Category Archives: News

Who Knows, I Might Live to See the 50th President

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Time to dip into the well of presidential significa — don’t call it trivia — for obvious reasons. Much has been made of Joe Biden’s age, for example, and he is indeed the oldest person ever to be sworn into the office, besting his immediate predecessor in that regard as well.

Also, Biden was born before four of his predecessors, as was Ronald Reagan. I recall that once upon a time, Reagan was considered an old man for the job, taking the oath as he did at 69. Time flies, the gerontocracy becomes more robust. Kennedy was born after four of his successors, to look at the other extreme.

Then again, presidents are living longer than ever, along with the general population (well, until very recently). Jimmy Carter has made it to 96, topping that long-time champion of presidential longevity, John Adams, a good while ago now. Biden was just a young pup Senator when Carter was in office.

As of today, Carter has been out of office precisely 40 years, the longest post-presidential span. Herbert Hoover is still number two at 31 years. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama might make it to 40 years: to Jan. 20, 2041 for the former and Jan. 20, 2057 for the latter, but they would be very old men by those dates, 94 for Clinton and 95 for Obama.

Biden’s the first president from Delaware. That state had to wait a long time, considering that it was first state to ratify the Constitution. So far 19 states have been home to various presidents at the time of their election. Twenty-one states have been birthplaces of presidents. Florida Man has never been elected president.

Thus far, 14 presidents were born in the 18th century (ending Dec. 31, 1800, so Millard Fillmore counts), with James Buchanan as the last one; 20 were born in the 19th century, with Dwight Eisenhower the last of those; and 12 so far were born in the 20th century. According to the Constitution, that string has to continue at least until the 2036 election. Still, assuming the office continues as it has, and I certainly hope it does, the first president born in the 21st century may be out there somewhere even now.

And what was it about 1946? Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Donald Trump were all born that year. There have been a number of other years in which two presidents were born, but that’s the only triple year so far.

I didn’t think it very likely, and sure enough it didn’t happen, but it would have been interesting had Donald Trump resigned in the aftermath of the Capitol Hill insurrection. Just so Mike Pence could beat William Henry Harrison’s record for short time in the office. Also, so that Trump’s term wouldn’t be exactly four years. Eight years, four years, eight years, etc. That’s just not very interesting.

There have never been four presidents in a row who were in office for eight years each. Three in a row, yes. Most recently Clinton-Bush-Obama. Before that, Jefferson-Madison-Monroe. Trump’s loss means four in a row might not happen for quite a while, if ever.

I could go on and on about this. But I’ll end by adding that we’re back up to five living former presidents again, the fifth time that has happened. Because of improved longevity, four of those periods have been recent.

A friend sent me a link to this.

Seems fitting.

Too Much History

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A fair amount of work today, but I did take some time to watch — in the modern way, on a small screen on my laptop — part of the impeachment vote. Historic moment and all that.

If you asked me, there’s been entirely too much history made this month.

The Latest NP

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What, another national park? Don’t we have enough? (This makes 63.)

I’m referring to New River Gorge National Park and Reserve in West Virginia, which sounds like a fine place to visit, including the bridge. But does it need to be a national park? Wasn’t national river good enough?

The new designation was tucked away in the latest omnibus federal budget, a document probably as sprawling and wild as some of the larger national parks. Maybe there’s also something there about a new park on the Moon, though I expect that would go against the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Then again, could be that the treaty is silent on that question.

Flags of Insurrection

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That doesn’t look too bad for January.
Been reading a lot about the insurrection today, partly because it’s my job, partly as an American citizen who ought to take an interest in the political illness gripping the nation. With any luck, in retrospect, yesterday will be the day the fever broke. But I’m not betting the mortgage money on it.

Oddly enough, Quartz published an article about the flags carried by the insurrectionists. I was inspired to look into the matter when I noticed some flags that I didn’t recognize in the many photos of the event.

Besides the modern U.S. flag, many others are recognizable, of course, such as the 13-star U.S. (Betsy Ross) flag, the Confederate battle flag, the Gadsden Flag, the U.S. Marine Corps flag and the Thin Blue Line flag.

Even odder, according to Quartz, “the flags of Canada, Cuba, Georgia, India, Israel, South Korea, and South Vietnam were spotted in the mob.” Go figure.

Some I’d never heard of: the Republic of Kekistan flag, the Three Percentage flag and the VDare/Lion Guards of Trump flag. Usually ignorance is a bad thing, but I’m glad I’ve never heard of any of those before.

Snow Days No Mo’

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“A major winter storm swept through the Mid-Atlantic on its way to the Northeast, bringing heavy snow, freezing rain and dangerous driving conditions,” I noted in the NYT this evening.

