the central government from now on [would be] to secure the well-being of the American people.'” If it can be argued that TR & FDR re-defined the possible role of the president, Eleanor, then dramatically continued that tradition as she proceeded to forever re-define the role of First Lady, for herself and all future presidential spouses.
The subjects of Burns's other documentaries are truly diverse: The Civil War, Baseball, The [Second World] War, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, Prohibition, and The Central Park Five. It was, of course, The Civil War (September 1990) that first brought him national and international acclaim.
Myths of the current crisis with ISIS. An article from Foreign Policy lists five and I leave it to you to read (or not) the entire article.
- Airstrikes Without Boots on the Ground Can't Be Effective.
- Terror Is a Strategic Threat to the Homeland.
- Obama Is Responsible for IS's Rise.
- Assad, Hezbollah, and Iran Are Our Friends.
- We Can "Ultimately Destroy" the Islamic State.
For the history buffs, there this largely unremembered factoid is noted in Myth 2: "Sept. 11, 2001, was the second bloodiest day in U.S. history, only surpassed by Sept. 17, 1862, during the battle of Antietam." [Emphasis added] Notable, given the relative disparity between the "weapons" of war available on those two dates, 139 years apart.
SCOTUS. The Supreme Court has always be a bit of mystery for most Americans, from its composition and how the justices are chosen, to the results that flow from its decisions. The vast majority of the Court's decisions do not touch the average citizen in any tangible way. Occasionally, though, there are the historic exceptions, e.g. Oliver Brown, et.al. vs the Board of Education of Topeka (1954, school desegregation) or, more recently, Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission (2010, campaign spending limits).
SCOTUS. The Supreme Court has always be a bit of mystery for most Americans, from its composition and how the justices are chosen, to the results that flow from its decisions. The vast majority of the Court's decisions do not touch the average citizen in any tangible way. Occasionally, though, there are the historic exceptions, e.g. Oliver Brown, et.al. vs the Board of Education of Topeka (1954, school desegregation) or, more recently, Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission (2010, campaign spending limits).
A recent Roll Call article (September 24) about associate justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, touches on whether she might/might not retire given the current manner in which supreme court nominations are handled by the US Senate. In a rare interview (Elle magazine), Justice Ginsburg is quoted as saying, "If I resign any time this year, he [President Obama] could not successfully appoint anyone I would like to see in the court,” pointing to the change in procedure that “took off the filibuster for lower federal court appointments, but it remains for this court.” This is a rare (unique ?) instance in which a Supreme Court justice has openly voiced a personal opinion about her/his probable replacement. I heartedly recommend reading the entire Elle interview.
PBR, no more. For beer drinkers, there was the sad news that the beloved pedestrian, working man's beer, PRB, may well become PRR, Pabst Red Ribbon. It seems that Pabst, Old Milwaukee, Schlitz, and Colt 45 have all been bought by Oasis Brewing, a Russian company. Ben Franklin is wistfully -- but incorrectly -- thought to have said “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Even if you don't have an occasional "brewski," lighten your day by enjoying a few minutes of laughter with "Newman" Stephen Colbert as he recounts the passing of a sacred American institution.
A future D.C. landmark, the Eisenhower Memorial. The Memorial Commission has one less member after Senator Jerry Moran (R, KS) quietly resigned by slipping his resignation notice into the Congressional Record. The monument's design, by noted architect Frank Gehry, has continued to be controversial. One cannot help but wonder, "What the quiet gentleman from Kansas make of this latest brouhaha in his name?"
Might he not wonder why it has taken more than a decade to reach yet another impasse?
Memphis, the play. The performance at the Arvada (Colorado) fine arts center was most enjoyable. The AC has great acoustics and there really is not a bad seat in the house. The performance was well stage and the actors/singers were great! I heartily recommend the play.
School boycots and walkouts. Students in Jefferson County, a western metro Denver suburb, have begun staging walkouts and boycotts over proposals by the Jeffco School Board to alter the county's US Advance Placement history curriculum to eliminate material about civil disobedience and peaceful protest. The board, apparently, does not care that the national AP tests may well have questions concerning the material they want to eliminate. The national AP organization has weighed in saying that any AP course that does not cover the prescribed curriculum will not be considered AP and students will not be granted college placement credit.
Imagine a future student's reaction to a question about Martin Luther King, Jr. "Hey, the only Martin Luther I've head about was some European religious guy long ago." But, wait, that probably would not occur to the students because the Jeffco world history curriculum would also have been stripped of all references to religious turmoil. As a colleague loved to say, that group "is a real piece of work."
Gold in them 'thar hills. The aspens are turning the hillsides golden -- even some light reds here and there. Aspens, which grow from an underground root system and different groves are actually classed as separate "living organisms," often having their own shading characteristics. One aspen grove in UT is thought to be among the largest living organisms ever found.
Even more color. Late Saturday afternoon a light autumn rain and oblique sunlight from the west produced a complete rainbow over the valley at Breckenridge. If you were a believer, the twin locations of the leprechaun's pots of gold were distinctly visible. As an added bonus, there was even a faint, partial double rainbow on the northern end of the valley. The average camera/phone camera could not do justice to nature.
Water runoff. Along I-70, on the eastern side of the Eisenhower and Johnson tunnels, various rivulets run down to the highway, providing drainage from unseen upper snow fields. Last year there was no visible runoff after mid-July. This year, however, the runoff has continued all summer, even now into September. Local weather prognosticators say the coming winter will have above average snowfall. Good news for the skiers, reservoirs, and "salt-sellers," but not so good for CODOT's road crews.
