January 27

1878  General Philip H. Sheridan recommended the removal of the garrison at Camp Stambaugh.

1880     Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.  The concept for the invention first came to Edison while he was in Wyoming on a trip to view an eclipse.

1888   The National Geographic Society founded.

1917   The Punitive Expedtion: The withdrawal commences. January 27, 1917
 

U.S. forces begin their withdrawal from Mexico., thereby starting the process of leaving the country that they first entered in March, 1916.

While I've already commented on the decision to withdraw in an earlier post, and while it doesn't square with the general commentary regarding the U.S. decision to withdraw, positing this in Century Delayed Real Time has made me wonder what the sense of the event was in 1917.  Perhaps the rising specter of American involvement in the Great War greatly overshadowed to the extent it was largely consumed by that, but the news of the past week, with American National Guardsmen engaging Constitutionalist troops in combat on the border (and as we will see, the Utah National Guard actually crossing into Mexico, as well as upcoming events in the next few days, give this story a real Fall of Saigon retrospective feel to it.  It really has the aura, looking back, of collapse.  But perhaps not at the time?

1920   Wyoming ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Women could, of course, already vote in Wyoming so the ratification of the amendment to the United States Constitution providing for the same was no surprise.  There had been a bit of an effort to convene a special session for this purpose in 1919, but Governor Robert Carey declined to do that, so ratification had to wait until Governor Carey ultimately called a special session of the legislature for 1920.

1926  The  Paul Whitman Orchestra played at the University of Wyoming.

1943  Contact was reestablished with Jackson after the town had been isolated due to a snowstorm. The period of no contact was six days.

This was not really an unusual event at the time.  Prior to advancements in 4x4 vehicles, brought about due to World War Two, it was nearly impossible to remove significant amounts of snow from mountain passes, and towns located in mountain valleys were routinely cutoff from contact with the outside for days and even weeks. This was particularly true for Jackson.  Indeed, this was so much the case that a book written in the 1950s, by a screen writer who lived in the town off and on during the 40s and 50s, maintained that the "Cocktail Hour In Jackson Hole" was the entire winter, as the town was completely cutoff from the outside during that time and engaged in one huge party all winter long.  No doubt that was an exaggeration, but there was some truth to the statement.

Less romantic, an irony of the situation is that up until 1970s Jackson was not regarded as a particularly desirable place to live.  This was very much the case prior to 1950.  Prior to 1950 agriculture, together with government agencies, formed the economic base of the town, but even there the homesteads that had been filed there were very late ones and were not the most enviable to have, as the ranches in the valley had to combat the weather and were so extremely isolated.  It is only the modern 4x4 snow plow that has made Jackson the winter vacation spot it is, and by extension the home of many wealthy people.

1976   A small earthquake occurred near Rawlins.

1979  USS Yellowstone AD-41, a destroyer tender, launched.  It was decommissioned in 1996.

USS Yellowstone (the big one) with a destroyer off of Norway.

January 26

1850  Wyoming County, West Virginia became a county of  Virginia.

1876  Sioux under Sitting Bull attack civilian post at Ft. Pease, Montana.

1905  John J. Pershing marries Frances Warren in Cheyenne Wyoming.

1914  The Hotel LeBonte opened in Douglas.

1920  January 26, 1920. Hard Winters

The feeding of elk in Jackson Hole, frequently a topic today, was also a topic in 1920, and indeed was being discussed by the Department of Agriculture on this day with this release to the press.

Also discussed in the press was the murder of Natrona County rancher John J. Corbett, whose headquarters were apparently on Elkhorn Creek near the base of Casper Mountain.

Monday was off to a grim start.

1922  On this day in 1926, the Joss House, a Chinese house of traditional worship, burned down in Evanston.

In spite of really pronounced discrimination against them, southeastern Wyoming retained a significant Chinese and Japanese population into the mid 20th Century, reflecting a population that had been brought into the region due to the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad.  Following World War Two the population largely dispersed and this is no longer true.

