It's time to Break It Down!

Memorial Day: What Your Teacher Never Taught You! (Edition VII)

It’s time to Break It Down!

Please enjoy a reprised edition of “Break It Down!” This post was originally published May 30, 2012 at: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com, reposted May 27, 2015 at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com as “Memorial Day: What Your Teacher Never Told You!,“ again on May 31, 2017, May 29, 2019, on May , 2020, and last on May 31, 2023.

OK, so Memorial Day was earlier this week. You may be familiar with my holiday week philosophy, which is: make it easy on the readers, who are always otherwise engaged, no matter the holiday. Of course, in the process, I am also giving myself a break. That makes for a natural win-win scenario.

With that overarching thought in mind, I will endeavor to apply three elementary rules of communication:

• Utilize the KISS Principle, AKA, Keep It Short & Simple (also Keep It Simple Stupid).
• Convey new or “not widely circulated” information.
• Always remember to emphasize points 1 and 2 above.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday to honor America’s fallen soldiers. It originated after the Civil War. Falling between Easter and Independence Day, it is often equated with a late spring break, or a pre-summer respite.

The weekend typically includes a cornucopia of sports.  For example this week included the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600, the NBA Playoffs, College Men’s Baseball playoffs, and College Women’s Softball competition, among others.

Historically, there have been a plethora of activities thrown into the mix. As a result, the holiday is sometimes almost lost in the shuffle. That was less problematic this year. But wait; Memorial Day has a special cultural significance. In fact, it is because of that nexus we should pay special homage to this late spring holiday.

The first well-known observance of a Memorial Day type was held May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. Over 250 Union soldiers that had been prisoners of war, died in Charleston, and were quickly buried in makeshift graves. A group of blacks, mostly freedmen, organized the observance and led cleanup and landscaping of the burial site.

Most of the nearly 10,000 people who attended were freedmen and their families. Of that number, 3.000 were children, newly enrolled in freedman’s schools. Mutual aid societies, black ministers, and white Northern missionaries were also in attendance.

David W. Blight, Professor of American History at Yale University, and Director of the school’s Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, & Abolition, described the day this way:

“This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. What you have there is black Americans recently freed from slavery announcing to the world with their flowers, their feet, and their songs what the War had been about. What they basically were creating was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.”

Professor Blight conceded there is no evidence that the Charleston event led directly to the establishment of Memorial Day across the country.  But the record is clear they formed the earliest truly large-scale event, complete with media coverage.  Their effort was the prototype, if not the catalyst.

Having said that, I believe I honored the rules established above for this post:

• Told this story in a direct and uncomplicated fashion
• Presented information I am confident most readers did not know
• Recognized points 1 and 2, were accomplished and closed the post

Enjoy your bonus time, and be sure to reflect on “Memorial Day: What Your Teachers Never Told You (Edition VII)!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the links: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or /http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com.

A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_W._Blight

http://www.davidwblight.com/

http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/25/1301862/-Memorial-Day-Has-African-American-Roots-First-One-Was-Conducted-By-Former-Slaves#

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/KISS_principle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

http://www.yale.edu/glc/index.htm

http://www.civilwarhome.com/freedmen.htm

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/

Jasmine Crockett Vs. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Last Week's Political Cage Match

It's time to Break It Down! 

Greene offered no apologies, and Crockett has no regrets. Considering the current hyper-partisan political divide, their exchange sounds like one that could happen on any day in the U.S. House of Representatives. On last Thursday, the possible became the “that just happened.” During a hearing, ostensibly to facilitate Republicans finding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt, the proceedings ran off the rails.

Congress is one of those institutions that has a host of quaint, and seldom (in other places) used rules. One of those rules is no personal attacks on other members during debate. So, when Rep. Greene attacked Rep. Crockett, with a fake eyelashes comment…it was on.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said Sunday that she does not regret insulting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after the two lawmakers clashed during a House committee hearing last week.

“I don’t, because here’s the thing. I signed up to be a member of Congress. That didn’t mean that I was supposed to walk into a position where I’m going to walk in and be disrespected,” she told co-host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked if she regrets her comments during the House hearing.

Crockett also argued, to some skepticism from Tapper, that she had not directly insulted Greene with a remark about a “bleach blonde bad built butch body” because she was asking a question about the rules and did not mention the Georgian lawmaker. 

Crockett and Greene were caught in a heated exchange Thursday night after Greene asked Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee whether any of them are employing the daughter of the judge overseeing former President Trump’s hush money case.

“Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland,” Crockett responded at the time, referring to the U.S. attorney general. “Do you know what we’re here for?”

“I don’t think you know what you’re here for,” Greene responded. “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”

Crockett later asked if a hypothetical comment would violate congressional protocol after there was a debate over whether to strike Greene’s words.

“I’m just curious, just to better understand your ruling,” Crockett said about Chair James Comer’s (R-Ky.) ruling on the comments. “If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blonde bad built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?”

Crockett on Sunday explained that she was asking for a “clarification on the ruling.” She also defended herself for now selling merchandise about her comments to Greene.

She wrote on the social platform X that she will be launching a “Crockett Clapback Collection.” She also posted a photo of a T-shirt that reads, “Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body,” which she said will be available first.

I have repeatedly advised, speaking to no one in particular, that folks need to stop coming for Black women. It’ bad juju. It almost never ends well. Greene may have burnished her rep as a bully. But, as the above narrative suggests, Jasmine Crockett is bullyproof.  She’s not only fearless, but she’s smart.

In a fair world, Committee Chair James Comer would have found that Greene broke protocol and should have been tossed from the meeting. However, given the GOP’s sparse majority, odds are Comer opted not to dismiss Greene, because he might have lost the GOP majority, and therefore been unable to proceed with the Committee’s business. Crockett then responded by obliquely posing a query to the chair, that quickly became a viral clapback, but at the same time, avoided directly addressing Greene. And the beat goes on. “Jasmine Crockett Vs. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Last Week’s Political Cage Match!”

