“I am all right, and you cannot escape listening to my speech either.”
On this day in 1912, outside the Hotel Gilpatrick in Milwaukee, a would-be assassin rushed up to Theodore Roosevelt, then campaigning for the presidency on the Progressive Party ticket, and shot him on the right side of his chest.
Slowed by passing through the manuscript of the speech Roosevelt was to give that night, the bullet nevertheless pierced his flesh, and blood covered his shirt.
But he went to the hall and gave the speech anyway, going on for almost an hour.
Because Theodore Roosevelt was entirely made of top-grade triple-refined USDA-inspected 100 percent purest awesome.
And this is what he said:Now, I would not speak to you insincerely within five minutes of being shot. I am telling you the literal truth when I say my concern is for many other things. It is not in the least for my own life….Roosevelt recovered from the shooting, and his campaign lumbered to the most respectable losing third-party finish in presidential history.
I don’t know who the man was who shot me to-night…. He shot to kill me. He shot the bullet. I am just going to show you (Col. Roosevelt then unbuttoned coat and vest and showed his white shirt badly stained with blood)….
Now, I wish to say seriously to the speakers and newspapers representing the Republican and Democratic and Socialist Parties that they cannot, month in and month out, year in and year out, make the kind of slanderous, bitter, and malevolent assaults that they have made and not expect that brutal and violent characters, especially when the brutality is accompanied by a not too strong mind; they cannot expect that such natures will be unaffected by it….
Don’t you pity me. I am all right. I am all right, and you cannot escape listening to my speech either….
I wish to say that the Progressive Party is making its appeal to all our fellow citizens without any regard to their creed or to their birthplace….
In New York, while I was Police Commissioner, the two men from whom I got the most assistance were Jacob Riis, who was born in Denmark, and Oliver von Briesen, who was born in Germany, both of them as fine examples of the best and highest American citizenship as you could find in any part of this country….
At one time I promoted five men for gallantry on the field of battle…. two of them were Protestants, two Catholics, and one a Jew. One Protestant came from Germany and one was born in Ireland. I did not promote them because of their religion, it just happened that way. If all of them had been Jews, I would have promoted them, or if all had been Protestants I would have promoted them, or if they had been Catholics….
I ask that in our civic life that we in the same way pay heed only to the man’s quality of citizenship—to repudiate as the worst enemy that we can have whoever tries to get us to discriminate for or against any man because of his creed or his birthplace…. in the same way I want our people to stand by one another without regard to differences of class or occupation. I have always stood by the labor unions…. It is essential that there should be organization of labor…..
Now, the Democratic party in its platform and through the utterances of Mr. Wilson has distinctly committed itself to the old flintlock, muzzle-loaded doctrine of States’ rights, and I have said distinctly we are for people’s rights. We are for the rights of the people. If they can be obtained best through National Government, then we are for national rights. We are for people’s rights however it is necessary to secure them.
Mr. Wilson has made a long essay against Senator Beveridge’s bill to abolish child labor. It is the same kind of argument that would be made against our bill to prohibit women from working more than eight hours a day in industry. It is the same kind of argument that would have to be made; if it is true, it would apply equally against our proposal to insist that in continuous industries there shall be by law one day’s rest in seven and three-shift eight-hour day….
I ask you to look at our declaration and hear and read our platform about social and industrial justice and then, friends, vote for the Progressive ticket without regard to me, without regard to my personality, for only by voting for that platform can you be true to the cause of progress throughout this Union.
He was right about the man who shot him. John Schrank probably was of weak mind, and influenced by the strong language common in 1912 casting Roosevelt as a messianic madman reaching for an unprecedented third term (Roosevelt had served almost all of McKinley’s second term; you can of course read more about this here).
Such people—such violent and pliable people—were out there, Roosevelt supposed; the thing to do was to conduct politics so that they did not think their violence wanted in the nation’s public affairs.