1932  An earthquake occurred in Yellowstone that was felt regionally.

1948     President Truman orders Segregation in the Armed Forces ended.

January 25

1839  The Republic of Texas, of which a small portion of Wyoming was part of, adopted a coat of arms.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1885   Laura Ingalls, age 18, married Almanzo Wilder in De Smet, South Dakota.  Mrs. Wilder became the author of the Little House On the Prairie books.

1897  Chief Washakie baptized by Episcopal priest John Roberts.

1915  The modern Wyoming Bar Association formed.  Wyoming has a self governing bar, and the Bar Association serves a semi governmental function in that capacity.  At the time of its inception it had 95 members.

1919  Saturday, January 25, 1919. The League of Nations Formed.

Lots of distressing news about, but perhaps time to relax on a cold Saturday with a copy of the latest weekly journals.

Those journals, I suppose, gave the readers a hot and cold option.

The assembly of nations meeting in Paris elected, on this day, for the option of establishing a League of Nations, an idea that had been much discussed in the concluding months of the Great War and which President Wilson supported.

Of course, as it would turn out, the U.S. Senate didn't support the League, and the U.S. never joined it.

1967  Jade adopted as the state gemstone.

2006  It was reported that the University of Pennsylvania received a rancher's gift of land with dinosaur fossils.  Attribution:  On This Day.

Elsewhere:

1995 Russia's early-warning defense radar detects an unexpected missile launch near Norway, and Russian military command estimates the missile to be only minutes from impact on Moscow. Boris Yeltsin, his defense minister, and his chief of staff were informed of the missile launch and the nuclear command systems switched to combat mode, and the nuclear suitcases carried by Yeltsin and his top commander were activated for the first time in the history of the Soviet-made weapons system. Five minutes after the launch, Russian command determined that the missile's impact point would be outside Russia's borders. Three more minutes passed, and Yeltsin was informed that the launching was likely not part of a surprise nuclear strike. During the episode, the Russians waited longer than the time that would have been necessary to actually react to a real missile strike.

An actual rocket had been launched from Spitzbergen, Norway and was actually carrying instruments for scientific measurements. Norway had notified 35 countries, including Russia, of the exact details of the planned launch. 

January 24

1820         John Milton Thayer, Brig Gen, U.S., born.  He was appointed Governor of the Territory of Wyoming by President Ulysses S. Grant. He served from 1875 to 1878. He also served as the Governor of Nebraska from 1887 to 1892.

1873  Congress approves funds to rebuilt the Territorial Penitentiary in Laramie.   Attribution:  On This Day.

1878  First telephone conversation between Laramie and Cheyenne.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1878  General Cook stated that there was no military need to keep troops at Fort Fred Steele or Fort Sanders, two posts in southern Wyoming on the Union Pacific.  Attribution:  On This Day.

1918   Two "slice of life" items today linked in by reference.

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.

Mid Week At Work: "Putting the 1918 GE to work!"

1935 Canned beer makes its debut on this day with canned Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale.

1924  Thursday, January 24, 1924. Different reactions to the use of power.

Oilman Edward L. Doheny testified that he had loaned Senator Albert B. Fall $100,000, when Fall was Secretary of the Interior under Harding, breaking open the Teapot Dome Scandal.

New Mexico Senator Albert B. Fall.

Fall's political career would soon come to an end, and he'd serve a year in prison.

Doheny would be indicted, but acquitted.

Khiva fell to the Red Army.

Sister Marie of the Poor, the former Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg, died of ill health and influenza at age 29.  She had been the last royal of that country to wield real power, which caused her to abdicate after World War One due to her decision to try to steer the country clear of active resistance to the Germans.  Following that, having never married, she had become a nun.

