Category Archives: Neglected History

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SAMUEL CHASE

Previously, Balladeer’s Blog examined the first six Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court when six was the full roster on that court. For subsequent Justices click HERE.

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE SAMUEL CHASE

Served: February 4th, 1796 – June 19th, 1811 (Died)

Some Highlights: This man signed the Declaration of Independence and – President Thomas Jefferson’s ugly 1805 attempt to impeach and convict him notwithstanding – Chase’s legal brilliance was such that he is considered an early proponent of BOTH substantive reading of supra-legislative concepts into the U.S. Constitution that aren’t explicitly spelled out in the document AND of the Strict Constructionist approach calling for very narrow and literal interpretations of the Constitution. Here in 2026 those two approaches are still in opposition to each other.  Continue reading →

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FLASHBACK: POLL RESULT – FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT SAY PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS BEEN BETTER FOR YOUNG AFRICAN-AMERICANS THAN OBAMA WAS

FROM JUNE TWENTY-FIFTH OF 2019:

Trumping Obama's legacyIt’s no secret that Donald Trump is a de facto Third Party President, which is why he’s had to fight the crooks in both major political parties. Recently yet ANOTHER poll showed people recognizing the fact that President Trump has been better for young African-Americans than Obama was.

Remember, I’m skeptical of polls but anti-Trump loons eat, sleep and breathe polls, so it’s always fun to watch them froth at the mouth every time polls show a result they don’t like. Hilarious! Fifty-five percent of the respondents recognized that Trump was better for young African-Americans, as stated. CLICK HERE 

 

Donald Trump never called racist till running against DemocratsMeanwhile, regarding Africa, even anti-Trump zealots like Aubrey Hruby have been forced to admit that UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP AMERICA INVESTS MORE IN AFRICA THAN UNDER ANY OTHER PRESIDENT!

The cornerstone to Trump’s strategy is his Prosper Africa program. It’s just another way that the Donald is pretty much “the new FDR.” CLICK HERE  Continue reading →

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

FOOL KILLER PART SEVENTY-FOUR: OCTOBER 1914

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN THE 1850s, CLICK HERE.

PART 74 – Some of the Fool Killer’s targets on both sides of the aisle in the October of 1914 edition of the folk figure. The World War is in full swing.

*** Dr. William F. Snow of the American Hygiene Association. The Fool Killer targeted Snow over his crusade against the unhygienic nature of kissing. Dr. Snow had just patented his weird Sanitary Kiss invention. That invention involved the pair of kissers using sanitized tissue paper over their mouths with a hole in the middle, looking for all the world like the kind of tissue paper we now place over toilets in public restrooms.

*** The editors of the Greensboro Daily News, who called for “less nonsensical” war songs compared to the past. The U.S. had not yet entered the war, so the country’s coverage of it was less than gripping at first.

*** President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan and Senator John Sharp Williams of Mississippi for blaming the war for everything that the voters were holding them responsible for.

*** High Society Fashionistas for the way they seemed lost now that the war had prevented the release of the New Fall Line from Paris.

*** The “Redemocans”, one of the Fool Killer’s words for what we today call the Uniparty. He also called them Republicrats, a word we still use today. This month he depicted the Republicrat Devil driving honest outsiders out of politics by “setting all the political dogs on them and tearing them to pieces.” Continue reading →

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SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WILLIAM PATERSON

Previously, Balladeer’s Blog examined the first six Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court when six was the full roster on that court. For subsequent Justices click HERE.

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE WILLIAM PATERSON

Served: March 11th, 1793 – September 9th, 1806 (Died)

Brethren on the Court: Chief Justices: John Jay, John Rutledge, Oliver Ellsworth and John Marshall. Associate Justices: William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, Samuel Chase, Bushrod Washington, Alfred Moore and William Johnson.

Some Highlights: Paterson helped write the U.S. Constitution in 1787. This made him one of the very few Supreme Court Justices qualified to weigh in on the “original intent” of the framers.

