corrente

Concord, MA.

The following was published in the Constitutional Gazette, September 9, 1775:

SEPTEMBER 1. - The enemies to liberty and America, headed by Tom Gage, lately gave a notable specimen of their hatred to the very name liberty. A party of them, of whom Job Williams was the ringleader, a few days since repaired to a tree at the south end of Boston, known by the name of Liberty Tree, and armed with axes, etc., made a furious attack upon it. After a long spell of laughing, and grinning, sweating, swearing, and foaming with malice diabolical, they cut down a tree, because it bore the name of liberty. Be it known to this infamous band of traitors, that the Grand American Tree of Liberty, planted in the centre of the united colonies of North America, now flourishes with unrivalled, increasing beauty; and bids fair in a short time to afford under its wide-spreading branches, a safe and happy retreat for all the sons of liberty, however numerous and dispersed.

[source: Diary of the American Revolution; From Newspapers and Original Documents,
By Frank Moore; page 131. Published by C. Scribner, 1860]

What the Constitution Gazette is reporting above is the destruction of the "Liberty Tree" which grew near Boston Common until it was cut down in 1775:

The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous elm tree that stood in Boston, near Boston Common, in the days before the American Revolution. The tree was a rallying point for the growing resistance to the rule of England over the American colonies. In the years that followed, almost every American town had its own Liberty Tree—a living symbol of popular support for individual liberty and resistance to tyranny. In some locales, a Liberty Pole rather than a tree served the same political purpose.

[...]

In the years leading up to the war, the British made the Liberty Tree an object of ridicule. British soldiers tarred and feathered a man named Ditson, and forced him to march in front of the tree. During the siege of Boston, about the last day of August 1775, a party of Loyalists led by Job Williams defiantly cut the tree down in an act of spite, knowing what it represented to the colonists, and used the tree for firewood. This act only further enraged the colonists. As resistance to the British grew, flags bearing a representation of the Liberty Tree were flown to symbolize the unwavering spirit of liberty. These flags were later a common sight during the battles of the American Revolution. [ Read entire wiki entry here: Liberty Tree ]

Glenn Beck's war against the American Liberty Tree

I thought about the Liberty Tree after visiting Rumproast.com yesterday afternoon and reading Kevin's post excerpting a portion of a Glenn Beck radio show rut which featured something called an "Earth Day Spoof", in which, according to the Glenn Beck newsletter, it was announced with much fanfare:

On Today’s Program
Earth Day!

Glenn takes some callers eager to celebrate Earth Day by cutting down trees live on the air. There’s nothing better than the sound of a good chainsaw blazing away on Earth day. Check out this call from Tim in Cleveland, who is cutting down trees in Ohio.

Well sure, what would you expect from an underwit like Beck. Anyway...

The full text transcript of the "spoof", as well as audio, can be found via Rumproast here: HERE. But here is a sampling of the hilarity as Beck and his caller buddy from Cleveland discuss timbering an American Elm. Listen (emphasis mine):

GLENN: Do we have Tim in Cleveland is a forest manager. He’s cutting down trees today in celebration of Earth Day. Do we have Tim on the phone? Tim, are you there?

CALLER: Yeah, I’m here, Glenn.

[..........]

GLENN: In honor of Earth Day. That’s fantastic. Are you ready?

CALLER: Yeah, I’m ready.

GLENN: Go ahead.

CALLER: I have to yell “Timber” first.

GLENN: You’ve got to what?

CALLER: I have to yell “Timber” first.

GLENN: Oh, okay. Don’t you do that right before the tree falls?

CALLER: Timber! (Chainsaw starting up).

All done. I laid down an Aspen tree with Glenn’s name on it and an Aspen tree with Stu’s name on it. So you are both involved.

GLENN: That is fantastic. Those are little teeny trees. Don’t you have like a big huge oak or something?

CALLER: No, no, we don’t cut oak. We cut Aspen and stuff like that and we leave behind the good stuff.

GLENN: Well, I’m looking for somebody else that would be willing to cut down the good stuff, you know. They are not American Elms, are?

CALLER: Well, actually they are. Yes, they are.

GLENN: They are? Because I know those are like here in New York City, you go to Central Park, American Elms, those are a big deal because they are almost wiped out and everything else. So I mean, give me another Elm, just give me another American Elm.

CALLER: I want to hear another American Elm? Coming right up. Let me fire this back up.

GLENN: Because they are so loved here in New York City.

Now, I don't think I'm going to have to venture to far out on a limb here (haha) when I say that a witless rattlebrain like Glenn Beck - and his dimwitted caller from Cleveland - have no idea that the original Tree of Liberty was an American Elm. Or that some malicious malecontent by the name of Job Williams chopped it down as some kind of pre radio days stunt in the late summer of 1775. Beck is obviously completely clueless as to the cultural history and patriotic symbolism the American Elm tree embodies. Which explains his oafish stunted comicalness in the transcript above.

