“You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln
from When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d
Walt Whitman
1.
When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d — and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
O ever-returning spring! trinity sure to me you bring;
Lilac blooming perennial, and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d — and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
O ever-returning spring! trinity sure to me you bring;
Lilac blooming perennial, and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.
2.
O powerful, western, fallen star!
O shades of night! O moody, tearful night!
O great star disappear’d! O the black murk that hides the star!
O cruel hands that hold me powerless! O helpless soul of me!
O harsh surrounding cloud, that will not free my soul!
O shades of night! O moody, tearful night!
O great star disappear’d! O the black murk that hides the star!
O cruel hands that hold me powerless! O helpless soul of me!
O harsh surrounding cloud, that will not free my soul!
3.
In the door-yard fronting an old farm-house, near the white-wash’d palings,
Stands the lilac bush, tall-growing, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom, rising, delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle . . . and from this bush in the door-yard,
With delicate-color’d blossoms, and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig, with its flower, I break.
Stands the lilac bush, tall-growing, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom, rising, delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle . . . and from this bush in the door-yard,
With delicate-color’d blossoms, and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig, with its flower, I break.
4.
In the swamp, in secluded recesses,
A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.
Solitary, the thrush,
The hermit, withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,
Sings by himself a song.
Song of the bleeding throat!
Death’s outlet song of life-(for well, dear brother, I know
If thou wast not gifted to sing, thou would’st surely die.)
A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.
Solitary, the thrush,
The hermit, withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,
Sings by himself a song.
Song of the bleeding throat!
Death’s outlet song of life-(for well, dear brother, I know
If thou wast not gifted to sing, thou would’st surely die.)
5.
Over the breast of the spring, the land, amid cities,
Amid lanes, and through old woods, (where lately the violets peep’d from the ground, spotting the gray debris;)
Amid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes — passing the endless grass;
Passing the yellow-spear’d wheat, every grain from its shroud in the dark-brown fields uprising;
Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the orchards;
Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave,
Night and day journeys a coffin.
Amid lanes, and through old woods, (where lately the violets peep’d from the ground, spotting the gray debris;)
Amid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes — passing the endless grass;
Passing the yellow-spear’d wheat, every grain from its shroud in the dark-brown fields uprising;
Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the orchards;
Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave,
Night and day journeys a coffin.
6.
Coffin that passes through lanes and streets,
Through day and night, with the great cloud darkening the land,
With the pomp of the inloop’d flags, with the cities draped in black,
With the show of the States themselves, as of crape-veil’d women, standing,
With processions long and winding, and the flambeaus of the night,
With the countless torches lit-with the silent sea of faces, and the unbared heads,
With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the sombre faces,
With dirges through the night, with the thousand voices rising strong and solemn;
With all the mournful voices of the dirges, pour’d around the coffin,
The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organs –Where amid these you journey,
With the tolling, tolling bells’ perpetual clang;
Here! coffin that slowly passes,
I give you my sprig of lilac.
Through day and night, with the great cloud darkening the land,
With the pomp of the inloop’d flags, with the cities draped in black,
With the show of the States themselves, as of crape-veil’d women, standing,
With processions long and winding, and the flambeaus of the night,
With the countless torches lit-with the silent sea of faces, and the unbared heads,
With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the sombre faces,
With dirges through the night, with the thousand voices rising strong and solemn;
With all the mournful voices of the dirges, pour’d around the coffin,
The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organs –Where amid these you journey,
With the tolling, tolling bells’ perpetual clang;
Here! coffin that slowly passes,
I give you my sprig of lilac.
Check out the videocast of this Presidential episode, at www.everservideo.com
“If you want to make enemies, try to change something.” – Woodrow Wilson
Top Five Presidential Movies:
1. JFK (1991)
2. All the President’s Men (1976)
3. Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
4. Dead Presidents (1995)
5. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
2. All the President’s Men (1976)
3. Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
4. Dead Presidents (1995)
5. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Runner up: Point Break (1991)
How Hollywood imagines US Presidents:
Official info about the US Presidents:
[No conspiracy stuff here, but a good introduction, particularly for those who can’t name all presidents in order. – E]
Left-Handed U.S. Presidents:
James A. Garfield (1831-1881) 20th
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) 31st
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) 33rd
Gerald Ford (1913-2006) 38th
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) 40th
George H.W. Bush (1924- ) 41st
Bill Clinton (1946- ) 42nd
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) 31st
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) 33rd
Gerald Ford (1913-2006) 38th
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) 40th
George H.W. Bush (1924- ) 41st
Bill Clinton (1946- ) 42nd
“Only five presidents in U.S. history have had beards when they moved to the White House — none in the past century.” Facial hair and the American presidency:
E-Verse Radio Unbelievable But Real Presidential Film Titles of the Week:
Linda Lovelace for President (1975)
Olive Oyl for President (1948)
Book tech, very funny:
Presidential signatures:
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” – Ronald Reagan
E-Verse Radio Invaluable Presidential Facts of the Week:
George Washington had to borrow money to go to his own inauguration.
