With President’s Day approaching here’s the first of many seasonal posts.
John Adams called the Vice Presidency “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” A very old joke went “Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea and the other became Vice President. Neither was ever heard from again.”
In George S Kaufman’s and Morrie Ryskind’s classic stage work Of Thee I Sing one of the characters turns down an offer to be Vice President because he’s ashamed to have his mother know. He’s persuaded to accept the office when it’s pointed out that if he doesn’t tell her about it she’ll never find out.
The office has featured eminently forgettable figures as well as comic relief buffoons like Dan “The Global Village Idiot” Quayle and Joe “Koo Koo For Cocoa Puffs” Biden. In the light-hearted style of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at U.S. Presidents here’s a look at the men who got to hang around and see if the country’s Chief Executive wound up six feet under. I’m omitting VP’s who went on to actually become President, so no John Adams or Thomas Jefferson, etc.
AARON BURR
Served Under: Jefferson
Noted for: Shooting dead more Treasury Secretaries and hatching more plots to start his own country than any other Vice President. (So far, anyway.)
Best Burr Quote: “I’m still searching for the real killers of Alexander Hamilton.”
GEORGE CLINTON
Served Under: Jefferson and Madison
Noted for: P-Funk and Funkadelic Leading American Rebel forces against the British troops of his loyalist cousin Sir Henry Clinton during the Revolutionary War.
Best Clinton Quote: “Do fries go with that shake?”
ELBRIDGE GERRY
Served Under: Madison
Noted for: Pioneering the method of “Gerrymandering” political districts in a way that the modern day Democrats and Republicans have raised to a mainstay in the world of white collar crime which they inhabit.
Best Gerry Quote: “I’ll be immortalized as the man who invented Elbridge-mandering!”
DANIEL D TOMPKINS
Served Under: Monroe
Noted for: Being ruined by a scandal in which he was mistakenly accused of pocketing some of the funds he raised to conduct the War of 1812. Years later it was all revealed to be an accounting error. Continue reading
ANTI-TRUMP LOONS ACCIDENTALLY PROVE DEMOCRAT COLLUSION WITH RUSSIA WHILE PURSUING TRUMP
MAVERICK (1994): MOVIE REVIEW – Frontierado was fast approaching when I posted this review of the 1994 film version of the James Garner television series Maverick. 
#WALKAWAY MOVEMENT: DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM THE DEMOCRAT PARTY – Gay man Brandon Straka became a dissident hero as he launched the #WALKAWAY movement. Straka provided organization to the ’til now random exodus from the increasingly fascistic and intolerant Democrat Party. (I myself went Independent years ago.) 
TUILAKEMBA: FIJIAN DEMIGOD – Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the saga of Fiji’s heroic demigod Tuilakemba was a hit. I covered not just the original myths but the way Tuilakemba’s tale evolved over the centuries. 
ASK BALLADEER: WHY DID I LEAVE SICILY OUT OF MY EXAMINATION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK COMEDY THE BIRDS? – Many readers were curious why I left out the usual academic speculation about the invasion of Sicily in my look at Aristophanes’ comedy The Birds. 
FLASHMAN: THE LOST ADVENTURES – I took advantage of the heavy interest in the reviews of my Top Five Harry Flashman Novels to go into total fanboy mode. 
THE CLONES (1973): MOVIE REVIEW – Balladeer’s Blog reviewed this neglected science fiction suspense movie. 
CLIVE BARKER’S THE SCARLET GOSPELS (2015) – What Ridley Scott did to his Alien saga with Covenant, Clive Barker did to his Hellraiser series with his novel The Scarlet Gospels. 
THREE NEGLECTED GUNSLINGERS – Cash Hollister, Zip Wyatt and Black Ike don’t get as much love as names like Wild Bill Hickok, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but they had eventful lives nonetheless. 
SOLO: BOOK REVIEW – I reviewed this Jack Higgins espionage novel. The story centered around efforts to stop an international assassin codenamed The Cretan Lover. 
POPE FRANCIS, A MAN OF HIS WORD: THE WORST SUPERHERO MOVIE EVER – I reviewed the documentary about Francis as if it was a superhero movie being reviewed by one of the snarkier IMDb members. 
NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED ON THE POMPOSITY OF THE AMERICAN LEFT’S TRUMP-HATERS – The title says it all. 
DYSTOPIA NATION: TECHNO-TYRANTS OF SILICON VALLEY – Balladeer’s Blog’s dystopian fiction examination of the 21st Century Robber Barons at Facebook, G**gle, Twitter and elsewhere becomes more timely by the day. 
FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: MAY 7th – One of the most popular installments of this ongoing series about how American colleges and universities have become churches of irrational thought. 
FLASHMAN NOVELS: SIXTH PLACE – Because of the success and popularity of Balladeer’s Blog’s review of The Top Five Harry Flashman Novels I threw in this bonus sixth-place (out of twelve) book. 
Joy Behar, whose pitch-perfect impression of hate-filled, slobbering anti-Trump fascists has made her famous, recently told a Balladeer’s Blog reporter during an interview that never happened that she has a book recommendation for Christmas. 
Jowly Joy enthusiastically called it “A terrific look at the cesspool of corruption which masquerades as the American government. De facto Third Party President Donald Trump is uniquely qualified to rock the crooked DC boat since he is NOT a career politician like all the other Made Members of America’s Criminal Class of Officeholders.” 
BLACK PANTHER: PANTHER’S RAGE OVERVIEW – From the 1970s comes this 13-part Black Panther saga by Don McGregor featuring the Black Panther’s attempts to preserve his kingdom during the blood-soaked uprising led by the callous and cruel Erik Killmonger. 
1912: BATTLE OF THE THREE PRESIDENTS – Readers loved this look at the Presidential Election of 1912 in which incumbent William Howard Taft faced Woodrow Wilson AND former President Theodore Roosevelt, who was running on the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party Ticket. 
FLASHMAN ON THE MARCH – The very popular series of reviews of my Top Five Harry Flashman Novels by George MacDonald Fraser wrapped up with this item at Number Five. 
VICE PRESIDENTS: JOKES ABOUT THESE ULTIMATE SECOND BANANAS – Many readers felt this examination of Vice Presidents was even funnier and more irreverent than my Presidential Pros and Cons blog posts. 
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS: PROS AND CONS – If you’ve enjoyed my humorous looks at America’s past presidents and vice-presidents you should certainly enjoy this item. 
More than eleven years after its posting online, this specially edited trailer for The Wicker Man remake as if it’s a comedy STILL hasn’t gotten nearly as much love as it deserves. So, for a holiday season break here is one of the few reworked trailers that is utterly hilarious because it doesn’t cheat by inserting footage from other movies. This baby is all pure video and audio from the Nicolas “What’s in the bag? … A shaaarrrk?” Cage remake. 
DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE THEY’VE JUST DISCOVERED 
OCASIO-CORTEZ DEMANDS THAT PEOPLE STOP NOTICING THE IMBECILIC REMARKS SHE MAKES 
Their view of American history is mind-boggling. This 1861 work of “J-History” if you will, features little-known events like JOHN ADAMS FACING A GIANT SNAKE (left) and George Washington hitting a tiger. It also corrects the mistaken assumption that Washington’s wife was named Martha when her real name was apparently “Carol.” (?) 
