November 25, 2020

"Like so many presidential flocks this one started in the great state of Iowa, in what can only be described as an act of blatant pandering and by the way..."

"... I love the state of Iowa. These two turkeys sought to win the support of Iowans across the state, by naming themselves Corn and Cob.... Look at that beautiful, beautiful bird. Oh, so lucky. That is a lucky bird. Corn, I hereby grant you a full pardon. Thank you, Corn. Iowa farm. I knew I liked you. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Thank you very much."

Said President Donald Trump, dealing with the turkey business for the last time and ignoring the shouted-out question: "Any pardons before you leave office? Will you be issuing a pardon for yourself?" (Transcript.)

I excerpted the humorous material, but there was also some serious talk about thanking God and the perseverance of the pilgrims. And something that completely surprised me: "This year our nation commemorates the 400th anniversary of the pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock." 

What?! That's a gigantic anniversary — a centennial mark — and I'd heard absolutely nothing about it.
I found this op-ed by Tom Cotton from a few days ago, "It's the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival. Why haven't we heard more about it?" I'm guessing the reason is that we are not proud of American history anymore. The pilgrims have been problematized. Senator Tom says: 
[T]he Pilgrims have fallen out of fashion in elite circles. Just this week, The New York Times food section published an article that called the Pilgrim story, including the First Thanksgiving, a “myth” and a “caricature.” In place of these so-called “myths,” the liberal newspaper seeks to substitute its own, claiming the history of our nation is an unbroken tale of conflict, oppression and misery...  
The Pilgrims were not the first European settlers to arrive in America, but they were exceptional nonetheless. As President John Quincy Adams put it, earlier European settlers were traders and adventurers motivated by “avarice and ambition.” They came principally to fish, farm and trap furs. 
By contrast, the Pilgrims braved the rough seas “under the single inspiration of conscience,” as Puritan Separatists from the Church of England seeking the freedom to practice their faith. These Pilgrims distinguished themselves further by drafting a remarkable document to govern their community in the New World: the Mayflower Compact.... This little compact, at less than 200 words, foreshadowed many of the principles of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution more than a century later, including faith in God, the natural equality of mankind, government by consent, and the rule of law. 
Little wonder, then, that Adams referred to the Mayflower Compact and the Pilgrims’ arrival as the “birth-day of your nation.” Or that Webster, despite all the events preceding Plymouth, said “the first scene of our history was laid” there.... 
Half the settlers died during that first winter. Seldom did more than a half-dozen have the strength to care for the ill, provide food and shelter, and protect the camp.... But what can only be called a providential moment came in March, when a lone Native American walked boldly into the Pilgrim’s camp and greeted them in English. His name was Samoset. Samoset had learned some broken English by working with English fishermen in the waters off what is now Maine. 
He and the Pilgrims exchanged gifts and he promised to return with another Native American, Squanto, who spoke fluent English. Squanto’s tribe had been wiped out a few years earlier by an epidemic plague; he now lived among the Wampanoag tribe in what is today southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The plague had also weakened the Wampanoags, though not neighboring rival tribes.  The Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, thus had good reason to form an alliance with the Pilgrims. Squanto introduced him to the settlers and facilitated their peace and mutual-aid treaty, which lasted more than 50 years. 
Squanto remained with the Pilgrims, acting, in Bradford’s words, as their interpreter and “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectations.” He instructed them on the cultivation of native crops like corn, squash, and beans. He showed them where to fish and hunt. He guided them on land and sea to new destinations. And you probably remember learning what happened next. As the Pilgrims recovered and prospered throughout 1621, they received the blessings of a bountiful fall harvest. 
The Pilgrims invited Massasoit and the Wampanoags to join them in a feast to express their gratitude to their allies and to give thanks to God for His abundant gifts. This meal, of course, was the First Thanksgiving.

