April 15
Yesterday I wrote about it being Jackie Robinson Day. In reading Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American, I was informed that many more important things happened on this date. Here are some of items.
April 15 is a curiously fraught day in American history.
- In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down a rebellion in the southern states.
- In 1865, Lincoln breathed his last at 7:22 a.m., and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who adored the president, said, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
- In 1912 the British passenger liner RMS Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m. after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
- In 1920, two security guards in Braintree, Massachusetts, were murdered on this date; Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti would be accused of the crime, convicted, and, in 1927, executed.
- In 2013, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 264 others.
- And on April 15, 2024, the criminal case of The People of New York v. Donald J. Trump began in Manhattan.
Heather Cox Richardson is a historian extraordinaire.
FUBAR
“Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. It was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways—it represented such a big portion of the success of this country…Gettysburg, wow—I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch. And the statement of Robert E. Lee, who’s no longer in favor—did you ever notice it? He’s no longer in favor. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.’ They were fighting uphill, he said, ‘Wow, that was a big mistake,’ he lost his great general. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys,’ but it was too late,” The former president said during a Saturday rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, in what was his first campaign event in the battleground state.
The words speak for themselves.
49 of 50
Our state leaders continue to embarrass themselves and all citizens of the state with their lack of transparency. The façade of the “improved” transparency they supposedly passed last year was on full display this week and the new financial reporting requirements went into effect. Here is what Bridge Michigan is saying about the financial disclosures of our leaders.
Proposal 1 of 2022 required the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state lawmakers to file financial disclosure statements by Monday. As part of those disclosures, officials were required to list their assets, liabilities, income sources, future employment agreements, gifts, travel reimbursements and more. But lawmakers who finalized the disclosure rules last fall left what critics called gaping “loopholes” allowing them to obscure monetary values and shield assets held by a spouse.
Inaugural filings, due Monday for sitting public officials, showed little about how much money officials make, even though their state government salaries are public information. Under the law, they were only required to disclose the name of any employers that pay them at least $1,000 per year. A form created by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office gave officials an “optional” choice to disclose their incomes, but many declined that option. Even Benson, who makes $112,410 a year in her government role, did not initially disclose her salary, but she amended her report late Monday to include that optional information.
Officials also had to list any assets or real property worth at least $1,000, along with any liabilities of $10,000 or more, and any positions they hold in other organizations. Additionally, officials had to list their spouses’ employer but not their spouses’ income, assets or liabilities. They were only required to disclose gifts from registered lobbyists, not business officials or anyone else.
Embarrassment and being ranked 49 of 50 states do not seem to motivate our leaders. This leads to my Questions of the Day: What will it take to motivate our leaders to address this very embarrassing and inappropriate financial disclosure requirement of our taxpayer funded leaders?
Our state leadership also gets my Onion of the Day.
Lets Go Red Wings
With the Wings exciting come from behind overtime win last night against Montreal, it all comes down to tonight’s game at Montreal. To advance to the playoffs, the Wings must win and hope for a Washington Capitals loss.
Cedric Mullins
Cedric Mullins, centerfielder extraordinaire of the Baltimore Orioles, did his thing last night. He robbed the Twins Kyle Farmer of an extra base hit with two runners on. Mullins followed it up with a homerun later in the game. Mullins was traveling over 28.3 feet per second when he ran 70 feet to make the catch as he was diving away from the batter. This is the equivalent of reaching 19.3 mph. An amazing feat in such a short time.
Mullins gets my Orchid of the Day and a must-see Video of the Day.
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Quote of the Day: See above comments by the former president under FUBAR
Orchid of the Day: Cedric Mullins, see above.
Onion of the Day: The leaders of the state of Michigan. See above under 49 of 50.
Question of the Day: See 49 or 50
Video of the Day:
Cedric Mullins goes FLYING to make an INSANE catch!! (youtube.com)
It is up to us, the voters, to hold the people we trust with our votes accountable. Write them. Call them. Attend the meetings they have. Collectively it can make a difference. Voting doesn’t complete our obligation to the process. It is just the beginning. It’s sad that many of us don’t pay attention to the actions of the politicians we vote for. To state the title of a new book by Eddie Glaude Jr., a professor at Princeton University, “We Are The Leaders We Have Been Looking For.”