Not too long ago the Exceptional Case Study Project of the Secret Service compiled data on assassination and attempted assassinations in the United States; you can find it here. They defined “principal incidents”—assassination, attack, or approach with a lethal weapon—as the primary unit of analysis. They found 25 cases, or around one every two years, in which such an incident occurred involving the president.
Assume, as Roosevelt did, a population in which there are some weak-minded people, prone to violence. What makes such people fixate on a public figure? Roosevelt thought it could only be the language, bordering on incitement, with which it had become acceptable to attack public figures.
10/14/08
Hate Speech Almost Killed TR!
The Edge Of The American West is a great blog. The post below is a great example of why. I mentioned how dangerous the words McCain and Palin have been using are, and then Eric Rauchway provides the following...
Palin's House NOT Built On The Up & Up
You are aware that Todd Palin suggested he built their house with some contractor friends. And remember Ted Stevens got some help with his house from contractor friends. Yes, they are apparently the same friends. And yes, it was not okay. Read it below....
The House That Todd Palin’s ‘Buddies’ Built
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20081013_the_house_that_palins_buddies_built/
Posted on Oct 13, 2008
First Dude Todd Palin has said he and some “buddies” built his lakefront home in Wasilla, Alaska, but an investigation by the Village Voice connects the home’s construction, if circumstantially, to the beneficiaries of a local boondoggle championed by his wife.
Village Voice:
THE $12.5 MILLION sports complex and hockey rink that is the lasting monument to Palin’s two terms as Wasilla mayor is also a monument to the kind of insider politics that dismays Americans of both parties. Six months before Palin stepped down as mayor in October 2002, the city awarded nearly a half-million-dollar contract to design the biggest project in Wasilla history to Kumin Associates. Blase Burkhart was the Kumin architect on the job—the son of Roy Burkhart, who is frequently described as a “mentor” of Palin and was head of the local Republican Party (his wife, June, who also advised Palin, is the national committeewoman). Asked if the contract was a favor, Roy Burkhart, who contributed to her campaign in the same time frame that his son got the contract, said: “I really don’t know.” Palin then named Blase Burkhart to a seven-member builder-selection committee that picked Howdie Inc., a mostly residential contractor owned at the time by Howard Nugent. Formally awarded the contract a couple of weeks after Palin left office, Nugent has donated $4,000 to Palin campaigns. Two competitors protested the process that led to Nugent’s contract. Burkhart and Nugent had done at least one project together before the complex—and have done several since.
A list of subcontractors on the job, obtained by the Voice, includes many with Palin ties. One was Spenard Builders Supply, the state’s leading supplier of wood, floor, roof, and other “pre-engineered components.” In addition to being a sponsor of Todd Palin’s snow-machine team that has earned tens of thousands for the Palin family, Spenard hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004. When the Palins began building a new family home off Lake Lucille in 2002—at the same time that Palin was running for lieutenant governor and in her final months as mayor—Spenard supplied the materials, according to Antoine Bricks, who works in its Wasilla office. Spenard actually filed a notice “of its right to assert a lien” on the deed for the Palin property after contracting for labor and materials for the site. Spenard’s name has popped up in the trial of Senator Stevens—it worked on the house that is at the center of the VECO scandal as well.
dailykos.com
McCain's Guy Helped Saddam
Jay McDonough has the goods on McCain's transition cheif, William Timmons, who apparently helped Saddam Hussein. Glorious! Read it below...
McCain transition chief aided Saddam Hussein lobbying effort
by Jay McDonough
Following up on Cernig's post below:
It's no big secret John McCain has filled his campaign with lobbyists, and some have engaged in peddling influence for some pretty nefarious foreign entities. But the individual John McCain chose to head his transition team may take the prize.
William Timmons, along with two other lobbyists, worked on behalf of former Iraq president, Saddam Hussein, to ease international sanctions levied against the Saddam regime.The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.John McCain has hired William Timmons to work on his campaign staff. John McCain has hired a number of lobbyists with questionable work histories. John McCain casts a blind eye towards lobbyists who have been employed by some vile characters.
