Happy Presidents' Day -- February 16, 2009

Presidents' Day commemorates all Presidents, some good, some not so good.

Theodore Roosevelt has always been a favorite, even though he was a Republican. He was a good writer. He had great confidence, as shown in the accompaning 1904 Puck cartoon, "Terrible Teddy Waits for the Unknown." He waits for the Democrats to nominate their candidate, who turned out to be Alton Parker. It was no contest.

"Too much cannot be said against the men of wealth who sacrifice everything to getting wealth. There is not in the world a more ignoble character than the mere money-getting American, insensible to every duty, regardless of every principle, bent only on amassing a fortune, and putting his fortune only to the basest uses... Such a man is only the more dangerous if he occasionally does some deed like founding a college or endowing a church, which makes those good people who are also foolish forget his real iniquity. These men are equally careless of the working men, whom they oppress, and of the State, whose existence they imperil. There are not very many of them, but there is a very great number of men who approach more or less closely to the type, and, just in so far as they do so approach, they are curses to the country. (Forum, February 1895.) Mem. Ed. XV, 10; Nat. Ed. XIII, 9


Both the caricature and the quote come from the Theodore Roosevelt Association's wonderful website: http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/



In the morning we looked at a webcast of the Tour de California bike race, which had southbound One closed through town from 8-10:30am.


Still a lot of rain.


Louie Bellson died.