For the 4th of July I'll Do My Best To Answer Requests

Per the previous 4th of July post, there was a request to find the clip where John Adams bemoans his fate, that he'll never appear in the history books and that only Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Washington's horse (he rode several, apparently his favorite was named "Old Nelson") will be known for winning the Revolution.

Only problem with that clip is that it cuts off Franklin's response too soon.  It's pretty much the only YouTube clip I can find.  If anyone can find a longer clip that preserves the punchline, pass it on.

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It's the 4th of July. You Know What That Means

TONS OF YOUTUBE CLIPS WITH "TEAM AMERICA F-CK YEAH" SONGS PLAYING!

(is warned by lawyers about abuse of copyrighted materials)

(is hit with restraining order from families sick and tired of their 5-year-olds learning how to sing "Team America F-ck Yeah" over and over)

Well, okay then.  How about video clips of "Let It Go" over and over?  I'm sure having the 5-year-olds singing THAT tune over and over has gone well in a lot of households...

(families refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it might incriminate them in front of their kids)

Well, at least you're teaching them about the Fifth Amendment right protecting against self-incrimination.

How about this?

So... Captain America F-CK YEAH!

(gets hit with restraining order from Marvel Studios) OH CMON...

Fine.  Let's go the non-fiction route:

Oh no, William and Mary won't do for you Harvard grads... sigh.

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Life Liberty and the Purrsuit of String Toys

I'm baking some beans for a friend's party.  This is the Fourth of July, peoples.

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Anniversaries: Gettysburg Day Three

The battle in most respects determined the fate of the war: the South suffered a decisive loss in the Eastern theater for the first time; Lee's army lost men it couldn't replace; and it failed to end the siege of Vicksburg the way Lee had hoped.

The war was fought for another two years (close enough) after this, because by this point only a total defeat of either side - especially the South, its leadership convinced in the righteousness of its cause - would have ended it.  But from this point on, all the advantages were to the Union: they had finally gotten a semblance of military leadership under Meade (and later Grant) to fight the Virginian theater, they had the numeric advantage of troops (the South intentionally fought with less manpower because they needed to keep enough white men back home to keep the slavery population in check), they had the economic and engineering might (the South had foolishly stuck to a cotton industry dominance and failed to create enough ironworks and grain farms to supply themselves).  This defeat combined with Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation effectively kept Europe out of the war for good.

On an end note, a fellow Hordian Andy Hall runs the Dead Confederates blog (tracking southern and Texan history), and had his own take on the Second Day of Gettysburg from the memoirs of a Texan soldier caught in the thick of it.  He's got a great blog: link it.

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All I Remember From High School Band Is That I Have To Roll My Feet

For your consideration on this day of celebration:


And to all Americans I wish you a safe and festive Fourth of July!

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Welcome to the 4th of July here in the United States (Updated)

From Digby:

What a beautiful message of unity on our Independence Day it is to tell close to 20 million citizens that they are on their own in the worst job market since the Great Depression purely to make a cheap political point. It would make King George proud to see his aristocratic heirs flexing their muscles two centuries later in the country that once proudly proclaimed that it didn't have a class system.

Also wik.  And this:


(UPDATE: 7/5/2014) tis a pity but YouTube links go bad all the time.  I'll try to bring ya a replacement one:

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