On November 3, 1783, the American Continental Army — its mission fulfilled — was disbanded.
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Army Disbands
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What Floats
“The Puerto Rico trash problem has been growing for decades,” explained John Tarrantino on Wednesday, at The Environmental Blog. “With a population of around 3.2 million, the island generates about 3.7 million tons of waste yearly. Despite being small, the island’s landfills are full and there’s no proper recycling infrastructure. This trash crisis affects everything from health to the economy so solutions are crucial for Puerto Rico’s future.”
This, some have suggested, accounts for Tony Hinchcliffe’s infamous joke written about by Paul yesterday.
Does it make the “floating island of garbage” comment funny?
Puerto Ricans don’t seem to be laughing. But if Mr. Hinchcliffe gets invited to the island territory of the United States for a gig, we’ll reconsider.
NOTE: Puerto Rican resident and infamous investment advisor Peter Schiff has advice for voting next week:
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Joseph Warren
Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.
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Committee of Correspondence
On November 2, 1772, Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren formed the first Committee of Correspondence, which were instrumental in preparing the colonies from their 1776 breakaway from the British Empire of George III.
At last Sunday’s Trump Rally in Madison Square Garden, Tony Hinchcliffe, a reputed comedian, told a very unfunny joke, referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
The outcry was understandably loud, so noisy in fact that it apparently awakened Sleepy Joe Biden. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” declared the man who is — remember? — currently still president of the United States.
Mr. Biden has since clarified that he did not mean what he said. That’s good.
Though, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sounded a different note: “So, just to clarify, he was not calling Trump supporters garbage, which is why he put out … a statement that clarified what he meant and what he was trying to say.”
But Mr. Biden did say what he said. That’s not in dispute — it’s on videotape.
Yet … the reporting seems fuzzier now about whether President Biden uttered what our ears heard.
On NBC Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt began a segment by referring to Biden’s “apparent reference to Trump supporters as garbage.”
At Vox, Eric Levitz defends the president, arguing that he “ended up spouting a garbled stream of words,” sure, but those words “may or may not have dehumanized all Trump supporters as ‘garbage.’”
How could Levitz know for certain? He’s not an etymologist, after all.
A Washington Post analysis also found the president’s lack of noticeable cognition to absolve him of any ill intent. “Biden’s increasing tendency to stumble over his words, which marred these very comments,” the paper explains, “makes it entirely plausible that he didn’t intend to tar large numbers of Trump supporters.”
At best, we have a commander-in-chief who can no longer communicate coherently. With his finger on the nuclear button.
What — me worry?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Isabel Paterson
Isabel Paterson, The God of the Machine, 1943, p. 242.
The humanitarian in theory is the terrorist in action.