Committees can be productive

As evidence, I submit to ye socks the result of a committee created by the Continental Congress.

On this date back in 1776, they returned a draft of the Declaration of Independence that won congressional approval.

Nowadays, it seems an all-too-often result of committee work is stonewalling, foot-dragging, and indecision. Or, worse, if ye examine the shenanigans of committee chairmen like Barney Frank.

Fortunately, our forefathers had the wisdom to appoint some pretty stellar committee members to handle the task of drafting the famous declaration:

* Thomas Jefferson, who did almost all of the actual writing and generally gets most of the credit (deservedly, so).

* John Adams, who made the first round of revisions.

* Benjamin Franklin, who made the second round of revisions.

* Robert R. Livingston, of whom I must confess that I know almost nothing about.

and, finally

* Roger Sherman (1721-1793) the dandy fellow from Connecticut, pictured here in the dryer today. Jefferson once said of his fellow committee member that he "never said a foolish thing in his life." Oh, how times have changed . . .

So, he was off by a coupla days . . .

On this date back in 1776, the Continental Congress finally put the great debate to rest and adopted a resolution for independence.

The resolution's most ardent supporter, John Adams, would write to his wife about it:

The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America . . . I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival.

Well, I'm with Mr. Adams. Let's kick-off the celebrations today, and just carry them forward thru the 4th and beyond!

The Great Debate

Forget about your Abraham Lincoln.

Forget about your Stephen Douglas.

The greatest debate in American history was the one that transpired on this date back in 1776.

One one side, you had John Adams, the fierly little patriot from Massachusetts, bristling for an immediate declaration of independence.

And, on the other side, you had this much more urbane fellow from Pennsylvania: John Dickinson.

Like the folks from New York, the thought of outright independence made him nervous.

He was not an altogether unpatriotic fellow. A lot of folks forget that he teamed-up with Thomas Jefferson to draft a resolution to "die free men rather than slaves," declaring the causes and necessity of taking up arms. But, he also wanted to take a more measured approach to the British, proposing a confederation of the American colonies rather than outright independence from King George III.

Fortunately for freedom-loving Americans, Adams won the debate. Wish someone in the loyal opposition had his gifts in the current Congress . . .

Ranking the Presidents

It seems like this day every year, a bunch of liberal eggheads try to spoon feed us their rankings of all the presidents. C-SPAN is offering a prime example today.

I decided to examine the list and rank them myself. Disclaimers: No one got any style points for looking good in a tux or for having a flashy smile. Also, no points were awarded for martyrdom. I only graded on what was accomplised AS PRESIDENT. What happened before or after was not considered.

And, of course, I examine everything from a conservative perspective the aforementioned eggheads will probably never quite grasp.

Ok, so here goes:

1. Ronald Reagan
2. James Monroe
3. Calvin Coolidge
4. James K. Polk
5. Abraham Lincoln
6. Theodore Roosevelt
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. George Washington
9. Dwight D. Eisenhower
10. Harry Truman
11. George H.W. Bush
12. William McKinley
13. Andrew Jackson
14. Ulysses S. Grant
15. Rutherford B. Hayes
16. James Madison
17. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
18. George W. Bush
19. John F. Kennedy
20. Gerald R. Ford
21. Millard Fillmore
22. Bill Clinton
23. William H. Taft
24. Woodrow Wilson
25. John Tyler
26. Chester Arthur
27. John Adams
28. Richard Nixon
29. Grover Cleveland
30. John Quincy Adams
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Lyndon Johnson
33. Jimmy Carter
34. Warren Harding
35. Benjamin Harrison
36. Franklin Pierce
37. Andrew Johnson
38. Herbert Hoover
39. Zachary Taylor
40. James Buchanan

Well, at least we all agreed on Buchanan being the worst.

Note:
Three names were left off the list due to incomplete records:
* James A. Garfield - assassinated only a few months after inauguration.
* William Henry Harrison - died of pneumonia a month after taking office.
* Barack Hussein Obama - current commander-in-chief (shudder!)

John Adams

Like most Americans, I'm afraid yours truly has never fully appreciated our second president: John Adams.

For me, anyway, he always seemed to pale in comparison to his contemporaries: Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, et al.

He enjoyed some increased popularity several years ago, when David McCullough published a masterful biography.

I admit to buying the tome, but confess I only read the section on the Alien and Sedition Act.

Fortunately, somebody over at HBO must've read the entire thing and realized it would make a good cable mini-series.

But, I missed the original run since I am too cheap to pay Bright House Networks for anything more than their basic cable package (and that only for clear reception that can no longer be found over the public airwaves).

Now, however, the entire series is available on DVD at your local Blockbuster. It being so beastly hot outside, I could think of no better way to spend this Sunday afternoon.

Both Paul Giamatti (John Adams) and Laura Linney (Abigail Adams) deliver amazing performances.

The only drawback was that I can only check-out 2 DVD's at a time, and this is a 3-disc series! So, I feel like I've been left hanging about 2/3 of the way thru the story!!