During the same period beginning in 1992, Timmons worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.
A U.N commission headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker conducted an exhaustive investigation of the oil-for-food program, in which various individuals were found to have paid illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein. The findings of the Volcker Commission detail the roles of Vincent, Park and Timmons in trying to ease the sanctions.
...when Timmons pressed the case even more aggressively that sanctions against Saddam's regime be eased, he, Vincent and Park hoped to profit as well, according to the Volcker report. "Continuing through 1994 and 1995, Mr. Vincent and Mr. Park, along with Mr. Timmons and others, persisted in their efforts to establish a foothold in the Iraqi oil business," the report stated.
At one point, Timmons even boasted to investigators that it was his ideas that later became the basis for the United Nations' oil-for-food program. (Link)
Kind of puts the whole William Ayers thing in a different perspective, doesn't it?
In The End It's The Means
Are we living beyond our means? Reich says yes, but...
Since the year 2000, median family income has been dropping, adjusted for inflation. One of the main reasons the typical family has taken on more debt has been to maintain its living standards in the face of these declining real incomes.Read it
Post-Meltdown Mythologies (I): Americans Have Been Living Beyond Their Means
What brought on the economic meltdown of 2008? Besides the bursting of the housing bubble, Wall Street's malfeasance and non-feasance, and Washington's massive failure to oversee Wall Street, fingers are also being pointed at average Americans. Some of them took on mortgages they couldn't afford, of course, but we're also hearing a more basic theme that goes something like this: For too long, Americans have been living beyond our means. We went too deeply into debt. And now we're paying the inevitable price.
The "living beyond our means" argument, with its thinly-veiled suggestion of moral terpitude, is technically correct. Over the last fifteen years, average household debt has soared to record levels, and the typical American family has taken on more of debt than it can safely manage. That became crystal clear when the housing bubble burst and home prices fell, eliminating easy home equity loans and refinancings.
But this story leaves out one very important fact. Since the year 2000, median family income has been dropping, adjusted for inflation. One of the main reasons the typical family has taken on more debt has been to maintain its living standards in the face of these declining real incomes.
It's not as if the typical family suddenly went on a spending binge --- buying yachts and fancy cars and taking ocean cruises. No, the typical family just tried to keep going as it had before. But with real incomes dropping, and the costs of necessities like gas, heating oil, food, health insurance, and even college tuitions all soaring, the only way to keep going as before was to borrow more. You might see this as a moral failure, but I think it's more accurate to view it as an ongoing struggle to stay afloat when the boat's sinking.
The "living beyond our means" argument suggests that the answer over the long term is for American families to become more responsible and not spend more than they earn. Well, that may be necessary but it's hardly sufficient.
The real answer over the long term is to restore middle-class earnings so families don't have to go deep into debt to maintain what was a middle-class standard of living. And that requires, among other things, affordable health insurance, tax credits for college tuition, good schools, and an energy policy that's less dependent on oil, the price of which is going to continue to rise as demand soars in China, India, and elsewhere.
In other words, the way to make sure Americans don't live beyond their means is to give them back the means.
10/13/08
McCain And Liddy: They Share Principles
I think I mentioned this before, but McCain actually does pal around with terrorists. G. Gordon Liddy is a domestic terrorist and McCain joined him on his show in May of 2007 (not when McCain was 8, which is pre-history). Go read Carl Bernstein's post.
LIDDY: Your experience in the Hanoi Hilton is remarkable. I mean, I put in five years in a prison [for masterminding the Watergate burglary, and associated crimes], but it was here in the United States, and they didn't torture - the only torture that I had was being forced to listen to rap music from time to time.Care to expand on these principles and philosophies, John?
McCAIN: Well, you know, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of your family. I'm proud to know your son, Tom, who's a great and wonderful guy. And it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon. And congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.
Hitchens Endorses Obama
It's not glowing, but it's an endorsement! Here is the headline...
Vote for Obama
McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president.
And Palin is simply a disgrace.
