Craig Hullinger- City Planner, Marine Colonel Retired: 03/01/2024

3/26/2024

ONE AND DONE

ONE TERM ONLY - ONE AND DONE

The next election for the President of the United States will be over eventually. Can't be too soon. We are tired of all the negativity. The party out of power spends their time and effort in demeaning the current President and Vice President in hopes of damaging them enough so that their candidate can get elected. Terrible way to run a country. (I have written this same post for the last 12 years).

This is damaging to our nation. Makes us all angry. A country divided itself cannot stand.

We can correct the problem.

Solution? Change our rules so that both the President and Vice President can be elected to either office only once. Having once been elected, the President and Vice President can never run for either office again. One and done.

This would stop some of the negativity. Since the President can now run for a second time, and the Vice President can also run again, the opposition continuously denigrates them. This has to be counterproductive for the individuals and the nation. No wonder we are so disgusted with our politics.

The Presidency and Vice Presidency are tough and difficult jobs. Four years is more than adequate. If the current President and Vice President cannot run again they will concentrate on their duties in the job instead of getting reelected.

There are a number of tough issues that are unpopular - fixing Medicare, Social Security, taxes, etc. An incumbent who hopes to get reelected will kick the issue down the road, often exacerbating the problem.

The second term is often not productive. Most of what the new President accomplishes is done in his or her first term. The second term is often coasting on the accomplishments of the first term. And eight years gives more time for problems to emerge. And being unable to run a second time means that the current office holder won't spend all their time flitting around the country on Air Force One campaigning at our expense.

The once elected President and Vice President would be prohibited from ever running for either office again. My theory is that the party out of office will be more likely to support the current administration and not spend all their time denigrating the two leaders. That should become our new national policy - Elect the President one time and support him or her as your patriotic duty.

If this change is adopted the Vice President would likely be an older seasoned person since they could never run for the Presidency. Change the rules going forward so that it does not affect the sitting incumbent.

One and Done.

3/13/2024

Send In The Marines - Guarding the US Mail

Marine Corps guarding mail at Union Station, Portland, 1926. During the 1920's, the United States Postal Service, and the mail, came under attack from enterprising criminals. In 1921, after several high pro... show more

Contributed by Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media

During the 1920's, the United States Postal Service, and the mail, came under attack from enterprising criminals. In 1921, after several high profile robberies, President Warren G. Harding sent 2,200 Marines to guard mail delivery across the nation. The "Devil Dogs" were assigned to high priority certified mail, items such as cash and negotiable bonds. While the Marines were on guard, not one robbery was attempted. They withdrew in 1922.

By 1926, the postal service was once again a prime target for robberies, which prompted President Coolidge to assign 2,500 Marines to guard duty across the nation. Union Station in Chicago was one of the biggest economic and transportation hubs in the region.

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Secretary of the Navy, Edwin Denby, himself a Marine during World War I, instructed marines on assignment to shoot to kill if attacked. He stated, "When our men go as guards over the mail, that mail must be delivered, or there must be a Marine dead at the post of duty."

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On November 7, 1921, President Warren G. Harding ordered 2,200 Marines to guard the mail in the wake of a series of daring mail robberies.

In the early 1900s, mail robbery was a common problem in the US. It was a profitable enterprise for thieves, as banks and other financial institutions often shipped large amounts of money and negotiable bonds by registered mail. Between 1919 and 1921 alone, robbers stole about $6 million worth of mail.

Perhaps the worst robbery occurred in New York City when robbers stole five sacks of mail, carrying about $2.4 million in cash and securities in a single heist. The situation was so dire that by early November 1921, the postmaster general wrote a letter to President Harding to request that the Marines come and guard the mail.

Harding agreed and on November 7, 1921 (the same day as another robbery occurred in Paxton, Illinois) wrote a letter to the US Navy secretary ordering him to assign as many Marines as necessary to guard the mail. He complied and within a few days, 2,200 Marines and 53 officers were scattered across the country to guard the mail. They generally worked in small detachments of two or three men.

The Marines had strict orders: “You must, when on guard duty, keep your weapons in hand and, if attacked, shoot and shoot to kill. There is no compromise in this battle with bandits. If two Marines guarding a mail car, for example, are suddenly covered by a robber, neither must hold up his hands, but both must begin shooting at once. One may be killed, but the other will get the robbers and save the mail. When our Marine Corps men go as guards over the mail, that mail must be delivered or there must be a dead Marine at the post of duty.”

The Marines remained on duty until March 15, 1922. During that time, there wasn’t a single attempted mail robbery. For about another year, there were no more major attempts. This was until robbers took $2.4 million from a St. Louis mail messenger in April 1923. The robberies then began to increase in frequency once again, culminating in the murder of a mail truck driver in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 14, 1926.

The postmaster general then requested President Calvin Coolidge send in the Marines again, which he did on October 20, 1926. Soon, 2,500 enlisted men and officers were again spread across the country to protect the mail. However, by this point the robbers had stronger firepower – automatic rifles and machine guns, so the Marines were armed with Thompson submachine guns.

There was only one known incident of an attempted mail robbery during this time, on October 26, though the Marine fired his gun scaring off the would-be thief. Much like the last time, the Marine presence brought an end to the rash of mail robberies. In February 1927, the Marines were replaced by a new security force of the Postal Service.

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https://www.mainememory.net/record/103976

https://info.mysticstamp.com/marines-ordered-to-guard-mail_tdih/

https://www.uspis.gov/history-spotlight-2023/send-in-the-marines

3/11/2024

Media Bias Chart

The chart above shows the media bias as estimated by the website https://www.allsides.com/

https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart

It is important to read a number of sites with different media bias. If one only reads from sites that you agree with, you only reinforce what you already know. Of course, many people prefer that, but it is intellectually incorrect, and people that do that are usually poorly informed.

3/07/2024

Read Board

Things to read www.gutenberg.org

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General Longstreet’s Memoirs https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38418/38418-h/38418-h.htm

General Grants Memoirs https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4367/pg4367-images.html

A Soldier of the Legion by George Manington 1900
French Foreign Legionnaire in Vietnam

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53902

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/657/657.txt

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

https://sherlock-holm.es/stories/html/advs.html

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76

Hero Tales from American History by Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1864