Enjoy. It's Your Right.

 

    There are many things in life I do not understand.  How a thermos knows whether to keep things cold or hot, why ‘The View’ is still on the air, the fact that my wife chose to marry me...

    And why some Americans choose to run down their country as we celebrate our 250^th birthday as a nation.

    I get it.  Orange Man Bad.  Look, I haven’t been a Trump fan since...ever.  I voted for him in 2016, true.  But, that’s because he was the Republican nominee and the prospect of Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office was horrifying.

I created this eight years ago. 
During that time, I fought with a lot of my friends.

    I supported Marco Rubio at first, then Ted Cruz.  In fact, since I lived in Pennsylvania at the time, I registered as a Republican so I could vote in the primary for Cruz (Pennsylvania has a closed primary system).

    Once I did so, I once again left the GOP.  Because they suck I wanted to be an Independent.

    I held my nose when I pulled the lever for the Donald.  Since then, no way did he get my vote.  Mind you, I didn’t vote for Biden or Harris, either.  I just didn’t vote for Trump. 

    Even though I support much of what he’s done, I’m aghast at a lot of his behavior.  I can't keep up with his crazy.  My wife thinks I hate him.  Well, ‘hate’ is an awfully strong word, but by no means am I MAGA.

    Sidenote:  when some people learn that I am an unabashed Conservative, they automatically assume I’m a MAGA Republican.    Likewise, some on “my team” automatically assume that, if you are a Democrat, you automatically are a batshit crazy Leftist.  Nope, nope, a thousand times nope.

    Most people are good people, Left or Right.  There are radical zealots on both sides of the aisle, no question.  Thankfully, I don’t include any of them as my friends. 

    In any event, my distaste for most things Orange is not the purpose behind today’s post.

    What I AM writing about are those whose disgust with the administration, however justified, detracts from their celebration of the coming Independence Day.  I’ve even read some statements from idiots who believe displaying the American flag means you’re a racist who worships at an orange altar.

    Let me throw a little perspective their way:  Trump only has six years of the 250 years that the United States has been in existence.  That is miniscule when you take into account the (mostly) proud heritage of this nation.

    To let one man destroy what should be an opportunity for joy is ludicrous.  Imagine if people on the Right took their ball and went home when FDR was president.  Ridiculous.

Or Woodrow Wilson. 
That sanctimonious racist was the worst.

    We certainly haven't been perfect.  Far be it from me to list the darker side of our story.  They’re there, no question.  I’m no Pollyanna who believes it’s been nothing but sunshine, lollypops, and unicorns since 1776.  Perfect?  Hell no.  But, in my heart, I believe we want to do better.  And have done better.

    When Obama was president, I remained a proud American.  When Biden was president, I displayed the flag every day (that I remembered to put it up).  When Trump pulls some cringe nonsense

Exhibit A

I reflect on how much this country means to me.

    To sum up, please celebrate the coming holiday.  It’s for all Americans.

    Or don’t, although you should.  It is your right, after all.

    Which is one of the reasons I, for one, will celebrate.

NOTE:  For those who do not know, we are also displaying the flag of Argentina at my house.  My wife (she of the questionable taste in men) is all excited about Argentina's performance in the World Cup.  Her parents were born and raised in that country, so of course I'll support her team.  Unless they face the United States in the final.  That won't happen, though.     

Juneteenth

 

    The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.    -Major General Gordon Granger

    Probably like most schoolchildren, I assumed that the First Civil War (some scholars claim it was the second since the American Revolution could be considered a sort of civil war) and slavery in the United States ended with General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on April 9, 1865. 

    Well, true, for all intents and purposes, the war was over.  However, there were still plenty of enslaved people in the South, even after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated less than a week later. 

    In fact, the Western Confederate Army didn’t surrender until June 2 and the last of the slaves in the South weren’t freed until Major General Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19^th and issued the above proclamation.

"Do kids learn about me in school?   Nooooooo."

