Beautiful quote.

Shall we ever have the likes of Lincoln leading this country again? One can only hope.

Can't go wrong with an open thread containing an Abe Lincoln quote.

re: #2 zombie

I doubt it. He never would have made it today. There were rumors that he was gay and his wife was insane. The press today would have torn him apart.

re: #2 zombie

Shall we ever have the likes of Lincoln leading this country again? One can only hope.

Will we know it when we see it? Will we have the fortitude to bring them to the forefront. I hope so too.

re: #2 zombie

Shall we ever have the likes of Lincoln leading this country again? One can only hope.

I'd like to hope so, but in this day and age I wonder if he/she would get enough financial backing to stay the course.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN, hearing that a mother had given five sons to the Union army, and that all of them had been killed on the battlefield, wrote her the following letter of sympathy :

"EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Nov. 2I, 1864. "
To MRS. BIXBY, BOSTON, MASS.

" Dear Madam—I have been shown, in the files of the War Department, a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

" I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which shall attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

" I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

" Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
A. LINCOLN."

re: #4 Killgore Trout

And he wasn't very good looking... to carry over a topic from the previous thread.

Hello, all, from a beautiful if windy Lower Delaware!

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."

One of my favs from Abe

I share his birthday, and he has always been my favorite President.

The tourists are out in force in my city today. A big fishing tournament, recreational boaters, extreme off-road course, historic downtown- it's just crazy today.

The fact that it's 89 degrees and mostly sunny, with a very nice breeze, hasn't hurt the population influx, either. :)

re: #4 Killgore Trout

I doubt it. He never would have made it today. There were rumors that he was gay and his wife was insane. The press today would have torn him apart.

He wanted Hope and Change too.....

Hello all from a wonderfully blustery threatening to rain but still sunny lower Michigan.

Ridiculous, self-indulgent public confession: I love fads. Particularly fads in the consumption of wine. It seems "Chardonnay" is out of favor, everyone is sick of them, etc. I haven't drunk them in a long time, being out of sync with the fashion, so now I have this plentiful supply of first-rate cut-rate Chard from the bloody world over. And you know what? I'm enjoying my conspicuous lack of fashion. Very much.

Lincoln's remarks in his first inaugural were followed a month later by canons opening up on Ft Sumter.

Sometimes it takes more than beautiful language.

A glass to Abe Lincoln, who could write better by candlelight with a dull quill than a thousand latter-day wordsmiths with M$Word.

My 12 yr old is sniffling because she got blueberries on her new t-shirt.
I told her to wear a bib apron.
I told her so.

/thanks........i needed that

The main concern should be keeping this country safe over the next 4 years. Whatever anyone thinks of Bush nothing happened here since 9/11

re: #4 Killgore Trout

I doubt it. He never would have made it today. There were rumors that he was gay and his wife was insane. The press today would have torn him apart.

You know, when I'm in DC at places like the Lincoln memorial, I am simply stunned at how eloquently people wrote and spoke back then. Today, he’d lose them in the first sentence. We seem to have the attention span of a gnat. No simple soundbite? No listen.

re: #15 kjo

Of course it takes more. But without the beautiful language, we have sh*t, squared.

re: #14 godfrey

I switched to reds a few years back and still enjoy the wide range of flavors red wines offer. However, I think I'll give the lighter wines a try again, what is a good Chardonnay you can recommend?

Flight of the Bumblebee. Acoustic guitar version. Probably the best I've seen.

re: #19 uncle_monkey

No. We're susceptible to oratory. We're just too easily satisfied with rhetoric, instead of true eloquence.

re: #14 godfrey

Chardonnay will never go out of style, it is the noble grape of Burgundy for a reason.

re: #21 Desert Dog

Ramey.

re: #18 offendi

And in that vacuum the talking heads rephrase history.

re: #12 gop_patriot

The tourists are out in force in my city today. A big fishing tournament, recreational boaters, extreme off-road course, historic downtown- it's just crazy today.

The fact that it's 89 degrees and mostly sunny, with a very nice breeze, hasn't hurt the population influx, either. :)

...and in a Ed moment from Golden, Co. It's 48 degrees, raining, snow in the mountains, and expected to go down to 35 tonight.

Damn global warming, ruined my Memorial Day holiday.

Walter in Golden, Co.

re: #17 wolfie

LOL! Yep, my kids are drinking slushes from Sonic, grape and cherry. I'm anticipating a Spray-N-Wash moment very soon.

Interesting exchange in the comments on a DKoz diary discussing Fidel Castro's response to a recent Obama speech:

How about releasing some politcal prisoners, permitting free expression, and a little democracy?
  _{^{by bugscuffle on Mon May 26, 2008 at 01:55:27 PM MDT}}

Which political prisoners? There's freedom of expression in Cuba. There's plenty of democracy there too. More grass roots democracy than we have here for sure.
  _{^{by Rex Manning on Mon May 26, 2008 at 01:59:55 PM MDT}}

I assume "Rex Manning" is a registered voter. That's why it's imperative that every rational person vote in November. If we don't, the "Rex Manning"s of the country will be running things for the next 4 years.

re: #1 gop_patriot

Beautiful quote.

yes it is.
and to think that some idiot compared the hussein to abraham lincoln.

re: #25 godfrey

I'll get a bottle later on and let you know how it went :-)

Grandpa: WWI / Army
Uncles: WWII / Army / Navy
Father: Korea / Army
Brothers: Enlisted yet missed both Desert Storm and Iraq / Army, Army Reserves, National Guard.

Me: Grateful for all of them.

My favorite republican.

Castro publishes an Open letter to Obama....
The empire’s hypocritical politics

IT would be dishonest of me to remain silent after hearing the speech Obama delivered on the afternoon of May 23 at the Cuban American National Foundation created by Ronald Reagan. I listened to his speech, as I did McCain’s and Bush’s. I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity. Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries an enormous favor. I have therefore no reservations about criticizing him and about expressing my points of view on his words frankly.

Heh.

re: #21 Desert Dog

It depends on your taste, whether you like oaked or un-oaked wines, light, medium, or full-bodied, if you want to have it with food or as an aperitif.

