2024 Election Thoughts - # 4

Home stretch and the race intensifies. You can’t go through a news day without a talking head reminding us how many days are left.

One thing that concerns me as the candidates continue to concentrate on the damn swing states is their lack of attention to the Congressional races...and anything else that is happening outside the damn swing states. 

By Dana Summers, Orlando Sentinel (1988)

Speaking of Congress, it’s way past time for the head of the ticket to remind us of the miserable job Trump’s party has done on the legislative side of governing. Calling the 118th Congress a ‘do-nothing’ outfit insults all the past ‘do-nothing’ outfits. In the 1948 election, Harry Truman ripped the 80th Congress as ‘Do-Nothing’ when they passed 906 bills. The current House passed a historic low number of bills - 27. Instead of addressing the nation’s problems, today’s Republicans prefer to [1] challenge their own Speaker, [2] thwart any Democrat proposals and [3] investigate the ‘Biden Crime Family.’ I hope their constituents are happy.

I want to see the Harris-Walz ticket encourage the public to do their job and throw out these useless, power-obsessed parasites. Flip the House. Create a stable majority in the Senate while we’re at it and show the nation what a united government can do for the people.

Sadly, I can’t help but expect what happens after that. After averting the end of democracy, the Dems will do what our species always does with power. They will overplay their hand and include too many loopy lefty initiatives that turn off more of the electorate. Then, if the GOP is smart (no guarantee there), they will offer up less crazy candidates and win again.

But, until then, I’ll just throw in a few images (that is our first name after all) to remind you just how obscene the Party of Lincoln has become. Below are family Christmas pictures from Republican members of Congress…staunch Christians all…so they say. This is how they celebrate the ‘Prince of Peace.’

Please vote.

Rep Lauren Boebert (Republican-CO)

Rep. Andy Ogles (Republican-TN)

 

Rep. Thomas Massie (Republican-KY)

Capitol Steps – Part 1

Ohio Capitol, Columbus (15 June 2009)

Many state houses predate the invention of the elevator, so stairs were essential to convey people to the higher floors of the building. Not all stairways were tucked away in remote corners of the structure. The open expanse of a spacious atrium directs one to a grand staircase that is often a major feature in capitol buildings. Impressive backdrops for ceremonies and photographs, they often front heroic artworks on the walls behind them.

Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City (20 June 2014)

The post’s title is also an inside reference for D.C. Beltway types as there was a terrific political satire troupe with that name. They played in Georgetown for almost 40 years before Covid shut them down. Their motto was, “We put the ‘mock’ in Democracy.”

To date, twenty-nine state houses have been presented here. Photos of grand staircases were included in the posts for the capitols of Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Montana and Utah. In 2021, I devoted an entire post to the ‘Million Dollar Staircase’ in the New York capitol.

Following are more stairways not shown previously. Another post will zoom in to get closer to the details that make these buildings such interesting subjects.

Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

The world is like a grand staircase,

some are going up and some are going down.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Pennsylvania Capitol, Harrisburg (15 May 2008)

There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.

Zig Ziglar (1926-2012)

Oklahoma Capitol, Oklahoma City (13 June 2008)

Life tells you to take the elevator, but love tells you to take the stairs.

David Levithan (b. 1972)

Virginia Capitol, Richmond (30 June 2008)

It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.

Vaclav Havel (1936-2011)

2024 Election Thoughts - # 3

The DNC is over. Both nominations are official...and away we go. My, how things have changed since we last discussed this interminable quadrennial preoccupation.

But first, I can’t forget the Democrat convention we were expecting. Trying to be upbeat but fixated on Uncle Joe, hoping he hits his marks and ‘Debate Joe’ doesn’t show up again. I know that’s harsh. A national convention is supposed to be a whoop-de-doo to rev up the faithful and turn them loose back in their states for the campaign’s home stretch.

I’m sure the organizers would have staged as upbeat a show as they could. But I believe those watching would have judged the event a success if there were no embarrassing flubs. What actually happened was way more encouraging. It was a happy, raucous event that presented a clear contrast to the complain-athon at the RNC.

