Old Abe (1861? – March 28, 1881), bald eagle, was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War and is the screaming eagle mascot depicted on the insignia of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division....That storied creature is for Abe Sauer just some absurdity that Awl readers should laugh at. Laugh at the stupid people in Wisconsin who think there's some meaning embodied in the carcass of a bird.
Company C named the eagle after President Abraham Lincoln, and designed a special perch on which they carried the bird into battle. Old Abe participated in the Second Battle of Corinth (in which the 8th Wisconsin lost half of its men) and the Siege of Vicksburg, among other battles. In battle, Old Abe quickly became legendary, screaming and spreading his wings at the enemy. Confederate troops called him the "Yankee Buzzard" and made several attempts to capture him but never succeeded. Several times he lost feathers to bullets and saw his handlers get shot out from under him. When passing by, Generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and William Rosecrans were known to doff their hats to the eagle.
In 1864, Old Abe returned to Wisconsin with several veterans who did not reenlist. Nevertheless, he remained famous and was invited to, among other events, the 1880 Grand Army of the Republic National Convention, and the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When not at public events, his caretaker kept him in the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Crushing ignorance from Abe Sauer.
IN THE COMMENTS: "But Old Abe's carcass indeed is gone."
Posts
85 comments:
The Massachusetts State House has a carved Cod, equally historic.
I don't know if Rhode Island has any equivalent symbol, though we have a very nice state flag.
It's easy to bait the half-educated into revealing their ignorance; it's because they think they're so self-evidently smart.
Case in point: Party like it's 1773.
Sixty Grit,
He's just doing what he does best.
Yea, this is one of those things that screams "pity" rather than "scorn".
Poor Abe.
Sauerkraut Balls.
Get some.
And what's with that beat-up old flag at the National Museum of American History? Did the Republicans cut the budget so badly they can't afford a new one? It's an outrage, I tell you.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/about/ssb.cfm
Gabriel Hanna,
It's easy to bait the half-educated into revealing their ignorance; it's because they think they're so self-evidently smart.
Case in point: Party like it's 1773.
Or this - I'm very proud of this.
That Abe Sauer, like most liberals, is ignorant of our history is not suprising, nor is lack of intellectual curiosity in researching the history of Old Abe. Or maybe he did and it just didn't fit his narrative.
The Awl was a suggested link on my Flipboard feed. I loaded it on, but haven't read it yet. Now I can delete it without even bothering.
Ann, do you really believe Abe has much respect for American history, other than for his own personal view of it? Everything else is fodder for snarkiness.
It doesn't get much cooler than that, as history goes.
No, sir.
No, Althouse, you're the one that is crushing ignorance. It's your gift.
To paraphrase Cardinal Newman, to be deep in our history is to cease to be a liberal. The converse holds, too.
Well played Althouse. That's a great story that I never knew about that Eagle - glad to learn it.
"Crushing ignorance from Abe Sauer."
There are Rascal Flatts fan sites with more wit and political insight available therein than this mouth breather's amped-up "AOL Kids" page.
Nice take-down, Althouse.
In the year of our Ford 2011, Abe Sauer repeats His beautiful and inspired saying: "History is bunk.
“O brave new world,” he cries, “O brave new world that has such people in it. Let’s start at once.”"
"That Abe Sauer, like most liberals, is ignorant of our history is not suprising"
As Shiloh has explicitly informed us in a past thread, actual knowledge of the history of a subject or issue is a non sequitur to expressing judgment on an issue or subject.
nice quote (or paraphrase at least), Simon
Where's eatbees? Where's FLS? They should be here complaining about how stupid it is to fetishize a dead eagle and how anybody who cares about eagles ought to be volunteering at a raptor center instead . Counting down, 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .
WV: owlig! Who writes these things?
VIDEO: Democrat staff engineered mob’s unlawful invasion of Wisconsin Capitol Building
Both Meade and the Professor are cited extensively, throughout.
Now that was an ass whippin'.
Well done Ms. Althouse.
AA,
Might as well give it up. The intellectually lazy Abe at the Awl is immune to any sense of shame.
BTW, I live in New England and have no connection to Wisconsin, but I've heard of Old Abe before... from my attorney (a UW grad). Has a picture of the bird in his office, I believe.