Words/phrases. "Ramped up," as in "he's ramped up his out-of-state travel schedule," is one of the current catch phrases of the day. Wouldn't "Increased...." suffice? "Amp up" is an oft used variant. "Absolutely" still clogs the paper and airwaves rather than a simple emphatic "Yes!"
Good times, Republican style. This Roll Call article previews the probable talking points of Sens. Paul and Cruz, should either throw his hat in the ring. But then, as the old saw goes, "You ain't seen nothing yet!" Far different fare than voters can expect from Hillary or Biden or ???
Barbarians. Over the weekend, House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) dismissed ISIS saying, "These are barbarians." An interesting word choice. Does the Speaker remember that even though the Chinese deigned to host Marco Polo, they considered him, indeed, all westerners as barbarians? Of course, as Marco Polo talked with the Chinese, only Native Americans peopled the forests of what would much later be Ohio and Boehner's kinfolk undoubtedly considered these First Americans as little more than savages, violent barbarians.
Vacation hiatus. I will be in and out so I'll post again on October 14th. Enjoy these first weeks of fall. Thanks for staying tuned in.
PBR, no more. For beer drinkers, there was the sad news that the beloved pedestrian, working man's beer, PRB, may well become PRR, Pabst Red Ribbon. It seems that Pabst, Old Milwaukee, Schlitz, and Colt 45 have all been bought by Oasis Brewing, a Russian company. Ben Franklin is wistfully -- but incorrectly -- thought to have said “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Even if you don't have an occasional "brewski," lighten your day by enjoying a few minutes of laughter with "Newman" Stephen Colbert as he recounts the passing of a sacred American institution.
A future D.C. landmark, the Eisenhower Memorial. The Memorial Commission has one less member after Senator Jerry Moran (R, KS) quietly resigned by slipping his resignation notice into the Congressional Record. The monument's design, by noted architect Frank Gehry, has continued to be controversial. One cannot help but wonder, "What the quiet gentleman from Kansas make of this latest brouhaha in his name?"
Might he not wonder why it has taken more than a decade to reach yet another impasse?
Memphis, the play. The performance at the Arvada (Colorado) fine arts center was most enjoyable. The AC has great acoustics and there really is not a bad seat in the house. The performance was well stage and the actors/singers were great! I heartily recommend the play.
School boycots and walkouts. Students in Jefferson County, a western metro Denver suburb, have begun staging walkouts and boycotts over proposals by the Jeffco School Board to alter the county's US Advance Placement history curriculum to eliminate material about civil disobedience and peaceful protest. The board, apparently, does not care that the national AP tests may well have questions concerning the material they want to eliminate. The national AP organization has weighed in saying that any AP course that does not cover the prescribed curriculum will not be considered AP and students will not be granted college placement credit.
Imagine a future student's reaction to a question about Martin Luther King, Jr. "Hey, the only Martin Luther I've head about was some European religious guy long ago." But, wait, that probably would not occur to the students because the Jeffco world history curriculum would also have been stripped of all references to religious turmoil. As a colleague loved to say, that group "is a real piece of work."
Gold in them 'thar hills. The aspens are turning the hillsides golden -- even some light reds here and there. Aspens, which grow from an underground root system and different groves are actually classed as separate "living organisms," often having their own shading characteristics. One aspen grove in UT is thought to be among the largest living organisms ever found.
Even more color. Late Saturday afternoon a light autumn rain and oblique sunlight from the west produced a complete rainbow over the valley at Breckenridge. If you were a believer, the twin locations of the leprechaun's pots of gold were distinctly visible. As an added bonus, there was even a faint, partial double rainbow on the northern end of the valley. The average camera/phone camera could not do justice to nature.
Water runoff. Along I-70, on the eastern side of the Eisenhower and Johnson tunnels, various rivulets run down to the highway, providing drainage from unseen upper snow fields. Last year there was no visible runoff after mid-July. This year, however, the runoff has continued all summer, even now into September. Local weather prognosticators say the coming winter will have above average snowfall. Good news for the skiers, reservoirs, and "salt-sellers," but not so good for CODOT's road crews.
Words/phrases. "Ramped up," as in "he's ramped up his out-of-state travel schedule," is one of the current catch phrases of the day. Wouldn't "Increased...." suffice? "Amp up" is an oft used variant. "Absolutely" still clogs the paper and airwaves rather than a simple emphatic "Yes!"
Good times, Republican style. This Roll Call article previews the probable talking points of Sens. Paul and Cruz, should either throw his hat in the ring. But then, as the old saw goes, "You ain't seen nothing yet!" Far different fare than voters can expect from Hillary or Biden or ???
Barbarians. Over the weekend, House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) dismissed ISIS saying, "These are barbarians." An interesting word choice. Does the Speaker remember that even though the Chinese deigned to host Marco Polo, they considered him, indeed, all westerners as barbarians? Of course, as Marco Polo talked with the Chinese, only Native Americans peopled the forests of what would much later be Ohio and Boehner's kinfolk undoubtedly considered these First Americans as little more than savages, violent barbarians.
Vacation hiatus. I will be in and out so I'll post again on October 14th. Enjoy these first weeks of fall. Thanks for staying tuned in.
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