Notes from around the Human Experience…

HUT, HUT HIKE: The NFL decided to nothing regarding player conduct during the playing of the national anthem in at its annual fall meeting this past week. Owners were so intent on good PR from this evolution they even invited players to take part, showing the type of concern usually reserved when money is at stake.

Because money is at stake. The average Americans that watch NFL games and buy NFL tickets and jerseys are not enjoying these anthem protests. The long-term stability of the private mint that is the National Football League is being threatened.

Status Quo On Two: The league ended up doing nothing. No change was made to the NFL policy suggesting team personnel “should” stand for the national anthem.  

Dry, Technical Matter: This was funny. The NFL had every option and they had zero options. They had an open field ahead of them yet they were completely hamstrung. Oftentimes in these situations, regardless of the circumstances, nothing is sometimes the best thing to do. It was this time.

Fly In The Ointment: Let’s say the NFL did mandate everyone from team captains to water boys pop-to and stand for the national anthem? And what if they mandated penalties for non-compliance?

Well, invariably some, perhaps many, would not stand. And then what?  America being America right now the issue would end up in court because the NFL cannot even suspend players anymore without judicial review. The NFL may well end up backing down and none of this would result in anything remotely resembling the PR the NFL needs.

Read My Lips: Nothing Of Substance: Of course, nothing resembling straight talk on the matter came out of the NFL office. Commissioner Roger Goodell was, as ever, standing by with the usual corporate claptrap. After first denying the issue was even discussed – which no one really believes – Goodell then explained why showing that few others are better at talking without actually saying anything:

It wasn’t necessary. We had a real focus on making sure all of our teams understood the kind of dialogue that took place and the kind of things that they were interested in getting support.

The Bottom Line: The NFL was in a box, damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. By doing nothing they will continue to alienate the average Americans who buy their tickets and jerseys and who watch their games on TV, but they will also avoid the headaches and further alienation, that would have attended mandatory compliance.

IN THE BEGINNING: According to a chronology promulgated by James Ussher, an archbishop in the Church of Ireland, the Earth is formed on this date in 4004 BC. Ussher used a variety of chronologies, both sacred pagan, to arrive at this date and his theory remains the most widely-known of several of that ilk that were issued around that time.

Football Vs. Harvard Saturday: Princeton University, then known as the College of New Jersey, receives its charter on this date in 1746. Its original purpose was to train ministers, it became Princeton University in 1896 and is the fourth-oldest college in the United States.

I  Do Solemnly Swear: Sam Houston is inaugurated as president of the Republic of Texas on this date in 1836, replacing Interim President David Burnet. Texas had become an independent nation in April and would remain its own nation it was admitted as the 28th state of the Union in 1845.

Great Moments In Being On The Brink Of Nuclear War: One day after ordering a military blockade of Cuba, and six days after first being advised the Russians had nuclear weapons in Cuba, President John F Kennedy addresses the American people, and the world, on this date in 1963. Among other things, he announces that an attack by the goddamned Soviets on anyone in the Western Hemisphere would be considered an attack on the United States that would require a full retaliatory response.

The decision to order a naval blockade was not met with unanimous approval in the United States. Some, including many in Congress, wanted a stronger response. Kennedy’s decision was influenced, in part, by a phone conversation he had with former president Dwight Eisenhower earlier in the day.

Dry, Technical Matter: Listening to a recording of this conversation, some things stand out. One, Kennedy, like all great leaders, is a superb listener. Two, he seemed utterly at home with the specter of nuclear war on his shoulders. And Eisenhower, has he did well, cut right to the heart of the matter:

The damn Soviets will do whatever they want, what they figure is good for them….They just find out what they can do here and there…

A brilliant observation, applicable, though often forgotten, in most human situations.  In the end, of course, the Soviets decided what was good for them was to remove their missiles from Cuba.

Going…Going…Gone: Albert Pujols of St Louis Cardinals becomes the third player to hit three home runs in a World Series game, doing so against the Texas Rangers on this date in 2011. The Cardinals won the game 16-7 to take a two games to one lead in the series and would win the series in seven games.  

The Post Game Show Is Brought To You By Old Style Beer: Pujols joined Babe Ruth, who did it twice, and Reggie Jackson as the only players to hit three home runs in a World Series game. Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants would join the club the following year.