Sauer portrays Walker as some kind of Psycho.
"I suppose you'd call this his hide away..."
I wish to register a complaint...
The Professor has burned the Sauer-kraut and it's not even lunchtime yet....yow!
I thought Old Abe's carcass was consumed in the unfortunate fire of 1904.
Didn't someone say for a liberal history starts new every day?
Sorry about my post above, I could not resist. Thanks for the information on Ol' Abe.
It's easy to bait the half-educated into revealing their ignorance; it's because they think they're so self-evidently smart.
I assume you're talking about our governor who flunked out of college, got caught cheating, and was told to leave with his 2.5 gpa. No wonder he hates teachers and the rule of law.
Glad to know my memory is not gone.
But Old Abe's carcass indeed is gone. The Wisconsin State Historical Society still has a couple feathers, however.
I think the stuffed Eagle is a tribute to old Abe.
He dissed Old Abe? How dare he? Old Abe was a big deal when I was a kid.
For the story of Old Abe and the 8th Wisconsin -
http://www.nps.gov/vick/historyculture/8th-wisconsin-infantry-union.htm
Pictures of the Wisconsin memorial at Vicksburg -
http://www.nps.gov/vick/historyculture/wisconsin-troops-us.htm
He's also dipping into the rote maneuver of painting Republican female politicians as whores, giving Kleefisch a treatment that only Palin usually would merit:
"In a red suit that screamed 'Look at me, fuckers' Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch worked the Republican side of the assembly like a brothel's madam. From the way she bawdily glad-handed among the Republican leadership..."
Abe was the "screaming eagle". Eagles when hunting always work in tactical pairs, with one only a few hundred feet in the air screaming at the rodents below until they run for cover. The other eagle is two thousand feet higher circling nearly invisible to the prey, until it sees the target running away and then drops on it while the target's attention was on the low circling screaming eagle. That sounds like Walker's tactics that dropped an unseen bill from out of nowhere last night. Now the rodents are scrambling all over the Capitol and wondering what hit them, all because they listened to the wrong eagle that was screaming reports of a sure Union victory.
Of course, in the very same post, Ol' Sauer also referred to your state's Lt. Gov. as "working the room like a brothel madame" because he's a sexist prick, too.
"Before the election, the Democrats promised "adult leadership" in Madison. Then a month and a half into session, the Senate Democrats fled the state instead of doing their job.
[...]
"This afternoon, following a week and a half of line-by-line negotiation, Sen. Miller sent me a letter that offered three options: 1) keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 2) take our counter-offer, which would keep collective bargaining as is with no changes, 3) or stop talking altogether."
"Rule of law," as per garage.
*snort*
P.S.
SEIU is on its way to Wisconsin so I hope you all enjoy purple.
"I assume you're talking about our governor who flunked out of college, got caught cheating, and was told to leave with his 2.5 gpa. No wonder he hates teachers and the rule of law."
He's besting you.... It stings doesn't it?
Paddy, he said it about protestantism on his conversion, but we can stipulate for the sake of argument that the similarities stop with ahistoricism. :p
He's besting you.... It stings doesn't it?
Isn't it funny how often these supposed "intellectual superiors" always seem to get bested/beaten/pwned by people they constantly refer to as stupid/idiots/morons/etc?
For some reason that cracks me up every time it happens LOL
Cool story, traditionalguy, sort of like live drones.
"Rule of law," as per garage.
The rule of law isn't just what Scott Walker or Scott Fitzgerald say it is. The constitutionality of the budget repair bill to begin with, the Assembly vote at 1:00am where Republicans reached over and voted for absent legislators, and the vote yesterday that clearly broke the open meetings law, not to mention voting on a bill that has fiscal impacts without a quorum. No idea what Republicans were thinking on this, but it isn't going to fly in Wisconsin.
garage mahal said...
"I assume [Gabriel is] talking about our governor who flunked out of college, got caught cheating, and was told to leave with his 2.5 gpa."