I think we should support American wines as much as possible, especially noting the passing of Robert Mondavi, who was instrumental in developing the American wine industry.

re: #26 rockdad

Also Bush's fault in poor p.r..

re: #28 Walter L. Newton

(((Walter!))) Sorry to hear it, at least you won't have too many mosquitos, right? :p

/I blame George Bush, why not, he's responsible for every other rotten thing to come down the pike for the last 15 years.

////super sarc

If we are going to talk of Lincoln, here is a description of him from two of his contemporaries:

When the Republican National Convention assembled at Chicago on the 16th of May, 1860, it was almost universally assumed that William H. Seward would be nominated for President. On the first ballot he stood far ahead of Lincoln; on the second he was three votes ahead; but on the third Lincoln stood fifty one votes ahead of Seward, and his nomination was then made unanimous. The people were scarcely as yet familiar with the name of Lincoln. They soon learned that he was an awkward, ungainly man, one who had risen from obscurity by perseverance, a man shrewd in debate and plain in speech, and who was known simply as “Honest old Abe”. But this awkward, plain man, without culture, and without that despotism of genius which commands admiration, God had taken by the hand, and had chosen as the champion of the republic at the most critical moment of its history. His very election was made the pretext for rebellion. But he accomplished nobly and wisely his great mission. Against the violence of rebellion he opposed the firmness of national authority, supported by the strong arm of patriots. Thus he won the confidence of the people. He had no love of arbitrary power, and indulged in no radical or revolutionary theories which could tempt him to such use of power. He was a conservative in the best sense of the term: not a conservator of party, but of national integrity.Thus he was better fitted to accomplish his divine mission. For it must be remembered that God, the great Disposer of all events, works not with the haste of man. Tares and wheat He lets grow together until the harvest, lest upon uprooting the tares upon impulse He uproot the wheat also. While Lincoln never vacillated, he was never in haste. He hesitated long before he issued his proclamation of emancipation. He laid it away, and weeks passed before he signed it — and then he acted in accordance with a solemn vow which he had made to God. Even after he issued this document he doubted weather the system of gradual and compensated emancipation might not be more just and better for the slaves. He looked on every side of every question, and was therefore slow in reaching conclusions. In Lincoln thought and prayer were mingled, and thus the final word which came in answer to thought and prayer sounded solemnly in his ears like the commandment of God. Following that voice, he had no doubt as to results: it was, “This do, and thou shalt be saved.”

In no life, perhaps, more that in Lincoln’s, did the outward appearance counterdict the inward fact and experience. A casual acquaintance with him would lead to the inference that he looked upon every subject only as the occasion of a joke or the point for an anecdote. But those who came nearer to him, or who carefully study the man, can not thus judge. Upon no man ever fell the weight of sadder care than upon him. Day by day he labored under a burden which he could not lay aside. Thus to his intimate friends he always seemed weary and sorrowful. In an equal degree his external awkwardness curiously contrasted with an inward grace and sweetness not common among men. He was as gentle as a woman. His compassion was infinite. As the hour of victory approached, when the enemies of the nation would lie prostrate at his feet, the desire nearest to his heart was to heal the wounds which the strife left open and bleeding, to pardon and restore. Thus, when the summer of triumph came, its glory wrapped him all about. He saw a nation restored, a race emancipated. He saw the seal of God set upon all which he had done. He looked upon a people inspired with solemn joy, and as their souls went up in anthems, his rose supreme above them all, crowned with an aureola such as never graced the head of Caesar or king.

re: #21 Desert Dog

Listen, drink up the world. Chardonnay can be sublime or trash. And even great Chards can differ: Ramey makes this thing that is just bright like a daffodil (read: not a lot of oak, very tight fruit structure, and not much butterscotch); and then there are scads of Chards that span a whole gamut of flavors, from butterscotch to whatever.

But be adventurous! Sauv Blancs are great when they're minerally. Wonderful with fish. I think Matanzas Creek makes a superb Sauv Blanc.

Then there's Viognier, which is great. Drink Gewurztraminer with spicy stuff. Riesling, particularly from Alsace, is sweet-sour with apple-y flavors and excellent with a wide range of things.

Then there's bubbly. (Falls over with glee.) If you just want to drink bottles and bottles of the stuff, buy that Cook's stuff for under $6! It's fine!

Then go up to Freixenet, then Prosecco (heaven!), Moet, Pommery, Veuve, etc.

Who cares what others say. Life's short. Drink up.

re: #35 Killgore Trout

Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries an enormous favor. I have therefore no reservations about criticizing him and about expressing my points of view on his words frankly.

Is he admitting that the only reason he's coming out and criticizing Obama is that if he praised him for something, it would help McCain and Clinton? That's practically an endorsement. LOL

Continuing...

This is from the book “Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War” (Fairfax Press, republished; originally published 1866. Authored by Alfred H. Gurnsey and Henry M. Alden, editors of Harper’s 1856 to 1869, and 1869 to 1919 respectively).

re: #19 uncle_monkey

You know, when I'm in DC at places like the Lincoln memorial, I am simply stunned at how eloquently people wrote and spoke back then. Today, he’d lose them in the first sentence. We seem to have the attention span of a gnat. No simple soundbite? No listen.

Is it the dominance of broadcast media? Is it our rush to meet the daily needs in the modern oh look! a birdie.

re: #22 bosforus

Flight of the Bumblebee. Acoustic guitar version. Probably the best I've seen.

Wow.

re: #44 gop_patriot

Yup. Pretty funny.

re: #33 Oh no...Sand People!

Grandfather: WWI, Army
Father: WWII (CBI & N. Africa) & Korea, Army
Self: Marine Corps
Middle sister: Navy
Youngest sister: Army
Husband: Air Force

-- Ann

re: #42 godfrey

Merlot, Malbec and Spanish reds have been dominating my table lately.....but, I am always looking for new wines to try.....I will give the whites another go

This song is the perfect Memorial Day song.

re: #47 MandyManners

Wow.