1944 Monday, January 24, 1944. Red Advances, Luftwaffe attacks at Anzio, Rendering skunk fat.

In Cheyenne, a War Salvage lecture was given on the topic of "How to get fat from skunk without smell". Attribution:  Wyoming State History Society Calendar.

I don't think I'd try that.

Some apparently do, however.

The question is why?

1945  The Legislature rejects a junior college plan.

January 23

January 23. It's National Pie Day

And thank goodness. For some reason, I'm so tired this morning, that this is about all I've been able to muster up enough energy to do.  Post a pie photo.

I like pie too.  Indeed, if I'd been prepared, I'd have made a Dutch Oven Apple Pie, one of my specialties, which I should do in any event for my upcoming Dutch Oven post (hmmm. . . maybe it should be a separate page here?)

Anyway, it's Pie Day.

Well, maybe I'll have a beer instead.  After all, National Pie Day was started by Charlie Papazian, nuclear engineer and famous home brewer, who declared his own birthday to be National Pie Day. 

And why not?

1870 Colonel Eugene Baker orders his men to attack a sleeping camp of peaceful Blackfeet along the Marias River in northern Montana. The village being attacked was not the band that the command had been searching for, but Baker demonstrated indifference to suggestions form his own command that the band was not the correct one. Baker's command had originally set out from Ft. Ellis Montana to search for a band being lead by Owl Child, who was accused of a murder. Baker's cavalry was reinforced with infantry from Ft. Shaw. The Blackfeet band attacked was discovered on the night of January 22, but Baker delayed the attck until the following morning, and spent the night drinking heavily. Joe Kipp, a scout, recognized that the painted designs on the buffalo-skin lodges were those of a peaceful band of Blackfeet led by Heavy Runner. Mountain Chief and Owl Child, Kipp realized, had moved their winter camp elsewhere. Kipp told Baker that they had the wrong band but Baker reportedly replied, "That makes no difference, one band or another of them; they are all Piegans and we will attack them." Baker then ordered a sergeant to shoot Kipp if he tried to warn the sleeping camp and ordered the attack. Thirty-seven men, ninety women, and fifty children are believed to have been killed. The lodges and food of the band were destroyed, and the survivors were subsequently abandoned after it was discovered that many had smallpox. News of the Marias Massacre ultimately caused a controversy and delayed the transfer of Indian affairs from the Department of the Interior to the War Department, and it caused President Grant to order that Indian agents be civilians, rather than soldiers.

1895  Clarence D. Clark takes office as U.S. Senator from Wyoming.

1899  Residents of Kemmerer vote to incorporate.

1901  Legislature met in a joint session to pick a Senator.  Francis E. Warren chosen to fill office.

1905  The Brooks hosted a reception for officials and politicians at the new Governor's Mansion.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1907  Cheyenne policeman  Charles Edwards died of stab wounds, on his 32nd birthday, sustained a few days earlier while pursuing a man who fled a tavern incident.

1908  Powell Post Office established.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1917   The Wyoming Tribue for January 23, 1917: Villa Ready To Regain Territory
 

While the other Cheyenne and the Casper papers were silent on this topic, at least on the first page, the Wyoming Tribune was sounding the alarm about the impact of American withdrawal from Mexico.

The weather and speeding were also in the news. And a cartoon complained about the price of the Danish West Indes.

1932 New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

1973 President Richard Nixon announced an accord had been reached to end the Vietnam War.

January 22

1807  President Jefferson exposed a plot by Aaron Burr to form a new republic in the Southwest.

1877  Sergeant William B. Lewis, Company B, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place, engaged in an action at Bluff Station, Wyo. for which he won the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Sgt. Lewis lived until 1901, and is buried in New Rochelle, New York.

This is another one of these Indian Wars locations that I am unfamiliar with.  Given the name, it was likely a station on the Oregon Trail, but I don't know that. The Army named many small posts on the trail "stations".