“We’re a third world nation. Illegals are overrunning the country and poisoning our blood. The Biden Crime Family is the worst thing ever. Pay no attention to the FACTS. If I don’t like it, it’s fake news. Only what I say is the truth. Everything here is a disaster and it’s THEIR fault. Only I can fix it because God himself sent me here.”

(There was a time when that nonsense didn’t work)

What shall we obsess over next? – Very soon after the convention, the media started to focus on candidate Harris. “Great convention BUT how are you going to convince us that you are serious? Are you doing the right number of interviews, releasing the right policy statements...whatever we say you haven’t done enough of or could be doing better.”

Meanwhile,

The Republican candidate, who long ago confirmed to all that he was a reprobate dumb as a box of rocks, gets a pass because...we all know the guy has been a scheming moral deviant forever so what he does now is not news. We need news.

Speaking of Moral Deviance - I cannot, must not, let that miserable, draft-dodging scum bucket skate on his latest obscene stunt at Arlington National Cemetery. In this hallowed sacred ground, there are rules about electioneering and conducting political stunts...especially in Section 60 where the dead from our most recent conflicts now rest.

Arlington National Cemetery (4 April 2023)

I don’t care if any of the families think it’s OK to let this heartless traitor exploit their connection to the fallen. It is not their call to make. Not here. Make a video at your home. Nobody...nobody is permitted to make political media in this place. Full stop.

John McCain once tried to include in an ad just TWO seconds of video of him on the grounds (his father and grandfather rest there) and immediately realized the mistake and cut it. On the other hand, Trump has never done anything wrong. He’ll tell you.

By Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News

Then to shame a cemetery employee who tried to enforce the photography ban by saying she had a “mental health episode” is ham-fisted cruelty. Candidate Bone Spurs...all thumbs-up and smiling around the grave markers, was beyond inappropriate and I hope this latest outrage moves the needle another bit toward sanity.

By Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution

That’s one of the infuriating things about this Trump/MAGA phenomenon. The rank hypocrisy. If Barack Hussein Obama did that, GOP veterans would DEMAND that charges be brought. If I brought a film crew to Section 60 and flaunted the rules about photography, I dare say EVERYONE would condemn my callous disrespect for our fallen. But when Orange Jesus does it, of course it’s fine so what’s your problem?

State Capitols – Phoenix, Arizona Part 2

Stretching away from the Arizona capitol is the former Legislative Government Mall. Following the death of Governor Bolin after only five months in office, it was renamed the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza.

There are upwards of thirty monuments, memorials and dedications, mostly to wars and conflicts and the brave people who sacrificed their lives in service to the country and community. Law enforcement, veterans’ groups, the Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments, merchant seamen, pioneer women and crime victims all have an edifice.

Lt. Frank Luke jr. Monument, by Roger Burnham [1930]

Arizona Capitol, Phoenix (26 March 2015)

Lt. Luke was just twenty and one of our most accomplished pilots when he was shot down in 1918. Beneath the dashing hero, the base holds the names of hundreds of Arizona men who paid the ultimate price in the ‘War to End all Wars.’

Arizona Confederate Troops Memorial [1961]

Wesley Bolen Memorial Plaza, Phoenix (26 March 2015)

Memorial to

Arizona Confederate Troops

1861 – 1865

United Daughters of the Confederacy

1961

The Confederate Troops Memorial identifies the entire span of the Civil War and neglects to note that the occupation by rebel troops and local sympathizers lasted only eight months. Below three sections of petrified wood is this ironic statement...”A nation that forgets its past has no future.” Ironic because those who most believe we are erasing the noble, valiant history of the American South also try make it illegal to teach the parts about slavery and Jim Crow oppression. Five years after this photo was taken, the monument was removed.

‘Guns to the Fallen’ [2013],

Wesley Bolen Memorial Plaza, Phoenix (26 March 2015)

One of the more impressive installations includes the anchor and signal mast from the USS Arizona. The memorial to the 1902 Arizona citizens killed in the war includes one of the big guns from that battleship and one from the USS Missouri, the scene of the Japanese surrender in 1945.

