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September 17, 2005

The blizzard continues

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Mail concerning Vice Presiddent Cheney's parka worn to the Auschwitz ceremony continues to pour in. Some are begging us to say no more, in fear that the underlying event is being overshadowed. That worry styrikes us as sensible on the surface. However, this site in particular will never forget the Holocaust, and will continue to treat issues related to the Holocaust with great attention and care. The sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is so important that it has sparked an amazing degree of attention from readers over the trivial question of outerwear. The irony hasn't escaped Phil Gallagher:

In reading history regarding the liberation of the death camps I can remember the first person accounts of battle hardened troops who had been exposed to so much horror. The scenes at these sites universally brought these men to tears. Yet in covering this story years later some of our contemporaries have time to notice fashion.

Ethel Fenig notes that the left is so frustrated by the inauguration of President Bush, followed byt the stunning vindication of his Iraq policies at the Iraqi ballot box, that they are lashing out at any target of opportunity.

Greg Richards has provided some further perspective with a bit of research. The United States suffered the loss of a president when insufficiently protective clothing was worn to an important ceremony.

William Henry Harrison — Tippecanoe of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too — died of pneumonia after being in office a month in 1841. 

From Wikipedia, via Greg:

As Harrison arrived in Washington, Harrison focused on showing that he was still the stalwart hero of Tippecanoe he had campaigned as. It was an extremely cold and windy day, March 4, 1841, when Harrison was to take the oath of office. Nevertheless, he faced the weather with no coat on, and delivered the longest inaugural address in American history, at nearly two hours (his friend and fellow Whig, Daniel Webster, had edited it for length). During this address he caught a cold, which developed into pneumonia. He passed away a month later, becoming the first American president to die in office. Harrison served the shortest term of any American president, a total of only 31 days.

Also from Wikipedia, via Greg:

In 1889, when Harrison's grandson, Benjamin, gave his inaugural address as America's 23rd president, he gave it in the rain. Understanding his grandfather's mistakes, he asked his outgoing predecessor (and later his successor), Grover Cleveland, to hold an umbrella above his head, since he gave quite a long inaugural address, the longest since his grandfather's.

Thomas Lifson  2 1 05