By Christopher Hitchens
Krugman Wins Nobel
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. economist Paul Krugman, a fierce critic of the Bush administration for policies that he argues led to the current financial crisis, won the 2008 Nobel prize for economics on Monday.
The Nobel committee said the award was for Krugman's work that helps explain why some countries dominate international trade, starting with research published nearly 30 years ago.
10/12/08
Palin's People
A video report from the church where Gov. Sarah Palin was baptized.
This is the first original, on-the-ground video report from inside the church where Gov. Sarah Palin was baptized and spent over two decades as a member, the Wasilla Assembly of God. The video features the only known footage of the man who publicly anointed Palin for higher office, the Kenyan witch hunter Bishop Thomas Muthee, during his return to Wasilla this September. Though filming was not allowed, I managed to capture through hidden cameras Muthee's violent invocations against "The Enemy" and the "python spirits.” I also spoke with Rev. Howard Bess, whose book, "Pastor, I Am Gay," was removed from Wasilla's public library after Palin personally pressured the librarian. Those who embrace spiritual warfare see Palin as nothing less than the Anointed One, a modern day Queen Esther, as one anti-abortion protester told me on a rainy night in Anchorage. See for yourself.
I Made "Cool Teacher Of The Month"
This Brazen Teacher has decided to honor me and my blog by naming The Frustrated Teacher cool teacher of the month over at her blog.
I was honored to be interviewed, and now that I see it up, I am even more honored by Brazen's kind words. She has a way with words, uses more of them than me, and uses them better.
Go check out her blog, not just for my honorific presence there, but for Brazen's brazenness!
Bailout Blame: Not Fannie Or Freddie
Those who would like to blame poor people for the financial crisis need to read this from swimming freestyle. Maybe we can focus on the fix, instead of blame (since the blame is so misdirected)?
One more time; it wasn't Fannie and Freddie
On the campaign trail, or at least the one being traveled by the Republicans, the current economic crisis is all about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie and Freddie are singled out because it fits the narrative; "Hey, this mess isn't our fault. It's those Democrats who resisted regulating Fannie and Freddie". There's plenty of blame to go around here, both for Republicans and Democrats, especially as it relates to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But, as noted before, the two mortgage finance companies aren't the root of the problem.
A new McClatchy article places the blame for the mortgage financing debacle primarily within the private sector:Subprime lending offered high-cost loans to the weakest borrowers during the housing boom that lasted from 2001 to 2007. Subprime lending was at its height vrom 2004 to 2006.In fact, Fannie and Freddie weren't even as involved in the secondary mortgage market as has been assumed:
Federal Reserve Board data show that:
_ More than 84 percent of the subprime mortgages in 2006 were issued by private lending institutions.
_ Private firms made nearly 83 percent of the subprime loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers that year.
_ Only one of the top 25 subprime lenders in 2006 was directly subject to the housing law that's being lambasted by conservative critics.Between 2004 and 2006, when subprime lending was exploding, Fannie and Freddie went from holding a high of 48 percent of the subprime loans that were sold into the secondary market to holding about 24 percent, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance, a specialty publication. One reason is that Fannie and Freddie were subject to tougher standards than many of the unregulated players in the private sector who weakened lending standards, most of whom have gone bankrupt or are now in deep trouble.It continues to be about at least some modicum of regulation. I can't think of a time in history when human greed went unchecked and things worked out well in the end.
During those same explosive three years, private investment banks — not Fannie and Freddie — dominated the mortgage loans that were packaged and sold into the secondary mortgage market. In 2005 and 2006, the private sector securitized almost two thirds of all U.S. mortgages, supplanting Fannie and Freddie, according to a number of specialty publications that track this data.
Fannie and Freddie...struggled to keep pace with their private sector competitors. In fact, their regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, imposed new restrictions in 2006 that led to Fannie and Freddie losing even more market share in the booming subprime market.
From My Mother
This was forwarded to me from my mother. She's hip!
Official Announcement:
The federal government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