      While riding his Circuit, William presided over the trials of the people indicted for treason for participating in the Whiskey Rebellion. He wrote the Court’s decision in Penhall v Doane’s Administrators (1795), which ruled that America’s current federal courts had jurisdiction over Prize Cases, not any of the American courts which preceded the U.S. Constitution. Continue reading →

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MONSIEUR LECOQ (1865-1868) A NEGLECTED PRE-SHERLOCK HOLMES DETECTIVE

MONSIEUR LECOQ – This French detective, who worked for the Surete, was created by France’s Emile Gaboriau, a former secretary of THE Paul Feval, the famed writer. The Gaboriau novels featuring Lecoq (whose first name was never revealed, like Columbo) all came out in the 1860s, making him one of the western world’s Big Three fictional detectives who came BEFORE Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes in 1887.

The other two, of course, are Auguste Dupin (1841) and Nick Carter (1886). Like Monsieur Lecoq, Dupin and Carter were among the figures depicted in individual episodes of Les Grands Detectives (1975) on French television. Here are the novels that Emile Gaboriau wrote featuring this brilliant procedural detective.

L’AFFAIRE LEROUGE (serialized in 1865, novelized in 1866) – This novel, set in 1862, depicted Lecoq as an assistant detective who was refining his trade with the help of another Gaboriau detective named Tabaret. In this story alone, Lecoq is a figurative Archie Goodwin to the less mobile Tabaret’s Nero Wolfe.  

The widow Claudine Lerouge is found murdered in her home but the killer is not known. Tabaret and his supporting detective Lecoq investigate and must sift through clues regarding Lerouge’s mysterious past involving false identities and illegal child swapping. Continue reading →

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SUPREME COURT JUSTICE THOMAS JOHNSON

Previously, Balladeer’s Blog examined the first six Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court when six was the full roster on that court. Here is a look at the 7th Justice, appointed by George Washington to fill the vacancy of Associate Justice John Rutledge, who resigned.

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE THOMAS JOHNSON

Served: September 19th, 1791 – January 16th, 1793. (Resigned over poor health.)

Brethren on the Court: Chief Justice John Jay. Associate Justices William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair and James Iredell.

Some Highlights: Johnson served the least amount of time out of all Supreme Court Justices ever. He wrote the Court’s decision in Georgia v Brailsford (1792) which established that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction over suits and cases involving states. Riding his Circuit, Johnson heard the initial trial in Ware v Hylton, which dragged on for years and wasn’t settled until long after Thomas had left the Court. Continue reading →

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FLASHBACK: ANIMAL TORTURER ANTHONY FAUCI SATIRIZED IN PETA PORTRAIT OF HIM

FROM FEBRUARY NINETEENTH OF 2022: 

Fauci and animal torture mosaic

real anthony fauci bookWhenever I hear AIDS, I think of Anthony Fauci’s poor handling of it. When I hear Covid-19, I think of Anthony Fauci’s disastrous handling of it and his stream of contradictory statements. When I hear “lysenkoism” I think of Anthony Fauci and that clod’s bizarre attempt to equate himself with science.

When I hear “animal torture” I think of Anthony Fauci and his group’s horrifically sadistic treatment of animals like beagles and monkeys in unspeakable experiments. And when I hear “narcissism” I think of Anthony Fauci and the shrine to himself that he has in his home.

“In a Wednesday press release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) described its recently created image as a “fitting” portrait for White House Chief Medical Advisor and NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s “home office tribute to himself.” 

“No one likes Anthony Fauci more than Anthony Fauci,” the group stated, claiming that proof of it could be seen in a “recent peek inside the world headquarters of the Anthony Fauci Fan Club—his home office.”

rfk jr on fauciPETA was referencing footage of Fauci’s office that appeared in the Disney+ feature documentary in October, and which drew criticism recently after stills began circulating online pointing to the various items depicting Fauci himself. Personally, I find that weird and creepy.

fauci picAt any rate, PETA made an appropriate image of Fauci using multiple pics of the kind of animals tortured as mentioned above.

