Support for the Spoils System

In his latest Substack essay, Glenn Harlan Reynolds explains why the Pendelton Act of 1883 has failed and how a return to the spoils system that preceded it would restore government accountability to the voters.  Check it out!

The Conquest of New Mexico and California

In 1878, Brigadier General Philip St. George Cooke penned The Conquest of New Mexico and California: An Historical and Personal Narrative.  It opens in July of 1846, when Cooke was a lieutenant in the 1st Dragoons.  Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny had been given command of the Army of the West and set out to conquer New Mexico and California.  Shortly after arriving in New Mexico, Kearny ordered Cooke to ride ahead and demand the surrender of Santa Fe.  After a refusal, he departed with the witty comment, "I'll call again in a week."  Indeed, when he came back with the rest of the army, Santa Fe fell without a shot fired.  The army spent the next month securing the territory before Kearny set out for California.  He had not gone far when word of the Mormon Battalion arrived.  Its original commander, Colonel James Allen, had died.  Kearny placed Cooke in charge of the battalion and ordered him to make a road to California.  And here follows a rather dreary accounting of a trek across the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona via the Gila River.  There are the occasional bits of excitement (battle with wild bulls, Charboneaux's encounter with bears, the capture of Tucson), but it is mostly a bland narrative of thirst and starvation.  Upon his arrival in California, Cooke abandons his personal chronicle and relates the reports of others.  Thus, he details Kearny's disastrous battle as San Pasqual, squabbles with Fremont and Stockton, and the successful campaign to recapture Los Angeles.  He also outlines some battles in the bay area.  The allocation of his battalion is only vaguely discussed.

Mostly disappointing.  Being a first-person account, I had expected a lot more.  Not surprisingly, his desert crossing sounds like a balance sheet; 6 mules died today, acquired 11 mules from local Indians, no water in 2 days, etc.  That was surely important information, but it makes for very dry reading.  Of note, he did detail Fremont's march south, which saw multiple encounters with Californios who managed to delay the California Battalions' arrival in Los Angeles.  I do not recall reading that before.  Of course, Kearny captured Los Angeles without Fremont but his coming from the north while Kearny was approaching from the south would surely have made defending the city more difficult.  Here was a rare success for the Californios.

Cooke resigned his position as the Lt. Colonel of the Mormon Battalion in May 1847 and, once again just a lieutenant, joined Kearny on the march back to Fort Leavenworth.

This is a book only for the diehard historian.  Skip.

The Last Camel Charge

The title is misleading.  This book is so much more than the last, and only, camel charge in the United States.  Here we have the aftermath of the Mexican-American War, the California Gold Rush, the clash of cultures between whites and Indians, between Mormons and non-Mormons, and even between North and South when the Civil War intrudes.  Fact is stranger than fiction when Edward Beale, a Navy Lieutenant, was chosen to lead an expedition across the American southwest on camels.  Coincident with his 1857 camel expedition from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles, California, there was the threat of war between the United States and the Mormons.  This combination created a shift from the California Trail - which passed through Mormon territory - to Beale's newly established (barely) trail.  It turned out the trail was not yet safe as the Mojave Tribe did not appreciate trespassers.  In 1858, a wagon train of migrants were attacked on the banks of the Colorado River, survivors fleeing back toward Santa Fe while leaving most of their belongings to the Mojave.  In 1859, the Army planned to subdue the Mojave by marching north from the mouth of the Colorado.  By happenstance, Edward Beale was working on improving the trail and had sent news to his colleague in California, Sam Bishop, to bring supplies to the Colorado River.  Bishop arrived well ahead of either Beale or the Army.  He had around 50 men, several mule-drawn wagons, and 20 camels.  The Mojave refused passage across the river and skirmishes ensued.  All efforts to cross the river were repulsed and the number of Mojave grew to 1500.  Unwilling to turn back, Bishop called for volunteers.  At dawn on April 7, 1859, Sam Bishop led a camel charge into 700 waiting Mojave braves!  Pistols blazed and the Mojave sought to dodge out of the way of this most unusual attack.  Amazingly, none of Bishop's men were lost and they successfully swam the camels across the river to meet Beale in the Arizona desert.

There is so much more to this book.  It covers everything found in the US Camel Corps, details the mythology of the Mojave, the persecution, migration, and settlements of the Mormons, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the various explorers who crossed the Southwest before Beale, The Rose-Baley Wagon Train, and much more.  One of the most surprising things about the tale is how close we were to having a camel corps in the deserts of the Southwest.  If not for the Civil War, it was quite possible that troops in that region would have been mounted on camels.  However, some of the biggest camel supporters had sided with the South.  Jefferson Davis had purchased the first bunch of camels while he was Secretary of War.  His successor, John Floyd, sought to purchase a thousand camels.  Both of these men joined the South, one as president and the other as a major general.  Is it any wonder their pet project was not revived after the war?

Forrest Bryant Johnson has written a truly terrific book that reads like an action-adventure novel.  Highly recommended.

Don't Trust the Media

The new story from Israel is the discovery of 40 dead babies, some of them beheaded.  If true, that is Nazi level of evil.  However, I remember when Iraqis supposedly tossed babies out of incubators during the invasion of Kuwait.  It was a big story.  The young woman who testified was quite convincing.  It wasn't true but it sure helped sway the American public for the Gulf War (1990-1991).  Though I have seen pictures of dead Israelis and even tourists in this conflict, I have not seen the beheaded babies.  Of course, I don't want to see beheaded babies, but the media has proved so unreliable that I don't believe it.  What Palestinian could be so stupid as to not realize how devastating such an action would be?

If this is not true, then Israel is perpetrating one of the darkest public relations operations ever.  As if what has been done was not bad enough, we'll stack on 40 dead babies.  That will get the public on our side.  That is a vile way to win support.  Not as terrible as what Hamas has done, but still vile.

Again, I don't want to see pictures but, until I do, this is a bogus story.

Gambit (1966)

Harry Dean (Michael Caine) follows a woman through the streets of Hong Kong.  She goes into a club.  There, Dean and another man watch as she performs with other dancers in a floor show.  Both agree that the woman is perfect for their plan.  Dean offers Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine) $5000 and a British passport if she will pose as his wife.  When Sir Harold and Lady Nicole arrive in a middle eastern country, she is now a brunette who bares an uncanny resemblance to the dead wife of Ahmad Shahbandar (Herbert Lom).  Shahbandar, reportedly the richest man in the world, invites them to dinner and marvels at Nicole.  In Shahbandar's apartment, there is a priceless sculpture of an ancient Chinese empress; the resemblance to Nicole is startling.  This is what Harry intends to steal.

Here is a heist/comedy/romance.  Like many movies of this type, there is the idealized heist as planned which looks foolproof and then the actual heist that sees a variety of comical setbacks.  This comes off quite well and is entertaining.  The romance is not only secondary, but something of a surprise.  The scenes between Harry and Nicole are mostly him being annoyed at her chattiness.  When he professes his love for her, it comes as a surprise.  Really, I thought it was just as likely that he would abandon her to be caught.

Fun and light.  A must for fans of either Michael Caine or Shirley MacLaine.  Good popcorn fun.

Failure of Intelligence

A week ago, if asked to pick the country least likely to suffer a large-scale surprise attack, I would have chosen Israel.  I would have been wrong.  Considering the extent of the attack, it is almost inconceivable that Israel didn't see it coming.  Much as many believe that FDR knew Pearl Harbor was coming and that George W. Bush knew 9/11 was coming, I expect that many will believe that Netanyahu knew this was coming.  This provides an excellent pretext for reoccupying Gaza and a huge distraction from his domestic troubles.

If Netanyahu didn't know, this was a catastrophic failure Israeli Intelligence.  Such a large-scale operation cannot be easily arranged without leaks.  Many Palestinian fighters were armed with American weapons, the very ones left in Afghanistan after the withdrawal.  Thousands of rockets were smuggled into Gaza.  The attacks were launched by land, air, and sea.  How did this get missed?

Of course, the Israelis will push the Hamas fighters back and retake all the territory that has been seized.  Moreover, seeing the danger, the IDF is likely to flatten large parts of Gaza.  Hamas must be crushed, removed from any leadership role.  Much as Germany had de-Nazification after WWII and Iraq had de-Baathification after the Iraq War, Gaza needs a de-Hamasification.  Will that help? Probably not.  But whatever replaces Hamas will require years to become as organized.

Another surprising thing about this attack was that Israelis were not armed.  For years, the news has reported how Israelis wander the streets with automatic weapons.  For years, whenever I saw a report on the news (usually ABC back in the day), there were also pictures of random citizens with an Uzi or some other weapon casually slung from a shoulder.  However, many videos show Hamas fighters stalking down residential streets unopposed.  Did Israel impose gun control?  If not, gun sales are going to go through the roof after this.

Fair & Balanced Kilmeade

I came across this clip of Brian Kilmeade 'interviewing' one of the 8 Republicans who voted to oust Speaker McCarthy.  Kilmeade spends the entire time attacking Representative Burchett.  The tone of Kilmeade's questions is extremely combative while Burchett is calm and collected.  This is clearly neither fair nor balanced.  Kilmeade comes across very poorly when compared to Burchett, who tries to answer the loaded questions equanimously.  Burchett makes great points while Kilmeade offers nothing but excuses for McCarthy's failures.  At no point does Kilmeade concede any of Burchett's complaints about the speaker.  The big one - "we're bringing in $5 trillion and spending $7 trillion" - was brushed aside.  "That's not McCarthy's fault."  Okay, Brian, whose fault is it?  No one?  Who do we hold accountable?  Maybe the leadership?

Again, the contrast between the two was stark.  Kilmeade was belligerent and irritated, while Burchett was composed and concise.  It felt like Kilmeade was demanding that Burchett admit wrongdoing and beg forgiveness.  Great objectivity, Brian.  Now I understand why Gutfeld is always down on Kilmeade.