So it's next year that ought to matter the most — the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving. When the time comes, we'll see if the elite rise to the occasion or if the depressing, shameful view of American history prevails. Next year it will be Joe Biden wrangling the turkeys — or Kamala, the Cob to his Corn — and we'll see what kind of light shines on the real 400th anniversary.

ALSO:

68 comments:

Michael K said...

What you mean "we" white woman?

David Begley said...

We should have known something was up. The Dems in Iowa were unable to count their votes. I think they still don't have any final results.

Past is prologue.

Foreshadowing.

DEEBEE said...

Said President Donald Trump, dealing with the turkey business for the last time and ignoring the shouted-out question.

Certitude much?

Butkus51 said...

Whistling past the graveyard

MountainMan said...

Of course we are not going to hear about 1620 and the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims from our elite media. They have already decided the founding of the nation was 1619 and it is now heresy to deny that.

A good line I saw from Richard Fernandez on Twitter yesterday: "The job of the media is not to help us remember. It is to make sure we forget."

Anonymous said...

That's a gigantic anniversary — a centennial mark — and I'd heard absolutely nothing about it.

2020 is marked by a hatred of American history. All those statues that were torn down, including Lincoln(!). The left hates the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the 18th century, the 19th century, and most of the 20th century. They like Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Barack Obama, and that's it. Everyone else is racist or misogynist. They don't even like the guy they just voted into office.

If you were to draw one of those New Yorker maps, except go backwards in time, American history is like this...

slavery
slavery
slavery
slavery
slavery
slavery
klan and racism
klan and racism
klan and racism
klan and racism
klan and racism
Franklin Roosevelt
John Kennedy
klan and racism
abortion rights
klan and racism
klan and racism
Barack Obama
gay rights
klan and racism
old white guy

DavidUW said...

My ancestors came here in chains but unlike far too many of my peers, I don’t obsess or blame people who are now living for what happened 300-400 years ago. Always seemed like a waste of time to me. My dad always called black folks obsessed with that past time wasters but I have to say he underestimated the grift associated with making Whitey feel guilty. Oh well

I’ve been to various parts of Africa. I’d rather live here even though we’re a dwindling minority in my area of California.

.

Birkel said...

For some definitions of the word "we".

The idiot Leftist Collectivists have eaten the seed corn.
When winter comes they will starve.

JK Brown said...

Remember all those massive celebrations back in 2015 for the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta? The Liberal Arts departments at America universities really out did themselves using it as a time to recruit more students to study Western Civ. And the law schools really surpassed the ABA's 1957 establishment of the Magna Carta monument at Runnymede. Oh, wait.

Anonymous said...

I had been looking forward to this anniversary for a number of years, and entertained the notion of going to Plymouth for the celebration that should have taken place. I am not a member of the Mayflower Society and don’t make a fetish of my Mayflower ancestry, but this is one time I am particularly proud to have had eleven ancestors on the ship. The nearly complete lack of any commemoration of this enormously historic event is a measure of how adversely the twin pandemics of Covid-19 and left-wing media hegemony have affected our nation. I will make a special effort to be part of a big party there next year in celebration of our 400th Thanksgiving Day.

Spiros said...

In 2008, Governor Palin pardoned a turkey and then was immediately interviewed in front of a farmer slaughtering turkeys. Real professional...

Quayle said...

"an unbroken tale of conflict, oppression and misery... "

Unbroken? Nobody since the pilgrims has ever done anything noble, or good, or selfless in America?

I'm sorry, but I'm not buying. First, because it isn't that simple - nothing about life is as simple as "all good" or "all evil." Second, such a statement depends on gross summarizations and large-block categorizations of people, which is the least intelligent and effective way, and most denigrating way, to look at your fellow humans. Third, even if an individual's life sometimes feels like, "an unbroken tale of conflict, oppression and misery...", there are so many good things for which to be thankful. I can't agree with such a denigrating dour view of the people around me.

And gratitude per se, carries its own healing reward, as Russell Nelson stated so well this week. He's seen a few hard times, but tells us that joy is ever-present also, if we'll look for it.

