Ten Weeks of Summer Update

My Dad and I have completed eleven weeks of this blog! We have caught the "blogger bug" and plan to continue the blog in a few weeks. It will be new and improved! Can't wait!

Great Speeches - Calvin Coolidge

Today's great speech comes from "Silent Cal" Coolidge, a greatly underestimated President. His Inaugural Address from March 4th, 1925, provides a blueprint for limited government as prescribed by our Constititution. Coolidge's critics are those who believe that a government should play a strong role in the regulation and control of a nation's economy. His admirers are those who have read, understood and believe in the Constitution. Guess what side Harry Reid is on. His reputation made a strong comeback during the Reagan administration. No surprise there. Here is one of my favorite parts of the speech: The wisest and soundest method of solving our tax problem is through economy. Fortunately, of all the great nations this country is best in a position to adopt that simple remedy. We do not any longer need wartime revenues. The collection of any taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny. Under this republic the rewards of industry belong to those who earn them. The only constitutional tax is the tax which ministers to public necessity. The property of the country belongs to the people of the country. Their title is absolute.

You can read all of it here: http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/presidential-speeches/presidential-speech-calvin-coolidge.htm

Please feel free to pass it on to your liberal friends.

Great American Literature- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was a regular guy who wrote great poetry that appealed to the average people like himself, but also to a refined and highly educated audience. He was a child prodigy and published his first poem at the young age of thirteen. He was privately educated and later attended Bowdoin College, where he was told that he should teach if he was able to gain cultural finesse. So, he traveled to Europe where he learned French, German, and Italian. He then taught at Bowdoin and in later years, at Harvard. Voices of the Night and Ballads and Other Poems were Longfellow's first main poetry collections. Longfellow's poetry became widely recognized and his poems were quoted not only in the states, but overseas too. Longfellow's most well-known poem (though many may not know that he is the author) is Paul Revere's Ride.

This is a small excerpt from the poem. To read it in its entirety go here.

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

Great Moments in American Sports- The Greatest Presidential First Pitch in History

In the wake of the attacks (by Islamofascists) against our Nation on 11 September 2001, President George W. Bush traveled to New York City for Game 3 of the World Series between the Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He strode confidently from the Yankees dugout in a sweatshirt emblazoned with FDNY, a tribute to the great heroes of the New York Fire Department, gave the fans a thumbs up from the mound and then fired a perfect strike to Yankees' catcher Todd Greene. As he left the mound, the fans chanted "USA, USA." Even Rosie O'Donnell, noted overweight loudmouth and leftist, expressed pride and admiration for her country and President on that day. What a moment, what a man!

Great American Artists - Frederic Remington

Frederic Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor and writer whose favorite subject was the old American west, including cowboys, indians and the U.S Cavalry. Remington was the son of a U.S Army Colonel from the Civil War. His father had great hopes that his son would attend West Point and follow in his footsteps as a soldier, but Frederic new from an early age that this was not the life for him. He was very interested in illustrating and painting from his early school days and he was not a particularly industrious or motivated young man. He did, however, venture out west and experienced the life of a settler firsthand. He even tried his hand at ranching for a time, but found it to be uninspiring, boring and a bit rough for his tastes. He did have, obviously, a great eye for the ways of the west and a unique ability to depict it in paintings and stories and then later in sculptures. In his career he covered the U.S. Government's war against Geronimo, illustrated a book by Teddy Roosevelt and was a war correspondent and illustrator during the Spanish-American War in 1898 and witnessed the assault by the Rough Riders on San Juan Hill.

When the Rough Riders returned to the U.S., they presented their courageous leader Roosevelt with Remington’s bronze statuette, The Broncho Buster, which is pictured above. In

1888, he had two of his paintings used for reproduction on U. S. Postal stamps.

Great American Heroes- John Fremont

John Fremont is known for many things. He was a military officer, an explorer, and a politician. During the Civil War he was given command of armies in the west but was released due to some hasty decisions that he made. As an explorer, he followed Lewis and Clarke into the American frontier, in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Fremont explored the west, mainly the Oregon Trail. He discovered many new plants during his explorations and the genus of the California Flannelbush is named for him. He is commonly known as "The Man who Mapped the West." He became prosperous during the California Gold Rush of 1848. In 1850, he became one of California's first two senators. In 1856 he was the Republican Party's first ever candidate. He ran again four years later, but withdrew so that Abraham Lincoln would receive the Republican nomination.

This Week in American History- Japan agrees to unconditional surrender

On August 10, 1945, Emeror Hirohito announced to the Japanese people in a radio broadcast that their country had agreed to terms of unconditional surrender in World War II. In doing so, the Emperor had agreed to terms that had been offered as an ultimatum to the Japanese government in late July following the Potsdam conference. The ultimatum offered the choice between total and unconditional surrender or total annihilation. In their initial reply, the Japanese did not capitulate completely. On August 6, the Enola Gay (a B-29 bomber) dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, as Japan still defied the ultimatum, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. In the face of threats of further such attacks, the Emperor, who had previously rubber-stamped all of the war decisions by his military leaders, stepped up and made the decision to submit unconditional surrender.

There has been much cringing and hand-wringing in recent years over President Truman's decision to employ the atomic bombs, but I think a very strong case, even an inarguable case, can be made in support of the decision. Here is Victor Davis Hanson in a 2005 National Review Online article. "The truth, as we are reminded so often in this present conflict, is that usually in war there are no good alternatives, and leaders must select between a very bad and even worse choice. Hiroshima was the most awful option imaginable, but the other scenarios would have probably turned out even worse."

The whole article can be read here: http://old.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson200508050714.asp