Washington was the first President to appear on a postage stamp.
Washington was the only president elected unanimously, receiving all 69 of the electoral votes cast.
At his inauguration, Washington had only one tooth. At various times he wore dentures made of human or animal teeth, ivory, or lead — never wood.
Washington refused to wear a powdered wig, which was high fashion in the late 1700s. Instead, he powdered his red-brown hair and tied it in a short braid down his back.
Washington carried a portable sundial.
Washington’s inauguration speech was 183 words long and took 90 seconds to read. It was hard for him to read because of his false teeth.
Jefferson was one of two Presidents who signed the Declaration of Independence (the other was George Washington).
Jefferson’s library of approximately 6,000 books became the basis of the Library of Congress. His books were purchased from him for $23,950.
Bears brought back from Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition were displayed in cages on the White House lawn. For years the White House was sometimes referred to as the “president’s bear garden.”
Jefferson wrote his own epitaph without mentioning that he served as president of the United States.
Thomas Jefferson was once given a 1,235 pound hunk of cheese, giving us the term “the big cheese.”
Grover Cleveland was the only president to be elected to two nonconsecutive terms.
The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Cleveland’s baby daughter, Ruth.
FDR was the first president to have a presidential aircraft.
FDR’s birthday is a legal holiday in the Virgin Islands.
Kennedy was the first president to hold a press conference on television.
Kennedy was the first president to also be a Boy Scout.
Kennedy was the first and only Roman Catholic president.
Reagan was the oldest president in history. He was 69 at his inauguration and 77 when he left office.
Reagan was the first president who had been divorced.
Reagan was the only president to be a head of a labor union.
And now, Fleming’s Follies:
US Presidents Summary
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DdUUywIsIGI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DdUUywIsIGI
Bush Impersonator
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gbB10X5egbY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gbB10X5egbY
Blast from the past
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y2YR80hTRmw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y2YR80hTRmw
Smoking US Presidents:
“If it were not for the reporters, I would tell you the truth.” – Chester Arthur
E-Verse Radio Bad Book Cover of the Week, Slime:
“I like the job I have, but if I had to live my life over again, I would like to have ended up a sports writer.” – Richard Nixon
E-Verse Radio town you really have to visit:
Jefferson City, Missouri, named after Thomas Jefferson.
“My failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.” – Ulysses S. Grant
Listen to the podcast of this episode: www.everseradio.com/audio
Bonus top five lists
Top five mysteries popular in the ’70s (‘You couldn’t swing a dead cat without seeing some kind of TV report, or plot of a TV show, about these ‘mysteries’ in the 70s’):
1. Bigfoot
2. Bermuda Triangle
3. Amelia Earhart
4. Loch Ness Monster
5. UFOs
Top Five Famous Germophobes:
1. Florence Nightingale (but she certainly turned her phobia to positive use!)
2. Donald Trump
3. Eddie Murphy
4. Howard Hughes
5. Howard Stern
E-Verse Radio collective noun of the week:
A podium of presidents.
A chiefdom of presidents.
A command of presidents.
A crock of presidents.
A reader sends in a new collective noun:
“A V of migratory birds.”
Some more Presidential stuff, courtesy of Presidentsusa.com:
Presidential Campaign Slogans
1840 William Henry Harrison Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
1844 James K. Polk 54-40 or fight
1844 James K. Polk Reannexation of Texas and reoccupation of Oregon
1844 Henry Clay Who is James K. Polk?
1848 Zachary Taylor For President of the People
1856 John C. Fremont Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, and Fremont
1860 Abraham Lincoln Vote Yourself a Farm
1864 Abraham Lincoln Don’t swap horses in the middle of the stream
1884 Grover Cleveland Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine
1884 James Blaine Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa, Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha
1888 Benjamin Harrison Rejuvenated Republicanism
1896 William McKinley Patriotism, Protection, and Prosperity
1900 William McKinley A Full Dinner Pail
1916 Woodrow Wilson He kept us out of war
1920 Warren G. Harding Return to normalcy
1920 Warren G. Harding Cox and Cocktails
1924 Calvin Coolidge Keep cool with Coolidge
1928 Herbert Hoover A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage
1952 Dwight Eisenhower I Like Ike
1956 Dwight Eisenhower Peace and Prosperity
1960 Richard Nixon For the future
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson The stakes are too high for you to stay at home