You get a better view of his fingers in this one. It's just incredible

re: #19 uncle_monkey

You know, when I'm in DC at places like the Lincoln memorial, I am simply stunned at how eloquently people wrote and spoke back then. Today, he’d lose them in the first sentence. We seem to have the attention span of a gnat. No simple soundbite? No listen.

Yes, people had quite a way with words back then, both beautiful and clear.

I think though, that one reason no one speaks so beautifully anymore is that even the educated among us have lost the ability to comprehend the great orators of the past.

I just saw a "feelgood" movie about a teacher that engages students by skipping Shakespeare and having them analyze rap lyrics. I understand the need to engage the students, but you only teach them to crawl as step toward teaching them to walk, then run, then fly.

Even Obama, who may be the best orator in the race, pales in comparison to those in the past.

re: #29 gop_patriot

LOL! Yep, my kids are drinking slushes from Sonic, grape and cherry. I'm anticipating a Spray-N-Wash moment very soon.

Every day has a SHOUT moment here.

Another one from the Koskidz....
Memorial Day

What is it we are now protecting and defending? The right of a criminal misAdministration to continue to run roughshod over our country? Who is protecting and defending us from these crooks? Are they not the biggest threat to us all?
....
I don't want armies glorified any more. Even when the cause is just, I still don't feel it is heroic to kill other human beings. I feel it is heroic not to kill other human beings.

And yet how can I not suffer for the young men and women who have been fed into the horrible grinding machines of powers, who have died in war, been maimed, had their minds destroyed?

Progressive!

re: #56 Killgore Trout

Another one from the Koskidz....
Memorial Day

Progressive!

I think we talked about this guy in the last thread....the human subspecies with a smaller brain

re: #56 Killgore Trout

Un-freakin'-believable.

re: #54 Johnny 100 Pesos

Go read the description of Lincoln in my post 41 above and you will see the good of slowing down to read carefully and to think, and to let the spirit in, things not done well in haste.

re: #56 Killgore Trout

One thing that gets me about the koskooks is how much they like calling Bushco a dictatorship. As if checks and balances doesn't even exist.

re: #30 Opilio

Interesting exchange in the comments on a DKoz diary discussing Fidel Castro's response to a recent Obama speech:

I assume "Rex Manning" is a registered voter. That's why it's imperative that every rational person vote in November. If we don't, the "Rex Manning"s of the country will be running things for the next 4 years.

I wonder if some of the KKKer's are paid agents of our enemies.

re: #57 Desert Dog

Even the Neanderthals had enough sense to know that pacifism will get you killed.

re: #42 godfrey

There are many good regional American wineries that deserve financial support. The French prefer eating their local cuisines with their own region's wines, why not us? There are a number of very good American wineries throughout the country, not just California.

I drink the wines of Long Island and the Finger Lakes region regularly. Let's not send our money to countries that either don't support us or are lukewarm to our national interests. Support our own.

re: #2 zombie

John Bolton.

re: #60 bosforus

I often wonder if they believe their own crap.

re: #63 song_and_dance_man

Nice to hear that in real stereo.

I remember years ago Paul Harvey giving one of his great stories on the radio about Abraham Lincoln, apparently the Lincoln’s didn’t mind barn yard animals running around the White House, they just laid traps down to catch all the crap.

re: #44 gop_patriot

Is he admitting that the only reason he's coming out and criticizing Obama is that if he praised him for something, it would help McCain and Clinton? That's practically an endorsement. LOL

Yup!
He does say later on that Obama is definitedly the candidate most politically "advanced."

SO this is where you guys all went to ! An open thread !

Let it be said again:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

From a Democrat, J. F. Kennedy. There's the ring. Let's have more of that, shall we?

And let's remember the men and women who bore that price, shouldered that burden, confronted those hardships, held up those friends, conquered those enemies, in order to fight for the defense of the best liberty, the best country, that humanity has ever known.

May God bless those men and women! We always have need of them, and we should never tire of thanking them.

re: #67 Killgore Trout

I often wonder if they believe their own crap.

Think Rex believes this?

Which political prisoners? There's freedom of expression in Cuba. There's plenty of democracy there too. More grass roots democracy than we have here for sure.
  _{^{%u2003 by Rex Manning on Mon May 26, 2008 at 01:59:55 PM MDT}}

What sort of brain trauma is necessary to spout such tripe?

re: #65 offendi

Absolutely! But there are so many producers now, one's memory is almost punished into the short-term exclusively. I remember what I drank this week. Beyond that, I need my notes. Uncle!

God yes, drink local.

re: #56 Killgore Trout
Emo Lunatic fringe

re: #61 MandyManners

I wonder if some of the KKKer's are paid agents of our enemies.

Good point, didn't Zombie mention that there were Chinese government provocateurs protesting against the Free Tibet folks out in California?* I wouldn't doubt it in the least.

On the other hand, so many of them are willing to do it for free...

*my apologies to Zombie if I read that somewhere else

re: #67 Killgore Trout

I often wonder if they believe their own crap.

They must. Since anyone who passed a middle school government class wouldn't write it. Therefore, anyone ignorant enough to write it believes it but doesn't understand it.

re: #56 Killgore Trout

Buncha narcissists who wouldn't know bravery if it openly saved their miserable little lives. They really don't get it, their world is one of rainbows and sunshine viewed through rose-colored glasses. That others have given their lives so they can live this illusion is totally lost upon them. That the current administration is not the evil they say it is as evidence that they are still free to spew their bile in the manner they do is similarly lost upon them.

That we even pay any attention to their mindless rants gives them way too much credence.

re: #67 Killgore Trout

A lot of the loony rhetoric just seems to be self-flattery and self-aggrandizement. To whit: if BushCo can be portrayed as a dictatorship, it makes them look like Brave Rebels Fighting Evil, rather than whiny, malcontent drama-queens.

re: #74 Opilio

What sort of brain trauma is necessary to spout such tripe?

And, they have much better healthcare than the USA too.....it is a paradise! We should all get together and buy this guy a one way ticket to Paradise (no offense to Eddie Money)

re: #61 MandyManners

I wonder if some of the KKKer's are paid agents of our enemies.

