Tuesday, January 23, 2007
[1737 - John Hancock, President of Continental Congress, born in Quincy, Massachusetts]
[1832 - Edouard Manet, impressionist painter, born in Paris, France]
[1888 - Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter), blues singer, songwriter, born in Mooringsport, Louisiana]
[1899 - Humphrey Bogart, Academy Award-winning actor, born in New York City]
[1910 - Django Reinhardt, Gypsy jazz guitarist, born in Belgium]
[1964 - Poll Tax abolished - Twenty-Fourth Amendment ratified by South Dakota]
The Exemplary Status of Our Grand & Glorious Union as told by Our Noble & Great Leader
Our Founding Fathers in Article II., Section 3. of the Constitution directed the President that:
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;...
Do you suppose those wise men who formed our government envisioned anything like the spectacle that now takes place in our Nation's Capital every year? Does it occur to you that they might look askance on the pomp and circumstance of the event, befitting as it is of the opening of a royal court rather than a simple report by the Chief of the Executive Branch to the Congress? Dr. Franklin might have had some real fun in his Almanack with the ritual applause, the phony standing ovations, and the insincere exhibiting of selected common folk in the Peanut Gallery. It may be good theater, but it is bad for democracy when we are so full of ourselves.
William's Whimsical Words:
Perhaps we should call it the State of the Onion Message, since it brings tears to your eyes as you peel off its layers, and by the time you reach the core, the odor has filled the entire room.
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