Stephen West

@stephenwest

Historian of Civil War & Reconstruction. Bicyclist, baker, 3d favorite human of Banjo the dog. Views=mine, repost ≠endorsement

1035 Siguiendo9373 Seguidores5735 Publicaciones

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Stephen West@stephenwest· 25d

wowza www.earthcam.com/usa/dc/washi...

photo from livestream atop washington monument, looking west. the sky is very hazy and brown

Stephen West@stephenwest· 25d

England stops short of advancing to World Cup final

Washington Post headline

Trump’s speech stops short of offering evidence of vote tampering

Stephen West@stephenwest· 26d

Teddy Roosevelt, as recorded by James Ford Rhodes Rhodes was a historian of Reconstruction and a contemporary of William Dunning, probably more widely read in their day - and just as racist

Spoke of the way the negroes had gone back in the Yazoo district of Arkansas and Mississippi . . . . The negroes , the President said , are 200,000 years behind ( I suggested a million , an amendment which he accepted )

Stephen West@stephenwest· 26d

In the fight for women's suffrage, protesters burned Woodrow Wilson's speeches in Lafayette Park during the 1910s. Burning the Trump administration's plans for the Park would be a fitting protest today, but impossible - since they've had the Park completely closed off for the last six months.

Suffrage protestors burn speech by President Wilson at Lafayette Statue in Washington, D.C.

https://www.loc.gov/item/mnwp000192/

Stephen West@stephenwest· 28d

Abraham Lincoln has many uses, AI hype edition nationalinterest.org/blog/techlan...

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Economy

Lincoln Would Have Championed AI Acceleration for All

Stephen West@stephenwest· 29d

your business card, when you release a laughable defense on the day of the Home Run Derby

a business card reading Wile E. Coyote. Super Genius"

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 12

can she, though? www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

He credited his wife, Usha Vance, with sharpening his prose. “She’s a very sweet person but a very brutal editor,” Vance said. “She is one of the few people who can just tell me, ‘This sounds like garbage,’ and help me fix it.”

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 11

will admit my first thought was "Curtis Yarvin?"

snip from nytimes. photo is a close up of a man with a hand in front of his face, looking between his fingers.

text reads: "Book review: The Huckster Shaman Who Founded a Cult"

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 11

Vince McMahon meme

What if we ask them to do it?

What if we tell them to do it?

What if we demand they do it?

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 8

If you find yourself sounding like James Henry Hammond, it is definitely time to reconsider your life choices.

Humane and pious contrivance ! To alleviate the fancied sufferings of the accursed posterity of Ham , you sacrifice by a cruel death two - thirds of the children of the blessed Shem - and demand the applause of christians , the blessing of heaven ! If this " experiment " is to go on , in God's name try your hand upon the Thugs . That other species of " Immigration " to which you are resort- ing , I will consider presently .

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 7

This pitch from an AI company, presumably written with AI, is not a great advertisement for AI.

If so, we can contact your publisher to coordinate an interactive, LMS-ready version of this text that can automatically grade assignments and track student reading engagement. Instead of managing separate PowerPoints, question banks, and flashcards, everything can sit completely centralized inside your course shell.

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 6

there's something very on brand about Donald Trump shouting out "the legend of the Wild West, Buffalo Bill Cody"

Trump stands at a lectern as he makes his remarks on the night of July 4th. Closed captioning on the screen reads

"Oakley, Teddy Roosevelt, and the legend of the Wild West, Buffalo Bill Cody."

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 4

Abe Lincoln vs. the "heritage American" crowd, 1858: It doesn't matter where your ancestors were in 1776. Americans who read the Declaration and affirm its creed "have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote [it] ...and so they are."

