Dave Fortin
@davidwfortin
History teacher in Philadelphia. APUSH, AP Govt. Dogfather. XC and track dad. STL Cards, Blues, and STLCity fan. Army vet (Gulf War). Notre Dame alum. Gen X. "The air tasted of lies.” S. De Beauvoir
"We'll survive this. I've been preparing. I'm sorry that Sparky didn't make it inside in time. Now why isn't there a single broadcast on the radio?"
Sheetz parking lot, Lancaster PA. The sun struggles through the smoky haze.
Jesus. From Mancall’s Contested Continent (2026). The incident (1599) was an attack on Spanish soldiers for stealing 2 turkeys that led to 11 soldiers’ deaths. This is the Spanish response.
NWS Radar right now--DC will start seeing it in the next hour. Philly in a few hours.
I’m reading Mancal’s Contested Continent, which is excellent so far—passages like this show that the arguments that Columbus, and others were products of their time are BS—there were voices speaking directly to them that what they were doing was evil
One of my favorite articles from grad school--about what matters in the historical narrative--myth or reality?
No, he belongs down here with the worst of the worst. This ranking was only after his first term---this one has been much worse than T1:
1/Vicksburg surrendered today and tomorrow in 1863–this book is the best I’ve read, as it spends a lot of space on how the Union army addressed the freed people
Some Gettysburg pics of the Philadelphia Brigade at Cemetery Ridge holding off Pickett’s charge:
In addition to the Gettysburgh anniversary, this week also marks the fall of Vicksburg (July 4th, 1863), arguably the more important victory. Lincoln remarked when geting the news: "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea."
Just like that nun, who was in her habit on the way to mass, was a CRIMINAL GRRRR!
And the Freedom Train! But the 2026 version failed due to poor planning and lack of sponsors....
2/we would like to hope that we would be what Postman called “loving resistance fighters” but there's fewer of thiose now due to misinformation or aliteracy. Arendt got it right:
This is so ugly and tacky. If we wanted to put up a real memorial, someone on his team should look at the Civil War monuments on the Ben Franklin Pkwy in Philly--there's a matching pair on either side of the road--one to the Navy and one to the Army--here's the latter:
My favorite toilet is this one---we saw this in South Philly when looking at places. I guess there's a real plumbing reason for it, but I could just imagine sitting there surveying my kingdom:
I've made Cuban sliders for parties for some years--Hawaiian rolls, shredded pork shoulder (usually roasted in the oven or slow-cooked overnight in the crock pot), ham slices, swiss cheese, dill pickle slices, dijon mustard. They are muched loved when I bring them out.
We really don’t want him here. Plus, as he said himself, Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia
Ralph Steadman (friend of Hunter Thompson--you may recall him in the KY Derby episode) on Trump: