Maryland is worried that its state song, written during the Civil War when people were kind of riled up, might be a little rough by today's standards, and there is some thought of softening it up:
The song begins with a hostile reference to President Abraham Lincoln, who brought troops through Baltimore en route to protect Washington: "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland!"
It's hard to overstate how important the GI Bill was after World War II, not just to a generation of young Americans but to the whole country. It changed whom we considered college appropriate for and even our whole notion of what college should be. And except for the way the war started bringing women into the work force, the burgeoning middle class thus created was probably the most lasting effect of that era.
There are a million people who want to come here from just one country.
Sorry, can't assimilate that many.
But they're escaping terrible hardships.
Not the same as political persecution, is it?
What about all that "give us your tired, your poor" stuff?
But these people are tired and poor and not like us. They're uneducated, and they talk funny. What can they add to our society?
Just a reminder that in some ways history doesn't change much:
Maybe you haven't heard yet, but World War II is over. The honorable military members merely doing their duty as they saw it for the misguided emperor of Japan finally saw the error of their ways and lay down their arms. Of course, the way they told it then was, "Japs Surrender." But we don't talk like that these days, and we don't like to be reminded that anybody ever did:
Well, Happy President's Day to you, too, for whatever that's worth.
This year marks the 50th anniversary (Monday will be the actual day) of the event that inspired the most tediously long song in rock 'n' roll history (with the possible exception of "Stairway to Heaven"):
What's that saying? If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting:
We all know how we got into this economic mess. We spent too much, borrowed with abandon, and acted like the bills would never come due. So what's the prescription for getting out? Spending more, borrowing more, and acting like the bills will never come due.
Tomorrow, when Barack Obama becomes the 43rd American to take the oath of office of president of the United States, he will not swear (or affirm) to preserve American values. He will not swear (or affirm) to protect American. He will not swear (or affirm) to defend this nation's borders. He will swear (or affirm) that he will, to the best of his ability, "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
From the future history archives, Sept. 9, 2011 -- President Barack Obama is urging Congress for the 15th delay in the planned switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV won't be ready.
Panicky Americans: Oh, God, this is the worst economy since the Great Depression, and we're all going to be standing in bread lines with holes in our shoes! Save us, federal government, please save us now! Hoosier seniors who actually lived through the Great Depression: Suck it up, you whining wusses. You ain't seen nothin' like what we lived through:
