November 3, 2020
If you haven’t voted, stop reading, and go do it! Now!
This election day piece is from the National Park Service – http://nps.gov. Thanks to The Bro for sending this to me. The anguish over mail-in voting didn’t just pop up in 2020.
During the 1864 presidential elections, the Civil War was not yet settled, and there were the chasms of political division within the Republican Party. Many registered voters were unable to return home to cast their ballots. At the onset of the war, the only state constitution with a provision for mail-in voting by men away in military service was Pennsylvania. Minnesota and Wisconsin were quick to revise their state constitutions to allow mail-in voting in the fall of 1862. Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia amended their state constitutions in 1863, and a number of other states just barely made or missed the 1864 election.
The State of Ohio recorded 470,722 votes cast by Ohioans at their home precincts and an additional 50,903 votes cast by Ohio soldiers in the field. Votes cast by Ohioans at home for Lincoln numbered 265,154 (a relatively slim majority to Gen. George B. McClellan’s 205,568), but Ohio soldiers voted 41,146 for Lincoln and a scant 9,737 for McClellan. When the soldiers’ votes were added in, Lincoln’s lead was increased from just under 60,000 to almost 91,000.
Despite warnings and accusations of potential fraud in the soldier vote, only one case of voter fraud was brought to trial, and it involved several New Yorkers who attempted to record the votes of recently deceased and incapacitated New York soldiers in order to swing the “Soldier Vote” for McClellan. The anomaly was caught when the results of one district which had raised an entire regiment of soldiers saw their results did not match those of any other districts. The fraudulent report there had McClellan winning over 90% of the vote rather than losing almost three to one as was the case in nearly every other district.
👉 Speaking of voting, a pregnant Florida woman didn’t let labor stop her from casting her vote in the presidential election, refusing to go to the hospital until she filled out her ballot. An elections employee said the husband asked for a ballot for his wife and told the staff that she was in the car, in labor and refusing to go to the hospital until she was able to vote. The woman’s ID was checked, she did some controlled Lamaze breathing, and filled out the ballot. Then her husband drove her to an Orlando hospital. No word whether a little elephant or a little donkey was delivered.
👉 Today is National Give Someone a Dollar Day. No, it’s not about buying votes. It is a relatively new celebration, only being around since 2017, but the premise is simple: give a dollar to someone. Duh. Or several dollars to several someones or a dollar to charity (are the Salvation Army buckets out yet – Walmart is selling Christmas decorations, so maybe they are).
I mention this holiday because reading about it immediately reminded me of my first visit to Fountain Camp Meeting. It was still a couple of weeks before I assumed the pastorate of Macedonia United Methodist Church, and it was a good chance to meet some of the folks in an informal setting. About an hour or so after arriving, I felt nature calling, and asked someone where the facilities were located. I was told Wendell Amerson’s restroom was close by, they pointed him out, and I went to ask if I could drop in. He said, “Yes, but it’s a dollar,” and turned to walk away. He turned back laughing loudly and said, “Of course.” I was already reaching for my wallet – I didn’t care. Urgency does not count the cost.
Since then we’ve kept a dollar going back and forth (actually it’s up to $2.00) mostly for birthdays. And we’ve agreed that whichever of us visits the other in the funeral home will put $2 in the coffin. Cash only. No checks.
👉 Back in QB 213 I told you about “16 Psyche,” the asteroid that could be worth $10,000 quadrillion because of the metals in it. The Hubble telescope has given us our first good look at it. This extremely rare metallic asteroid which is lurking between Mars and Jupiter will be visited in 2026 by an unmanned spacecraft – the first time a mission will visit a body made entirely of metal. The orbiter is set to arrive at the asteroid in January 2026 to study it for nearly two years. The mission plans do not include mining.
👉 In other news from outer space, the asteroid Apophis will pass close enough to earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, that it will be visible to the naked eye. The 1000 foot-sized asteroid will be back in 2068. The second date is significant because Apophis is getting closer to earth every year by almost 600 feet, and that pass may be too close. Probably no one reading this blog today will need to worry, but astronomers say it could hit earth. The last time a celestial body that big hit, it caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Fortunately, there are no dinosaurs left to become extinct.
👉 McDonald’s announced Friday that for the first time in eight years it will be offering the McRib nationwide. The McRib will appear on the menus December 2, for a limited time. The McRib is an elusive prize for adherents, who scour the internet for reports of its surfacing at limited locations, and for a short amount of time. There is even a website called the McRib Locator, created to spread the word about McDonald’s restaurants that are offering the boneless pork sandwich served with slivered onions and pickles on top. If you can’t wait until December, you can go to Germany where it’s on the menu year round.
👉 Our close today is a classic. It is from Harriet Beecher Stowe.
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1 KJV).
When the powers of hell prevail
O’er our weakness and unfitness,
Could we lift the fleshly veil,
Could we for a moment witness
Those unnumbered hosts that stand
Calm and bright on either hand;
Oh, what joyful hope would cheer,
Oh, what faith serene would guide us!
Great may be the danger near,
Greater are the friends beside us.
– Anonymous
We are compassed about by a cloud of witnesses, whose hearts throb in sympathy with every effort and struggle, and who thrill with joy at every success. How should this thought check and rebuke every worldly feeling and unworthy purpose, and enshrine us, in the midst of a forgetful and un-spiritual world, with an atmosphere of heavenly peace! They have overcome – have risen – are crowned, glorified; but still in every hour of darkness their voice speaks to us: “So we grieved, so we struggled, so we fainted, so we doubted; but we have overcome, we have obtained, we have seen, we have found, and in our victory behold the certainty of thy own.”
-30-
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