Tuesday, January 31, 2006
[1797 - Franz Schubert, composer, born in Vienna, Austria]
[1919 - Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodger infielder & Hall of Famer, born in Cairo, Georgia]
[1923 - Norman Mailer, novelist, born in Long Branch, New Jersey]
[1944 - Marine Amphibious landing on Kwajalein Atoll]
[1945 - Pvt. Eddie Slovik, US Army, executed by firing squad for desertion]
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.