Stay ConnectedA sharp, funny politics podcast for people who want the news without the freakout.
Each week, Getting Hammered® takes a hammer to the headlines, breaking down politics, media spin, and cultural meltdowns with skepticism and fun. Overcaffeinated and Underprepared®, moderately right and moderately reliable, we never take ourselves too seriously. But keep you informed on serious topics with no panic and no partisan loyalty tests. Just laughs, well-earned side-eye, and occasional libations.
Copyright: © Nebulous Media LLC
Written in John Adams' hand, these notes from the Continental Congress catalogue the debate over whether to do trade with foreign entities. The colonies needs supplies, but engaging with foreign countries while at war with Great Britain creeps pretty close to acting like a country, not a colony. Hence, the debate.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/01-02-02-0006-0002-0001
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At a meeting of his war councilF eb, 16, 1776,, George Washingon suggests a complex, amphibious assault on Boston on frozen waterways, but the council says "nope." What they decide instead will change the course of the war and the fight for America's freedom.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-03-02-0229
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On Feb. 12, 1776, the journals of the Continental Congress reveal that Major Gen. Lee is very worried about New York and that troops should be sent form Pennsylvania and New Jersey to aid him. The Congress also works on distribution of salt peter for the purposes of making gunpowder and blankets for a batallion. John Hancock urges Pennsylvania Delegate John Dickinson to get to Congress on time to vote the next day.
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n February of 1776, John Adams has taken one of many hard trips from Braintree, Mass. to Philadelphia to rejoin the Continental Congress. In this short letter to his wife, he tells of his travels, his worries, and his hopes for the colonies and their future.
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While George Washington was doing military work, a small group of leaders including Ben Franklin and John Jay were on the Committee of Secret Correspondence, which did diplomatic and foreign intelligence work in the service of the American cause. In this missive, Ben Franklin recaps the failed Canada campaign Washington referenced to John Hancock and offers an account of a Canadian visitor to Congress, who sounds like an intelligence asset, and his report on political reasons the campaign isn't working in Canada and how it could be helped. Turns out, it never did catch on north of the border.
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On Feb. 9. 1776, George Washington sounds like he's had it up to here with the short deployments of Continental Army soldiers. Americans had philosophical reasons for keeping citizen soldiers on short time, viewing a standing army with suspicion. But in this correspondence, Washington politely but insistently lays out the many problems he's had with them. The Continental Army would later move to 1-3 year stints as the war went on.
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A weekend read of Washington's General Orders from Cambridge on Feb. 7, 1776. He is establishing pay for the Army's chaplains at $33.50 per month and advising officers how to create and distribute ammo. Washington also mentions Connecticut chaplain Abiel Leonard, who volunteered in 1775 to serve as one of a handful of chaplains before the army was even established as the Continental Army. Leonard was one of the first-ever chaplains to serve in the Army Corps of Chaplains, whcih was established in July 1775 and still exists today, boasting some 3,000 chaplains. Washington thought chaplains important to the morale and moral character of the troops, as well as in bolstering them for courage in the fight instead of desertion. Washington appreciated Leonard so much he once wrote to his home church asking if they could spare him for the Army some time longer and Gen. Israel Putnam (of Bunker Hill fame) petitioned Congress for backpay for his service in 1775.
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I’ve been looking for a way to celebrate America 250 as this year goes by and I don’t want it to be relegated to July 4th or certain events. So, I thought maybe I would search for primary documents, written for or by the Founding Fathers (and a surrounding cast of historical characters) for as many of the days of the year as I can.
Since I’m starting in February, I think it’s fitting that my search brought me first to a set of letters exchanged between Phyllis Wheatley and General George Washington. Below is the poem that prompted Washington to write to the formerly enslaved poet, Phyllis Wheatley.
His Excellency, General Washington
by Phyllis Wheatley
Celestial choir! enthron'd in realms of light,
Columbia's scenes of glorious toils I write.
While freedom's cause her anxious breast alarms,
She flashes dreadful in refulgent arms.
See mother earth her offspring's fate bemoan,
And nations gaze at scenes before unknown!
See the bright beams of heaven's revolving light
Involved in sorrows and the veil of night!
The Goddess comes, she moves divinely fair,
Olive and laurel binds Her golden hair:
Wherever shines this native of the skies,
Unnumber'd charms and recent graces rise.
Muse! Bow propitious while my pen relates
How pour her armies through a thousand gates,
As when Eolus heaven's fair face deforms,
Enwrapp'd in tempest and a night of storms;
Astonish'd ocean feels the wild uproar,
The refluent surges beat the sounding shore;
Or think as leaves in Autumn's golden reign,
Such, and so many, moves the warrior's train.
In bright array they seek the work of war,
Where high unfurl'd the ensign waves in air.
Shall I to Washington their praise recite?
Enough thou know'st them in the fields of fight.
Thee, first in peace and honors—we demand
The grace and glory of thy martial band.
Fam'd for thy valour, for thy virtues more,
Hear every tongue thy guardian aid implore!
One century scarce perform'd its destined round,
When Gallic powers Columbia's fury found;
And so may you, whoever dares disgrace
The land of freedom's heaven-defended race!
Fix'd are the eyes of nations on the scales,
For in their hopes Columbia's arm prevails.
Anon Britannia droops the pensive head,
While round increase the rising hills of dead.
Ah! Cruel blindness to Columbia's state!
Lament thy thirst of boundless power too late.
Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,
Thy ev'ry action let the Goddess guide.
A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,
With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! Be thine.
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Hosts Mary Katharine Ham and Vic Matus talk the Washington Auto show and generational shifts in car culture, plus their first cars! They delve into the Democratic drama of the Texas Senate race and the influence of social media on politics. The conversation also touches on the Grammys, the Kennedy Center's controversies, city dysfunction with school closures and trash heaps, and the Loudoun County School Board is absolutely insane again. Finally, they are trying to care about the Winter Olympics.
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