1879  Dull Knife knife's band, having escaped Ft. Robinson is attacked and sustains severe losses in Nebraska. Dull Knife himself escapes, but the attack crushes the bands attempt to return to the Powder River country.

1885  Crook County organized.  The county is named for Gen. Crook, a serving and significant general in the Indian Wars.

1917     President Woodrow Wilson pleaded for an end to the war in Europe, calling for "peace without victory.".

1921  The legislature legalized prize fighting.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1949  The Reverend John Roberts, a significant Episcopal churchman on the Wind River Reservation, died.

1992  Mark Hopkinson executed for homocide.

January 21

Today is Martin Luther King Day for 2013.

Today is Equality Day for 2013.

1813 John C. Frémont, soldier, explorer, politician, sometime gadfly, born.  Wyoming was included in his exploring forays, and Fremont Canyon and Pathfinder Reservoir are named after him.

1855 John Moses Browning, legendary gun designer, born in Ogden Utah. 

1875  A waterworks was authorized at Fr. Laramie.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1893  Criminal case against Johnson County Invaders dismissed in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

1917   The Sunday State Leader for January 21, 1917. US Withdrawing from Mexico
 

The plant to withdraw from Mexico hit the press, along with a prediction that Villa would fill the vacuum.

Wyoming Guardsmen got high praise however.

And the Legislature was looking at Blue Laws.

1941  It was announced that Wyoming would supply 240 men for induction into the Army the following month.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1949  Legislature passed a bill prohibition drunk flying.  That this would be a bad idea seems self evident.  Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1977.  President Jimmy Carter issues a general amnesty for those who evaded conscription during the Vietnam War.  The pardon did not extent to the forgiveness of violent acts.  The Pardon read:

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States, do hereby grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to: (1) all persons who may have committed any offense between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973 in violation of the Military Selective Service Act or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder; and (2) all persons heretofore convicted, irrespective of the date of conviction, of any offense committed between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973 in violation of the Military Selective Service Act, or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, restoring to them full political, civil and other rights.

This pardon does not apply to the following who are specifically excluded therefrom:

(1) All persons convicted of or who may have committed any offense in violation of the Military Selective Service Act, or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, involving force or violence; and

(2) All persons convicted of or who may have committed any offense in violation of the Military Selective Service Act, or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, in connection with duties or responsibilities arising out of employment as agents, officers or employees of the Military Selective Service system.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and first.
JIMMY CARTER  

A thread on the topic of  Should Pardons Have Been Granted? on Lex Anteinternet, dealing with all the various major pardons of the 1970s, including the pardon of Richard Nixon.

January 20

1777  The Wyoming Independent Company, a unit raised from the Wyoming region of Pennsylvania and Ohio, takes part in the battle of Millstone River.

1868   Vigilance committee hangs Charles Martin and Charles Morgan in Cheyenne.

1891  John B. Kendrick married Eula Wulfjen.

1913  A riot breaks out in the Wyoming Legislature.

1917   Legislature passed an act submitting an act for a constitutional amendment that would allow people to vote on prohibition.  Attribution:  On This Day.

Lex Anteinternet:  Today In Wyoming's History: January 20. The Legislature sends Prohibition to the voters.

People tend not to think of Wyoming in the context of Prohibition, but the state was part of the big sweep that lead to it.  Indeed, while the story lays in the future from this post, Wyoming would push prohibition over the top with Sen. Francis E. Warren's vote in favor of the Volstead Act.

On this day, a century ago, the Legislature, which was predicted to pass a pro-Prohibition bill, did:

Today In Wyoming's History: January 20:

1917   Legislature passed an act submitting an act for a constitutional amendment that would allow people to vote on prohibition. Attribution:  On This Day.

The introduction of the bill had been widely predicated by the Cheyenne newspapers, in the form of predicting some bill.  That it would have taken the form, in 1917, of a proposed amendment to the state constitution is a bit of a surprise, but that would have served the dual purpose of making anything that passed really difficult to get rid of and, additionally, sort of passing the buck to the voters, as such an amendment requires the voters to approve it.