    Thus is the genesis of Juneteenth.

    But, before we go much further, a little history:

    In January, 1865, Congress proposed the 13^th Amendment to the US Constitution, which would abolish slavery in the United States (mind you, this was before the war was over).

 

SPOILER:  It did.

    By June, most of the enslaved population in the South had been freed, with the notable exception of Texas. 

    Notice I wrote “South.”  Wouldn’t you know it, Delaware and Kentucky, two of the border states, wouldn’t abolish slavery until the amendment was ratified in December. 

    Yeah. 

    NOTE:  Another misconception of my early childhood was that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1^st, 1863, freed all of the slaves.  Oh, no.  The gist of the proclamation announced “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious areas “are, and henceforward shall be free.”  Sounds good, but how was Lincoln going to enforce it in Dixie?  Plus, slaves held in the Border States (Maryland, Kentucky, Delaware, and Missouri) were not free.  Why, you may ask?  Simple.  Lincoln needed them.  Cynical politics, to be sure, but those are the facts. 

    And now?  My opinion.  This may surprise some people, but I wholeheartedly support the establishment of Juneteenth as the newest federal holiday in 2021.

Signed by the Panderer-in-Chief, Joe Biden.
The same Joe Biden who decried public schools as "racial jungles." 
No matter, though.  It was the right thing to do. 

     In fact, I wonder, what took so long? 

    I believe that it should be a joyous event for all Americans, not just black Americans.  Take a day off, hold celebratory events (which don’t include setting school buses on fire), feast like your life depended on it, and express joy that one of the evils of this nation’s founding was eradicated.

    Just don't expect any mail. 

    In any event, I believe this is an overall good for the country. 

    It’s a day of pride for our brothers and sisters.  No amount of carping about it should diminish the day. 

    After all, it certainly isn’t the silly bit of business that Kwanzaa is.

A made-up, bogus holiday. 
Like Valentines.

      

History Repeats?

 

"Looks like a lot of tanks."
"PFFFT!  This will take care of them."

    On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.  Codenamed “Operation Barbarossa,” this military misadventure resulted in disaster for the Germans when it finally concluded, with 8 million casualties, on December 5, 1941.

    Fun Fact:  “Barbarossa,” meaning “Red Beard,” took its name after the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, leader of the Third Crusade.  Unfortunately, for him, he drowned in Asia Minor and the Third Crusade was pretty much a bust.  Frankly, you’d think Hitler would’ve caught a clue.  Anyway, legend had it that Barbarossa was merely asleep and, like King Arthur of England, would come to the aid of his country at a time of need.

Wrong King Arthur

    The invasion of the USSR may have come as kind of a surprise to Josef Stalin, especially since his nation and the Nazis signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop, or non-aggression, Pact in 1939.

    Mind you, Stalin was no choir boy himself.  Even though he had suspicions, he didn’t mobilize his forces lest he antagonize the Germans.

    He also probably figured Adolph wouldn’t be stupid enough to spark a two-front war.

"You know England's not defeated, ja?"
"PFFFT!  What's the worst that could happen?"

    Well, the Arrogant Head Cheerleader for the Master Race invaded anyway and, like Napoleon, promptly got his ass kicked by Mother Russia.  

"Whew!  I did not see that coming!"

    Further, in classic “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” fashion, the Allies could now include the Soviet Union.

And we all know how that turned out.

    With this in mind, I have my worries about the bombast concerning Communist Cuba. 

"Mr. President, about Cuba...  Aren't you concerned that Iran's not defeated?" 
"PFFFT!  What's the worst that could happen?"

    To be sure, I don’t think Donald Trump is the second coming of Adolph Hitler.  Those who think so are idiots.

    However, the action in Iran is not over.  Do we really want another military operation in the Caribbean?  To be sure, the weather is much nicer and American supply lines are much, much shorter.  But.........

    History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure can rhyme sometime.

    I hope I’m wrong.