2024 Election Thoughts - # 2

By Kevin Kallaugher

I don’t get it.

There was once a time when the office of the president was rather exclusive in its qualifications. Like the rest of the Founders, the Ruling Class was White, male and Protestant. A Black guy or a woman? Don’t be ridiculous.

In my lifetime, there was consternation expressed at times. JFK is Catholic – OMG! Will his first allegiance be to the Pope? The Future Saint Reagan was divorced. OMG! Will his failed marriage affect dealing with the Soviet Union? Please.

Kindly recall when the Republican House impeached President Clinton for not being truthful about his dalliances. One of their main talking points was “CHARACTER MATTERS.” The Office of the President cannot tolerate such debasement.

By Matt Davies, Newsday

Fast forward and we know better about what’s important...mostly...maybe...or so I thought. I might actually live long enough to see a woman or non-Christian take the Oath. But right now, I see a significant number of Americans who want our next president to be a total moral, ethical reprobate...one who is twice divorced and routinely cheats on his third/current wife. This person does not go to church and is an outspoken racist. The self-acknowledged ‘pussy-grabber’ and pal of Jeffry Epstein has been accused of sexual assault by numerous women.
   

The man has demonstrated that all he cares about is himself. Despite the bankruptcies, reputation for not paying his bills, history of fraud and regulatory enforcement actions, and all the rest, he is adored by many. That’s why no one is saying that character matters anymore. Sadly, not even the Democrats.

To conclude on a lighter note, I offer the following quiz. Imagine FDR, in his most WASP-y, patrician voice, calling out “Crooked, Liddle Herbie” Hoover. Here are ten names the Republican candidate has used on others. Match the slur with the intended person on the right. Test your knowledge of presidential decorum and bad taste. The answers will be in the next I&M post.

                MATCH THE SLUR WITH THE TARGET PERSON

                1. Meatball                          a. Stormy Daniels
                2. Disaster from Alaska        b. Hillary Clinton
                3. Low Energy                     c. Adam Schiff
                4. Pencil Neck                     d. Joe Scarborough
                5. Little                                e. Nikki Haley
                6. Birdbrain                          f. James Comey
                7. Crooked                          g. Ron DeSantis
                8. Morning Psycho                h. Jeb Bush
                9. Horseface                         i. Lisa Murkowski
                10. Slimeball                         j. Marco Rubio

Passed Vice Presidents – CSA VP # 1 - Alexander Stephens

Grave of Alexander Stephens (18 May 2024)

Served under Jefferson Davis

22 February 1862 – 11 May 1865

Preceded by – Nobody

Succeeded by – Nobody

Born – 12 February 1812

Died – 4 March 1883 (Age 71)

Buried – A.H. Stephens State Park, Crawfordville, GA

Date Visited – 18 May 2024

I caught some heat when I included Jefferson Davis in my ‘Dead Presidents Quest.’ While my (somewhat lame) justification was that he WAS an American president and the Confederate States were, before and since, part of the U.S. of A., the main reason he earned a post was because his grave is in the same cemetery where two other presidents currently reside. Had he been somewhere else, remote and alone, probably not.

Grave and Monument to Alexander Stephens

Crawfordville, GA (18 May 2024)

A.H. Stephens State Park is adjacent to his home.

The monument, erected ten years after he died,

like so many of that 1890-1920 period dedicated to glorifying

the Lost Cause myth, has on all four sides flowery

inscriptions to his valiant, unwavering courage and character.

While I maintain that my current Vice President Scramble is a quest of convenience, this summer’s road trip back to New Orleans found us driving from one gracious host in South Carolina to another in Atlanta. Who might we find on the road between the two places but the rebel country’s first and only vice president, Alexander Hamilton Stephens. The Number Two Traitor needs to be cited every time some Confederate apologist throws the lame ‘states’ rights’ nonsense out there to justify why the South seceded. After all, admitting the Civil War was over slavery and White supremacy is a bit harsh in this age of Michael Jordan, Denzel Washington and Barack Obama. A broader, more vague reason would require further questioning. “States’ rights” to do what? You got me there...the right to own other human beings and treat them like livestock...when you’re not raping them. Oh that.

 

Alexander Stephens later in life

The man who would become vice president of the breakaway republic made it very clear why they needed to go their own way in 1861. In a speech given in March, weeks after many southern states left the Union and three weeks before they opened fire on Fort Sumpter, he said White supremacy was the great truth, ‘the cornerstone’ on which their new constitution was based. While very much like the U.S. version, it dispensed with the ‘all men being equal’ parts and codified the subordination of inferior races. It’s remembered as the ‘Cornerstone Speech’ for that reason.

Before joining the rebellion, Stephens served in Congress for 16 years. After the war, he was again elected to the House for nine more years. Before his second stint in the House, the Georgia legislature selected him to serve in the Senate but the body refused to seat him given restrictions on traitors returning to national government. Sometimes, the ‘Upper House’ actually lives up to its standards.

Monument to Alexander Stephens

Crawfordville, GA (18 May 2024)

Stephens left Congress to serve as Georgia’s governor but died four months into his term. He never married and left no descendants.

The statue on his monument makes him look like one of the Beach Boys. This is no time for realism...when idealism will do.

Alexander H. Stevens

Truth is Mr. Stephens faced physical and health challenges all his life, and at times, he weighed less than one hundred pounds. To me, he looked more like ‘Banjo Boy’ from the movie ‘Deliverance.’

SOD # 48 - Fallingwater 1999

Fallingwater (July 1999)

I have been a digital shooter since 2005. Before that, I took film pictures for fifty years. There are some shots worth bringing forward if they come with a story.

Fallingwater was the vacation home of the Pittsburgh-based Kaufman department store family. It may be one of the most recognizable homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s renowned architect. I like the shot because it is cool and lush and the home is nicely framed by the forest

Seeing the house from this vantage point shows how the design and location, in the woods with the stream running under it, have blended it so well with the natural surroundings. It’s also a spot where the venue police can’t control you. Sadly, photography inside the home is forbidden. They run a tight ship and need the money. As we learned at other Wright sites, Frank was a marvelous designer but a lousy engineer. He built what he liked to see…and didn’t seem to care much if it started to fall apart later.

Since I have had the pleasure to visit several of his iconic projects, we will be showcasing more of Frank Lloyd Wright down the road.