Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Here.

To the Editor:

Sorry, L. L. Bean: I can live with the politics of Linda Bean, a member of the Bean family, but not with Donald Trump’s egregious abuse of his position to endorse your business. Whenever Mr. Trump uses his giant megaphone to support a private company, he guarantees that I’ll never buy from that company again. Maybe that’s one way ordinary citizens can try to school this unprincipled president-elect on presidential behavior and ethics.

KRISTINA K. GROOVER

Boone, N.C.

Note from KBJ: I hope Donald Trump uses his giant megaphone to support the private company that supplies Kristina K. Groover with alcohol. Whatever will she do?

Why is the Left so selective about human rights? I never hear a word about the way Muslims treat women and homosexuals.

I will take occasion in closing to pay deserved tribute to the distinguished toastmaster of the evening, General Godfrey. I began with the battle of the Washita in 1868, and he was there and is now the only surviving officer who participated in that engagement. I told you about the Little Bighorn, and he was there, commanding a company. I have told you of Bear's Paw, and he was there, shot off his horse, desperately wounded. I finished with Wounded Knee, and, behold, he was there. He participated in every one of the four historic battles that made this regiment [the Seventh Cavalry] so famous in Indian campaigns, and these four stand out conspicuously among the illustrious events of the plains.

(Walter Mason Camp, "Address by Walter Camp," in Kenneth Hammer, ed., Custer in '76: Walter Camp's Notes on the Custer Fight [Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990], 10-25, at 25 [book originally published in 1976])

Note from KBJ: This address (by Walter Camp) was given on 17 January 1920. Camp didn't mention it, but Godfrey also served in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the Philippine-American War. He was with George Armstrong Custer during the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition and during the 1874 Black Hills Expedition. What an amazing life! I should devote my retirement years to writing this man's biography.

It's too bad that the first dark-skinned American president (Barack Obama is only half black, remember) turned out to be both lawless and incompetent. This decreases the likelihood that other blacks will be elected. I still say that the first authentic black president will be a Republican. By "authentic" I mean a descendant of slaves. By virtue of having a white mother, Barack Obama is more likely to be a descendant of slaveowners than of slaves.

Montrose (1973).

Here.

Here.