Today the citizens of Connecticut will vote in their primary elections. Did you know that the State anthem of Connecticut is “Yankee Doodle”? I didn’t.
That is a very interesting song with a fascinating history. It was sung by the British during the French and Indian War to signify that the colonists weren’t very good soldiers. Not disciplined, not brave, not very smart.
Yankee Doodle went to town
A ridin on a pony.
Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni. Etc. Etc.
It was later sung by the British in the Revolutionary War to indicate their disdain for the rebels. Then it was adopted by some of the Revolutionary Soldiers, to throw it back in the face of the Redcoats.
In honor of this Tax Day in these United States, I leave only a quote from Benjamin Franklin:
Thomas Jefferson should truly be remembered and honored today. What did he accomplish? I’ll just mention a few here. He graduated from William and Mary College and then studied law for 5 years under George Wythe, the first law professor in Virginia.
Benjamin Franklin will be the first to admit that he made mistakes. Plenty of them. However, there appear to be at least 3 mistakes he never made. He tells us about those.
The Constitution was undeniably the idea, design, and proposal of James Madison, but so also was the Bill of Rights. The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Once the Constitution was ratified and signed by the 55 Representatives of the States in Congress, it had to be approved by each of the States individually.
The Founding Fathers were patriots. The root word of ‘founding’ is ‘found’, which means to “take the first steps in building”. The first builders of the nation. The use of the word ‘father’ in this sense means originator. They began the whole thing.
“Oh, he’s a politician, you can’t believe anything he says!”
I can remember in detail a story which was told to me several years ago. A good friend had a son, Ken, who was working for a large grocery store in his area. He was a good high school student as well as worker. One evening my friend was waiting in his car to give his son a ride home after work. The store manager appeared at his car window. He rolled it down. The manager introduced himself and asked if her were Ken’s dad.
Many years ago our former President, Calvin Coolidge, said this: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and dedication alone are all powerful.”