So I say Happy Thanksgiving to all, and many more days of thanksgiving ahead!

Kevin said...

I learned all this from Charles Schultz.

Fernandinande said...

"Take 'er easy there, pilgrim."

Gilbert Pinfold said...

Since I now live in Plymouth, I'm amazed by the number of people who come to visit the memorial site of the rock, only to find that it is actually very small. You could fit it in a shopping cart, but it is surrounded by a giant colonnade. Not sure of what John Bradford would have made of all it, being opposed to pomp and ceremnony.

DanTheMan said...

The Pilgrims were white and religious.
Of course we need to be ashamed of them.

Robert Cook said...

What "elite" is he referring to? In this country, the elite are the wealthy and powerful. (I will add: and those in positions of private and public power, but Cotton is, himself, in a position of public power.)

I assume he's referring to some other supposed elite that he can disparage for the delectation of his base.

Jerry said...

"We'll see if the elite rise to the occasion"

Why should they? THEY don't care, and look on the peasants who do as near subhumans.

All they care about is power. Anything that persuades the peasants to give them power is good, everything that doesn't isn't worthy of any attention.

traditionalguy said...

60 young people Planting Protestant Christianity in the New World wilderness without help except their faith in God took more courage than we can appreciate. And they did it.

Biff said...

"By contrast, the Pilgrims braved the rough seas 'under the single inspiration of conscience,' as Puritan Separatists from the Church of England seeking the freedom to practice their faith."

So, refugees, then? I thought we were celebrating refugees. Do they only count when they are from places like Syria?

Birkel said...

Althouse was not informed by her news sources.
Now she wonders why "we" did not know this thing.
Those of us with more news and less propaganda in our sources think Althouse is choosing to be ignorant.

Howard said...

Oh the humanity, White Fragility is pandemic amongst the perpetually aggrieved right wingnut chattering class. As a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden, I say grow a pair.

ambisinistral said...

"Althouse was not informed by her news sources."

Yup, but the lightbulb won't go off...

Jon Burack said...

Whatever any of you think of the Pilgrims, it is infuriating that Thanksgiving Day is associated only with them. That Pilgrim "Thanksgiving" was a simple harvest ceremony of no significance regarding a nation not one of them could even then imagine. We are told by many now that Thanksgiving Day ought truly to be "Indigenous People's Day," a day of shame. But this day as an official national holiday began not with the Pilgrims or with varying state and local harvest thanksgivings since, or ESPECIALLY with some obscenely imagined national origins in slavery and genocide against the Indians. The day was in fact a product of the Civil War -- the great world historical triumph of America in overcoming and ending what had been a global horror, newly deemed to be a sin by America, almost all by itself.

That is Thanksgiving Day as a nationally observed holiday actually began in 1863, not 1621. It was proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln, the great Redeemer President, at a time of true American greatness -- in a Proclamation issued on October 3, 1863, the core of which is as follows:

"Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union."

Marshall Rose said...

I was aware of the anniversary of the landing. I have an ancestor who was an indentured servant on the voyage, was also a signer of the Mayflower compact and established a family and lineage on this continent that flourished.

We will be celebrating his legacy in my household as we have family over for Thanksgiving this year.

bagoh20 said...

And today the culture is even more puritanical, just a different religion.

gilbar said...

As a White Woman; i can STATE, With COMPLETE Seriousness
THAT ALL THE PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD ARE CAUSED BY WHITE MEN
AND WHITE MEN ARE CAUSED BY WHITE WOMEN!
I HATE MYSELF! AND I HATE ALL OF YOU!!!
AMERICA IS HORRIBLE!!! WHY WON'T THAT CUTE BLACK GUY CALL ME????
BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!
</sarc

William said...