I’m done; holla back.

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the link below:

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4672873-crockett-says-she-doesnt-regret-comments-hitting-back-at-greene/

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2024/05/jasmine-crockett-vs-marjorie-taylor.html

The Art of the Lie: Cohen vs. Trump

It's time to Break It Down!

 

Donald Trump spent four years in the Oval Office. While there, folks charged with the awesome responsibility of tracking his veracity determined that he made over 30K misleading or untrue statements. In the final year, politeness was frequently abandoned, and the term increasingly used to describe his utterances was lie. 

 

Michael Cohen spent several years as Donald Trump’s lawyer. He was eventually elevated to self-proclaimed fixer. Trump gotta problem? Call Mikey! And we all know, because Trump told us repeatedly, he only hired the best people. Am I right?

 

Now that Trump’s, take your pick, hush money/falsification of records, trial is underway, we are frequently reminded that Cohen is a liar; even did time for it. I get it. Cohen is a guy whom a lot of people deem despicable. He bullied, intimidated, and yes, lied his way, as he endeavored to be all things to “Mr. Trump.” He even said, on occasion, he’d take a bullet for The Boss.

 

Cohen never had to step up and take that hot steel for Trump. But his perspective changed when, among other things, he would up doing a bid in prison for felony charges tied to the hush money deals, lying to Congress, and tax evasion. When pressed this week, Cohen admitted, he lied, but insisted he did so to protect Mr. Trump. Naturally, The Boss has said he’s innocent, and has done nothing wrong. 

 

Cohen is considered the pivotal witness for the prosecution, which rested its case yesterday, and indicated Cohen was its last witness. The defense began its cross-examination at the end of the day, and will resume on Thursday, after Wednesday’s regularly scheduled off day. The defense aggressively attacked Cohen’s character, and his propensity to take to Tik Tok to assail Trump. Mostly, the defense emphasized Cohen’s pattern and frequency of lying. Admittedly, our system of jurisprudence is predicated on the notion of an individual is innocent until proven guilty, Moreover, while Trump, as defendant, doesn’t have to take the stand. That is his right. But just between us, it has been firmly established Cohen is no paragon of virtue…but then, neither is Trump. “The Art of the Lie: Cohen vs. Trump!”

 

I’m done; holla back.

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

 

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

 

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the link below:

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-art-of-lie-cohen-vs-trump.html

Tales of the Trump Trials

It's time to Break It Down!

 

SCOTUS has placed the absolute immunity case on lock, likely until it wraps up its current Session in June.

 

Prosecutorial faux pas have waylaid the election racketeering case.

 

Judge Cannon, whom Trump appointed, has delayed indefinitely the classified documents case.

 

The hush money case, while underway, is presumed to be the weakest of the four cases…and while the motion was denied (for now), Trump’s team has already sought a mistrial. Moreover, at this rate, it’s unlikely any of the other three cases will be heard prior to the election…if at all.

 

For an alleged liberal conspiracy led by the “Biden justice system,” in relentless, partisan pursuit of Victim #1, things sure seem to be unfolding with a clear and present Trump bent. How ironic. And that, gentle readers, is the current state of play of “Tales of the Trump Trials!”

 

I’m done; holla back.

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

 

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

 

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the link below:

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2024/05/its-time-to-break-it-down-scotus-has.html

Freedom of Speech is Merely a Figure of Speech

It's time to Break It Down!

 

Just so we’re clear, that was a rhetorical question. Of course it is. Why would I say that you may ask.

 

Well, for starters, if you are a student of current events, you have undisputable, and perpetually recurring evidence that speech is only free to those who agree with that speech. 

 

The underlying premise of free speech, as it appears to be viewed by the leading lights and opinion makers of the day is, “If I agree with it, it’s all good. If it discomforts me, it’s racist, or discriminatory, or defamatory, or hate speech, or antisemitic, or…you fill in the blank.

 

Campuses across America today are roiled, in part because Jews, and supporters of Jews believe and argue they are being persecuted, while Palestinians, and supporters of Palestinians believe the Israeli Prime Minister is fostering a proxy war aimed at annihilating Palestinians in the region. 

 

In the Middle East, far more than rhetoric has infected the discourse, and threatens the co-existence of two peoples, locked in a finite, and incredibly small land area. In the United States, the discord is still largely an increasing explosion of rhetoric, speech that both sides find unacceptable to their ears, when emanating from the other side. In their respective opinions, the speech of the other side should not be free…because ostensibly, the speech is a precursor for indecent acts, such as the October 7^th attack, murder, and hostage-taking on Israelis by Hamas, or the subsequent slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinians, a majority of whom have been women and children, carried out by Israelis, intent upon decimating and extinguishing Hamas. 

 

There are inherent festering problems of both sides of the equation. Palestinians and Israelis each hold a litany of grievances against each other. The conflict is as old as Israel itself. The nation we call Israel is relatively new, having been created in 1948. For years before that, Britain maintained a colonial mandate for Palestine. Furthermore, while peace in the Middle East has been a fleeting concept, since the very inception of Israel, the region has experienced sustained volitivity, dating back to Biblical times. In fact, that factoid has led some to opine, what would make anyone thing a region that has a history of thousands of years of sporadic warfare is ever going to just recalibrate, and opt to live in peace? 

 

I certainly am not here to submit a prescription for war. Rather, I am positing, upon intensive examination, there is no such thing as free speech. Never doubt, “Freedom of Speech is Merely a Figure of Speech!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

 

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

 

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the link below:

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2024/05/freedom-of-speech-is-merely-figure-of.html