Which they didn't.

I'm not certain how it played out, but if the regular process took place, the voters rejected the measure that following fall.  Wyoming was the last state in the Rocky Mountain region to adopt Prohibition and the proposed amendment did not become law.

Which might have been a sign of things to come. While the state did pass Prohibition into law voluntarily, and in fact pushed it over the top nationally, it took to violating it nearly immediately.  Indeed Western Wyoming would become a bootleg liquor center, with wine being fermented in the Italian sections of Rock Springs and, ironically, heavily Mormon Kemmerer becoming a location for the distillation of high quality bootleg whiskey made with locally grown grain.

As outlined by Phil Roberts in an excellent article in Annals of Wyoming recently, Prohibition did break the back of the saloon trade in Wyoming, which in the end was a good thing. When alcohol returned in the 1930s it was stepped in over time, and with a new system which we retain today. That system, oddly enough for "free enterprise" Wyoming, runs all alcohol through the State Liquor Warehouse, which is the wholesaler for Wyoming, with no legal exceptions.

Prohibition would have the unfortunate impact of killing off a lot of local breweries, including those in Wyoming.  This has changed only recently, although there are quite a few small breweries now and even two distilleries.

A bottle of Wyoming Whiskey.  Something the legislators of 1917 would probably not have appreciated seeing at the time.

1920  Bert Cole, who was the pilot in the incident that resulted in the loss of the life of Maude Toomey on the January 14, was already back in the air, piloting for a stunt.

I'm frankly a little shocked. That seems awfully soon.

1924  Sunday, January 20, 1924. Ships ordered to Vera Cruz, Sheridan County Sheriff to be ousted.

US warships were ordered to Vera Cruz.

On the same day, rebel forces took Villahermosa, capital of the Mexican state of Tabasco.

And Sheridan County's Sheriff had been served with an Order To Show Cause by the Governor.  The Sheriff was accused of being drunk on duty, which is bad enough, but this was of course during Prohibition.

This power is little known, but it still exists. The Governor can remove a sheriff, or any county officer, for cause.  A sheriff has been removed by a Governor as recently as 2014.

1928  Fire destroys a St. Stephen's Mission building.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1937  Second inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the first to occur on January 20.

1941.  Third inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1944  Marjorie Woodsworth and Paul Kelly, motion picture actors, appeared at the University of Wyoming to open the 4th War Loan Drive.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1945  Fourth inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

1949  Second inauguration of Harry S. Truman.

1953  First inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower.

1954  An earthquake in southwestern Wyoming is felt in the Albany region.

1957  Second inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower.

1961  Inauguration of John F. Kennedy.

1961   South Pass, Independence Rock and Horner Site were designated as National Historic Landmarks. Attribution:  On This Day.

1965 Second inauguration of Lyndon Johnson.

1969  First inauguration of Richard Nixon.

1973  Second inauguration of Richard Nixon.

1977  Inauguration of Jimmy Carter.

1977  Richard Cheney's term as the 7th White House Chief of Staff ends.

Cheney is undoubtedly the best known of Wyoming's post World War Two politicians, and there are, oddly, a lot of entries for him today.  He is also easily the most controversial of any Wyoming politician.  Like many of Wyoming's political figures, he is not a native of the state, having been actually born in Lincoln Nebraska.  Indeed, Cheney has likely spent the majority of his years outside of Wyoming.  He arrived in Casper Wyoming with his family in his early teens and graduated from Natrona County High School.  After high school, he attended Yale, The University of Wyoming, and the University of Wisconsin.  He worked in Washington for office holders and the administration from 1969 until being elected Congressman in 1978.  