Navajo Code Talkers Memorial [2008],

Phoenix (26 March 2015)

Finally, I’ll include a shot of a deserving group that made a big difference in our WW II effort in the Pacific. Because the Navajo language represented an unbreakable code to the Japanese, soldiers from the tribe served to transmit critical messages across the theater. I know. You might rightfully say that ALL who served and sacrificed deserve recognition. Thing is, back when certain groups joined in the fight to save the country, those same groups continued to have a hard time at home. Black servicemen were not allowed to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery and non-Whites were denied recognition by the military establishment. Why? “We don’t give medals to Negroes, Jews and other non-White races.”

Thankfully, we’re more WOKE than that now...so far.

Green Mount Cemetery – A ‘President-Adjacent’ Visit - Part 2

Green Mount Cemetery (25 June 2024)

When presenting the Dead Presidents Quest, I tried to give credit to the wives, since many have played major roles in their husband’s development and success. I should do more to tell their stories.

Since the days when Martha Washington presided over the social and ceremonial aspects of the president’s life, the nation’s chief executives have had official hostesses. It wasn’t until Harriet Lane assumed the duty that the term ‘First Lady’ was coined and it stuck. She was terrific in the role and was widely admired.

Grave of Harriet Lane Johnston

Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore (25 June 2024)

She was the niece of President No. 15, James Buchanan, and raised by him when she was orphaned at age eleven. As his favorite niece, the future president made sure she was educated and sophisticated. It is said he raised her for this very role.

Harriet Lane

(taken at the end of her White House tenure)

Later, she married a Baltimore banker and philanthropist, Henry Johnston. Their two sons died as teenagers, as did her husband after just eighteen years of marriage. She lived the last nineteen years of her life with no husband or children.

Grave of Harriet Lane Johnston

Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore (25 June 2024)

I dare say that Harriet Lane Johnston left a legacy to rival that of any First Lady. She donated her art collection to the U. S. government and it grew to become the National Gallery of Art. In her will, she donated funds to build the prestigious St. Albans School, the National Cathedral School for Boys and the renowned children’s clinic that still bears her name in the Johns Hopkins hospital system.

Booth Family Plot

Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore (25 June 2024)

In 1852, the great classical stage actor, Junius Brutus Booth died and was buried in Green Mount Cemetery. The family plot includes the graves of his wife and two of his twelve children, one of whom is the actor and Lincoln assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

 

Booth Family Monument

Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore (25 June 2024)

Although only two of his children are buried here, Junius Booth chose to inscribe his obelisk with the names of some, but not all, of his twelve offspring. I believe only two of the actor’s children currently reside here...the assassin John Wilkes and a sister Asia, whose name is not inscribed here.

Unmarked stone, Booth Family Plot,

Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore (25 June 2024)

Within the confines of Junius Booth’s family plot is this small unmarked stone. I guess someone who knows more can say what it signifies. Prior visitors might already know the answer given the placement of so many pennies here. It isn’t just the coins. They are all placed in the ‘heads’ position with Lincoln’s face up.

Lincoln was murdered six weeks after he was inaugurated into his second term and five days after Lee surrendered to Grant. One can’t help but wonder what his second term and the nation’s history would have been like had he lived to old age. How different would Reconstruction have been without President Andrew Johnson, a drunk with southern sympathies?

Green Mount Cemetery – A ‘President-Adjacent’ Visit - Part 1

Every sizable community has a special cemetery where the industrial titans, political big-wigs and other notables rest in peace. A hundred and ninety years ago, our growing country developed a new and improved approach to burying our dead.
   

Albany Rural Cemetery, New York (12 October 2009)

Before the middle of the 19th century, our colonial towns were becoming crowded cities. Urban church yards were filling and health concerns spurred a movement to create public burial grounds away from the populace but close enough to visit. They are called ‘rural cemeteries.’ At a time before public parks became popular, these cemeteries were places where city folk could escape the unpleasant conditions and enjoy a clean, green, natural experience.
    

Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond (28 June 2005)

Another reason rural cemeteries became popular was the impressive sculpture and architecture that regular folks rarely had the opportunity to see. Also changing at that time was our collective attitude toward death. The earlier stuffy puritan view of cemeteries emphasized the death part. In the 1600’s, grave markers had skull and cross-bones carvings. No guarantee of life-eternal. You’re dead and better hope you scored enough points to get into the Good Place.
   

Grave Marker, United Church of Christ (‘Circular Church’)

Charleston, South Carolina (11 March 2014)

By the 1700’s, the view softened as more skulls had wings, hinting a rise to something better...maybe. Rural cemetery depictions were more positive, with angels, cherubs and botanical design elements that emphasized life.
   

Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore (25 June 2024)

Occasionally, time has a way of eroding positive botanical

design elements into something a little creepier.

But I digress...
   

Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore (25 June 2024)

Seven years after the first American rural cemetery was established in Massachusetts (Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge - 1831) Green Mount Cemetery opened in Baltimore. Over the years, it has interred eight Maryland governors, seven Baltimore mayors, sixteen Civil War generals, numerous philanthropists like Johns Hopkins, and other notable figures.

Back in the day, it was a short carriage ride away from the town center. Its lawns and mature trees were a refuge from the unsanitary crowding of the growing city. Now, the city has grown around and past Green Mount. The neighborhood has seen better days. A high wall surrounds the entire property and one can enter only with permission.

I was here to find two residents in particular...Harriet Lane and John Wilkes Booth...people who played important roles with two of our presidents...hence the ‘president-adjacent’ title above.

They will be the subject of the next post.

State Capitols – Phoenix, Arizona - Part 1

Arizona Capitol in Phoenix (26 March 2015)

Constructed: 1898-1901

Architect: James Riley Gordon

State Admitted to Union: February 14, 1912 (48th)

State Population (2020): 7,029,917 (14th)

As this is an election year...a REALLY important election year, I should return to posting more state houses. Because it’s an election year, they will be the critical ‘battleground state’ capitols.

I think this reflects a sad theme in our current politics. In the current campaign calculus, the swing states seem to be all that matter anymore. The brilliant and expensive consultants believe that since most of the states are already decided, the effort (read ‘money’ and candidate visits) needs to be concentrated in the six or seven states that could go either way and decide the outcome. I hope the brilliant and expensive minds understand that the House and Senate are also up for grabs and therefore urge their presidential candidate to support others on the ticket.

That said, the states that decided the last couple of contests were Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. We’ve already presented Wisconsin (1 & 2), Michigan (1 & 2), Georgia (1 & 2) and Nevada.

Old Arizona Capitol, Phoenix (26 March 2015)

A chandelier hangs from the copper dome

in the Old Capitol. On the ground floor is a

mosaic representation of the state’s Great Seal.

Today, we visit Arizona. A century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the Spanish were conquering and exploring western North America. What is now Arizona was part of independent Mexico before it was ceded to the United States after we beat them up in 1848. The territory became the last of the 48 contiguous states to join the Union in 1912.

Senate Chamber, Arizona Capitol Museum (26 March 2015)

Phoenix is the most populous of all the state capital cities. It served as the territorial capital prior to statehood and the building shown above, completed in 1901, housed the legislature and executive offices until growth necessitated a change. In 1960, the House and Senate moved into separate buildings that flank the old capitol and in 1974, the governor moved executive functions into a new tower nearby. The old capitol is now the Arizona Capitol Museum.

Arizona House of Representatives (26 March 2015)

The state is divided into thirty legislative districts. Each district elects one senator and two representatives to serve two-years terms in office. Legislators are term-limited. After eight consecutive years on the job, one can run for a seat in the other chamber or stay away for two years before trying again.

Arizona Senate (26 March 2015)

In front of the government complex is a public space named for a former governor and dedicated to recognizing various individuals, organizations and causes. Images from there will be presented in a separate post.