The Toltecs, the Olmecs, the Mayans were indeed fortunate. They left no written records, and certainly no Homer or Herodotus to chronicle their various wars. Their civilizations rose, flourished, and enslaved their neighbors without leaving any records or grudges before they themselves perished under the onslaught of the next great civilization. Their descendants are remembered not for their prodigious feats of slaughter and cannibalism but for being the victims of the Conquistadors. Talk about having your cake and eating it too....There are elites and there are elites. The Court at Versailles was an elite and so was the Committee of Public Safety. Fusion. Out current elites have squared the circle and manage to combine the worst qualities of both elites.

Robert Cook said...

I didn't see any mentions of JFK's assassination on the anniversary a few days ago. I think the newer generations simply do not know enough about any events older than themselves to be aware of those events or their significance.

Achilles said...

So it's next year that ought to matter the most — the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving. When the time comes, we'll see if the elite rise to the occasion or if the depressing, shameful view of American history prevails. Next year it will be Joe Biden wrangling the turkeys — or Kamala, the Cob to his Corn — and we'll see what kind of light shines on the real 400th anniversary.

Why did you pick your information sources Ann?

Seriously what the fuck.

You chose your information sources and you belittle everything else. Stop pretending like you have no agency in this. Here are just 4 sources that aren't "trashy."

https://www.theepochtimes.com/

https://thefederalist.com/

https://www.americanthinker.com/

https://www.oann.com/

Stop being blindsided by reality. You live in a bubble.

Achilles said...

bagoh20 said...

And today the culture is even more puritanical, just a different religion.

The easiest way to get an Atheist mad is tell them they believe in a religion. The definition of a religion.

Then you turn to the step by step rationals.

Some accept it. Some stomp off.

Even agnostics believe in religion at this point. Everyone has that burning need to "Know" something.

Achilles said...

Howard said...

Oh the humanity, White Fragility is pandemic amongst the perpetually aggrieved right wingnut chattering class. As a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden, I say grow a pair.

You are correct that their will be a winnowing.

I have seen the results of that winnowing. You have not.

There is a school of thought that people should grow up with more hardship and trial than they do in the US.

Low trust society here we come. Howard's rapist leader will usher as all into a new age that is just like all the other ages in human history.

LA_Bob said...

I will miss President Trump. I do not miss President Obama, and I doubt I will miss Presidents Biden and Harris when they are gone.

I used to miss President W Bush, but President Trump showed that Bush was really a rather tepid and shallow leader. I do not miss President Clinton even as I recognize some of his triangulation and manipulations worked out for the benefit of the country in the Roaring 90's.

I will miss President Trump's enthusiasm and optimism the most. A very imperfect president indeed, but I will miss him, blemishes and all.

Howard said...

WTF do you mean "there will be a winnowing"? In this world, winnowing is a given, a constant, the only way forward. Your problem is you are so constipated because this world doesn't represent your ideal of utopia, you can't seperate the wheat from the chaff.

Scotty, beam me up... said...

What the elites in government, media, and education are doing with our history is eerily similar to what occurred in the recent TV on Amazon called “The Man in the High Castle” with the “Yahr Null initiative” (I highly recommend it - it is 40 one hour episodes). From The Man in the High Castle Wiki: “Jahr Null, or Year Zero, was a social-engineering initiative carried out by the Greater Nazi Reich in Nazi America beginning in Summer of 1963. The goal of Jahr Null was to erase all traces of American history and national identity and encourage new and future generations to identify as contributing citizens of the Reich.”. This sounds exactly what the left is attempting to in our country at this time - ignoring the actual history or rewriting it, destroying businesses (either through physical destruction or threats to the businesses to make them come around to the left’s POV via SJW initiatives), tearing down statues, and trying to destroy what made our country great, warts and all. Note to the lefties - your idea of Utopia is never attainable. The lefties (aka Communists) tried in numerous countries to create the perfect country and not only utterly failed, but made things worse for their populations. This included attempting to rewrite their histories to justify their actions, just like we are seeing in the USA at the current time

jaydub said...

