BOUDICCA, WARRIOR QUEEN

Women have moved to the front lines of every endeavor. Politics, business, finance, religion, etc. 

It was not always so. It has been a struggle. Isolated incidents of female leadership. Gender discrimination common place. Woman treated as second class citizens. When conquered, subject to beatings, rapes, torture and death. Suicides prevalent.

Hillary Clinton is recognized by many as the outstanding feminist of the day. There are others. Through the ages. Women like Carly Fiorina, Angela Merkel, Condoleeza Rice, Oprah Winfrey, Indra Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Margaret Thatcher, Eleanor Roosevelt, Eva Peron, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc, Catherine de Medici, and Cleopatra.

In their own way, each lead. Each stood up for what she considered correct. No vacillating. They took the ball and ran with it. Proving in many instances women can be from Mars as well as Venus.

Going way back in history, it is difficult to identify female leaders. Before the birth of Christ, at the time, and in the immediate years following His death. The reason was chronicles were not kept by most peoples. A written history does not exist.

Which means the lady who is the subject matter of this column might have remained unknown. Even though she was wildly known throughout Britain and the Roman Empire during her time. What is recorded of her exploits is found in Roman writings.

Her name Boudicca. She and her husband Prasutagus were King and Queen of a Celtic tribe in Britain known as Iceni. They governed Iceni for many years. Lived lavishly and spent money like there was no tomorrow. Governed well. Shared the wealth. Kept everyone happy.

Rome was the power at the time and for several hundred years thereafter. Rome was a force in Britain. They had conquered certain areas and effectively controlled other areas. 

Where a tribe or group was conquered, Rome had the legions govern. Where a tribe for example never fought Rome and was happy to live peacefully with Rome, Rome left that tribe alone to govern itself.

Prasutagus and Boudicca were King and Queen from the mid 30s AD to 60 or 61 AD.

Prasutagus died. He left a will. The will gave Iceni to Rome and his wife Boudicca and their two daughters. All as joint heirs. This did not set well with Rome. The arrangement Rome had with Prasutagus was that at the time of his death, everything became Rome's. Nothing to the wife or daughters. Such was by agreement and custom. The custom phase was women could not hold title to property. The second class citizen thing.

Rome immediately sent legions to Iceni to put down what they considered a revolt. Which it technically was not. The Romans wasted no time. They killed the Iceni nobles. Flogged Boudicca and raped her two daughters in front of her. Additionally, the Romans arranged for the bankers to call in all loans the people of Iceni, including Boudicca, had outstanding.

The time was 60 or 61 AD. Historians are not certain as to the specific year.

Boudicca was not a happy woman. A strong willed individual. She led a revolt against Rome. Her army consisted of Icenians and some other tribes. Her army immediately grew to 100,000. She destroyed the Roman colony of Colchester. Colchester was a settlement for discharged Roman soldiers and also the site of a temple to Emperor Claudius. 

Boudicca destroyed everything and everyone. Killed the Romans and burned areas to the ground. A Roman legion of 1,500 hurried to save Colchester. She ambushed and annihilated all 1,500 of Rome's finest warriors.

Then Boudicca moved onto London. The Roman leader had nowhere the 100,000 fighting men Boudicca had. He left town with his soldiers before she arrived. Boudicca burned London to the ground and slaughtered any persons left in London. No mercy shown once again.

Boudicca then proceeded to St. Albans. Destroyed it in the same manner as Colchester and London.

In the three communities, she cut throats, hanged, burned and crucified. Soldiers and citizens. The tables turned. The Romans became terrified of her.

Nero was Emperor. He had no taste for this crazy woman. He considered withdrawing all Roman legions from Britain. The Battle of Watling Street, which the Romans won, changed his mind.

Rome sent a force to deal with her. Though Boudicca had many more troops, the Romans were better trained. The Roman soldiers slaughtered tens of thousands of Boudicca's troops.

Boudicca had no desire to fall into the hands of the Romans. She took poison rather than be captured. Somewhat in the same vein as Cleopatra and the asp.

Gender discrimination was prevalent during these times. It is reflected in the words of the historian Dio Cassius who said Boudicca was "possessed of greater intelligence than often belonged to women."

It must be noted that pain and suffering were inflicted by both sides. Some historians believe Boudicca was a bit harsher. She had no interest in taking prisoners. She slaughtered them by gibbet, fire or cross. 

A gibbet was any instrument of public execution. Boudicca had two favorites. One was  hanging a person on a gallows type structure till dead. The other placing a condemned person in a metal cage and leaving the person to die of thirst.

