The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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The 1809 Supreme Court Decision: United States versus Peters was a landmark decision in judicial history upon which our modern interpretation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution is based. Introduction The Supreme Court case of United States versus Peters, decided in 1809, stands as a seminal moment in the annals of American legal history. This decision underscored the authority of the federal judiciary over state courts and reinforced the principle of federal supremacy, which is a...
Recent elections have been laden with controversy. Results of the 2024 election appeared to reflect the backlash against the policies of the outgoing administration. As traumatic and unsettling as recent times have been, intense divisions between American political factions are nothing new. In 1798, under the John Adams administration, the 5th U.S. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. Part of the reasoning for passage was a fear in some circles that a war with France was imminent. This...
All beginnings are hopeful, but 50 years ago the future of the Conservative Party in Great Britain was dismal. Their leader, Edward Heath, had managed to lose two general elections in a single year-- far from an auspicious beginning. Sensing rumblings among his fellow Conservatives in Parliament, Heath decided to confirm his position as party leader, and to do this, he would convene the party and hold an election. His assumption was that the malcontents would have an opportunity to put up or...
February 6, 2025 - George Washington's birthday is celebrated every year on the third Monday in February as part of the federal holiday known as "President's Day". While in Alabama, "President's Day" is celebrated by the state offices as "George Washington/Thomas Jefferson Birthday". And this year, President's Day falls on Monday, February 17th, 2025. As such, George Washington's home of Mount Vernon has issued the "2025 Cherry Challenge" which is currently underway in Alexandria, Virginia. In t...
February 17m 2025 - Every year, on the third Monday of February, the United States celebrates Presidents Day. This federal holiday, originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, has since evolved to honor all individuals who have served as President of the United States. Today, it stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of American leadership and the guiding principles of democracy. The Origins of Presidents Day Presidents Day was initially known as...
February 17, 2025 - The History Channel is commemorating President's Day with the premiere of its new documentary series on Thomas Jefferson. Set to air at 7 PM Central time, the documentary is set to be a multi-part series. With each episode available for streaming on the History Channel website the next day after its premiere. The "Thomas Jefferson" documentary series is the first installment in what the History Channel is planning as a "History Honors 250" celebration; given that next year wi...
The Second Battle of St. Albans: A Turning Point in the War of the Roses A crucial confrontation in the dynastic struggle The Second Battle of St. Albans, fought on February 17, 1461, was a pivotal conflict in the War of the Roses, a series of dynastic wars between the houses of Lancaster and York for control of the English throne. This battle, marking a significant turning point, saw the Lancastrians achieve a decisive victory over the Yorkists, thereby altering the course of English history....
February 18, 1861 On February 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the first and only President of the Confederate States of America. This pivotal event marked the formal commencement of the Confederacy, a government formed by Southern states that had seceded from the United States in the wake of Abraham Lincoln's election. The inauguration took place in Montgomery, Alabama, which served as the initial capital of the Confederacy before it was later moved to Richmond, Virginia. The Road...
In Alabama, former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is arrested for treason and confined to Fort Stoddert. This event marked a significant turning point in the early history of the United States, highlighting the volatile political atmosphere and the emerging challenges of governance in a newly established nation. Aaron Burr: A Controversial Figure Aaron Burr was a prominent figure in early American politics, having served as the third Vice President of the United States under...
Seventy-five years ago, William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, an accomplishment that was significant enough, but what he said in his acceptance speech is perhaps even more significant and timeless. The dawning nuclear age of the 1940s called into question the viability of civilization and continued existence of mankind. Science was in its heyday, and the American military was on the cutting edge to achieve global hegemony. Given the might and power of the United States,...
January rarely affords what anyone would describe as good weather in Washington, but this January 6 was adequate and normal, though it was probably good to have a Republican cloth coat. The U.S. House of Representatives had convened at noon to consider routine matters, not the least of which was to accept the oath of office from Alabama Congressman George Grant, who, due to illness, was not able to be in town to take the actual oath with the other re-elected House members. The Speaker adjourned...
The Cahaba Theatre Group's second readers theatre play for their 2025 season will feature "Booth" - The Story of the Lincoln Conspiracy which will be performed on Sunday, February 09th, 2025 at the Clubhouse on Highland at 2:30PM. The auditions for the play will be held this Saturday, January 18th, 2025 at the RentMonster located at 1121 18th Street South, Birmingham, AL from one o'clock in the afternoon until four o'clock in the afternoon. Auditionees are encouraged to bring a headshot and...
January 21, 2025 - The star of the movie, "Braveheart" and the director of "The Passion of the Christ" and "Hacksaw Ridge", Mel Gibson is known for not appearing on podcasts. However, when tenaciously approached by the Erwin Brothers, the faith based film producers who are originally from Alabama, Mel Gibson relented and agreed to appear for the finale of Season 2 of "The Storytellers" podcast with Andrew Erwin. A project of the Kingdom Story Company, "The Storytellers" is an ad driven podcast...
