Werewolves in Congress

 

Something for the weekend.  Appropriate both for Halloween and the political season:  Werewolves in Congress.  A political parody song by Paul Shanklin in the nineties.

Theodore Roosevelt Official Portrait

 

The official portrait in the White House by John Singer Sargent is actually the second official portrait.  The first portrait was done by French painter Theobald Chartran.  Roosevelt despised it and hid it in a dark recess of the White House.  When his kids began to call the portrait “Mewing Cat” because their father appeared so harmless in it, he had the portrait destroyed.  John Singer Sargent had difficulty in getting Roosevelt to stay still long enough to pose.  Sargent discussed the portrait when Roosevelt was going up a staircase.  Irritated Roosevelt immediately struck a pose.  Sargent saw the potential immediately, and was able to get the peripatetic president to stand still for half an hour a day in the same pose, although the half hour was often interrupted by aides and secretaries.

Why World War II Matters

 

A lecture by my favorite living historian, Victor Davis Hanson.  We are at an interesting point in regard to World War II.  The youngest veterans of that conflict are now approaching 90.  Soon that conflict will slip from living memory.  When it does, how it is perceived in hindsight will probably shift as has happened with other conflicts.  It is one thing to have Uncle Bob, or great Uncle Bob, tell you what the Battle of the Bulge was like.  It will be another to depend upon historical records only to form our perceptions, especially as generations arise that have had no direct contact with World War II veterans.

Agincourt the Battle

 

October 25, 1415 was an amazing day for the English.  The English longbow had long proved during the Hundred Years War to be a devastating weapon in the hands of skilled archers, but rarely had the English faced such long odds as they did at Agincourt.  Approximately 6,000 English, exhausted and worn from their march, faced approximately 30,000 French.  About five out of six of the English were archers with the remainder men-at-arms, knights and nobility.  The French had about 10,000 men-at-arms, knights and nobility, and 20,000 archers, crossbowmen and miscellaneous infantry.

The English established their battle line between the woods of Agincourt and Tramecourt, which offered excellent protection to both of their flanks.  The English archers made up the front line with stakes set in the ground before them to impale charging horses.  Archers were also placed in the woods to provide flanking fire against advancing French.  The men at arms and knights and nobility, were divided into three forces behind the archers.  They fought on foot.

The terrain between the woods that the French would have to cross in their attack of the English consisted of newly ploughed, and very muddy, fields.  Having walked through muddy fields on several occasions in rural Illinois, I can attest that simply getting from point A to point B in such terrain can be exhausting, let alone fighting at the end of the tramp through the morass.

My Blood Boils

(I posted this at The American Catholic.  I nomally shy away from expressing my views on current events on Almost Chosen People since this is a blog focused on history, but I am going to make an exception this time.)

 

An example of how fouled up our priorities are:

The Pentagon is seeking to recover decade-old reenlistment bonuses paid to thousands of California Army National Guard soldiers to go fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The paper reported that nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom risked their lives during multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay the cash bonuses after audits revealed widespread overpayments by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets at the height of the wars 10 years ago.

But soldiers say the military is reneging on old agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on those whose only mistake was to accept the bonuses, which amounted to $15,000 or more.

The Army asked wounded Iraq veteran and former Army captain Christopher Van Meter, 42, to repay a $25,000 reenlistment bonus it said he was ineligible to receive. He was also asked to repay $21,000 in student loan repayments.

Van Meter told the paper that rather than fight the Army he paid back the money after refinancing his home.

“These bonuses were used to keep people in,” Van Meter said. “People like me just got screwed.”

The Dream of Flight

 

Something for the weekend. Sogno di Volare, The Dream of Flight, the theme song of the game Civilization VI that was released yesterday.  (Be still my geek heart!)  I know what will be occupying my weekend!

 

 

CS Lewis Explains Why He Was Not a Pacifist

 

(I posted this at The American Catholic and I thought the history mavens of Almost Chosen People might enjoy it.)

 

 

It is, of course, true that wars never do half the good which the leaders of the belligerents say they are going to do. Nothing ever does half the good — perhaps nothing ever does half the evil — which is expected of it. And that may be a sound argument for not pitching one’s propaganda too high. But it is no argument against war. If a Germanised Europe in 1914 would have been an evil, then the war which would have prevented that evil would have been, so far, justified. To call it useless because it did not also cure slums and unemployment is like coming up to a man who has just succeeded in defending himself from a man-eating tiger and saying, “It’s no good, old chap. This hasn’t really cured your rheumatism!”

CS Lewis

Norman Conquest Thanks to My Bride’s Family

(I posted this at The American Catholic and I thought the history mavens of Almost Chosen People might enjoy it.)

 

Nine hundred and fifty years since the Norman Conquest and it may be all the fault of my bride’s family!  She is a descendant of Norwegian King Harold Hardrada (Hard Ruler), a true swashbuckler whose exploits ranged from Constantinople to the Arctic Circle.  He lived as a Viking although after he became King he was sympathetic to Christianity.  The golden age of Hollywood missed a great movie on his life with Errol Flynn in the starring role.  The Norman victory at Hastings may not have been possible but for his invasion of England in alliance with Tostig, the brother of English King Harold Godwinson.  Harold Hardrada was defeated by Harold Godwinson at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, losing the battle and his life.  The battle was fought on September 25, 1066.   Harold Godwinson left much of his forces in the north to guard against any further Norwegian raids.   By the time of the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066, Harold’s force was weary from fighting and forced marching and much smaller than it would have been but for Harold Hardrada’s intervention.  If Harold had won, who knows, perhaps my bride would now be part of British royalty!  However, in that reality she almost certainly would never have married me.  I selfishly prefer this reality!

Canon in D

 

Something for the weekend.  A nice mild October Saturday.  Time to celebrate with Pachelbel’s Canon in D.  Perhaps the greatest of the middle Baroque composers, Johann Pachelbel enjoyed enormous popularity in his lifetime.  After his death in 1706, with changing fashions in music, he was largely forgotten.  This changed dramatically in 1968 with a recording of Canon D by Jean-Francois Paillard.  Great Art never really ceases to be great Art, it merely slumbers until new audiences appear to appreciate it.

October 14, 1908: Cubs Win the World Series

Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States when the Cubs last won the World Series on October 14, 1908, defeating the Detroit Tigers 2-0.  Just barely within human memory, about one hundred Americans are still alive now who were alive then.  It was the second World Series win for the Cubs, their first being the year before in 1907.  Why the Cubs have had this championship drought, other than bad ball playing, has been a matter of much speculation.  The most popular explanation is the Curse of the Billy Goat.

In 1945 Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, was attending game four of the World Series being held in Wrigley Field, once again the Chicago Cubs facing the Detroit Tigers.  This being Chicago where odd characters are as common as blustery politicians, he brought his pet goat Murphy with him to the game.  Other patrons complained that the goat stank.  Sianis was thrown out.  As he was leaving Sianis was heard to say,“Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more!”.

When the Cubs lost the series, Sianis sent a telegram to P.K. Wrigley, the owner of the Cubs:  “Who stinks now?”