Boudicca was less than pleasant to captured noble women. She impaled them on spikes, had their breasts cut off, and then sewed to their lips.

As indicated, the Romans were only slightly less severe than Boudicca in killing prisoners. Neither side wanted prisoners. They had to be killed. Both sides engaged in rapes, killings, torture, beheadings, cutting throats, hanging, burning alive, and crucifixions.

Makes one wonder if man has learned anything over the centuries. Al Qaeda and ISIS perpetrate similar acts today. An example that history repeats itself.

Boudicca used women and children as a last line of defense.  She would ring the battlefield with them so the Romans might be dissuaded to kill such innocents. The Romans were not dissuaded. 

Boudicca became known as the Warrior Queen.

Who can know if she was right in killing and destroying as she did. The opposition was committing similar atrocities. She gave what she got. Sort of a what is good for the goose is good for the gander thing.

Additionally, Boudicca saw her daughters raped. Heavy. In such a situation, vengeance for some is no longer in the hands of God. It becomes man's right.

Rome continued to control Britain for three more centuries. There were no more Boudiccas during that time.

LINCOLN THE MAN

Abraham Lincoln is considered one of our greatest Presidents. Perhaps the greatest. 

We know he was born in a log cabin, became a Republican, was elected the sixteenth President of the United States, saved the Union, freed the slaves, delivered the Gettysburg Address, and was assassinated. 

There is a personal part of Lincoln not well known. Such is the thrust of this article. To share the less well known with you.

Lincoln at age 22 was a bartender. Purportedly a licensed bartender. 

Lincoln returned from the Black Hawk War and ran for the Illinois State Legislature. He lost. He was living in New Salem, Illinois at the time. He and a William Berry decided to open a general store and drinking establishment. The store to sell lard, bacon, firearms, beeswax and honey. The tavern portion alcoholic beverages.

Illinois law provided that if alcohol was sold for consumption on the premises, a license was required. Another requirement was that if even taken off premises for consumption, if less than a quart, a license was required.

William Berry obtained the license. All bartenders had to sign. It appears Berry forged Lincoln's signature.

The business opened in January 1833. Lincoln had Berry buy him out three months later. The business was not making money. Debts were increasing rapidly. Berry was an alcoholic. He was drinking up the profits. Lincoln contributed to the failure of the business, also. He was lazy. Spent his time reading and chatting with customers rather than working.

Two years later, Berry died. The business debts were even more than when Lincoln had withdrawn. Berry left an estate of $60. The business debts exceeded $1,100. A lot of money at the time.

Lincoln had no legal responsibility for the debts. However, he felt a moral obligation to pay them. He went to each creditor and advised he would see that they were paid. However he could promise no time frame. It took 13 years for all the debts to be paid. Till 1848.

Interestingly, Lincoln was not a drinker. He abstained from alcohol. Whether a drinker was no big deal in the 1820s and 1830s. Illinois was a frontier state. Drinking was part of frontier society life. The backwoodsmen were all heavy boozers. No one thought anything less of those who enjoyed their drinks.

Things changed as time ran on. A temperance league was formed. It gained power and popularity. By the Senate race in 1858 and the Presidential race in 1860, drinking was a major national issue.

Lincoln's short lived partnership with Berry many years earlier in 1822 became an issue. Lincoln's purported signature on the license evidenced that he sold the dirty brew. Lincoln refused to acknowledge the license, saying Berry had forged his name. He further stated he worked only the store portion of the business and had nothing to do with the tavern. He also relied on the fact he was known not to be a drinker.

It did not bother Lincoln that others drank. As General Ulysses Grant's Civil War successes became evident, Lincoln told one of his aides to ".....find out what Grant is drinking and send a case of it to all my generals." Grant was a known heavy drinker. Considered by some to be an alcoholic.

Earlier, I mentioned Lincoln was a bit lazy. He was of the opinion that at least for himself, physical labor was to be avoided. His step brother once said to Lincoln, "I doubt whether since I saw you, you have done a good whole day's work in any one day."

Tobacco was big at all times during Lincoln's life. He did not partake of tobacco, either smoking or chewing.

Other than his brief time in the Black Hawk War when he was in his very early 20s, Lincoln never carried nor used a gun. Even for hunting.

He advocated the vote for women. Hard to believe that someone that far back was promoting the cause for women.

Lincoln was a sloppy dresser. Even when President. Clothes were of no importance to him. Even his hair. He rarely combed his hair.

