Figuring it out.

September 6 ...

In 1757 the Marquis de Lafayette was born in Haute-Loire, France. In 1766 chemist and physicist John Dalton was born in Eaglesfield, England. In 1837 the Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio went co-educational. In 1860 social worker and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, IL. In 1888 Kennedy family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy was born in Boston, MA. In 1901 President McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. McKinley died eight days later; he was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1909 American explorer Robert Peary sent word that he had reached the North Pole five months earlier. In 1939 South Africa declared war on Germany. In 1941 Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas were ordered to wear on their clothing yellow Stars of David with the word "Jude" (German for Jew) inscribed. In 1948 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands was coronated. In 1952 Canadian television broadcasting began in Montreal. In 1970 Palestinian guerrillas seized control of three jetliners which were later blown up on the ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated. In 1986 two Arab terrorists associated with Abu Nidal's organization killed 22 and wounded six inside the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey during Shabbat services. In 1995 the Senate Ethics Committee voted unanimously to recommend expulsion of Senator Bob Packwood, accused of sexual and official misconduct; also on this day, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's Major League record by playing his 2,131st consecutive game. In 2004 former President Clinton underwent successful heart bypass surgery during a four-hour procedure at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Texas Democrats are an impressive bunch, non?

September 5 ...

In 1774 the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia. In 1793 the Reign of Terror began during the French Revolution as the National Convention instituted harsh measures to repress counterrevolutionary activities. In 1836 Sam Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas. In 1905 the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War, was signed in New Hampshire. In 1914 the First Battle of the Marne began during World War I. In 1939 the US proclaimed its neutrality in World War II. In 1945 Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese-American suspected of being wartime broadcaster Tokyo Rose, was arrested in Yokohama. (D'Aquino was later convicted of treason, stripped of her US citizenship and sent to serve 10 years in prison, but ended up serving six; she was pardoned in 1977 by President Ford.) In 1958 Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago was published for the first time in the US. In 1960 Cassius Clay (he later changed his name to Muhammad Ali) of Louisville, KY, won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. In 1972 Arab guerrillas attacked the Israeli delegation at the Munich Olympic games; 11 Israelis, five guerrillas and a police officer were killed in the siege. In 1975 President Ford escaped an attempt on his life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a disciple of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, CA. In 1977 the US launched the Voyager I spacecraft two weeks after launching its twin, Voyager II. In 1990 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urged a Holy War against the West and former allies. In 1997 Mother Teresa died in Calcutta, India, at age 87; conductor Sir Georg Solti died in France at age 84.

Ask Iowahawk, he knows what to do.

And remember, "[You'll] always have Denver."

University of Hamburg professor of economics Thomas Straubhaar, in Der Spiegel:

The Obama administration and the Federal Reserve want to fix the United States economy by spending more money. But while that approach might work for Europe, it is risky for the US. The nation would be better off embracing traditional American values like self-reliance and small government.

... the behavior of the American government and the Federal Reserve makes one thing clear: They do not see the solution to the US's economic woes in a return to traditional American virtues. Obama is not calling for the unleashing of market forces, as Ronald Reagan once did during an equally critical period in the early 1980s. On the contrary: Obama, driven by his own convictions and advised by economists who believe in government intervention, has taken a path that leads far away from those things that catapulted America to the top of the world in the past century.

The Obama administration's current policies rely on more government rather than personal responsibility and self-determination. They are administering to the patient more, not less, of exactly those things that led to the crisis.
...

What could help would be a return to the American Way, the approach which made the US so historically powerful. The success of this model is illustrated by history. In 1820, twice as many people lived in the United Kingdom as the US, and its economic performance (measured by gross domestic product) was three times as strong and the average standard of living (measured by GDP per person) was a quarter higher. Today, there are about five times more people living in the US than the UK, America's economic performance is about seven times better than Britain's and the average American is about 50 percent better off than the average Briton.

What should be done? It would be more intelligent to repair the elevator which helped the US rise from the bottom of the heap to the top, instead of trying to transplant a European style of operating onto American soil. Either the US follows the American Way -- an approach characterized by a shared history, economic success and constant progress -- or the US will have to adjust itself to the "European" way, sparking economic and social tensions in the process.

If the US manages to revert to its former ways, there is potential for hope. If not, the American age will have really come to an end.

Read the whole piece.

September 4 ...