Not a particle of snow hereabouts, but I’m sure our turn will come eventually. That made me wonder: are snow days now things of the past? Even when kids are back in school in person again, say next winter, a heavy blizzard would mean they have to stay home, but they can still go to school remotely, as they do now. I suspect most kids don’t realize this yet. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when they do.

Not that it matters in this household any more. Next year in college, if Ann feels like a snow day, she’ll cut classes. But she and her sister might be in the last generation, in this country at least, to remember getting out of school for inclement weather.

The concept was mostly hypothetical to me as a student. During my entire K-12 run in Texas I only got two that I remember. As a parent, I’ve experienced a good many more than that.

Pre-Thanksgiving Travel Tips

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Peaked at about 65 degrees F today, which wasn’t too bad, though the wind was strong. A little cooler tomorrow, the NWS says, and then a string of days down toward freezing.

Back to posting around November 29. We aren’t going anywhere, but for us Thanksgiving hasn’t usually been a traveling holiday anyway. Got at least one Zoom with friends to look forward to, and conversations with Lilly.

We won’t be alone in sticking around at home. “Based on mid-October forecast models, AAA would have expected up to 50 million Americans to travel for Thanksgiving – a drop from 55 million in 2019,” AAA reports (for Memorial Day this year, the organization didn’t even publish an estimate).

“However, as the holiday approaches and Americans monitor the public health landscape, including rising COVID-19 positive case numbers, renewed quarantine restrictions and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) travel health notices, AAA expects the actual number of holiday travelers will be even lower.”

AAA also has advice for intrepid travelers who do brave the road, including what to do at hotels and when you rent a car. I have my own tips:

Hotels: Prior to any hotel stay, call ahead at least a dozen times, and ask very carefully and clearly, “Is it safe?” Like Laurence Olivier’s evil dentist in Marathon Man (see this hard-to-watch clip). Upon arrival, insist that the clerk throw the key card at you as you run through the lobby. Once in your room, don’t emerge for any reason. Close the curtains, take a two-hour shower and call the front desk a few more times to make sure it’s safe.

Rental cars: Under no circumstances approach the counter. Call from at least two city blocks away and explain that you want to car left another two blocks from your location, with the keys in the ignition and engine idling, so you don’t have to touch them. Once you reach the car, spray with disinfectant for at least 15 minutes, inside and out. Let dry for four hours and then you can drive it.

Just having fun with the current crisis. If you can’t do that, gloom will cloud your thoughts. At the same time, I’m not going to be one of those doorknobs who insists that a minor inconvenience like a mask is on par with a major abrogation of civil rights.

My Donation for This Campaign Season

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An urgent appeal came in the mail today. The fate of the Republic, it asserts, depends on the outcome of the upcoming election, and I could do my part by supporting one of the contenders for high office and not the other. Not moral support, mind you, but cash money.

I was touched. I decided to dip into a certain cash reserve that I keep around the house and respond to the appeal right away. I sent a high denomination, I have to add.

I doubt that the campaign will get the message, however, since such letters are probably opened by fatigued volunteers who have seen every kind of nonsense in the mail.

A Good Slogan Is Hard To Find

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We had a pleasant warm weekend, but rain came overnight and cooled things off. Not cold, but not summertime warmth either. Touches of yellow in the trees are growing more visible by the day, but are still patchy when it comes to fall foliage.

Not a lot of political postcards are arriving this year, probably because so few of the Illinois races are competitive in 2020. I did get a card from our incumbent state rep not long ago, however. I see that she’s dropped her earlier slogan, Mom on a Mission.

What kind of mission? That was a little vague, but I guess to make Illinois a better place for the wee tykes. Anyway, I had to look around the card for the replacement slogan, so little was it emphasized: Commonsense Leadership for Change.

Distinctly underwhelming. But expected. After all, an honest slogan like, I’ve Gotten Used to the Income, Please Re-elect Me, isn’t going to fly.

Make Victory Funds Great Again

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These two return envelopes arrived in the mail recently as part of two gimme letters. Direct mail marketing, at least for political campaigns, seems a bit scattershot in this case.

The three one-cent stamps are particularly odd. The letter that came with it is emphatic that the return envelope is TRIPLE-STAMPED, using all caps and mentioning it three times.

Temporarily Mediterranean

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For a few weeks now, we’ve enjoyed a Mediterranean-like climate here in northern Illinois, at least the warm and dry summers. Sometimes hot, but usually just warm, and usually dry, though we’ve had occasional showers.

We’ve had more at-home meals al fresco this year than any time I can remember. It can’t last. But at least it will for the next week or so.
Till then, it’s a mild balm for the worldwide pervasive melancholy, if you happen to be around here.