Lincoln avoided profanity. At all times. "By Jingo!" was the strongest expletive used by him in the White House.

Ann Rutledge was Lincoln's first love. 

Ann's father was a founder of New Salem. Ann was engaged to a John Mac Namar. Described as a dubious character. The engagement took place before Ann and Lincoln met. Mac Namar left for New York City after the engagement. He forgot to return.

Ann and Lincoln fell in love during Mac Namar's absence. Things were different back then. She did not feel she could marry Lincoln until Mac Namar released her from her promise to marry. She wrote him many times. Mac Namar ignored her letters. Ann and Lincoln were anxious for Mac Namar's return so they could have a sit down and obtain the release.

Mac Namar returned to New Salem after Ann's death. Typhoid intervened in 1835. Ann died from the typhoid.  She was only 22 years old. Lincoln went into severe depression.

Historians are mixed as to whether Lincoln loved Ann. After his election as President, Lincoln is reported to have told his old friend Issac Cogdal, "I loved the woman dearly and soundly.....I did honestly and truly love the girl and think often-often of her now."

Ann was buried locally in the New Salem area. A small cheap marker for a stone.

In 1890, an undertaker became financially interested in the cemetery. For other than burial purposes. Ann was exhumed and reburied in Oakland Cemetery in Petersburg, Illinois.

A new stone marked her grave. A large granite one. Part of the inscription on the new stone read as follows: "I am Ann Rutledge who sleeps beneath these weeds, Beloved in life of Abraham Lincoln, wedded to him though not through union, But through separation. Bloom forever, O Republic, from the dust of my bosom."

Thus are some of the personal parts of Lincoln's life. As great as his public figure, it is good to be reminded his life prior to the Presidency was that of a common man. He enjoyed and suffered life in the same fashion as the people he ultimately represented.

Such contributed to his being a great President.

Most Presidential candidates today are not of Lincoln's ilk. The group consists of millionaires, children of millionaires, corporate leaders, and the like. No wonder we are screwed up. 

Most do not know or understand America.

WORSE EVER CONGRESS

It was 1948. Harry Truman was running for reelection. The major thrust of his campaign was the Congress that had been in office the previous two years was the worst ever. He referred to Congress as …..The do nothing Congress!

Truman was not the favorite in the race. Republican Tom Dewey was the anticipated winner. However, Truman spoke the truth re the Congress and won reelection.

Truth has a way of winning.

Today, we are confronted with a similar type Congress. A House of Representatives that has accomplished nothing.  They have not governed the nation. They do not seem to be able to govern themselves. The present Speaker fiasco being proof thereof.

In November 2013, I wrote a column entitled U.S. House of Representatives Works Too Hard. Title written with tongue in cheek.The contents reveal one of the reasons Congressional government has not worked in recent years. Congress fails to spend sufficient time in Washington to get anything done.

Eric Cantor was majority leader and a right winger. A favorite of the Tea Party. He said Congress should spend more time in their home districts rather than Washington. It was more important to be back home with constituents. The people who elected them and paid their salaries.

You saw how it worked for Cantor. He was defeated in a primary in his home district. His constituents could not be fooled. He came out smelling like a rose, however.  Within weeks, he had a job with a Washington power house lobbying group. His salary, $3.4 million a year.

I share the November 2013 article with you again as part of this column. It is worth repeating.  It says a lot about a present day Republican Party incapable of governing.

THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WORKS TOO HARD

The U.S. House of Representatives works too hard.

 A blatant misstatement. A lie. A joke. The American people would be lucky if the House of Representatives merely worked. Not even hard.

 I was watching television last week and there was a news report that the House of Representatives were going home for several days. The comment further was that the House would not be working more than eight days each month in November or December. They would return sometime during the first week in January.

 The video accompanying the story showed Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Speaker John Boehner leading some Republican members out of the House.

 The smile on Cantor's face bothered me. Pompous and disconcerting. Like look at the sweet deal we have and screw you.

 What disturbed me even further is that shutdown time and the debt ceiling await us again in mid December and early January. The obvious thrust of the story was such did not seem to concern Cantor and Boehner or their followers.

 My curiosity was tickled. How can these people take so much time off? I dug a bit. This is the story.

 Cantor is in charge of the work day schedule. He published the 2014 one on Twitter last week. He also published one the year before for 2013.

 In 2013, the House worked a total of 124 days. In 2014, they are scheduled to work even less. One hundred thirteen days. This abbreviated working schedule began with the Republicans elected to the House in 2010. That is when they regained the majority.