“Abraham Lincoln…has almost disappeared from human knowledge. I hear of him, I read of him in eulogies and biographies, but I fail to recognize the man I knew in life.” Union General Donn Piatt You have to give credit to those who fought to prevent Southern Independence. Post-war, they seized the narrative, stated they were going to “reeducate” Southerners and created a “Righteous Cause Myth” that is still believed by many. Even into the mid-1900s, Southerners fought back as best they could bu...
For a communist country, it was strange to have an unsanctioned gathering of a million people, but 40 years ago in Poland, the funeral of a simple parish priest brought the nation to a halt to pay their last respects. Father Jerzy Popiełuszko was not known as a great scholar or a powerful intellectual. In fact, he barely made the grades to graduate from seminary, but Popiełuszko was a man of the people, and he spoke to them in unadorned, persuasive sermons, chiseling a significant crack in P...
November 12, 2024 - The story of George Washington Carver, an inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, is inextricably linked with Alabama. As being one of the most prominent African-American scientists of the early 20th Century, he was invited by Booker T. Washington to be the head of the Agriculture Department of Tuskegee University in 1896. And George Washington Carver taught at Tuskegee University in Alabama for forty-seven years. Known for his innovations in crop rotation and...
The impact of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's friendship with a Birmingham, Alabama native, Franklin Fisher, is brought to light in the biopic, "Bonhoeffer", now showing in movie theaters across the country. A German Lutheran theologian, Bonhoeffer, moved to America in 1930 where he studied at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. Coming from a highly educated German family, Bonhoeffer was not very impressed by the classes being taught at the seminary. But, his friendship with Franklin Fisher, an...
We should be thankful as a nation that electing a president has matured. Two hundred years ago, it seemed certain that Andrew Jackson would be the next President of the United States. Any casual observer would notice that he had won the popular vote and was on track to win the vote in the Electoral College. But when the presidential electors met in December of 1824, what seemed so obvious was soon in doubt. In fact, Jackson would be denied the presidency because he fell short of a majority of...
Communication has always been critical to international growth, development and understanding. But we take the ability of people to communicate for granted as everyone has at his disposal immediate communications: phone, email or text messaging. But instant communication is new, and it wasn’t that long ago that the main source of communication was the written word, transmitted primarily by letters. As each country developed, the need to communicate increased exponentially. Private couriers w...
In 2012, while living part-time in Natchez, Mississippi, I discovered some remarkable facts about the area. Natchez, like many port and trade towns, was populated by a wide array of people, including many transients. Sometimes compared to the “Wild West,” area residents ranged from devout Christians to hardened criminals and all points in-between. Natchez’ government was controlled by the French, Spanish, English, and eventually Americans. It was a short walk from the room I rented in Weymouth H...
Originally published on January 01st, 1960, "Patriot's Daughter: The Story of Anastasia Lafayette" by Gladys Malvern, was reprinted in 2011 as part of the wave of Gladys Malvern historical fiction novels that were being made available to readers once more after being out of print for decades. Gladys Malvern wrote nearly forty-eighty books throughout the course of her writing career and the intent was to bring back all of her nearly four dozen books onto the modern bookshelf. With many of her...
Communication has always been critical to international growth, development and understanding, but we take the ability of people to communicate for granted as most everyone has immediate access to phones, email, and text messaging. While instant communication is new, not too long ago, the main source of communication was the written word, transmitted primarily by letters. As each country developed, the need to communicate increased exponentially. Private couriers worked great for the...
In the January 2023 edition of Alabama Gazette, in “Robert E. Lee, Arlington, and the Ministry of Truth” (https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2023/01/01/opinion/robert-e-lee-arlington-and-the-ministry-of-truth/2480.html), I covered the history and subsequent theft of Arlington House by the Federal Government. Spearheaded by the dastardly Montgomery Meigs, the plan was to seize the Lee/Custis property and turn it into a cemetery. This would serve as retribution against Lee and his family sin...
"Experience must be our only guide. Reason might mislead us." So said John Dickinson at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, some 237 years ago this month. As we celebrate the birth of the United States Constitution, Dickinson's admonition is critical to understanding our Founding Fathers' thoughts that served as the basis for our constitutional government. Our Constitution, revered my many, detested by some and imitated worldwide, has stood the test of time. Even with disputes about its...
The discordant views in modern America mirror much of the animosity of the 1700s and 1800s. Unfortunately, there is presently a dearth of individuals who possess the wisdom and historical perspective of the Founding generation. The great secession document known as the Declaration of Independence spelled out the colonies’ grievances and asserted the God-given right of representative government. Many in Great Britain viewed colonial secession as treasonous since the colonies were part of an e...
