WilliamPitt
WilliamPitt's JournalA thought for Joe Biden
"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming...I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost."
-- Abraham Lincoln
The "Bernie Sanders Is A Racist" talking point is comically dumb
...and smacks of desperation. Example:
http://www.vox.com/2015/5/27/8671135/bernie-sanders-race
No need for a wall of words in response to this. One will suffice.
Is there a "war" going on in this forum?
Twice in two days I've seen GD posts referencing a "war" in the Sports forum that is somehow my fault. I've posted here twice in six months, I think. Did I start a "war" and then miss it completely?
Confused.
OMG BERNIE SANDERS IS SO FAR BEHIND IN THE POLLS YOU GUYS
May June July August September October November December January February March April May June July August September October first Tuesday in November
...is the standing election season as of now. That's quite a lot of time to dig in. He's behind now? Wait until his message has aaaaaaaall that time to get out into the voting population. Dude's a machine, his message resonates across the board, and he doesn't have Citibank on speed-dial.
Hillary Clinton campaigns like a bull in a china shop while on fire with hundred-dollar-bills falling out of its ass. The Gilded Age 21'st-Century-style is coming to an end, rapidly, and Bernie is a better campaigner by far.
Gonna be fun to watch, anyway.
The Letter to Mrs. Bixby
Dear Madam,--
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln
Nov. 21, 1864
===
As it turns out, only two of her sons were confirmed casualties of the war. Two others either deserted and never came home, or died in prison camps. One made it home alive.
One.
Leaving all that aside - along with the question of whether this was written by Lincoln himself or by John Hay, his aide - the fathomless pathos of the sentiment burning in the words stands on its own, written in the fourth year of the butcher's bill.
Pick some flowers today.
In 1868, John A. Logan, general of the Grand Army of the Republic, declared May 30 to be "Decoration Day" in honor of the fallen from the horrific Civil War that had only ended three years before. His thinking was that May 30 was the perfect day because flowers would be blooming all over the nation they died to save.
One hundred years later, people trying to end a war picked those flowers and slid them into the rifle barrels held by National Guardsmen called out to quell resistance, because those people were trying to save their lives, too.
The history of this nation is convoluted, strange, beautiful and brutal...but threaded through it all is war, and those who have borne the brunt. We can spend the next 364 days arguing, or agreeing, over the merits or failures of America's most sanguinary of talents: dealing death at a distance.
On this day, we dip the flag, play taps, and remember those who went down to dusty death in the absolute worst of conceivable circumstances, so far from home. Veterans Day is for the survivors. Today is for the dead. They happened. They were here, and now they are not. One can chew on the reasons until their teeth are worn to nubs, but the fact will still remain: They were here, and now they are not.
Remember them...and pick some flowers.
You know, a lot of you people really drive me up the wall.
I know 95% of you only as screen names, but despite that so many of you have the capacity to make me chew on the inside of my cheeks until I'm spitting blood on the keyboard. To Hell with these people, I've said more than once. Who needs this aggravation? I can just go play in traffic and have done with it.
...and then a member like JeffR passes away, and the needle screeches off the record, and I remember how much joy and solace and humor and education I have found in this place, because of people like him. I only knew him as a screen name, but the news of his loss hit me like a blow. That was the measure of the man; he made that large an impact on someone he never laid eyes on, because of the excellent force of his presence.
You people drive me crazy. I love you so much.
That's family, I guess.
To NanceGreggs and everyone else feeling this loss most keenly, you are most tenderly in my thoughts.
Here's to you, Jeff. Safe travels and following seas.
GOD DAMN IT
Obama’s trade bill clears key Senate hurdleWASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s trade agenda cleared a key Senate hurdle and advanced toward passage on Thursday despite the strong opposition of most Democrats.
The 62-38 vote capped a long, tense roll call on a measure that will allow Obama to negotiate trade deals that Congress can only accept or reject, but not change.
With Republicans generally in favor of the measure, the pivotal votes were cast by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and a handful of other lawmakers who support the trade measure. They used the showdown as leverage to seek a commitment that the Senate would act next month on legislation to keep the Export-Import Bank in existence. The government-backed bank backs overseas sales by US companies.
The rest: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/05/21/obama-trade-bill-clears-key-senate-hurdle/mx4oLRruIWZIuskKf4UZ3H/story.html
Fuck these people.
Profile Information
Name: William Rivers PittGender: Male
Hometown: Boston
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 58,179