1981  First inauguration of Ronald Reagan.

1985  Second inauguration of Ronald Reagan.

1989  Inauguration of George H. W. Bush.

1987  Peggy Simson Curry dies.

1993  Inauguration of William J. Clinton.

1993  Richard Cheney ends his term as the 17th Secretary of Defense.

1997  Second inauguration of Bill Clinton.

2001  Inauguration of George W. Bush.

2005.  Second inauguration of George W. Bush.

2009.  First inauguration of Barack Obama.

2009  Richard Cheney's term as Vice President ends.

2013  Second inauguration of Barack Obama.

2017  President Trump inaugurated.

Trump is the oldest President to have received an initial inauguration.  That is, while Ronald Reagan was older when he was inaugurated the second time, he was slightly younger the first time.  He's also the first American President to hold that office without holding any prior public offices or a military commission.

His inaugural speech, like everything else about this candidate in this year, was distinctly different from the norm.   The full text is as follows:

Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you. 

We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people. Together we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges. We will confront hardships, but we will get the job done. Every four years we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you. 

Today's ceremony, however, has very special meaning because, today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people. 

For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have born the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs and, while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land. 

That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment. It belongs to you. It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration, and this, the United States of America, is your country.

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of an historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public, but for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. 

Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. 

We are one nation and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries, while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military. 

We've defended other nations' borders, while refusing to defend our own, and spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas, while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We've made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon. One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world. 

But, that is the past and now we are looking only to the future. We assembled here today, are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it's going to be only America first. America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. 

We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body and I will never, ever let you down. 

America will start winning again. Winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams. We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor. We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American. We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. 

We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow. We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth. At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America and, through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. 

The bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when god's people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear. We are protected and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and most importantly, we will be protected by God. 

Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action constantly complaining, but never doing anything about it. The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action. Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. 

We stand at the birth of a new millennium ready to unlock the histories of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease and to harness the energies, industries, and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will lift our sights and heal our divisions. It's time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American flag. 

And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky. They fill their heart with the same dreams and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator. So, to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes and your dreams will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way. 

Together we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And, yes, together, we will make America great again. Thank you. God bless you and god bless America. Thank you. God bless America.

2017   Senator Bebout reads the tea leaves
 

Yesterday, after the Inauguration, Senator Bebout announced that he was killing the proposed public lands transfer constitutional amendment by refusing to assign it for consideration. That's his option as President of the Senate.

He acknowledged, in doing that, the full force of public opinion, although he maintained that the whole effort was misunderstood.

To the extent it is misunderstood, and that wouldn't be misunderstood much, it would apparently be by our Senators and Congresswoman back in Washington D.C., who still appear to be clueless on this.  Faced with a public revolt, Bebout took the wise and politic route and sidetracked it before the legislature and individual legislators had to pay a price for refusing to listen to the public.  Located more remotely, we haven't seen any similar reactions out of D. C. yet.  But that may be coming . . . if people like holding their seats.

2018.  Congress failed to pass a budget and failed to pass a continuing resolution on spending as a result of disagreement over the "Dreamers", the same being illegal aliens who were brought in by their parents as children.  Commentary on the same at Lex Anteinternet.

2021  Inauguration of Joe Biden.

Generally inauguration day is a sort of big celebration for the incoming President, but this one was one like no other and will go down as truly historic.

At noon Joseph Robinett Biden was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States following a surreal and tumultuous two months during with the outgoing President, Donald Trump, consistently falsely maintained that he, and not Biden, had won the election.  The GOP, generally not knowing what to do, ranged from outright support of Trump's falsehoods to being simply mute, up until January 6, 2021 when President Trump gave a speech to a group of diehard supports while the vote on the acceptance of the electoral vote was going on.  That vote, presided over by the Vice President, saw a last ditch effort by Republicans in the House and the Senate to taint it, even though it was well known going into it that any effort to reject the vote was both doomed and, had it succeeded, would have lead to a state of anarchy if not outright revolution in the country.  Efforts to push Vice President Trump into support of the action failed.