A few years ago, I was sitting in a restaurant on the fourth of July, and at the table next to us, a beefy southern fellow was railing about how General Grant was a drunk, a womanizer, a bad general—all that jazz, you know. And if I hadn't been quite confident of his ability and inclination to snap me like a twig—a mountain sat or stumbled—I might have pointed out that tearing down Grant doesn't help his case: The worse the picture drawn of Grant by unreconstructed confederates, the worse their side looks, because sober or drunk, Grant still outwitted their boys. If I wanted to paint a sympathetic portrait of the South's plight, I would tell people that we never really had a chance when Grant was not only the greatest military tactician in history, but a giant transforming robot T-rex sent from the future by Doc Brown to free the slaves. When you get the snot beaten out of you, it doesn't make you look tough to say the other guy had one hand tied behind his back.
I mention all this because it seems that you have put yourself in the same position as that southerner from the restaurant. Is Walker a dummy? A womanizer? (A drunk?) He may be none of those things. But even if he is all of them, he still outwitted your boys.
Amazing how Demon-crats and teachers hate the rule of law and democracy (and constitutional republics for you nit pickers).
It's still a dead and stuffed eagle.
Good points, Simon. garage seems to only appreciate conformists that follow lock step in his rigid little view of what matters. Grant essentially had one great skill, being a general.
The world is abundant with people who didn't excel in school or other system but are wonderfully successful in many ways and contribute more than those whose thinking and world view are restricted to what they were taught in school.
You should get one of those for your classroom. New Abe, the Legal Eagle.
Battle of the news sources.
He may be none of those things. But even if he is all of them, he still outwitted your boys.
By beating people over the head, violating laws, and ramming bills against what people in the state want? They're dragging off duty cops, firefighters, and anyone else out of the Capitol as we speak. Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya.
Someone should have told Abe Sauer it was-
The Condor of Calabasas.
Willfully dense and thick, methinks.
Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya.
Come on garage that kind of hyperbole is beyond...
Isn't it?
garage,
jumping the shark rather early to day arn't we?
Is that all they've got over at KOS and DU?...............Scheeesh
But remember conservative boys and girls...... the left is sooooo much smarter than you are because they listen to NPR.......
Hey garage the topic was Ade the Eagle...... you know the topic of the thread.......
Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya.
Norma Desmond's greatest performance.
When history is inconvenient for the Lefties, they rewrite it.
I'm a Shaaaaark said...
P.S.
SEIU is on its way to Wisconsin so I hope you all enjoy purple.
Now it's not going to be so civil.
"Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya."
I see that Libya is replacing Nazi Germany as the go-to jump the shark comparison nowadays.
It's nice to have a change.
garage mahal said...
"Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya."
That's true. When you think about it, the parallels are haunting: Like Khaddafi, Walker seized power in a coup d'etat during the cold war, and has stayed in power for decades using ruthless and sometimes violent repression of the population. Recent weeks provide a case in point: Like Khaddafi, Walker has responded to protests by sending in tanks, artillery, and air strikes. Who can number the dead in the streets of Madison? Who can gainsay the bravery of those Wisconsin freedom fighters rising up against this tyrant? I for one applaud your courage.
Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya.
The governor has sent in air strikes!? Gosh, I must've missed that one.
If things are as bad in WI as they are in Libya, then Walker needs to call out the WI National Guard ASAP. I think the unruly element will find them to be unfriendly and unamused.
Simon -- it's nice to have you back. (If you are Simon of a couple years ago. If not, it's nice to have you here.)
That's true. When you think about it, the parallels are haunting: Like Khaddafi, Walker seized power in a coup d'etat during the cold war, and has stayed in power for decades using ruthless and sometimes violent repression of the population. Recent weeks provide a case in point: Like Khaddafi, Walker has responded to protests by sending in tanks, artillery, and air strikes. Who can number the dead in the streets of Madison? Who can gainsay the bravery of those Wisconsin freedom fighters rising up against this tyrant? I for one applaud your courage.
Purest awesome. ;)
garage mahal said...
"Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya."
The purest form of insanity on display. Today the people of Wisconsin get to see it all on full!
Guys - stop bashing garbage. He's obviously out of his gourd. Let's pray for him!
methinks althouse has a crush on abe. does laurence know?
@ garage (why do we bother?) No wonder he hates teachers and the rule of law.
