Somewhere, Edward Gibbon is making notes

JEFFERSON (1776): We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

LINCOLN (1863): It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

FDR (1933): The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

JFK (1961): Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

REAGAN (1981): In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

REAGAN (1987): Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.

CLINTON (1998): I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

OBAMA (2014): I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet.

For people living on Mars who may not have heard

...here are the results of the 2012 Presidential Election in the United States:

Popular vote (unofficial): Obama 60,899,564 (50.4%); Romney 57,961,119 (48.1%)

Electoral vote (the one that really counts, with 270 required to win) currently sits at Obama 303 (blue), Romney 206 (red), with Florida’s 29 votes “leaning” toward Obama 49.8% to 49.3%

The nation remains in gridlock. In the Senate, where 33 out of the 100 seats were up for election and 51 are required for a majority, the Democrats increased their number from 53 to 54. In the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats were up for election and 218 are required for a majority, the Republicans dropped from 242 to 234 but retain their majority.

Basically, nothing has changed.

I suppose the most important sentence in this post is this one:

The nation remains in gridlock.

[Editor’s note. The numbers in this post are as of 1900 hours, Eastern time, November 8, 2012. --RWP]

The most important 18 minutes since the gap in President Nixon’s Watergate tapes

...just might be a talk given in Orlando last September by lawyer Anita Moncrief, a former liberal and the whistleblower in the ACORN scandal. She shared some very interesting information:

Anita Moncrief’s very interesting information -- Part One (9:14)

Anita Moncrief’s very interesting information -- Part Two (9:53)

If you have been asleep, people, it is time to wake up.

P.S. -- For those who are wondering, I do know how to add, and I realize that Ms. Moncrief’s very interesting talk is actually a little over 19 minutes long when you include the seconds. I chose to ignore the seconds so that this post -- did I mention that it contains some very interesting information? -- could have a very interesting title.

As the election draws near

...every American voter and certain residents of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England in the U.K. ought to read this article by Niall Ferguson in this week’s Newsweek magazine.

Since you’re here, why don’t you read it too? (It’s a little on the long side -- five pages -- but worth the look.)

You might learn something.