"What "elite" is he referring to? In this country, the elite are the wealthy and powerful."

I've got news for you, Bobby, in every one of the 62 countries I have visited and the five in which I have lived, the elite are the wealthy and/or powerful. Otherwise, they wouldn't be different from the non-elite would they?

But, let's consider what elite status really means. By world standards, you, yourself, are among the top half if you have a net worth of just $4210 or the top 10% if you have a net worth of $93,170. I suspect even you can make that grade in the US. If you earn $32,400 ($15.58 per hour) you are in the top 1% of the world's income earners. The federal poverty level for a family of four in the US is $25,720 or 80% of the world top 1% annual income level. After federal benefits are added in (Medicaid, housing supplements, WIC, etc,) a family of four with poverty level income in the US actually realizes better than top 1% income on a world basis.

The problem with you, Bobby, is not that you are a sniveling, ungrateful, anti-American douche bag, it's that you are fundamentally ignorant of the world in general and your status as a member of the world elite. The thing that makes this such a great country is that it's mere citizenship elevates douche bags like you to elite status. Except for your US citizenship, you would likely be starving in the dark in a socialist hell hole like Venezuela or picking rags at some third world trash dump. Stupid and ignorant is no way to go through life, Bobby. Work on getting a clue.

DavidUW said...

I will miss that a Grade A Carnival Barker and first-time politician in Trump showed at least 1/2 of America what they suspected to be true:

The "elites" are not only power-hungry mediocrities, they are actually terrible at the job you'd think they'd be able to do (politicking), as they got beat by a first-timer.

Their only role has been to sell American lives, ideas, and infrastructure to the Chinese and other assorted enemies of America.

There is no difference between Democrats like Biden and Chamber of Commerce Republicans. They are all mediocrities at best who are only interested in selling America to our enemies.

Trump conducted a 4 year experiment that the WSJ and Democrats, but I repeat myself, will refuse to learn:
Restrict immigration (i.e. labor supply) and cut corporate taxes and the working will get the biggest raise in history to the tune of a 10% hike in real median household income. Thankfully Biden will promptly reverse that. And the WSJ will continue to claim, without evidence (indeed, contra to the evidence) that the law of supply and demand does not apply to Labor and Wages.

Trump showed that yes indeed all those regulations have a disproportionately negative effect on business activity and the government drones consistently underestimate their true costs.

Trump showed that you can conduct a robust foreign policy without engaging in new wars.
Biden and co will promptly throw away more American lives in useless conflicts in random shithole countries like Afghanistan.

Trump showed that yes, in truth, the Arabs were just using the Palestinians as an excuse to engage in terrorism against Israel. They don't give a shit about them.

For all of these sins against the established stupidity (and worse, showing the world how stupid the elite "wisdom" is), he must be removed from history.


Chuck said...

Well, here's a liberal elite; a politically progressive Harvard Law professor and liberal media darling -- Lawrence Tribe...

... Writing, even as Althouse's commenters were typing out their thoughts on Senator Cotton's opinion column on the anniversary of the Puritan pilgrims at Plymouth colony...

Laurence Tribe
@tribelaw
Happy 400th Thanksgiving {Folded hands}
9:15 AM · Nov 25, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

Tribe's own commenters pointed out that it is technically the 399th anniversary, and that it is complicated. (The Twitter-shortened version of Althouse's own helpful post.)

Chuck said...

DavidUW said...
I will miss that a Grade A Carnival Barker and first-time politician in Trump showed at least 1/2 of America what they suspected to be true:

The "elites" are not only power-hungry mediocrities, they are actually terrible at the job you'd think they'd be able to do (politicking), as they got beat by a first-timer.
...

Of course, the one-term Trump presidency, and the Trump 2020 campaign, will go down in history as the most incompetent Presidency since the civil war, and the worst example of political malpractice by any major party candidate in three generations.

Precisely because Trump was always guided by his own personal psychological pathologies, rejecting all input from competent political leaders.