Quotebook: [he] taught with a fervid, burning passion, like that which moves martyrs and heroes. – William Woodward, The Way Our People Lived

Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The USS Constitution last saw battle for the United States in the War of 1812.

Today’s Stumper: What three United States universities are older than Princeton? – Answer next time!

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Notes from around the Human Experience…

STOP US IF YOU HEARD THIS BEFORE: In a recent column we came out against term limits, a long-held position, on the theory that the best form of term limits are the regular elections we enjoy as Americans. That we keep electing people who provide lousy government is our fault, not theirs.

Circumstantially, of course, term limits work, preventing people from serving longer than the law allows. Intrinsically, though, do they help provide better government? Let’s take a look.

Dry, Technical Matter: Currently, the president of the United States is limited to two terms, the only federal term limit, enacted after everybody wet their pants after Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was elected president four times.

It’s difficult to quantify the effects the 22nd Amendment has had on the presidency, however. Seven times one party has held the White House for consecutive terms and six times the other party won the White House, the only exception George H. W. Bush succeeding Ronald Reagan. The times of this period, while challenging, have not been as momentous as FDR’s time, and we don’t think the merits of the 22nd Amendment are particularly clear.

Get Your Official Daily Dose Policy Right Here: We think America needed every day of FDR’s presidency. FDR’s genius came not from his specific policies, but in his brilliance in mobilizing America – from those on the front lines to those who made the planes and ships and ammunition – to put the work in that was required to win World War II. For this, he was in the right person in the right place at the right time and we are not entirely sure anyone else could have done that. Had FDR been limited to two terms, our country and world might a far different than they are now.

Food For Thought: FDR did his work well and like Abraham Lincoln died after his work was more or less completed.

Back On Message: Additionally, 36 states have gubernatorial term limits, while 15 states limit the terms their legislators can serve. A complete analysis of this is, thankfully, beyond the scope of this column, but our native California provides a useful, though admittedly not all-inclusive, example.

Service in the California State Assembly is limited to six years and California state senators are limited to two four-year terms. Nothing has really changed in that time. California state government is still a fiasco, in no small part because nobody has any real, long-term experience. Any legislator’s experience and working knowledge is, by definition, limited.

Oh Yeah: Additionally, because legislators have a limited amount of time to make their mark, fundraising, and all its attendant special interest evils, is as important as ever.

More Effing Daily Dose Policy: All term limits do is prevent citizens from voting for whom they want. Of course, the argument that we currently do not have good people in our government is valid: by even the most charitable standards our government is partisan, fractured, bickering mess. But whose fault is that? You can’t blame congressmen and senators. They are merely politicians trying to retain power.

The fault is ours. We elected everyone there.

The Bottom Line: If we do not have good people running our country, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. To blame incumbents, the media or lobbyists is not productive. Nobody fills out our ballot for us.

All it takes to make America great again is concerned, conscientious and demanding citizens taking command on Election Day. The government we want and deserve is always as close as the next election.

ON THIS DATE! ON THIS DATE!: Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, is launched in Boston Harbor on this date in 1797. It was the third attempt. The first two attempts had only gotten the Constitution partway down the ramp. 

FunFact: Over the centuries the Constitution has served America in a variety of functions, and currently is a museum ship in Boston Harbor. It last sailed in 2012 and is the oldest commissioned naval ship still afloat in the world.

Hut, Hut Hike: Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams becomes the only player in NFL history to record two safeties in one game on this date in 1973. Both safeties occurred within five minutes of each other in the fourth quarter of a game in Los Angeles won by the Rams 24-7.

The Post Game Show Is Brought To You By Cal Worthington And His Dog Spot: With the win, the Rams moved to 6-0 on their way to winning the NFC West with a 12-2 record. The Packers fell to 2-2-2.

Quotebook: The hasty stroke goes oft astray. – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Answer To The Last Trivia Question: No, the 22nd Amendment limiting presidents of the United States to two terms does not apply to vice presidents. The 12th Amendment, however, does specify that no one is ineligible for the presidency shall serve as vice president.

Today’s Stumper: When did the USS Constitution last fight a battle for the United States? – Answer next time!

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Notes from around the Human Experience…

HERE WE GO AGAIN: As it does from time to time, term limits is rearing its head again. Not only did we have a conversation about it with a fellow citizen this past week, but former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who last year was the Libertarian Party nominee for vice president of the United States, recently came out in favor of them.