Nah, they are willing to do it for free.

re: #61 MandyManners

I wonder if some of the KKKer's are paid agents of our enemies.

Some are. I know that bastard Soros pays a lot of people to post on different sites. I found that out the hard way here in MT.

re: #65 offendi

Friends of ours took us to a little winery outside Leavenworth WA a couple of years ago, Icicle Ridge. First time we had been wine tasting. It was very enjoyable. I'm no expert on wine but we did like the wines they served and my wife wanted to buy $300 worth, we settled for 2 bottles of the Asian Pear, and have ordered a few more bottles since. Lots of little places like this all over.

re: #54 Johnny 100 Pesos

From what I've heard of Obama's oratory, I hate it. It's phony. Give me a plain-spoken honest man who tells the truth. I don't care if his speech is a stranger to the subordinate clause. Give me good words from a good man, and I'm content.

re: #46 MandyManners

Is it the dominance of broadcast media? Is it our rush to meet the daily needs in the modern oh look! a birdie.

Pretty colors.

re: #80 mikalm

True, dat.

Happy Memorial Day, Lizards. Never forget.

Some interesting history right here in my back yard. Heading to check it out:

[Link: www2.pasadenastarnews.com...]

re: #62 Killgore Trout

Even the Neanderthals had enough sense to know that pacifism will get you killed.

You are right...this Kos Kid said:

How do we defend ourselves? Are guns and bombs the only way to defend ourselves? I'm not naive, I know there are people in this world who would, by force of arms, try to destroy us as they have destroyed others. There is real violence and evil doing in this world aside from the crooks who have taken over the halls of power in America.

How do we protect ourselves? Is there perhaps a different way, one that doesn't entail taking a young human being, in the prime of his or her life, and ordering them to destroy? Is this really the epitome of serving one's country? I think sometimes, in the face of our own compassion for those who go into the military and get harmed, for the sake of their families, we look away from the hard question of whether this is the highest calling a citizen can answer.

If we really do value our soldiers, then we need to find ways to solve problems without going to war, we need to find ways to stop threats to our safety without going to war. If we owe those who have fallen in war anything, I think it is that.

Well, you can look at Israel and see what appeasement did...did giving Gaza achieve peace? No...there were more rockets sent from there.

Did withdrawing from Lebanon achieve peace? No.
Did stopping the War in Lebanon achieve peace? No.

And of course you have history, did Chamberlain's peace for our time worked? NOPE NOPE NOPE!

I went back to that dKos thread to see if "Rex Manning" had produced any more pearls of wisdom, and he didn't disappoint:

Hell, I fear capitalism. Everyone with any sense should fear capitalism.
  _{^{by Rex Manning on Mon May 26, 2008 at 02:29:41 PM MDT}}

re: #83 Mars Needs Neocons

Some are. I know that bastard Soros pays a lot of people to post on different sites. I found that out the hard way here in MT.

george soros, ever the manipulative assh*le.
his plan is to run barack ragged if he can get him elected. soros thinks he's the real messiah and hussein will be his puppet.

re: #92 nyc redneck

Research "Dave Sirota". Soros goon from the beginning (at least in the US) Manipulates elections and the web with equal skill.

On Fox they said there was some controversy about Obama's Memorial Day speech? Anyone know what they are talking about?

re: #92 nyc redneck

I am afraid that many people think giving to Obama is an investment.

re: #86 buzzsawmonkey

They still teach the processes of government in middle school? I am astonished. From conversations I have had with people 35 years older or less, I have gotten the impression that any form of civics has not been taught in schools for a very long time.

They still do it in high school, I know.
Unfortunately it is required for graduation.
Unfortunately? Yes, because that means you can't flunk it.
Wouldn't be nice to deny a kid their RIGHT to a HS diploma.

Thus, teachers in many districts will ask almost nothing of the students.
And many students will give them even less.

re: #91 Opilio

I went back to that dKos thread to see if "Rex Manning" had produced any more pearls of wisdom, and he didn't disappoint:

Hell, I fear capitalism. Everyone with any sense should fear capitalism.
%u2003 by Rex Manning on Mon May 26, 2008 at 02:29:41 PM MDT

Oh, Lordy.

Has anyone read my post No. 41?

See, it is too long.

Even here we are sped up.

re: #57 Desert Dog

I think we talked about this guy in the last thread....the human subspecies with a smaller brain

Microcephalics?

I think Lincoln's quotation at the top of the thread represents wishful thinking.

Hear the difference with Kennedy's inaugural:

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning—signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago. 1
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. 2
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution.

I stand perplexed that we have apparently come so far as to find, collectively, that such an opener sounds antique. "Mystic chords"? People would laugh. But they would even laugh at Kennedy's "hand of God."

Perhaps this is why Obama's rhetoric is effective with some. There is an invincibly prosaic tenor to contemporary life, and it leads to a pervading ennui. For forty years, we've been bludgeoned into thinking heroism is a sham, eloquence is mere rhetoric, and belief is oppressive to others. What can galvanize the better angels of our nature, now? What unifies rather than divides?

re: #86 buzzsawmonkey

It certainly seems that way. Unfortunately, however, we 35 and youngers are used to a lot of instantaneous gratification. That mentality doesn't exactly transfer over very well when it comes to politics. Obama promotes change like it can happen over night, hence the young vote.

re: #99 buzzsawmonkey

But it lives in you.

re: #94 Nevergiveup

On Fox they said there was some controversy about Obama's Memorial Day speech? Anyone know what they are talking about?

Did he know what town he was in this time?

re: #99 buzzsawmonkey

And there will also be no common language of culture and metaphor to which an orator can appeal.

There's the rub.

re: #75 godfrey

Like many people I went through the Bordeaux collecting, and wine "expert" and ratings phase of wine drinking. What however is really cool is exploring and finding little know wines and wineries that you enjoy. I have found really nice wines ranging from Michigan to New Mexico.