Who is it who hates the rule of law? Score keeping is such a drag. Your men and women were the ones who refused to vote on a bill that was going to be lawfully sent their way. And how about those lying "role models" you now have teaching the children in WI schools?
Not to mention how you guys use "hate" is such a nuanced, sophisticated, smart, well educated, and well mannered way.
@garbage
"By beating people over the head, violating laws, ..."
Hey, whats a little 'disorder' among friends?
"Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya."
Why all the drama, old boy? This thing is played, you'll get over it. You'll find another losing cause to back.
My jr high english teacher would have drawn a red line through "dead and" and then asked me how many live stuffed eagles I had seen.
Hipsters don't Google ever since it got popular.
Hipsters use Lycos.
Wisconsin right now may as well be fucking Libya
Shows how smart he is.
It's spelled "Lybia".
There are remarkable similarities. The governments to the north have decided to throw in their lot with the opposition; the French Canadians are going to send in their entire air force, as soon as they find some fresh AA batteries for the remote control.
Of course, the parallel would be more exact if there were an octogenarian strongman who had recently been forced out of power to the east, but they're both hanging on.
The Awl also has this completely deceptive Althouse-bait headline:
Men Should Not Wear Shorts. That Is All.
I suspect most of Wisconsin would rather be fucking labia. Nothing queer about Wisconsin.
But wait, according to now-former NPR fundraising exec Ron Schiller, it is liberals who are the educated, too-small percentage in America, not "the rest of us."
Good ole Abe Sauer. Bucking the self-glossed stereotype.
well said, Ann.
And I live on Bald Eagle Lane and last night there was one sitting on a tree limb above the yard. This in Northern Virginia.
algie commented on Sour Sauer
Abe Sauer said
"In a red suit that screamed 'Look at me, fuckers' Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch worked the Republican side of the assembly like a brothel's madam. From the way she bawdily glad-handed among the Republican leadership..."
Projection Abe? Target identification learned at your mothers knee? It doesn't matter, your demeaning simile is typical of the progressive/liberal/socialist gutter where what you call your mind finds refuge.
....uuuu..'o^o'..nn!n....algie
Illegitimi nOn carborundum
In Illinois we have an outstretched palm with the motto "Ubi Est?"
The eagle used to be the sign of empires. So they are calling walker a nazi or a Junker
"TWM said... I see that Libya is replacing Nazi Germany as the go-to jump the shark comparison nowadays."
Thanks a million for pointing that out. I was astonished that no one had brought up either the Nazis or Hitler in this matter. Normally Godwin's law would have been activated much earlier. I'm glad that you did it because I was about to do it myself. Cheers, and good catch!
Hey garage: What the hell is Obamacare then?
@Dadvocate
The world is abundant with people who didn't excel in school or other system but are wonderfully successful in many ways and contribute more than those whose thinking and world view are restricted to what they were taught in school.
Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College after one semester; The Woz dropped out of Cal in '75 to form the Home Brewed Computer Company.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates,also college dropouts; Allen from Washington State University and Gates from Harvard.
We might not be having this cyber conversation if it weren't for college dropouts.
That's true. When you think about it, the parallels are haunting: Like Khaddafi, Walker seized power in a coup d'etat during the cold war, and has stayed in power for decades using ruthless and sometimes violent repression of the population. Recent weeks provide a case in point: Like Khaddafi, Walker has responded to protests by sending in tanks, artillery, and air strikes. Who can number the dead in the streets of Madison? against this tyrant? I for one applaud your courage.
Yes! Who indeed can gainsay the bravery of those Wisconsin freedom fighters rising up for taxpayer funded Viagra!
I do hope that garage is a paid shill for Organizing for America. The alternative is that he truly is that fucking stupid, which for his sake I hope isn't true.
wv: noppeis - Nope, he is!
Suave pickup line:
"So ... I hear you're a lesbian. What part of Lesbia are you from?"
as for garage, i think it may be the dunning-kruger effect in it's shining glory
@BJM Allen from Washington State University
The most successful Cougs, arguably, are those who don't finish. "Cougin' it"* is not just for football.
*Cougin' it--to snatch a defeat from the laws of victory, like when you're up 25 points at the half and somehow manage to lose in the 4th quarter.
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