Let's Go Back Through the Listening Tube June 8-12

Let's go back through the listening tube for this week in history. I'm Bob Woodley from the Listening Tube. This week in 1775, during the American Revolution, British General Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. Because that's what tyrannical governments do. They disarm their citizens and then they have no recourse but to obey. China would be a good example. The first thing tyrannical governments do when they want full control of the citizens is take away their guns. That's why the people of Iran have yet to overthrow their theocratic regime. Only the government has weapons. In the case of revolutionary era Massachusetts, there would be only two exceptions to the amnesty. Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged. History tells us that both men survived the British War. Both men would sign the Declaration of Independence. Samuel Adams, who, according to Britannica, was the second cousin of the second president of the United States, John Adams. What they don't mention is that he was then presumably the first cousin of the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams. While many today know Sam Adams as a Boston-based beer brand, the one-time revolutionary with a bounty on his head by the British military in Massachusetts would, more than twenty years later, become the governor of Massachusetts. John Hancock was a close ally of Sam Adams, and when he found out the British were after him in Massachusetts, he fled to Philadelphia. He became a member of the Continental Congress and wanted to lead the army, but George Washington got the job. Hancock got the last word in with the British, though. Perhaps the first trolling incident in American history occurred when John Hancock was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence. He signed it in extra large script so that he said someone can read it without spectacles. He was referring to the King of England, of course. So if that was the case, then why is the Declaration of Independence still in the United States? Wasn't it sent to the King with all the signatures, including the giant one of John Hancock? I'm going to look that up. He's gonna look it up. He's really gonna do it. I want the truth! You can't handle the truth. Prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, copies of it were printed and sent to England and each of the colonies. Each had John Hancock's name prominently displayed at the bottom because he was the president of the Continental Congress, but not his famous signature. The one he signed was for American preservation, not to be sent off to the King of England. Regardless, the phrase John Hancock has become synonymous with a signature. Whosever it might be. As in, I need your John Hancock on this document. John Hancock may have been the first troll in American political history, but he's certainly not the last. President Trump sent the liberal media into a tizzy when he recently pondered making the cage match arena currently outside the White House permanent. He said it reminded him of the Eiffel Tower, which was also supposed to be a temporary structure. The response of the media and liberal lunatics was priceless. Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows the structure won't be permanent, but the president couldn't resist the temptation to throw them a bone to chew on. It sure does keep them on their toes, doesn't it? This week in 1789, James Madison introduces twelve proposed amendments to the United States Constitution in the House of Representatives. By 1791, ten of them are ratified by the state legislatures and become the Bill of Rights. James Madison was an amendment writing maniac. He's said to have written 19 amendments altogether, but the Senate trimmed them down to only twelve for ratification by the states. So what happened to the other two? One of them got absorbed into another concerning representative apportionment. Madison felt it was important for representatives to represent a small group of people so that more voices would be heard. Right now, each representative represents about 780,000 people. That varies by state, of course, but probably not what James Madison had in mind. The other of Madison's amendments that ended up on the cutting room floor ended up making a comeback to beat all comebacks. What would have been the 11th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1789 became the 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1992. Over two hundred years after not making the cut, a guy named Greg Watson was studying for class at his university and realized that the amendment proposed by James Madison never had an expiration date. All he had to do was get two-thirds of the states to ratify it to make it law. And he did. The twenty-seventh amendment to the Constitution states that if Congress gives itself a pay raise, it doesn't go into effect until after the next election of representatives. Currently, those elections take place every two years. One of the amendments that did pass on the first try was the one that says the government shall establish no official religion. But that wasn't the case in France, when in 1794, Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution's new state religion. The Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across the country. Prior to the Revolution, the official religion of the monarchy was Roman Catholic. The Revolution needed a replacement, but rather than let people worship the way they wish, the cult of the supreme being was established. It wasn't very different from most Christian religions, as it acknowledged a supreme being or one God. It also believed in the everlasting life of the human soul. The best way to worship was through civic duty. There was also a brief period when the cult of reason, which denounced a supreme being of any type, was also trying to gain a foothold. Robespierre put a stop to that with the cult of the supreme being. Neither lasted very long. Robespierre died soon after the festivals, and the whole thing just faded away. Maybe calling your religion a cult isn't the best way to attract new followers. The 1900s. Yet another responsibility given up by the Congress to the executive branch. This is a real point of contention in today's American politics. Critics argue that the president is usurping the responsibilities of the legislature. Activist judges are making unilateral decisions that affect national policy. The Supreme Court needs to be expanded. Congress can't get anything done because of extreme partisanship. But as is the case with the Antiquities Act, Congress voluntarily gave power to the President that isn't anywhere in the Constitution. I get that not everything can be in the Constitution, and that's why we have so many laws. But this law gives the executive branch the authority to penalize people for breaking the rules that they make. Not the Congress. Well, that can't be right. Don't get me wrong, the Act was meant to prevent people from removing archaeological items like dinosaur bones or other artifacts from federal land without permission, and that such artifacts be placed in museums and not used for personal gain. There are three federal departments authorized to grant permission to excavate. Only the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, and War could authorize access. When the Act was written in 1906, there was a Secretary of War, as the title had not yet been changed to Secretary of Defense. It has since been changed back to Secretary of War. When I was a broadcaster in the Air Force, we started out calling ourselves American Forces Radio and Television Service. That was in the early 80s. We then got a directive from headquarters a short time after I began that adventure that we would now refer to ourselves as Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Ronald Reagan was president. And in 1953, the United States Supreme Court rules that Washington, D.C. restaurants could not refuse to serve black patrons. Guess which political party held local power in DC at the time? That's right. The racist Democrats. I'm Bob Woodley from the Listening Tube. Follow the listening tube at thelisteningtube.com.