There are really good wineries in many states. LGF readers should try their local/regional wine trails. American wines also include hybrids. Most American wine makers are accessible and not snooty, they take a great deal of pleasure if you have an interest in their products which is frequently a labor of love for them.

Uncork your own country's wines.

re: #84 Fredlike

Thanks for the info. Sounds like something I would like to try when I am out there again.

re: #91 Opilio

I went back to that dKos thread to see if "Rex Manning" had produced any more pearls of wisdom, and he didn't disappoint:

Sitting in his comfortable house, completely ignorant of how his life was made so easy, he fears the very thing that has made his life so easy. The very thing that has brought freedom and prosperity everywhere it is implemented...Instead he looks to a blood soaked tyrant and his tinpot dictatorship for solace...

re: #95 Ojoe

I am afraid that many people think giving to Obama is an investment.

wonder how he feels abt. that.
(he probably has no idea he has been set up from the beginning. also consider how angry the investors are that michelle is abt. to queer the deal)

re: #74 Opilio

What sort of brain trauma is necessary to spout such tripe?

Trauma? Nah... just taking "the Enemy of my Enemy must be my Friend" concept to an illogical extreme.

Or, he's just a 20-year-old wannabe-Communist who hasn't a clue.

re: #106 offendi

Absolutely, I agree. For beginners, though, it might be wise to start with producers that make a straight "varietal" type wine, so that they know what a Cab Franc bouquet smells like, really -- (violets) -- or the strong currant/Bing cherry flavor of a Chianti (Sangiovese). Know what I mean?

re: #98 Ojoe

I read it, went back just now and pulled out this quote that I liked:

He had no love of arbitrary power, and indulged in no radical or revolutionary theories which could tempt him to such use of power. He was a conservative in the best sense of the term: not a conservator of party, but of national integrity.

That pretty much sums up everything that Obama and Hillary are not, doesn't it?

re: #111 Spiny Norman

Trauma? Nah... just taking "the Enemy of my Enemy must be my Friend" concept to an illogical extreme.

Or, he's just a 20-year-old wannabe-Communist who hasn't a clue.

Anyone want to bet he has a "Che" poster somewhere in his house?

re: #98 Ojoe

Read it again, though I have read it before.
Thanks for posting it.

re: #108 offendi

Your Welcome.

My wife's favorite wine came from a Walmart in central Indiana. Apparently they stock some local vintners. Of course with the shipping laws for wine, we would have to get her sister to mail us some since the winery cannot mail anything to my state.

re: #98 Ojoe

Has anyone read my post No. 41?

See, it is too long.

Even here we are sped up.

i tried to read it all, but that somewhat archaic style is difficult after a nice big glass of wine and pressing issues like getting the hog dogs going. (yes hot dogs).

re: #94 Nevergiveup

On Fox they said there was some controversy about Obama's Memorial Day speech? Anyone know what they are talking about?

For grins, I performed a Google News Search on the following string: "Obama Memorial Day Speech". The first 5 hits in order, were:

1. The New York Times
2. The Huffington Post
3. The Huffington Post
4. Agence France-Presse
5. The New York Times

re: #78 bosforus

re: #67 Killgore Trout

I often wonder if they believe their own crap.

They must. Since anyone who passed a middle school government class wouldn't write it. Therefore, anyone ignorant enough to write it believes it but doesn't understand it.

I'm not so sure. What, exactly, are they teaching in middle-school government class these days?

We wonder...

re: #115 J.D.

re: #117 nyc redneck

I am always struck where it says

His compassion was infinite.

re: #118 Opilio

lol

re: #120 Ojoe

I couldn't bold any of that description of Lincoln without wanting to bold the whole thing, though.

re: #99 buzzsawmonkey

And so you homeschool your kids to give them that.
You have a house full of books.
You get rid of the TV. You strictly limit computer time.

And sometimes late at night you wonder if you're crazy.
If it's just as stupid as training them to churn butter or be ferriers.
Because the more you succeed, the more they are freaks.

re: #109 Desert Dog

Well said.

re: #113 gop_patriot

You bet.

... radical theories tempting to the arbitrary use of power...

that's the Democrats this election for sure.

Please God save us from that.

Ojoe (#98),

Has anyone read my post No. 41?

See, it is too long.

Even here we are sped up.

I did. (While listening to a great selection of songs offered up by song_and_dance_man.)

Hey everybody! I have been trying for around 2 years to register on here and yesterday I checked the page and registration was open! Anyhow, I am excited to finally participate in commentary on this website.

Happy Memorial Day and don't forget our fallen heroes.

Best,
Chris
Tampa, Florida

re: #114 Desert Dog

Anyone want to bet he has a "Che" poster somewhere in his house?

Heh. Try, "several".

And Simon Bolivar. And Chairman Mao. And Ho Chi Min... His prized possession might even be a genuine 1930s Soviet propaganda poster.

_{I use the word "possession" advisedly, since "property is theft" after all.}

re: #128 Sheridan8

Hello and welcome.

re: #128 Sheridan8

Welcome, good to have you here. :)

re: #120 Ojoe

re: #117 nyc redneck

I am always struck where it says

His compassion was infinite.

"that's how he won the confidence of the people."
(people see thru a fraud, that's why hussein won't be potus. just like jon cary who needed him a huntin' license, conveniently in so. ohio.)

re: #56 Killgore Trout

Another one from the Koskidz....
Memorial Day

What is it we are now protecting and defending? The right of a criminal misAdministration to continue to run roughshod over our country? Who is protecting and defending us from these crooks? Are they not the biggest threat to us all?
....
I don't want armies glorified any more. Even when the cause is just, I still don't feel it is heroic to kill other human beings. I feel it is heroic not to kill other human beings.

And yet how can I not suffer for the young men and women who have been fed into the horrible grinding machines of powers, who have died in war, been maimed, had their minds destroyed?

Progressive!

