315 Comments

So......you're kinda, like, describing Trumpelforeskins life of constantly failing upwards? Man.......next go round, I gotta gets myself some of them rich as shit parents.......

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So, is that why people get stoned on 20 April?

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founding

Love the Lorenzo Da Ponte connection - and yes, those biographies are of the hook!

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I can't think of anybody whose name isn't Sickles who considered his actions at Gettysburg to be anything short of a disaster. He created a salient that led to the virtual elimination of half the famed Iron Brigade and a substantial number of US Regulars -- he wrecked the two best brigades in the Eastern Theater.

The only positive result I can think of is that the Regulars got at least some (posthumous) recognition, as some Second Corps soldier later said: "For two years, the Regulars taught us how to fight like soldiers; at the Wheatfield, they taught us how to die like soldiers."

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Yelled, "Don't fight up hill, me boys, don't fight up hill!" Ah, no, it wasn't him, either.

He didn't like the position of his troops on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, so he moved them off of the high ground and into the wheatfield and the base of the ridge. That opened up a huge gap in the Union line on the ridge, and placed Sickles and his troops into an exposed position on the low ground.

The Confederate troops had to charge Sickles' troops, exposing them to cannon fire from Cemetery Ridge, but it also forced Sickles to abandon the wheatfield and into the peach orchard and into Devil's Den. Some of the most heavy fighting on the second day at Gettysburg.

This action also delayed the Confederate assault on Little Round Top, giving the 20th Maine under Chamberlain just enough time to get into defensive position to repulse the Confederate advances up the hill. The 20th Maine's line held and the Confederate attack was halted.

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And 30 years later, Adolph Schicklgruber a/k/a Hitler was born. Coincidence? I think not!

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founding

He totally screwed up at Gettysburg

Extended way too far against Meade’s orders and nearly lost an entire Corps when Lee did a pincer attack. Only getting his leg blown off by a cannonball saved him from court-martial.

He was a political general and an incompetent AH

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I feel like I need some name tags, push pins, and string to diagram all the connections in this plot. Wow. Great read.

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Apr 20·edited Apr 20

“American Scoundrel”, Robyn - and “riveting”, indeed! Aside from late MS, who read it because I wouldn’t shut up about it, you’re only the third person in my circle who seems to know about Randy Dan Sickles. Then again, I haven’t yet looked downthread…

Oops! Just found Meccalopolis, who kindly linked to Amazon for the book. It’s worth the retail price, though I stumbled upon my copy years ago at Dollar Tree. Best find evah!

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Apr 20·edited Apr 20

The only reason why Daniel was able to win with the temporary insanity plea in the first place was because he was friends with, and shook hands with President Buchanan before the trial. People (especially that jury) of that time be like, "We'll if Daniel's a friend of the President, then he's incapable of doing anything wrong. Plus the handshake from the President of the United States brings automatic absolution and forgiveness, so we have to create a new rule for Daniel."

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Today, our Dearest Leader, believes that even after leaving office of the Presidency, that he is still godlike, has godlike powers, and everyone (including Judges and juries) around him should be enthralled within his presence, and everyone around him forgive him of all of his crimes. But I hope, unlike in 1859, people (and Dearest Leader's current jury in NYC) will see through this godlike bullcrap, and hold Dearest Leader accountable. If not, then we haven't evolved much since 1859. That just means that we still have much work harder to fight to make the Rule of Law apply to everyone.

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What's abetter defense than temporary insanity? Full-time permanent insanity. That's the strategy this current former guy is pursuing.

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Apr 20·edited Apr 20

“Murder really does look classier with a top hat.”

It *does,* doesn’t it?

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I like that the opera glasses he threw were in the picture. It's that sort of detail that makes history come alive.

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Nope! I don't buy the story of temporary insanity as a defense and never will! Sanity doesn't come and go! Ya got it or ya don't! Just like the idea of a person "just snapped!" Even the true crime show "Snapped" is about all the signs of problems that were happening that proved the killer was gonna kill...no snap occurred!!

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At the time, France recognized "crime passional" to cover things like shooting your spouse if you found them in bed with someone else ...and "honor killings" are still a thing in some legal codes.

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Courts pretty much agree with you. Even standard insanity defenses are extremely rare.

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founding

"Once upon a time, there was a fella named Daniel Sickles. He was born in New York City in 1819, though he frequently lied and said he was born in 1925."

OK, that's got to be a mistake. Even for a person claiming temporary insanity, a >100 year gap between actual and claimed birthdate ain't gonna fly.

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author

Oh shit, I fucked up, that's what I get for writing in the middle of the night.

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founding

That doesn't really rate an "Oh shit!". "Darn" is more than adequate.

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Darn? Hey, this is a mommyblog. We got mommies that come in here.

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He used Obama's time-traveling machine, obvs.

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founding

Yeah, that occurred to me as well. It is, after all a time machine -- why should it not have been available in 1925, or even 1819?

In fact, perhaps Obama's time machine is actually Dan Sickles' time machine?

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Wheels within wheels.

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Apr 20Liked by Robyn Pennacchia

Yeah, I don't get how so many people in history get tagged with being good looking and then you see a portrait or photo and shudder. Then I remember when I was 11 and changed schools, I used to see an older boy that I though was so cute. I was too shy to talk to him and too shy to mention to anyone else that I thought he was cute which was a good thing. I got a new pair of glasses and OMG, he was so not cute. I think a lot of people in the by gone days needed glasses.

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People might have just had very strange standards of what "handsome" is... I recall reading somewhere that Queen Victoria thought Millard Fillmore was the hottest guy she'd ever met.

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I agree that standards can change and people can have different opinions on what is or isn't good looking but my glasses theory still makes a lot of sense.

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Amanpour is doing a piece entitled "The aborted nuclear deal that could have reshaped the Middle East." Gee, wonder which super brain genius tanked that deal?

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If only it hadn't been negotiated by a black guy.

Can you imagine the world we'd now live in.

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