We have besides these men—descended by blood from our ancestors—among us perhaps half our people who are not descendants at all of these men, they are men who have come from Europe—German, Irish, French and Scandinavian—men that have come from Europe themselves, or whose ancestors have come hither and settled here, finding themselves our equals in all things. If they look back through this history to trace their connection with those days by blood, they find they have none, they cannot carry themselves back into that glorious epoch and make themselves feel that they are part of us, but when they look through that old Declaration of Independence they find that those old men say that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” and then they feel that that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences their relation to those men, that it is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration, (loud and long continued applause) and so they are.

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 4

A poster for the July 4, 1854, meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society at Framingham, and more info about it, via @mhs1791.bsky.social. www.masshist.org/database/431

a broadside poster for the July 4, 1854 meeting of the Mass Anti-Slavery Society at Framingham

It reads at the top

NO SLAVERY!
FOURTH OF JULY!

And provides details about the time, location, and special trains to the event

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 4

Understanding the difference between the Declaration and the Constitution - as some of those besotted idolators, past and present, do not - Garrison burned a copy of the latter, declaring "So perish all compromises with tyranny!"

Then holding up a copy of the US Constitution, he branded it as the source and parent of all the other atrocities - 'a covenant with death, and and an agreement with hell,' - and consumed it to the ashes on the spot, exclaiming, 'So perish all compromises with tyranny! And let all good people say, Amen!' A tremendous shout of 'Amen!' went up to heaven in ratification of the deed, mingled with a few misses and wrathful exclamations from some who were evidently in a rowdyish state of mind, but who were at once cowed by the popular feeling."

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 4

"The conservatives of our times, who, to-day, are making the most ostentatious demonstrations of their veneration for the Declaration, are filled with distress and horror at the thought of 'radicalism'.... Blind, selfish, besotted idolators of the past!" William Lloyd Garrison, #otd, 1854

The conservatives of our times, who, to-day, are making the most ostentatious demonstrations of their veneration for the Declaration for 1776, are filled with distress and horror at the thought of "radicalism," either in Church or State. Blind, selfish, besotted idolators of the past! If that Declaration is worthy of your homage, then you are committed in principle to the most radical political instrument in the world; by which outlawry is pronounced against every oppressive government, and therefore against every existing government on the face of the earth, for they are all oppressive. In its denunciation of injustice and tyranny, in its vindication of human equality and freedom, that Declaration is not American, but universal—not geographical, but world-wide. To that extent it is to be maintained.

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 3

for those who didn't misspend their youths watching re-runs of 1960s TV

the actor Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester, from the Addams Family

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jackie_Coogan_as_Uncle_Fester_(The_Addams_Family,_1966).jpg

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 3

tough question for America 250: If America is such a great country, why would it elect Uncle Fester as president?

portrait of William McKinley, sitting in a chair. he looks a bit like uncle fester from the addams family.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcplcommons/27780119102/

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 3

yes, the first person plural is very polarizing

Benny Johnson tweet. it reads

"Communist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who just came to this country, chose to become an American, is deciding he is the foremost authority to tell Americans what it means to be American.

"He has the AUDACITY, on America's 250th birthday, to call our great nation "an arena of supremacy" — a nation that "persecutes," ruled by "oligarchs."

Tweet by "End Wokeness"

Zohran Mamdani talks about "who we are as a nation" next to newly arrived immigrants.

He became a citizen in 2018

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 3

but not as lucrative as Melania's sweet, sweet deal with Amazon

The income of the first lady, Melania Trump, surpassed that of the vice president, with her business earnings totaling between roughly $17.3 and $18.2 million last year. She took in less than $1 million in 2024, federal disclosures show.

The bulk of her revenue came from a $10.7 million licensing agreement related to the “Melania” movie, which was acquired and promoted by Amazon. The company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has multiple business interests that could be affected by administration policies

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 3

that's quite lucrative

The bulk of Mr. Vance’s income came from royalties and advances associated with his autobiography, “Hillbilly Elegy,” published in 2016. He earned between about $1.2 million and $5.2 million from the book, compared with less than $100,000 in 2024

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 3

It's sweet that my dog wants to be near me, but he really needs to make some better choices

A mastiff lies on his side on a floor. His head is positioned between two of the rollers of a desk chair.