Pacifism is not a real philosophy for most of its adherents; its a fey affectation at best, and most commonly a cheap, cost-free way to set oneself apart and above the masses... without lifting a finger [physically or metaphysically] to actually do anything to better the world. Cheap braggadocio from those who know they'll never be called on it.

re: #129 ploome hineni

plooooooooooooooooome! Crap, you get on just as I'm heading out to grill. I'll email you a list. Long story short: if by "cheap" you mean under $10, and "good" you mean "decent enough to eat with," then join the rest of the masses and buy that Barefoot stuff. It's far from swill.

re: #131 WriterMom

{WriterMom!}

We have got to get synchronized.

OT Pure Goldwater on Cspan2 right now.

On Topic.

I have already made it clear my opinion of the Kossacks Here.

It should be noted that the Kos kids think the world is out to get them. Many didn't outgrow the nerd complex of high school and think of the military as bullies. I too had that problem, I felt the whole world was responsible for my problems. The difference is that I grew out of it. The Kos kids didn't, and for the Kiddies still in high school they may not. What I would like to say is that some of them may eventually grow to regret the hate and bile they have posted. Especially as they lose someone they care about who has a different view of our "imperialism". I think Markos shakes hands with the devil every day to do what he keeps doing. To reject everything he learned while in the military either means he is insane or an utter liar. I'd like to think some small part of him is screaming for release from his false life.

re: #128 Sheridan8

The same to you, Chris. Welcome to LGF!

re: #132 buzzsawmonkey

Ok, "brang" pulls me from the Lure of the Grill to say that is unconscionable. "Brang"? "BRANG"?

Why don't we just cut out our tongues and caper around like chimps, beating our chests and gibbering for the odd banana?

Good God.

"Brang"!

godfrey (#141),

LOL.

re: #139 Mars Needs Neocons

OT Pure Goldwater on Cspan2 right now.

On Topic.

I have already made it clear my opinion of the Kossacks Here.

It should be noted that the Kos kids think the world is out to get them. Many didn't outgrow the nerd complex of high school and think of the military as bullies. I too had that problem, I felt the whole world was responsible for my problems. The difference is that I grew out of it. The Kos kids didn't, and for the Kiddies still in high school they may not. What I would like to say is that some of them may eventually grow to regret the hate and bile they have posted. Especially as they lose someone they care about who has a different view of our "imperialism". I think Markos shakes hands with the devil every day to do what he keeps doing. To reject everything he learned while in the military either means he is insane or an utter liar. I'd like to think some small part of him is screaming for release from his false life.

Or, he's just a snide little prick who was never quite accepted into the military fraternity and will resent them fo' evah.

re: #129 ploome hineni

godfrey

how about a good cheap wine

10-15$

Here's a few cheap bottles I enjoy:

Two Buck Chuck - Charles Shaw - Cab, Merlot or Chardonnay

Borsao Campo de Borja - a tasty Spanish red

Mirassou Pinot Noir - cheap, yet tasty

re: #143 Spiny Norman

Or, he's just a snide little prick who was never quite accepted into the military fraternity and will resent them fo' evah.

There is that. Then again I really didn't merge in either and have no resentment. In fact I sometimes miss it.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge—and more. ~ JFK, 1961

How far the left has fallen.

Geeps!

Buzz, WriterMom, Ploome

All my favorites and more, and the prospect of "chatting" with you all is preventing me from throwing this succulent little marbled ribeye onto the coals. You are a cruel, unmerciful lot.

But I shall resist. On this Memorial Day, when all the world is carbonizing cow flesh on innumerable Webers they haven't bothered to clean since forever, I am holding up my chin and wheeling it forth to do my carnivorous duty.

More anon, my patriot friends, my colleagues, my fondly fraternal, sororal "posse."

Years pass away, but Freedom does not pass;
Thrones crumble, but man's birthright crumbles not;
And, like the wind across the prairie grass
A whole world's aspirations fan this spot
With ceaseless pantings after liberty,
One breath of which would make even Russia fair,
And blow sweet summer through the exile's care
And set the exile free;
.For which I pray, here, in the open air
Of Freedom's morning-tide, by Lincoln's grave.

— Maurice Thompson.

ploome

HRM REX GOLIATH is good and...well...cheap.

godfrey is right about the Barefoot stuff.

Brang it on!

Be they beautiful or not, by age 50, everyone has the face they deserve.

re: #156 buzzsawmonkey
Since you put it that way, you once again cause me to doubt myself.
Out, damned spot! Out!

Check it out Charles, the IAEA is getting "serious":

Iran nuclear arms research "serious concern": IAEA

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's alleged research into designing nuclear warheads remains a matter of serious concern and needs "substantive explanations", the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

Substantive explanations you say? You got it:

The IAEA has been pressing Tehran for answers after Western intelligence alleged that Iran had covertly studied how to design atomic bombs. Iran has dismissed the intelligence as baseless, forged or irrelevant.

Baseless, forged or irrelevant, sheesh ElBaradei, take your pick.

re: #2 zombie

Shall we ever have the likes of Lincoln leading this country again? One can only hope.

Probably not in the near future. Any presidential candidate today who said things like, "The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession," or, "My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them," would never get elected today.

re: #159 gmsc

Probably not in the near future. Any presidential candidate today who said things like, "The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession," or, "My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them," would never get elected today.

That's odd, Dems make headway everyday denying Christianity and insulting it. I'm not even religious and I can see it.

re: #91 Opilio

I went back to that dKos thread to see if "Rex Manning" had produced any more pearls of wisdom, and he didn't disappoint:

Hell, I fear capitalism. Everyone with any sense should fear capitalism.
%u2003 by Rex Manning on Mon May 26, 2008 at 02:29:41 PM MDT

Oh, Lordy.

All in favor of buying Rex Manning a one way all flight expense paid trip to North Korea say: Aye.

AYE! I offer $10 bucks to help out this wayward commie.

Oh, boy! Dutch police offered discounted Korans to study.

Seem to have misplaced this (I thought I posted it earlier)

While Google may not care, others do:
Flight Deck

Having come to the realization that bad freedoms oft precede the good - and that peer-2-peer may therefore be the greatest subversive force in the world today - it follows that the strongest proponent of liberty to the benighted world might well be a clip of minimally clad hot 'chicks' reading from and expounding on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

No s**t - I'd bet good money it would go viral.