And now, hopefully, the net result of Donald J. Trump's foray into national politics is that he will be convicted of several state and federal felonies.

RMc said...

President Donald Trump, dealing with the turkey business for the last time

Or not.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@Biff said
So, refugees, then? I thought we were celebrating refugees. Do they only count when they are from places like Syria?


Yes! refugees!
and they came and changed the demographic,
and won the culture war!

Check your Native American privilege! And fragility!

Joe Smith said...

From the point of view of the Massachusetts natives, the Pilgrims were illegal aliens.

So why don't the lefties love them more?

stevew said...

1620 sounds so long ago, doesn't it? Especially when you consider how far we've come since.

An ancestor of mine arrived here in 1635 and was set up nearby in what is now Dennis on Cape Cod. There are some records available and it is fascinating to read about the goings on of that time. Relations with the locals, Wampanoag tribe, appear to have been congenial, though not mentioned much.

The place I live in now was founded in 1643. This is said to have been the most northeastern frontier of the then English settlement. Early attempts to colonize further up and in from this coastal area were abandoned due to conflicts and raids with the locals, Abenaki people.

Seems like that first Thanksgiving was a one and done affair until much later, by which time the locals were pretty much a non-factor nor participant.

Michael K said...

Chuck weighs in with more hate and nonsense.

Michael K said...

Robert Cook said...
I didn't see any mentions of JFK's assassination on the anniversary a few days ago.


There are ophthalmologists practically on every street corner. Or it's possible it was discussed on a blog I read for non-election/Trump topics.

rcocean said...

what is the purpose of Transcribing 'unknown speaker' shouted "questions"? Crazy.

rcocean said...

I love that Trump isn't speaking to the Left-wing DNC media. what is the point of talking to these Democrat Hacks who just lie about him?

None. Trump should limited all speeches and questions to friendly outfits and people like Tucker Carlson, rush, Laura, or Hannity. He doesn't have to talk to these Fakes and liars anymore.

rcocean said...

BTW, the fight goes on in Arz, Penn, GA, and Nevada. I hope Trump prevails but if he does, it will no thanks the Republican party, which has REFUSED to fight for him. The R party doesn't want to fight or win.

They're so proud to be "good losers" and "The loyal opposition". i don't think they ever really wanted to power to do anything.

rcocean said...

It hilarious, or maybe sad, that mainstream patriotism or thinking well of the pilgrims is now "Right wing". The left doesn't like America, and the Republicans don't care.

Whiskeybum said...

Spiros said...
In 2008, Governor Palin pardoned a turkey and then was immediately interviewed in front of a farmer slaughtering turkeys. Real professional...

Yeah, that was really dumb of her... the "pardoning a turkey" part.

TML said...

Oh, but according to Nikole Hannah-Jones this is wrong, too. It's 1619. So we missed it!

FWBuff said...

We'll see if there is any special celebration of the 400th anniversary next Thanksgiving. I have my doubts, given the following.

One of the worst missed opportunities under Obama was his administration's failure to recognize the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War in April 2015 or the other 150th anniversaries along the way during 2011-2015 (Gettysburg, Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln's Second Inaugural, etc.). All could have been important moments to celebrate and reflect on racial healing and progress in the US, especially with a black President in office.
Instead, we have more racial division and ignorance of history. Sad and shameful.

dreams said...

"Next year it will be Joe Biden wrangling the turkeys — or Kamala, the Cob to his Corn — and we'll see what kind of light shines on the real 400th anniversary."

You presume.

DavidUW said...

Of course, the one-term Trump presidency, and the Trump 2020 campaign, will go down in history as the most incompetent Presidency since the civil war, and the worst example of political malpractice by any major party candidate in three generations.
>>
You'd say that chuck because you're a moron.

OldManRick said...

You can't celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims without recognizing that they came here to be free of a state religion, a religion where the state enforced what you are allowed to believe.

