The tourist season in Washington, officially the “District of Columbia,” begins in April, about the time the cherry blossoms bloom. The nation’s capital is especially beautiful at that time. It is when school children from all over the nation arrive on a traditional trip to see the places they are familiar with from the news and to see the documents, faded though they may be, that were written to create the world’s first Constitutional democratic republic.
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The date will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
John Adams, Letter to his Wife Abigail, July 3, 1776.
That guy could sure write, couldn’t he? John Adams was prescient. He accurately described the way we celebrate Independence Day. He did get the date wrong. He was certain July 2nd would be the date we celebrate. That was the day the Continental Congress passed Virginia’s resolution on independence. July 4th, the day we do celebrate, was the day Congress approved the text of the Declaration of Independence. The document, primarily written by Thomas Jefferson, spelled out the reasons for the thirteen colonies’ separation from England.
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Take a good look at the picture above. We have never seen anything like it.
It comes from the web site of the British news service Reuters. It is a still image taken from about a minute of video. The video and the accompanying reporting should set off warning alarms across the United States. Read the Reuters article and see the full video here. I’m ready to nominate the Reuters’ team for a Pulitzer Prize.
Reuters says the video shows U.S. Marines deployed to Los Angeles detaining an American citizen. This, it is believed, has never happened before.
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It was about 3:00am the day after the election in 2016 when I came to the conclusion that Donald Trump would win, beating Hillary Clinton. This time, I knew it at midnight.
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Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi.
Say their names. Say them out loud. Think of them as individuals, not simply as six hostages, abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by terrorists from Gaza.
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The consensus view holds that the candidates for vice president have little impact on voter’s choices in a presidential election. I have no evidence to refute this. But I do have a kind of gut feeling that the people slated to fill the number two position on the ticket may have more influence than usual this time around.
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There is no sugar-coating it. President Joe Biden had a train wreck in his first 2024 debate with Former President Donald Trump. Fifty-one million watched. I wrote that I had concerns because Biden had seemed physically feeble during some appearances in the last year. Right as he walked out on the debate stage, I saw those signs, Biden walking slowly and speaking slowly and in a soft scratchy voice. I did not expect to see him ramble and become incoherent, but he did that more than once. At other times he was clear, combative, and effective, defending his administration and listing his accomplishments. But you could not fail to notice the other moments.
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Scott Gurvey's Public Offerings 