From Drudge: 'KARMA': Sharon Stone Blames China's Treatment Of Tibet For Earthquake.

re: #139 Mars Needs Neocons

The WORLD *is* out to get them - and all the deluded. It's called evolution in action ( aka instant karma ).

Their big problem is that they confuse the implacable forces of nature with the will of other humans who - other then in brief moments of irk - don't care enough to bother with the destruction of these pre-doomed losers.

re: #164 missykrissy

Samizdat for the Boomerang generation. Hop to it.

re: #166 missykrissy

Post here more often, please. Don't pull punches.

re: #166 missykrissy

The WORLD *is* out to get them - and all the deluded. It's called evolution in action ( aka instant karma ).

Their big problem is that they confuse the implacable forces of nature with the will of other humans who - other then in brief moments of irk - don't care enough to bother with the destruction of these pre-doomed losers.

Nicely stated. Please comment more often

Charles. Check out some of Tommy Emmanuel's Idol
Chet Atkins

So much good Chet missing from Youtube now.

And a surprise fingerstyle player - Jerry Reed.

re: #171 cincinnati_kid37

Hooray! Skills!

re: #167 godfrey

Sadly, I am of an age where I 'have the face I have earned' (and the thighs as well *sigh* ). Would there were a time machine.

Baring that - or excessive plastic surgery - I fear I must leave the physical side of such an operation in younger and more aesthetic hands.

I would, however, pitch in $20 towards the cause.

The goal of the younger generation is to absorb the best of the previous generation, and then best it.

Do it.

re: #162 nihilist

Having studied the Koran, I find it very easy to discount.

re: #175 missykrissy

Having studied the Koran, I find it very easy to discount.

As do any sane people. Unless one studies it as counterpoint to the beliefs of civilized people.

re: #175 missykrissy

Ah, but you have to fear it. It is an instrument of unreason, which surges up and submerges reason like a tide, and then in what circle of animals will you find your intellectual poise?

Re: Mars. Science. Techno-stuff:
Now this is funny.

In Memory

re: #172 godfrey

Hooray! Skills!

Godfrey. So many people think the greatest is in the future. Some time ago, I was taught to look into the past for it. Glad you enjoyed it.

"The binary language of moisture vaporators" is Hebrew!

Upthread just vanished.

Keeping with the music theme:

Why we fight the War on Terror

Warning, strong language in the young man's diatribe.

This whole "second black president reference to Obama and, not BillyBob Clinton but this Republican" is facinating.

Though that earlier president, like J. Edgar Hoover had contemporary blacks, as well as rumors within th eblack community, who claimed to be cousins, meaning it cannot be written off completely as political "smear" as it was seen in those days to be part Negro.

Babe Ruth is often mentioned by some blacks as part black and Bob Barr is also a target for in his case a charge of hypocrisy and being in the racial closet so to speak, but as far as I know in the latter case there are no relatives with family trees showing a Barr shaped hole.

Its actually neither amazing, nor should it be in our day especially interesting that mixture took place throughout our history, and Ruth for example, came from a place where there was intense mixture for centuries between especially poor white and blacks at a time when whites were aslo held in effective slavery and some blacks were in fact free.

Every once and while you hear about a celbrity like Caroll Channing who is suddenly "black" and in her case it was something told to her late in life, but who knows.

re: #180 cincinnati_kid37

Our good parents and grandparents have lived one age. Let us live another, but one they would be proud of, too.

I live to see a young man or woman learn, appreciate, and understand the best our previous generations had to offer, and then to feel competitive about being worthy of that legacy by exceeding it. This is how a culture truly "progresses," not by a cavalier modernism, not by an ironic soi-disant "post-modernism," but by the slow accretion of small, respectful improvements upon past practice. In this manner, the rest of us can see a tangible confrontation of our beloved past with the challenges of the present. It is like watching apprentices engage a new technology, like watching one's sons and daughters swim in an old but altered sea. God, give us sons and daughters with the perspicacity to see this, and the courage to meet it head-on with the confidence of the ages.

re: #40 buzzsawmonkey

Some Memorial Day reading: Kipling's short story A Conference of the Powers, in which a moonbat author meets and talks with some young soldiers and his eyes are opened.

I read that yesterday, thanks for the repost. It's amazing how current it still is, besides the great subtlety.

re: #75 godfrey

Absolutely! But there are so many producers now, one's memory is almost punished into the short-term exclusively. I remember what I drank this week. Beyond that, I need my notes. Uncle!

God yes, drink local.

Local here means Fresno State Wine, an excellent set of selections. We buy it just down the street at the school's onsite farm store!

/lucky ducks

re: #187 Zonie

Beato te.

A lot of local production is garbage alas, and plays on sentimentality or ignorance for sales. The challenge is to discern what a local production is good for. Is it all to aspire to satisfy the connoisseur? No. I've tasted muscadine, for example, that would fail utterly in that, but it was perfect for reducing into a glaze for pork, much better than other bottles. And why would that be thought a lesser thing?

Charles, lovely quote from Abraham Lincoln. Thank you.

"My man" Godfrey #185 your post was most eloquently and accurately stated.

re: #96 wolfie

Which is why I went with the advanced placement curriculum for everything. Good teachers that won't take bullshit and who actually teach

So 100 years ago today oil was first discovered in the middle east...

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." – Abraham Lincoln.

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
— Abraham Lincoln

That says a lot.

Practically speaking, in the thick of a conflict one simply doesn't have the luxury of turning his better angels loose upon the mystic chords of memory, and thus swelling the chorus of the Union.

Here in Memorial Day of 2008, however, with Honest Abe's inspiration in mind, I granted several of my 'better angels' permission to wander across the fields of time, scouting for some noteworthy chord to share with this august body of bloggers.

Here's one: Memorial Day of 1966, 42 years ago. Flying as an aircrewman off of the USS Kitty Hawk in a USN reconnaissance jet (same model as the one in my avatar) in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin, about 70 miles east of Hanoi. Heading due west at an altitude of 36,000 feet.

