Wednesday Stuff

Let’s “set the wayback” for the benefit of Willard Mitt Romney, OK (answering this); here is his response to the British burning Washington during the War of 1812...

“Well, this is what happens when President Jefferson and Secretary of War Madison apologize to the British and let them 'impress' members of our Navy for their own.” (Read this to find out that Jefferson and Madison did no such thing).

Here is Romney’s response to the commencement of The Civil War in 1861...

“I’m shocked that a Republican president would allow the Army of the Potomac to commence fire in a southern state in an effort to illegally seize federal property.” (Read here to learn that the South fired first at Fort Sumter).

Here is Romney’s response to the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881...

“This is a sad day for our country, but it’s not hard to see how passions can be inflamed when a president fails to reach out to formerly secessionist elements, to the point where someone acts lawlessly.” (Read here to learn, among other things, that Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, wanted an ambassadorship from Garfield, believing that he was responsible for the election of our 20th president, with Guiteau not giving a damn about the South in the Civil War, though the state of Guiteau’s mental faculties was definitely an open question).

And finally, here is Romney responding to the World War I veterans of the Bonus March of 1932...

“It sickens me that insurgent, liberal elements have led some in our military to seek a government handout when we can least afford it.” (Read here to learn that the World War I veterans marching on Washington sought compensation due to them since they could not find work during the Great Depression; in accordance with a 1924 law, they were not due to receive their money until 1945...the law was eventually changed in 1936 so they could receive their payments early).

No, I don’t suppose all of this is particularly clever on my part. However, I’m trying to come up with new ways to express my disgust with Romney, having exhausted all the old ones, so please bear with me on this (maybe he was better off actually ignoring foreign policy, and kudos to Chuck Todd and Lawrence O’Donnell for holding him accountable – there is indeed a historical context in which presidents have to act, a fact that utterly escapes the former Massachusetts governor)...



Update 9/13/12: And speaking of history lessons (here)...

...and Steve Biko died 35 years ago today (for more info on Amnesty International, click here...the rest is indeed up to us).