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 2

at least as of now, it appears the question has been asked but not answered

The liberal political advocacy group Social Security Works raised questions Thursday about the arrangement, including whether the Social Security Administration was paying a licensing fee to Freedom 250. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 2

Nothing says "happy Fourth of July" like the National Park Service warning that DC's fireworks show may be hazardous to your health, and that you should "remain indoors as much as possible during and after the show." DURING

The Park Service, in a separate document, similarly said that people should “wear an n95 mask when outdoors” and “remain indoors as much as possible during and after the show.”

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 2

Grant wanted peace, but not at any cost. As President, he literally sent in the cavalry and suspended the writ of habeas corpus to fight the Klan. In a candid post-presidential moment, he said that white southerners had "never responded" to his efforts to meet them in a "spirit of conciliation."

here has never been a moment since Lee surrendered that I would not have gone more than half- way to meet the Southern people in a spirit of conciliation . But they have never responded to it . They have not forgotten the war . A few shrewd leaders like Mr. Lamar and others have talked conciliation ; but any one who knows Mr. Lamar knows that he meant this for effect , and that at least he was as much in favor of the old régime as Jefferson Davis . The pacification of the South rests entirely with the South . I do not see what the North can do that has not been done , unless we surrender the results of the war .

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 2

The image here borrows its title from Grant's 1868 presidential campaign slogan, "Let us have peace." Here's what Frederick Douglass had to say about that sentiment.

In the language of our greatest soldier, twice honored with the Presidency of the nation, “Let us have peace.” Yes, let us have peace, but let us have liberty, law, and justice first. Let us have the Constitution, with its thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments, fairly interpreted, faithfully executed, and cheerfully obeyed in the fullness of their spirit and the completeness of their letter.

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 1

Plunkitt said he engaged only in the former. For example: using insider info, he would buy up land in advance that would be needed for a bridge, and then sell it to the government at a profit. Below is how he defined "dishonest" graft. The distinction is spurious. Even if we accept it...

" Tammany was beat in 1901 because the people were deceived into believin ' that it worked dishonest graft . They did n't draw a distinction between dishonest and honest graft , but they saw that some Tammany men grew rich , and supposed they had been rob-
bin ' the city treasury or levyin ' blackmail on disorderly houses , or workin ' in with the gamblers and lawbreakers .

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 1

For those not familiar with George W. Plunkitt: He was a NYS Senator and a leader of the NYC Democratic machine, Tammany Hall. In 1905, a journalist published a book about Plunkitt and attributed lots of colorful sayings to him. One was a distinction between "honest" and "dishonest" graft.

snip from title page of a book. It reads:

PLUNKITT

OF

ΤΑΜΜΑNY HALL

A SERIES OF VERY PLAIN TALKS ON VERY PRACTICAL POLITICS , DELIVERED BY EX - SENATOR GEORGE WASHINGTON PLUNKITT , THE TAMMANY PHIL-

OSOPHER , FROM HIS ROSTRUM - THE

NEW YORK COUNTY COURT - HOUSE

BOOTBLACK STAND - AND RECORDED

BY

WILLIAM L. RIORDON

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jul 1

"This Declaration—the slaves’ Declaration, the abolitionists’ Declaration, Lincoln’s Declaration—is the beating heart of the American project. It is this Declaration that still lives as a promise to the people who call this nation home, as a challenge...to live up to their ideals and aspirations."

As we mark, this year, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is important to see that its meaning is dynamic. And that meaning, as we understand it, flows less from the men who signed it than from those who heard its words and took ownership of them as a standard for their freedom and independence — not from Britain, but from bondage.

Stephen West@stephenwest· Jun 30

He uses the phrase again a few pages later - but it doesn't really seem consistent with the source he cites.