 By the way, House members are paid at least $174,000 a year regardless of how many days they work.

 Cantor claims House members require extensive time off. They need to be back in their home districts. It is necessary for them to keep in touch with the people who pay them. Their constituents.

 Cantor says a short House work schedule is required ".....to ensure that we never lose touch with the constituents we each represent while completing our work in Washington."

 Bullshit! How stupid he and his cronies must think the American people are.

 Keep in mind that Cantor and his buddies are the same House members who gave us the recent government shutdown.

 The numbers are telling.

 2013 saw the House working 126 days. The base salary per member is $174,000 a year. Plus all kinds of benefits and perks. However, I am only concerned with direct  salary. One hundred twenty six working days amounts to $1,380 per day. In 2014, the House will work fewer days. It appears they needed two weeks more off. One hundred thirteen working days amounts to $1,540 per day.

 Lets view the time worked and dollars paid from another perspective.

 The average American works 2,080 hours per year. Average pay $29,000. $111 dollars per day. A far cry from what House members make. I refuse to use the term earn. A House member makes in effect 13 times the salary of the average American.

 Tea Party success returned control of the House to the Republicans in 2010. The years since are the poorest production wise in modern times. The 112th House passed 283 bills that went to the President for his consideration. The present 113th House only 46 bills. Prior to the 112th and 113th Houses, the range of bills going to the President per session was 300 plus to 700 plus.

 I have some observations.

 If the House wants to work part time, the members should be paid part time. If the 425 members work only one third the year, they should receive one third pay. If House members need more time off, I suggest 20 years to life in a federal maximum security facility.

 Let's continue with the numbers.

 The House only works one week on and two off. I believe it shows a contempt for the American people.

 I have been harping on governmental waste in recent weeks. Brought on by Republican sought cuts in food stamps, Social Security and Medicare. The House's working schedule is a perfect example of government waste and one where a $50 million per year savings could be accomplished.

 Again, the basic salary of a House member is $174,000 a year. If they only work 126 days a year, they should be paid for 126 days. That would drop their salary to $60,065 per year. An annual savings of $113,935 per member. Multiplying the 425 members by that number evidences a savings of almost $50 million a year. That is, If House members were paid only for days worked. 

Like everyone else.

Perhaps politicians are all cut from the same cloth. Perhaps not. The Senate works significantly more days per year than the House.

 You would assume there is much written on the issue. There is not. My research discovered only two articles of any substance. Both excellent. If you are further interested, I suggest you read them.

 One is Congress Announces It Will Be In Session Fewer Days In 2014. Written by Mike Krumbotz, October 31, 2013 for the Yahoo News Sideshow.

 The other is House To Be In Session Only 126 Days In 2013. Written by Robert Longley, December 12, 2012 for About.com/USGovernmentInfo.

 The House of Representatives is a national disgrace. They must be voted out. It will not be easy. Americans have to get so mad at being fleeced so that they will not take it anymore. Otherwise, the status quo will prevail.

THE DOCTORS KILLED THE PRESIDENT

It was July 2, 1881. James Garfield had been President of the United States less than four months. In the early morning, the President arrived at the Washington, D.C. railroad terminal with his two sons. They were going to Massachusetts.

There was no Secret Service yet for Presidential protection. Although Lincoln had been assassinated sixteen years earlier.

Charles Guiteau was waiting in the shadows for the President. He had a gun. He had purchased it with $15 borrowed money. His intention to kill the President. He shot the President two times. The first bullet creased his arm. The second bullet entered his back where it became lodged behind his pancreas. No vital organs were hit.

Within minutes, twelve doctors appeared at the scene. The President was lying on the floor of the railroad station. The doctors with dirty hands and instruments were probing for the bullet. The floor of the railroad station filthy.

American doctors at the time did not believe germs existed. Dirty hands, instruments and places were of no concern. 

The President was taken to the White House and placed in his bed. A Dr. D. Willard Bliss assumed authority for the President's care. He was not the President's physician formally or otherwise.

Bliss dominated the President's medical attention till his death. Other doctors were called in by Bliss for assistance.

Bliss was arrogant and ambitious. He enjoyed being referred to as the President's doctor during the time of the tragedy.

The President died September 9, 1981. Ninety one days elapsed from being wounded to dying.

Alexander Graham Bell was famous at the time. He was not a physician. Bell was famous for having invented the telephone five years earlier. Bliss counseled with Bell. Could Bell help in locating the bullet? The bullet could not be found. In fact, it was never found till after the President's death.

