The Inauguration

As Inauguration Day approaches, I am reminded of our great Presidents (Both of them; nah, I'm kidding.  I think we've had maybe half a dozen truly great Presidents.  If my assessment seems a bit harsh, well, we throw the term "great" around far too often.  It takes away from its intent and definition that imply uniqueness and exceptionalism.  I would add another half dozen or so who were very good, too, and some who were good.  But I don't disparage even average Presidents.  Average is a relative term.  Compared to the rest of the baseball playing world, how does an average Major Leaguer stack up?!?!?!  And of course, we've had some dogs, some really lousy ones.  My rankings might be a topic for a later blog.)

Those who know me even in the least know that Abraham Lincoln leads the pack, hands down.  If there is anyone who is my history hero, it's Lincoln.  Hey, who else do you know who has two Abe Lincoln ties--and wears them?  And I have Lincoln socks, tee shirts (more than one), and even a pair of briefs (which is probably more than you care or need to know!).  George Washington also merits an incredible amount of respect.  I was reminded of the Newburgh Conspiracy, which occurred before he was President, but nearly brought down the United States almost before it was born.

The conspiracy occurred because of soldiers in the Continental Army who threatened a mutiny.  The government under the Articles of Confederation, really government of the individual thirteen states, couldn't pay the soldiers, backlogged a year or more.  Led by officers, some of Washington's closest aides, the mutiny was a real possibility.  The General (note I purposely capitlized "General") was informed of the trouble and addressed his soldiers, mostly battle-hardened officers.  After a bit of a speech, a patriotic one, which largely defused the situation, the officers were cowed into silence before their General.  Then, continuing, Washington paused to take out a recently procured eyeglasses.  Wiping them, he said, "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown grey [sic], but almost blind in service to my country."  The silence was broken by open sobbing from these officers, the ones who had just defeated the greatest military in the world.  A smattering of applause broke out, but only for a short while.  When the officers realized what Washington had just said, that was drowned out by a resounding standing ovation.

Washington had just prevented the American Revolution from taking the same road that had been taken by previous revolutions and their generals.  Unlike Julius Caesar, Oliver Cromwell, and others in the past, and the Napster in the near future, Washington, with the victorious army at his beck and call, refused to grab power at the expense of the ideals of the Revolution.  That was not at all trivial matter.

I've fallen into the same trap as some of my students on final exams.  They, when asked what made Washington a great President, cite his role as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, as presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention (which was dead in the water without his presence), etc., things that occurred before he was President.  The Newburgh Conspiracy occurred a few years before Washington was President, but his words and actions in the face of the potential mutiny permitted him to become President; that is, without them, there likely would never have been a President since there would have been no Constitution.  Also, he exhibited the characteristics here that made him a great President.  Besides, nobody is grading this as a final exam!

I know this will be lengthy.  But I enjoy writing and sharing ideas.  I believe it was the early Renaissance poet Petrarch who wrote, "Nothing weighs less than a pen and nothing gives more pleasure."  He was, years later, found dead, sitting at his table, head on parchment, his pen (a feathered quill) in hand.

I've heard that as many as 200,000 women are planning to march, demonstrate at the Inaugural festivities.  It's supposed to be protest, a nonviolent one, of Don Trump in hopes that he will take women's rights (?) into account in his Presidency.  That's fine and good, I suppose.  But what I would really like to know is where a similar march was while Bill Clinton was President.  That lack takes a lot of credibility from any women's protests/demonstrations.

Obama really did give Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  There might well be a reason, a legitimate one, for it.  I just can't think of a single one.  Oh, Biden is known for getting along with people, from both parties.  But is being friendly a criterion for getting the PMF?  I know most people remember VP Dan Quayle mostly because he misspelled "potatoe" and the Lamestream Media jumped all over him for it.  (But the Lamestreams pretty much left untouched Obama's "57 states" and "Austrians speak Austrian.")  I think, though, I could make a pretty good case he was at least as good a VP as Biden.  This PMF for Biden reeks of, as a number of sources have opined, "a participation trophy."  "Everybody is a winner!"  "Nobody loses!"  What to expect from a President who received a Nobel Peace Prize for doing, well, nothing?  (I wonder, with the military actions ordered by Obama, his use of drones, etc., if the Nobel committee would like to take its award back.  But probably not, since it didn't seem to mind that Algore's prize was shown to be a folly, too.)

There are lots of problems with such "participation trophies."  Awards should be earned, not given for just showing up.  Winning an award, esp if not deserved, gives the undeserving person an aura, an importance, a sense that the person is somebody worth listening to, worth following.  After all, he/she has the trophy.  Equally, if not more, some people really deserve such awards; they have earned them.  When such honors are given to those not deserving, that denigrates the achievements that lead to more deserving recipients.