1964 Barry Goldwater In your heart you know he’s right
1968 Richard Nixon Nixon’s the One
1976 Gerald Ford He’s making us proud again
1976 Jimmy Carter Not Just Peanuts
1976 Jimmy Carter A Leader, For a Change
1980 Ronald Reagan Are you better off than you were four years ago?
1984 Ronald Reagan It’s morning again in America
1984 Walter Mondale America Needs a Change
1988 George Bush Kinder, Gentler Nation
1992 Bill Clinton Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
1992 Bill Clinton Putting People First
1992 Ross Perot Ross for Boss
1996 Bill Clinton Building a bridge to the 21st century
1996 Bob Dole The Better Man for a Better America
2000 Al Gore Prosperity and progress
2000 Al Gore Prosperity for America’s families
2000 George W. Bush Compassionate conservatism
2000 George W. Bush Leave no child behind
2000 George W. Bush Real plans for real people
2000 George W. Bush Reformer with results
2000 Ralph Nader Government of, by, and for the people…not the monied interests
2004 John Kerry Let America be America Again
2004 George W. Bush Yes, America Can!
1844 James K. Polk 54-40 or fight
1844 James K. Polk Reannexation of Texas and reoccupation of Oregon
1844 Henry Clay Who is James K. Polk?
1848 Zachary Taylor For President of the People
1856 John C. Fremont Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, and Fremont
1860 Abraham Lincoln Vote Yourself a Farm
1864 Abraham Lincoln Don’t swap horses in the middle of the stream
1884 Grover Cleveland Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine
1884 James Blaine Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa, Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha
1888 Benjamin Harrison Rejuvenated Republicanism
1896 William McKinley Patriotism, Protection, and Prosperity
1900 William McKinley A Full Dinner Pail
1916 Woodrow Wilson He kept us out of war
1920 Warren G. Harding Return to normalcy
1920 Warren G. Harding Cox and Cocktails
1924 Calvin Coolidge Keep cool with Coolidge
1928 Herbert Hoover A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage
1952 Dwight Eisenhower I Like Ike
1956 Dwight Eisenhower Peace and Prosperity
1960 Richard Nixon For the future
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson The stakes are too high for you to stay at home
1964 Barry Goldwater In your heart you know he’s right
1968 Richard Nixon Nixon’s the One
1976 Gerald Ford He’s making us proud again
1976 Jimmy Carter Not Just Peanuts
1976 Jimmy Carter A Leader, For a Change
1980 Ronald Reagan Are you better off than you were four years ago?
1984 Ronald Reagan It’s morning again in America
1984 Walter Mondale America Needs a Change
1988 George Bush Kinder, Gentler Nation
1992 Bill Clinton Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
1992 Bill Clinton Putting People First
1992 Ross Perot Ross for Boss
1996 Bill Clinton Building a bridge to the 21st century
1996 Bob Dole The Better Man for a Better America
2000 Al Gore Prosperity and progress
2000 Al Gore Prosperity for America’s families
2000 George W. Bush Compassionate conservatism
2000 George W. Bush Leave no child behind
2000 George W. Bush Real plans for real people
2000 George W. Bush Reformer with results
2000 Ralph Nader Government of, by, and for the people…not the monied interests
2004 John Kerry Let America be America Again
2004 George W. Bush Yes, America Can!
Top Five Presidents who received the most popular votes for President (figures are in millions):
1. Richard Nixon, 112.6
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 103.4
3. Ronald Reagan, 98.4
4. Bill Clinton, 90.5
5. George Bush, 87.0
Top Five Presidents who received the most votes for President in the Electoral College:
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt 1,876
2. Richard Nixon, 1,040
3. Ronald Reagan, 1,015
4. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 899
5. Bill Clinton, 749
Next week’s episode: Ode to the telephone! Send in anything you like about phones.
E-Verse Radio says “Hail to the Chief!” It is a regular weekly column of literary, publishing, and arts information and opinion that has gone out since 1999. It is brought to you by ERNEST HILBERT and currently enjoys over 1,300 readers. If you wish to submit lists or other comments, please use the same capitalization, punctuation, and grammar you would for anything else intended for publication. Please send top five lists, bad movie titles, limericks, facts, comments, and new readers along whenever you like; simply click reply and I’ll get back to you.
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