Bell worked hastily. There was no x-ray at the time. He developed a metal detector. Also referred to as an induction balance. Its purpose to identify the area of the bullet in the President's back. 

Bell first tested the metal detector on veterans. Civil War veterans who were walking around some twenty odd years after the war with bullets still lodged in their bodies. The metal detector was successful in every instance.

It did not work on the President, however. To the dismay of Bell. The reasons two fold.

The President's bed had a metal spring mattress. One which set beneath the regular mattress. Also known as bed springs. Metal spring mattresses were relatively new. I am assuming the metal spring mattress was a gift to the President. There were no sales per se of them till two years later. 

The reason Bell's metal detector did not work was because of the metal spring mattress. The metal spring mattress diverted the charge resulting in static. It identified nothing.

Bell and Bliss were not aware that the metal spring mattress was the cause.

A second reason was that Bliss was convinced the bullet was on the President's right side where it had entered. He limited Bell's use of the metal detector to the right side. Bell wanted to use it across the President's back. Bliss said no.

An autopsy following the President's death revealed the bullet was on the left side. It is assumed it was moved there by the fingers of doctors at some time during one of the probing finger examinations...

The President lay in bed in bed a little more than two months. His condition deteriorated rapidly.

Washington was typically hot during this time. Air conditioning not yet invented. A Simon Newcomb designed a system to hopefully cool the President's bedroom. Tons of ice in the cellar. Replenished daily. Tubes from the cellar to the President's bedroom. Fans blowing air over the ice which carried cool air to the President's bedroom. It helped, but not much.

The summer heat was so intense that the President was removed to the Jersey shore in early September. He died there September 19, 1881.

Doctors with dirty hands and instruments constantly probing contributed greatly to the President's death. The dirty floor at the railroad station, also. Bliss' arrogance in preventing Bell from using the detector on the President's left side another factor.

Doctors in subsequent years have been of the opinion the President would have survived if the bullet had just been left alone.

The President suffered greatly. He developed blood poisoning and infection. His body was full of infection. Body pus. Described also as abscesses. The technical term uncontrolled septicemia. The President also starved to death. He could not keep food down. His weight dropped from 210 to 130 pounds. On top of which during one of the probing, a doctor punctured the President's liver.

Guiteau was tried for murdering the President. He was convicted and hanged. His defense.....I did not kill the President, the doctors did. Though there was truth to his statement, Guiteau was legally guilty because he had initiated the situation by shooting the President. 

Guiteau's background and reason for killing the President play into the scenario.

The United States was still into the spoils system. There was no civil service system. Upon election, a President was bombarded with persons coming to Washington seeking a job. The President would see most. Reportedly, one hundred a day. Guiteau was one of them.

Guiteau met the President once. In the President's office. He did not campaign for him. However, he did write a piece which he had printed and distributed. About two hundred copies. Guiteau believed this entitled him to an ambassadorship to either Austria or France.

He continued to visit the President's outer offices and those of influential people in Washington. He was not held in esteem. Considered a nut. He was without money. He stopped shaving. His clothes became tattered. He looked dirty. Finally, he was barred from the White House and other government offices.

It was at this time Guiteau claimed God had spoken to him. He claimed divine inspiration. God wanted him to kill the President.

He took certain steps prior to the shooting. He wrote to General of the U.S. Army

William Tecumseh Sheraton asking for protection from the mob which would be upon him after he killed the President. No one paid any attention to the letter. He wrote the Warden of the District of Columbia jail asking permission to view the cell where he would be incarcerated. No attention paid to this letter, either.

Guiteau's trial was a joke. Caused by Guiteau alone. He repeatedly told the court he was merely God's instrument. He sang John Brown's Body. Dictated a lengthy letter to the New York Herald. His autobiography. At the end, he wrote a personal ad seeking a nice Christian lady under thirty.

He constantly insulted his defense team which was lead by his brother in law. Much of his testimony was in poem format. He frequently would turn around and seek legal advice from spectators.

His execution a show in itself. Guiteau danced his way up the gallow steps, waved to the audience when on the scaffold, shook hands with the executioner, and recited a poem he had written for the occasion.....I Am Going to the Goody.

The President was 49 at the time of his death. He was a young man well thought of. The feeling was the country was going to do great things under his leadership. Much akin to President John Kennedy. Unfortunately, neither was given enough time.

Notice Guiteau's actions as they relate to today's shootings. A gun easy to acquire. The killer a mental case.

Nothing seems to have changed.