Looking up, the view was magnificent and peaceful. It was a pitch-black night, with all the stars in the sky seeming to be just 50 or 60 feet above your head.

Looking down, however, just then all of the dogs of war were visiting Hanoi. For some 15-20 minutes an incredible array of bombs and antiaircraft fire lit up the harbor, the city, and the countryside for miles around. Indescribable carnage was taking place, and I had a front-row seat. I didn't see how ANYBODY could have lived through that barrage, but evidently the next day they all came out of their shelters and went about their business as usual.

I've sometimes reflected back upon that scene, playing it back and forth against McArthur's viewpoint of WINNING WHAT WE START, vs. the limited no-win "don't even bomb a shithouse without my permission" (LBJ) orders imposed on our military in VietNam directly from Washington, vs. the thought voiced by a crewmember of the Enola Gay when they bombed Hiroshima, "My God, what have I done?"

War is indeed hell, but subjugation to suppression -- and not winning what we start -- is double-hell. I don't know any veteran who thinks otherwise. We all pledged to uphold and defend the Constitution of this exceptional country from all enemies BOTH foreign and domestic, and having been under fire only strengthens that resolve.

That Christmas, when a buddy and I stepped off that transport airliner at Travis AFB after 3 years of duty in Japan and VietNam, we both dropped down and sincerely kissed the tarmac.

"Memorial" means 'looking back'. Fine, we have some vivid memories of the past. However, if we don't get our ass in gear and sincerely define the sources and details of evident sabotage that has occurred in America's political, educational, financial, occupational, family, and religious fields, then we'll deserve exactly what we get.

C'mon, let's have some of that CHORUS OF THE UNION that Abe talked about.
.

re: #193 A Kiwi Infidel

Yep, and that is what the libtards are doing to us today- destroying us from within. Fight back and don't let our soldiers sacrifice be in vain!

re: #175 missykrissy

Who would publish the Koran now? Probably nobody. Back then there were few books, so it stood a chance of being copied, much to our woe today.

Wow I just said something politically incorrect.

Tamron (#194),

Great post. Thanks for your service and your thoughts.

re: #197 Geepers

Ditto

re: #194 Tamron

Here's your chorus

Oh, we'll rally round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom,
We will rally from the hillside, we'll gather from the plain,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
(Chorus)
The Union forever! Hurrah, boys, hurrah!
Down with the traitor, up with the star;
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
We are springing to the call of our brothers gone before,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
And we'll fill our vacant ranks with a million free men more,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
(Chorus)
We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true and brave,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
And although he may be poor, not a man shall be a slave,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
(Chorus)
So we're springing to the call from the East and from the West,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
And we'll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love best,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
Chorus

re: #199 Ojoe

Thanks, Ojoe. You've got the idea.

I've always been inspired by this scene from Le Miserable:

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
.

Change you can believe in. Obama sees dead people.

On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.

[Link: www.powerlineblog.com...]

Remember when Sharon Stone was relevant? Neither do I:

Stone: China Quake Is Karma For Tibet

(Can't help repeating myself somewhat)

Obama, AlGore, Sharon Stone and Michael Moore should get together and decide how to CHANGE the severe global cooling on Mars that's been causing our earthquakes in China, and therefore threatening the world's prime Panda Bear habitat.

Maybe a few well-placed nukes in Mars' underground Bushitler psychiatric central banking installations would restore the balance of Nature, allowing our precious Pandas to sleep, eat and procreate without stress.
.

On one of the stories on the front page of msn.com, the IAEA says Iran isn't cooperating with them.

*shock*

Of couse, I'm sure the answer is more diplomacy, and talk, and letting time trickle away. Oh and also less islamophobia too.

The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

It was a beautiful speech and the best try Lincoln or anyone could have made, to avert the coming civil war.

It failed. The mystic chords of memory didn't swell the chorus of Union, and history cried havoc and let slip the dogs of war.

Sometimes you can't talk your way out of a war, because there is no such thing as a compromise that might be acceptable to both sides. The North was determined to preserve the Union and to stop the expansion of slavery. The south was determined to have either its place within a wholly slave-state Union [the practical import of the Dred Scott decision], or to secede.

With these non-negotiable terms, and neither side willing to budge from them, there was nothing left for it but to fight it out.

In principle there ought to always be a negotiated settlement, because the two sides could agree to accept whatever outcome the coming war would bring, with the sole exception that nobody dies and nothing gets broken. But we mortals are fools, and full of pride and confidence, and we cannot see past that to the likely outcome of the war.

Sometimes, as with WW1, both sides are blind. Other times, just one side is blind. But that's all it takes.

Evening Lizards.

For those in the mood for a little country...

I once saw an interview with an elderly English fellow; he knew much about history, conflict, and war. He made the point that it is a common misperception that it is the job of a soldier to kill. Rather, he said, it is the job of a soldier to die. The sacrifice of constrained living, hardship, and risk of death, is made knowingly so that the rest of society can be defended, and this is why there is such a tremendous emphasis in the military on honor, memory, and ritual.

I always remembered that.

re: #144 buzzsawmonkey

They also, of course, use the new version of the verb "said," which is pronounced "wuzlike." As in, "I wuzlike, 'No way!' and he wuzlike, 'Way!'"

I am not a fan of "wuzlike."

We also have the lovely "I have went." Gag.

At work, I am limited to Internet Exploder 6, with all its failings, and ONE of those is the inability to Recommend FOR GOOD Tamron's "Flight Over Slavery Harbor", above...

I'll recommend it when I get home in an hour or two...

***
Agree with many of the posters here re the debasing of English today...

...which introduces the only thought worthy of addition here, that the ELOQUENT SPEECH of former times so often REFLECTED ELOQUENT THOUGHT...

...which is STILL possible today, but not having an agrarian, slow-moving reality around us today (as in Lincoln's time), requires the personal development of an ability to QUIETEN one's inner jabber-wocky for a moment or two, and SYNTHESIZE several RATIONAL DISTILLATIONS of one's observations and attendant thoughts...