Gaylon For Congress…Vote Early, Vote Often: This is a pretty popular issue, coming up fairly regularly during our campaign for the United States Senate in 2014 and last year’s campaign for the United States House of Representatives. People are tired of our lousy government and think term limits are a solution because it limits how long someone can hold a certain office.

Dry Technical Matter: Term limits for assorted offices have a long history in America, dating back to colonial times. Under the Articles of Confederation, delegates to the Continental Congress could serve for “…no more than three years in any term of six years”. Term limits, however, were left out of the Constitution until Congress, scared shitless after FDR was elected to four terms, sent the 22nd Amendment – which limits the president to two terms – to the several states in 1947. It was ratified in 1951. Currently, 36 states have term limits for their governors, while 15 have term limits for their legislatures.

Back On Message: We don’t think term limits are a good idea. One, the changes are only cosmetic. Only the faces will change because Republican districts will still elect Republicans and Democratic districts will still elect Democrats. Two, they are unnecessary:

As American citizens, we have the very best form of term limits ever devised: regular elections.

Every two years every member of the United States House of Representatives and one-third of the United States Senate are elected. Every four years we elect a president. If we aren’t happy with our government we are free to change it every other November.

Fly In The Ointment: The problem is we don’t. We keep re-electing the same people who have given us a partisan, fractured and bickering government in the first place. We can blame incumbents, the media and lobbyists for a lot, but we can’t blame them for that. We can only blame ourselves for continuing to send them back. It’s all our fault.

Get Your Official Daily Dose Policy Right Here: The best way to get new blood in Congress is to refuse to vote for the same lousy legislators we keep reelecting time and time again. Congressman and Senator have turned into careers because we have allowed it and for no other reason.

The Bottom Line: Nobody fills out our ballots for us. If we do not have the very best people leading us in our government we have no one but ourselves to blame. Term limits are not the answer; concerned, conscientious and demanding citizens who hold our leaders accountable are the answer. 

ON THIS DATE! ON THIS DATE!: What is believed to be a ten-foot petrified man is discovered in Cardiff, New York on this date in 1869. What it actually was was the brainchild of one George Hull, who had had the statue carved out of gypsum and swore everybody to secrecy. After altering it so it appeared old and worn, Hull shipped it to the farm of his cousin William Newell, who had it buried on his farm. A year later, the creation was discovered by two men who had been hired to dig a well on that exact spot.

There’s One Born Every Minute: Newell and Hull had no trouble getting people to pay to see it and it was so successful P.T. Barnum tried to purchase it. Turned down, Barnum made a replica and Barnum being Barnum, he then claimed his was the original and Newell’s was a fake. Hull admitted to the fraud in December.

“On The Counts On Which You Have Been Convicted, The Tribunal Has Sentenced You To Death By Hanging…”: Ten Nazis convicted and sentenced to death by International Military Tribunal are executed in Nuremberg, Germany on this date in 1946, hung in gallows built in a gymnasium adjacent to their cells.

The ten were woken at 12:45 am and given a last meal of sausage, cold cuts, potato salad and black bread. Though the condemned were denied the privilege of knowing their execution date, the evening’s festivities were hardly a bulletin because everyone could hear the gallows going up. 

FunFact: Two who had been sentenced to die were not hanged. Martin Bormann had been convicted in absentia and Hermann Goring peeved that his request to be shot instead of hanged had been denied, had killed himself by swallowing a cyanide capsule earlier in the evening.

USA! USA!:  American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos – the gold and bronze medalists in the 200-meters – each raises a black-gloved fist at their medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics on this date in 1968.

There were other forms of protest, too. Among others, Smith and Carlos each went shoeless, wearing only black socks. Smith wore a black scarf to symbolize black pride while Carlos unzipped his jacket to show solidarity with blue collar workers. Each also wore a human rights patch on their jacket, which was also worn by silver medalist Peter Norman of Australia.

All three paid dearly for their efforts. Smith and Carlos were, among other things, dismissed from the Olympics. Norman was ostracized in Australia. He was left off the 1972 Olympic team, despite having qualifying times, and was not welcomed at the 2000 Sydney Games. Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his 2006 funeral.

Quotebook: If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight. – Tommie Smith

Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Gordie Howe broke Maurice Richard’s all-time NHL scoring mark with his 931st point in the die1959-60 season.

Today’s Stumper: Does the 22nd Amendment apply to vice presidents? – Answer next time!

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