The Daily Dose/August 4, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: In The President’s Secret Service by Ronald Kessler: This book has a lot of information on presidents and their families you might not have heard before. Yay and boo.
Yay because it is, frankly, interesting to read. Kessler interviewed over 100 current and former Secret Service agents and they had no small number of tales to tell.
OTOH: Boo because one of the tenets of serving presidents and vice presidents is you keep your mouth shut about what you hear at the White House and One Observatory Circle, where the vice president lives. Large parts of this book are possible only because some agents blabbed and we’re still not entirely sure if we enjoy hearing private details about presidents.
Extra, Extra, Read All About It: Now, not all of the tidbits were bulletins. That Kennedy played around – a lot – is hardly a state secret anymore, but did we really need to know that LBJ had cajones the size of pineapples? Or that Mr Obama continued to smoke after publicly claiming he had stopped? We didn’t, though your mileage may vary.
Dry, Technical Matter: Tattling aside, Kessler tells good stories about the origins of the Secret Service, founded in 1865 to fight the counterfeiting of US currency, and about the Secret Service’s largest gun battle, outside Blair House when two men tried to assassinate President Truman on November 1, 1950.
FunFact: The Trumans were living at Blair House, which is across the street from the White House, because the White House was being renovated.
FunFact II: Kessler asserts that the Secret Service is not being particularly well run, suffering from low morale and a rather high attrition rate, though it should be noted the book was published in 2009 and things might have changed.
A Break In The Action: Here is The Daily Dose rating system: 1 – The Very Best; 2 – Very Good; 3 – Good; 4 – Average; 5 – A Steaming Pile
Final Ranking: 3: If you have an interest in the presidency or the Secret Service, you will probably like this. It’s not a particularly difficult read, either. We’re moderately slow interest, but with a high level of interest in the subject, we read it straight through on a day off.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has big news from the hotel. Today’s Diary.
[Chris] did NOT highlight his amounts with green highlighter, but rather circled them with green ink!!!…I AM NOT MAKING THAT UP!!!…
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1790 – What would eventually become the US Coast Guard is formed when President George Washington signs a tariff act that allows the president “to cause to be build and equipped, so many boats or cutters, not exceeding ten, as may be necessary to be employed for the protection of the revenue”. Originally known as the Revenue-Marine, it became the Revenue Cutter Service in 1894 and the Coast Guard in 1915 when it was merged with the US Life-Saving Service.
In 1953 – Vic Raschi of the New York Yankees establishes a new major league record for most RBIs in a game by a pitcher in a 15-5 win over the Detroit Tigers. Raschi had seven runs batted in, including two RBI singles in the second and fourth innings, and a three RBI double in the third which constituted two-thirds of his eleven RBIs on the season. Research into whose record Raschi broke was inconclusive and the record is now nine, by Tony Cloninger of the Atlanta Braves in a 1966 game where he became the first National League player to hit two grand slam home runs in a game.
In 2018 – Meant to Be by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line establish a new Billboard country chart record for most weeks at #1 when it is #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart for the 35th consecutive week. The song broke the record of 34 weeks established in 2017 by Sam Brown with Body Like a Back Road. Meant to Be would eventually spend a total of 50 consecutive weeks at #1, a record for a major Billboard singles chart that still stands. The song also peaked at #2 on the Hot 100.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Finally, were we truly men of dedication–with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest?
John F. Kennedy
Speech to the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1/9/61
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
There are roughly 400 Radio Shack stores remaining in the US.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How many country acts have had songs that have spent at least 20 weeks at #1? – Answer next time!