“If Anthony Fauci is going to surround himself with images of himself, they may as well be accurate,” said PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “Fauci has overseen the torment and death of countless animals in colossally ridiculous, wasteful experiments that help no one but kill animals by the score.”

“He should be reminded of that constantly,” she added. Continue reading →

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FOOL KILLER PART SEVENTY: APRIL 1914

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN THE 1850s, CLICK HERE.

PART 70 – Some of the Fool Killer’s targets on both sides of the aisle in the April 1914 edition of James Larkin Pearson’s version of the folk figure:

*** Politicians who wanted to invade Mexico because of the continuing chaos there, stating it was being considered just to protect the property of American millionaires in Mexico.

*** Civilian Jingoists who talked tough about invading Mexico, claiming that if war actually did break out those same people would try to avoid military service.

*** The scamming Marriage Brokers of the time period.

*** People who opposed North Carolina’s law prohibiting alcohol. Despite Pearson’s usual pro-liberty stances, he and his Fool Killer supported bans on alcohol and tobacco. Continue reading →

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Filed under Mythology, Neglected History, opinion

HAPPY TWO HUNDRED FIFTIETH FOURTH OF JULY: AMERICA IN 2026

HAPPY TWO HUNDRED FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! What happened in early July of 1776 certainly needs no rehashing so in keeping with my blog’s theme of addressing more out of the way subjects this post will examine various events that took place on other July 4ths throughout American history.

JULY 4TH, 1778 – George Rogers Clark led his rebel forces in taking the British stronghold of Kaskaskia, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers. Clark and his Rangers were on a mission for then-Virginia Governor Patrick Henry.

JULY 4TH, 1783 – The Massachusetts Supreme Court is finalizing its written decision holding that slavery has been illegal in the state since adoption of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights in 1780. 

JULY 4TH, 1788 – The Constitution of the United States is starting to come into full effect this calendar year, instituting the government we are still officially ruled by. First elections are scheduled for later in the year.

JULY 4TH, 1789 – Congress passes a tariff that taxes goods imported in American ships at a rate 10% lower than on goods imported in ships under foreign flags.

JULY 4TH, 1794 – The “Whiskey Rebellion” is underway in western Pennsylvania. Farmers protesting a federal tax on grain alcohol act against it by refusing to pay it and by tarring and feathering the revenue agents sent to collect the tax money. They also take to burning down the homes of revenue officials. The rebellion ends in November.    Continue reading →

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AMERICA 250: SACRED HONOR – THE FIFTY-SIX SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

The big names among the signers of the Declaration of Independence get all the attention they need, so Balladeer’s Blog will be spreading the love to ALL the signers in this article.

Those big names are covered too, of course.

CONNECTICUT –

1. Samuel Huntington – Served as president of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781. After the war served as Connecticut’s Chief Justice and then Governor.

###2. Roger Sherman – In addition to signing the Declaration he also signed the Articles of Association, the Articles of Confederation AND the U.S. Constitution.   ###  

3. William Williams – Used his own money to finance various Connecticut Militia units and allowed American and later French troops to quarter in his home.  

###   4. Oliver Wolcott – Went on to serve as a Major General and led his forces against British Loyalists who were launching raids along the Connecticut Coastline. He also served in the Long Island and Saratoga campaigns.

DELAWARE –

1. Thomas McKean – Despite being from Delaware he led the military unit called the Pennsylvania Associators (talk about a name guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy) during Washington’s ultimately futile defense of New York City. When the British were moving through Delaware McKean had to move his family five times to keep them out of the Red Coats’ clutches.

###2. George Read – Served as the President of Delaware for part of the war and while fleeing the British advance he used an assumed name and bluffed the British soldiers who coralled him into thinking he was a Loyalist, so they let him go.  

###   3. Caesar Rodney – I think we’re all sick of hearing about Rodney’s late-night ride to get back to Philadelphia in time to let him and McKean outvote George Read and cast Delaware’s vote FOR independence. Instead, I’ll mention Rodney’s service as a Militia General whose troops helped defend Delaware from the invading Brits.  Continue reading →

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