Spurred on by President Trump's words, the crowed stormed the Capitol and disrupted the proceedings.  Order was restored, and the vote continued, but in a truncated fashion.  Wyoming's Cynthia Lummis voted to reject Pennsylvania's electoral votes none the less on the pretext that it shined "a light" on election problems there, even though those same problems also would have to deemed to have existed in Wyoming's election, where they real, which repeated courts stated they were not.

Following the insurrection Trump accepted the outcome of the election while still maintaining it was stolen from him but faced an immediate vote of impeachment from the House of Representatives.  At the time of the inauguration, that matter had gone over to a trial in the Senate.  Senate Majority Whip McConnell has indicated he will not attempt to direct the Republican vote against a conviction on this occasion, President Trump's second impeachment trial.  McConnell effectively truncated Trump's first impeachment trial in the Senate.

Trump chose not to attend the inauguration and by that time a large section of the country no longer wanted him there.  He departed into post defeat uncertainty upon Marine One and then Air Force One while still President, sent off by a Twenty One Gun Salute, a dubious honor if you can order those giving it to you to do so.

His inaugural speech is as follows:

Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans. 

This is America's day.

This is democracy's day.

A day of history and hope.

Of renewal and resolve.

Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.

Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.

The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.

We have learned again that democracy is precious.

Democracy is fragile.

And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

So now, on this hallowed ground where just days ago violence sought to shake this Capitol's very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.

We look ahead in our uniquely American way - restless, bold, optimistic - and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be.

I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here.

I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

You know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength of our nation.

As does President Carter, who I spoke to last night but who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.

I have just taken the sacred oath each of these patriots took - an oath first sworn by George Washington.

But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.

On "We the People" who seek a more perfect Union.

This is a great nation and we are a good people.

Over the centuries through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we have come so far. But we still have far to go.

We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility.

Much to repair.

Much to restore.

Much to heal.

Much to build.

And much to gain.

Few periods in our nation's history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we're in now.

A once-in-a-century virus silently stalks the country.

It's taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II.

Millions of jobs have been lost.

Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.

A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.

A cry for survival comes from the planet itself. A cry that can't be any more desperate or any more clear.

And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.

To overcome these challenges - to restore the soul and to secure the future of America - requires more than words.

It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy:

Unity.

Unity.

In another January in Washington, on New Year's Day 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

When he put pen to paper, the President said, "If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it."

My whole soul is in it.

Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this:

Bringing America together.

Uniting our people.

And uniting our nation.

I ask every American to join me in this cause.

Uniting to fight the common foes we face:

Anger, resentment, hatred.

Extremism, lawlessness, violence.

Disease, joblessness, hopelessness.

With unity we can do great things. Important things.

We can right wrongs.

We can put people to work in good jobs.

We can teach our children in safe schools.

We can overcome this deadly virus.

We can reward work, rebuild the middle class, and make health care
secure for all.

We can deliver racial justice.

We can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world.

I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy.

I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real.

But I also know they are not new.

Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization have long torn us apart.

The battle is perennial.

Victory is never assured.

Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our "better angels" have always prevailed.

In each of these moments, enough of us came together to carry all of us forward.

And, we can do so now.

History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.

We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.

We can treat each other with dignity and respect.

We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.

For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.

No progress, only exhausting outrage.

No nation, only a state of chaos.

This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.

And, we must meet this moment as the United States of America.

If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail.

We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted together.

And so today, at this time and in this place, let us start afresh.

All of us.

Let us listen to one another.

Hear one another.
See one another.

Show respect to one another.

Politics need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path.

Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war.

And, we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this.

America has to be better than this.

And, I believe America is better than this.

Just look around.

Here we stand, in the shadow of a Capitol dome that was completed amid the Civil War, when the Union itself hung in the balance.

Yet we endured and we prevailed.

Here we stand looking out to the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream.

Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protestors tried to block brave women from marching for the right to vote.

Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office - Vice President Kamala Harris.

Don't tell me things can't change.

Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington National Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace.

And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, and to drive us from this sacred ground.

That did not happen.

It will never happen.

Not today.

Not tomorrow.

Not ever.

To all those who supported our campaign I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us.

To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart.

And if you still disagree, so be it.

That's democracy. That's America. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps our nation's greatest strength.

Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion.

And I pledge this to you: I will be a President for all Americans.

I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

Many centuries ago, Saint Augustine, a saint of my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love.

What are the common objects we love that define us as Americans?

I think I know.

Opportunity.

Security.

Liberty.

Dignity.

Respect.

Honor.

And, yes, the truth.

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson.

There is truth and there are lies.

Lies told for power and for profit.

And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders - leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation - to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.

I understand that many Americans view the future with some fear and trepidation.

I understand they worry about their jobs, about taking care of their families, about what comes next.

I get it.

But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don't look like you do, or worship the way you do, or don't get their news from the same sources you do.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.

We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.

If we show a little tolerance and humility.

If we're willing to stand in the other person's shoes just for a moment.
Because here is the thing about life: There is no accounting for what fate will deal you.

There are some days when we need a hand.

There are other days when we're called on to lend one.

That is how we must be with one another.

And, if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future.

My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we will need each other.

We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.

We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus.

We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.

I promise you this: as the Bible says weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.

We will get through this, together

The world is watching today.

So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested and we have come out stronger for it.

We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.

Not to meet yesterday's challenges, but today's and tomorrow's.

We will lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example.

We will be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.

We have been through so much in this nation.

And, in my first act as President, I would like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all those we lost this past year to the pandemic.

To those 400,000 fellow Americans - mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

We will honor them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be.

Let us say a silent prayer for those who lost their lives, for those they left behind, and for our country.

Amen.

This is a time of testing.

We face an attack on democracy and on truth.

A raging virus.

Growing inequity.

The sting of systemic racism.

A climate in crisis.

America's role in the world.

Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways.

But the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with the gravest of responsibilities.

Now we must step up.

All of us.

It is a time for boldness, for there is so much to do.

And, this is certain.

We will be judged, you and I, for how we resolve the cascading crises of our era.

Will we rise to the occasion?

Will we master this rare and difficult hour?

Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world for our children?

I believe we must and I believe we will.

And when we do, we will write the next chapter in the American story.

It's a story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me.

It's called "American Anthem" and there is one verse stands out for me:

"The work and prayers
of centuries have brought us to this day
What shall be our legacy?
What will our children say?...
Let me know in my heart
When my days are through
America
America
I gave my best to you."

Let us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our nation.

If we do this then when our days are through our children and our children's children will say of us they gave their best.

They did their duty.

They healed a broken land.
My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath.

Before God and all of you I give you my word.

I will always level with you.

I will defend the Constitution.

I will defend our democracy.

I will defend America.

I will give my all in your service thinking not of power, but of possibilities.

Not of personal interest, but of the public good.

And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear.

Of unity, not division.

Of light, not darkness.

An American story of decency and dignity.

Of love and of healing.

Of greatness and of goodness.

May this be the story that guides us.

The story that inspires us.

The story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history.

We met the moment.

That democracy and hope, truth and justice, did not die on our watch but thrived.

That our America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world.

That is what we owe our forbearers, one another, and generations to follow.

So, with purpose and resolve we turn to the tasks of our time.

Sustained by faith.

Driven by conviction.

And, devoted to one another and to this country we love with all our hearts.

May God bless America and may God protect our troops.

Thank you, America.

The star of the inauguration was undoubtedly 22 year old Amanda Gorman, whose poem and its delivery were stunning.

Biden takes office during a time of unprecedented challenges which will make his Presidency unique in any event.  It's surreal start makes it, additionally, undoubtedly historic.