Afterall, Beck is himself an intellectually rootless stump.... The only reason he exists at all within the confines of the Fox News media petrie dish is because he exhibits a bratty boy-sweetling quality that makes him appealing to the kind of morons who enjoy such ongoing imbecilities as the Concerned Women for America and bacon fart jokes. In no small part thanks should be extended to guys like Beck - and Erick Erickson too (for The Great Dishwashing Machine Detergent Rebellion of 2009!) - and all etc. etc. etc.... for reducing the Republican Party and the entire so called "conservative movement" to little more than a bacon fart joke. Keep up the good work boys. Timber!

In any case, Back to Mr. Beck. I wonder what the original Boston Tea Party participants and Sons of Liberty would have to say to our latter day Job Williams wannabe if they could get past his call screener.

Odd ain't it? Especially after watching Beck and his foaming habitue of Tea Bag merry-andrews parade about on cue in front of Fox News TV cameras all last week all the while griping and grousing and affecting pompous self-deceiving stands on behalf of liberty and patriotism and traditional American values - and so forth. I guess it only seems fitting that one of their lead bell cows in that effort (in this case Beck) would turn up only days later grinning fantastic into a radio microphone at the possibility that some easily netted gudgeon from Cleveland might actually be about to mow down a stand of elm trees (possibly the revolutionary disease resistant variety no less) with a chainsaw and a cell phone.

GLENN: Well, I’m looking for somebody else that would be willing to cut down the good stuff, you know. They are not American Elms, are?

CALLER: Well, actually they are. Yes, they are.

The American Elm, a living symbol of liberty, patriotism, and American values.

"GLENN: ...So I mean, give me another Elm, just give me another American Elm."

Ok. So lets give the stupid brainless bastard another American Elm. What the hell, give him thousands. Lets...

Surround Glenn Beck with American Elms!

Plant an American "Liberty" Elm tree today. You can buy an American Elm (which is Dutch Elm Disease resistant) and plant it in your very own yard!

Read more about the different DED resistant American elm trees currently available and their history here (it's really interesting): Elmpost.org. This particular source recommends "Valley Forge" elm saplings (prices and sizes vary from $25 for a two foot tree to $70 for a 6-8 foot tree). However, information on other varieties is also explained. At the bottom of the page are listed additional nursery sources. For order and pricing info see: THIS PAGE

For additional information on "Valley Forge" and "New Harmony" American Elms see U.S. National Arboretum.

The U.S. National Arboretum is pleased to announce the release of two new Dutch elm disease tolerant American elms, 'Valley Forge' and 'New Harmony'. Over the past 50 years, millions of stately elms shading the streets of the American landscape have been lost to Dutch elm disease (DED). Selected after 20 years of research, both 'Valley Forge' and 'New Harmony' have good levels of disease tolerance, although neither is immune to DED. Both cultivars possess the "classic" American elm shape and the tolerance to air pollution and poor soil conditions of the species. 'Valley Forge' and 'New Harmony' present a new opportunity to plant an old American favorite. Plant history. Plant a disease-tolerant American elm!

It might also be worth noting that Dutch Elm Disease first appeared in this country in 1930. In Cleveland, Ohio.

Don't let bottom-feeding radio yack show diddlers like Glenn Beck and his anti-Elm Nazi Red-Coats wipe out the American Liberty Tree!





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2009 (redacted adaptation)


1975 - original cartoon
(click for closer look)


New York Times, April 21, 2009 (bold emphasis added):

Pressure Grows to Investigate Interrogations

And while Mr. Obama vowed not to prosecute C.I.A. officers for acting on legal advice, on Monday aides did not rule out legal sanctions for the Bush lawyers who developed the legal basis for the use of the techniques.

[...]

The decision to promise no prosecution of those who followed the legal advice of the Bush administration lawyers was easier, aides said, because it would be hard to charge someone for doing something the administration had determined was legal. The lawyers, however, are another story.

On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said on the ABC News program “This Week” that “those who devised policy” also “should not be prosecuted.” But administration officials said Monday that Mr. Emanuel had meant the officials who ordered the policies carried out, not the lawyers who provided the legal rationale.

[...]

The administration has also not ruled out prosecuting anyone who exceeded the legal guidelines, and officials have discussed appointing a special prosecutor. One option might be giving the job to John H. Durham, a federal prosecutor who has spent 15 months investigating the C.I.A.’s destruction of videotapes of harsh interrogations.

[...]

Others pushing for more investigation included Philip D. Zelikow, the former State Department counselor in the Bush administration. On his blog for Foreign Policy magazine and in an interview, Mr. Zelikow said it was not up to a president to rule out an inquiry into possible criminal activity. “If a Republican president tried to do this, people would be apoplectic,” he said.

Phil D. Zelikow is a funny guy aint he? Maybe, "on his blog", he'll push for a teabugger party on July fourth demanding former president George W. Bush not rule out an inquiry into the criminal activity of the George W. Bush administration. That would be mighty apoplectic of him.

apoplectic, by the way, is a fancy word for: hopping fucking mad. (i looked it up).

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