Our new state religion, "science", now tries to enforce what are allowed to believe. Any studies, statistics, or evidence that the "science" might be wrong is suppressed by the state not funding it, the MSM not reporting it, and by social media tagging it with "this claim about .... is disputed".

I am a classical liberal atheist. I don't need a false "science" god substituting for any other religion. It's sad that the 400 year anniversary of a significant step towards human freedom has to be ignored because that freedom is being curtailed.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

I say grow a pair.

Howard,


We have 'pairs'. That's why you don't like us. We do, and you don't. You'd better hope that our testosterone never gets the better of our sense of justice and bonhomie. If it does, you'll like us even less.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Robert Cook said...
I didn't see any mentions of JFK's assassination on the anniversary a few days ago. I think the newer generations simply do not know enough about any events older than themselves to be aware of those events or their significance.


Robert, I agree completely, and I confess it's not the first time I've been able to grant a point to you. But I think the thought is incomplete. The 'newer generations' you speak of encompass only the educated fools produced by our university system, who are systematically deprived of an education in history. They have been led to believe that history begins with them and that there is no need to examine the past, because it is peopled with figures they have been taught to hate. This is entirely a liberal phenomenon, planned, crafted, and exploited by liberals who understand that their ideas cannot compete with the dearly won civilizational breakthroughs conceived by old, white men.

Conservatives, on the other hand, at some point eventually ask themselves what exactly are we conserving? We know that you can't understand where we are without knowing how we got here. We are tolerant of some of the errors of our forebears, being aware that it is foolish and unproductive to apply today's moral standards to the past. Thomas Jefferson was not justified in keeping slaves. That detracts very little from his notions of individual freedom and popular government. Liberals are unable to separate the two concepts, preserving the good while condemning the bad. Jefferson did a bad thing by the standards of 2020, and must be utterly expunged from the record, statues, words and all. This is what 'newer generations' are doing before your eyes, and they are totally committed to unlearning history. As in the aphorism, they will be condemned to repeat it.

Howard said...

Tyrone Slothrop: Whenever I see a great assembly of Trumpers the only pairs that are visible are the jiggling man titties which doesn't bode well for actual testosterone levels.

Howard said...

Got any more soft balls for me to hit out of the yard?

Ralph L said...

As a native Virginian, I will link to Berkeley Hundred's Thanksgiving in 1619, the same year my second ancestor landed in Jamestown. Its place in history was lost not just because Yankees wrote the history books, but also because in 1622, the Indians killed 9 settlers and drove the rest away for a dozen years.

Skippy Tisdale said...

Spiros said...
In 2008, Governor Palin pardoned a turkey and then was immediately interviewed in front of a farmer slaughtering turkeys. Real professional...

--------------------------

You'd find that the world is not so dark if you would just pull your head out of your ass.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

@ Howard. Narrator: He didn't hit it out of the park.
Thank you for playing. Darlene has a consolation prize for you on your way out.

Paul said...

There is no 2nd Amendment right to booze... there IS A SECOND AMENDMENT TO GUNS.

And the 2nd says SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.

No other right in the Bill Of Rights says that. Just the second one.

End of discussion about this 'pragmatic' view hokie stuff.

Howard said...

Ralph: So the native Virginians got their asses kicked by Indians and then by Yankees who hogged up all the glory. How humiliating.

Brian said...

My wife and I watched Schoolhouse Rock episodes (on HBO Max I think) last night. There is no way the American history ones could be made anymore. Not to mention the one on pronouns...

Iman said...

They should’ve grabbed the asshole reporter asking about pardons and separated his head from his neck like an unpardoned turkey.

Make an example of ‘em...

Iman said...

Howard said...
Got any more soft balls for me to hit out of the yard?


What... you’ve stopped giving tongue baths?

Sam L. said...

The liberals" and the "progessives" (which ALWAYS reminds me of cancer) just hate, Hate, HATE the Pilgrims who came here and started this nation, they being religious people.