In 476 Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed when Odoacer proclaimed himself King of Italy. In 1781 Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers. In 1846 architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham was born in Henderson, NY. In 1888 George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film camera, and registered his trademark: Kodak. In 1893 English author Beatrix Potter first told the story of Peter Rabbit in the form of a "picture letter" to Noel Moore, the son of Potter's former governess. In 1917 the American expeditionary force in France suffered its first fatalities in World War I. In 1944 during World War II, British troops entered Antwerp, Belgium. In 1951 President Truman addressed the nation from the Japanese peace treaty conference in San Francisco in the first live, coast-to-coast television broadcast. In 1957 Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock; also on this day, Ford Motor Co. began selling its ill-fated Edsel. In 1972 seven Israeli athletes were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists at 1972 Summer Olympics; also on this day, swimmer Mark Spitz captured his seventh Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay event at Munich, Germany. Spitz, who was the first Olympian to win seven gold medals, swam in only seven events and set world records in each one. In 1984 Canada's Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney, won a landslide victory in general elections over the Liberal Party of Prime Minister John N. Turner.

One of the smartest things Rahm Emanuel has ever said. (via Instapundit)

Now, it would be nice to see him direct the same sentiment toward the sleazebags at the AFL-CIO; the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME); the Teamsters; the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); the National Education Association (NEA); and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Of course, that assumes that he has integrity and guts.

In an interview with Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell, National Review's Robert Costa notes, "The polling figures paint an astounding picture -- and not just for Democrats, but for the political class as a whole."

Costa further writes:

On Monday, Gallup released a new weekly poll showing Republicans leading Democrats by an unprecedented ten-point margin, 51 to 41 percent, in congressional voting preferences -- the largest gap in Gallup's history of tracking the midterm generic ballot. "I have never seen numbers like this," Caddell says, shaking his head. "Unless Republicans can find some way to screw it up, they will win big, even though nobody really likes them, either."

Indeed, rather than a ringing endorsement of either major party, Caddell sees November as a broader referendum on the political class -- the class, he says, to which Obama, and his political fate, are irrevocably tied.

"Democrats used to be the voice of the common man in America, not his dictator," Caddell laments. "Now, with Wall Street, their mantra is, 'We?ll take your money, but we won?t kiss.' The people who own the party -- George Soros, the Center for American Progress, the public-employee union bosses, rich folks flying private jets to 'ideas festivals' in Aspen -- they're Obama's base."

On this day in 1970, NFL Hall-of-Fame coach Vince Lombardi died of cancer at the age of 57.

September 3 ...

In 1189 England's King Richard I (the Lion-Hearted) was crowned in Westminster. In 1658 Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, died. In 1783 the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Great Britain officially ended the Revolutionary War. In 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland. In 1943 the British Eighth Army invaded Italy during World War II, the same day Italy signed a secret armistice with the allies. In 1954 The Lone Ranger was heard on radio for the final time after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years. In 1970 NFL Hall-of-Fame coach Vince Lombardi died of cancer at the age of 57. In 1976 the unmanned US spacecraft Viking II landed on Mars to take the first close-up, color photographs of the planet's surface. In 1978 Pope John Paul I was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. In 2004 the three-day hostage siege at a school in Beslan, Russia, ended in bloody chaos after Chechen militants set off bombs as Russian commandos stormed the building; nearly 340 people were killed; also on this day, former President Clinton was hospitalized in New York with chest pains and shortness of breath; he ended up undergoing heart bypass surgery.

Michael Barone:

The Obama Democrats, faced with a grave economic crisis, responded with policies appropriate to the Big Unit America that was disappearing during the president's childhood.

Their financial policy has been to freeze the big banks into place. Their industrial policy was to preserve as much as they could of General Motors and Chrysler for the benefit of the United Auto Workers. Their health care policy was designed to benefit Big Pharma and other big players. Their housing policy has been to try to maintain existing prices.

Their macroeconomic economic policy was to increase the size and scope of existing government agencies to what looks to be the bursting point.

What we see is Big Government colluding with Big Business and trying to breathe life into Big Labor.
...

The visibly flagging economy and the slapdash stimulus and health care bills have left most voters ready to take a chance on the still reviled Republicans. The still unanswered question is, will the Republicans have an effective alternative to Big Unit governance?

Read the whole piece.

On this day 80 years ago in 1930, the first non-stop airplane flight from Europe to the United States was completed in 37 hours, as Capt. Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte of France arrived in Valley Stream, NY, aboard The Question Mark.

75 years ago, in 1935, a hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming 423 lives.

65 years ago today in 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II; also on this day, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent republic.

September 2 ...

In 1666 the Great Fire of London broke out, claiming thousands of homes, but only a few lives. In 1789 the US Treasury Department was established. In 1864 during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman's forces occupied Atlanta. In 1901 Vice President Theodore Roosevelt offered the advice, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair. In 1930 the first non-stop airplane flight from Europe to the United States was completed in 37 hours as Capt. Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte of France arrived in Valley Stream, NY, aboard The Question Mark. In 1935 a hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming 423 lives. In 1945 Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II; also on this day, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent republic. In 1963 Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers. In 1969 North Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh died. In 1985 it was announced that a US-French expedition had located the wreckage of the Titanic about 560 miles off Newfoundland. In 2004 President Bush accepted his party's nomination for a second term at the Republican National Convention in New York.