Notes from around the Human Experience…
GAYLON FOR CONGRESS…VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN: We said this regularly carrying the Libertarian Party banner in races for the United States Senate and House of Representatives:
We support the Second Amendment without qualification or restriction.
We still do; the Founding Fathers included it in the Bill of Rights for reasons that are as relevant today as they were then.
Can We Talk?: But as we noted in our last column, the Las Vegas massacre has brought America pretty close to its breaking point. Americans have grown weary of the carnage. There has been too much for too long and we are close to the point where enough Americans will summon enough strength to overcome the citizens, legislators and lobbyists who refuse to discuss the matter. Pretty soon this nation will start having a national conversation about regulating weapons whose sole purpose is the wholesale slaughter of human beings. It’s inevitable and has been a long time in coming. We can neither ignore nor avoid it.
Nor should we, because every American should embrace this opportunity. The Second Amendment itself was born out of no small amount of debate and compromise and it’s future – like the future of every element of our republic – should be subject to the continued scrutiny.
If we’re smart, not only will us Second Amendment supporters take part in this discussion, we will also pace it by making reasonable points in a reasonable manner instead of merely chanting slogans and citing statistics and studies. It will be an opportunity to step out from behind the shield of the Second Amendment and have a rational discussion and we must seize the opportunity and not be seen as the fly in the ointment.
The Bottom Line: The discussion about whether or not to regulate weapons whose only purpose is to kill a lot of people is only beginning. Second Amendment supporters can lead it or have it led by others but they cannot ignore it.
USA! USA! US Army Corporal Alvin C York, stationed with his unit in the Argonne Forest in France in World War I, earns the Medal of Honor for killing 28 Germans and wounding 132 more on this date in 1918. He also took out 35 machine guns.
After some fighting had killed nine in his outfit and left him in command, York attacked the German machine gun positions. When he ran out of ammunition he fought with his pistol, killing six Germans before accepting an offer of surrender.
FunFact: Originally, York was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the army award immediately below the Medal of Honor, but it was upgraded a few months later.
“We’re Live From Forbes Field…”: College football is broadcast live on the radio for the first time when KDKA in Pittsburgh carries the Pitt/West Virginia Game from Forbes Field on this date in 1921.
As he was for the first major league radio broadcast a couple of months earlier, Harold Arlin was the announcer. Pitt won the game 21-13.
FunFact: Arlin would retire from radio in 1925, moving his family to Ohio where he continued to work for Westinghouse as well as making himself useful around town. He would return to the air in 1952 to announce presidential election returns to a nationwide audience and in 1972 he broadcast a few innings of a Pittsburgh Pirates game.
Play Ball: Don Larsen of the New York Yankees pitches the only perfect game in World Series history on this date in 1956, as the Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0.
The Post Game Show Is Brought To You By Old Style Beer: It was the sixth perfect game in major league history, the first since Charlie Robertson’s in 1922. The win gave the Yankees a three games to two lead in the series, which they would win in seven games.
Great Moments In The Revolution: Che Guevara, an Argentinian revolutionary in Bolivia to spread his usual goodwill, is captured by Bolivian Special Forces on this date in 1967. He would be executed the following day.
Ready, Aim, Fire: The Bolivians could have used lessons in how to conduct a firing squad, which shouldn’t have been too hard to find because they were backed by the Americans. The soldier who killed Guevara was ordered not to shoot him in the head because the Bolivians believed they could pass off a story about Guevara being killed in action which further confirms they were advised by the Americans. The soldier assigned to kill Guevara shot him in the arms and legs before finally shooting him in the chest and throat.
Meow Meow: The musical Cats debuts on Broadway on this date in 1982. It would run until September 10, 2000, and in 1997 become the longest-running show in Broadway history, a mark it would hold until 2006.
Quotebook: If you’re headed for the top, the pleasure of going by stairway will outlast that of a fast elevator ride. – Dr. David Myers
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The crew of Apollo 8 – Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders – were the first humans to see the far side of the moon in person.
Today’s Stumper: What show eclipsed Cats as the longest-running show in Broadway history? – Answer next time!
