Sausage patties, hugging a scoop of scrambled eggs and a couple slices of toast on a plate, and chased with nearby steaming black coffee.
I’m awake just writing those words.
Sausage isn’t granola, though. Only a veteran butcher could admire the skillful process of sausage grinding. It’s messy. The ingredients, individually, would turn most stomachs. But once on the table, the dish serves many and with great variety, from patties to links, kielbasa, Polish, brats and salami.
A Congress full of vegetarians and prime-rib snobs accomplishes little. Its members must learn to handle the daily grind of lawmaking, especially when the greater good of the nation is at stake.
That reality underscores the new Steven Spielberg film “Lincoln.” Without compromise and cajoling — through means sometimes as unsavory as job offers to lame-duck congressmen to entice their votes — the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, ending the heinous practice of slavery, would not have happened as it did in 1865. Character and courage have rightly earned Abraham Lincoln a spot on Mount Rushmore and in human hearts worldwide, but the movie also reveals him as a political genius. The thought of Lincoln revisiting an attempt to abolish slavery through a constitutional amendment — just eight months after a similar effort failed, with the same 38th Congress, including 64 rival Democrats ousted in the same 1864 election that gave Abe a second term — confounded the president’s closest advisers.
Yet, he succeeded. On Jan. 31, 1865, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment. Lincoln managed to get the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution — a step Congress had not taken in 60 years. “Lincoln” casts the revered president with human frailties, frustrated and exhausted by the staggering bloodshed and division that would eventually claim his life, too. His determination transcended those weaknesses, though.
The most stirring moment in the film occurs when Lincoln, played remarkably by English actor Daniel Day Lewis, loses his tolerance for the bickering, unyielding politicians whose intransigence threatens the amendment’s passage. In an explosive response to accusations of being dictatorial, the president bellows, “I’m clothed in immense power. You must get this done.”
Thank goodness, they heeded his demand.
Thus, somehow, some way, 119 members of Congress backed the amendment, with 56 saying nay, beating the two-thirds threshold. Ten Democrats voted with every House Republican, Lincoln’s party. By being absent, another eight Democrats — including Daniel W. Voorhees of Indiana, who according to historical accounts opposed the 13th Amendment — essentially allowed it to pass. The supporting votes were not all cast for noble reasons of racial equality, human rights, basic decency and the preservation of the union. Nonetheless, Lincoln and the amendment’s longtime advocates focused on getting their “yea” votes.
As a result, America took its most profound step toward a truer democracy, which remains a work in progress.
Now, 148 years later, the 112th Congress is struggling to address an issue that looks like a molehill compared with the mountainous task of ending slavery at the finish of a war that claimed more than a half-million American lives on U.S. soil.
A fiscal “cliff.”
Really.
Automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts to the military and other federal services loom as a penalty for Congress’ intransigent attitude. Almost certainly, another recession would ensue. On one side, with arms folded, stand the Republicans, clinging to a tax pledge created by a Washington lobbyist named Grover Norquist, refusing to budge on a tax increase for the wealthiest Americans. On the other side stand Democrats, irked by their opponents’ calls for reduced government entitlement programs. Both sides are eyeballing every gesture of compromise and commitment by President Obama.
In the middle, 311 million Americans wonder if the lawmakers will grind up their rigid differences, and serve the greater good.
They must get this done.
Local & Bistate
MARK BENNETT: An unbudging Congress standing on opposing sides accomplishes little
- Local & Bistate
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Illinois Senate approves sex education bill
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A proposal that revamps sex education in Illinois public schools to include information about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases has cleared the state Senate.
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Gregg pondering 2nd run for Indiana governor
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg is pondering another run at the state's top job, but has yet to make a decision.
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Illinois senator apologizes for Nazi remark
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Sen. Donne Trotter has apologized for remarks that compared a member of Gov. Pat Quinn’s cabinet to a Nazi.
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Vigo County Jail Log: May 22, 2013
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Tuesday and Wednesday, based on jail records.
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Rose-Hulman professor researching ways to make homes storm safe
Tornadoes produce greater uplift forces than hurricanes, which can flatten homes such as in Moore Okla., south of Oklahoma City.
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Group wants to connect downtown Terre Haute with the Wabash River
Fairbanks Park is underutilized.
The Wabash River is peaceful and inviting, but there is some concern about its cleanliness as well as pollution levels. Also, people can’t get on the river unless they have a boat. -
New conservancy district appoints first directors
Members of the first board of directors of a new lake conservancy district were appointed Tuesday by the Vigo County Board of Commissioners.
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Vigo law enforcement signs Triad charter to protect seniors
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller joined Vigo County law enforcement and community activists Tuesday to sign the county’s first Triad charter, becoming the 22nd Triad in Indiana.
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Wabash Valley Red Cross wraps up Save the Day Campaign
The American Red Cross Wabash Valley Chapter’s 2013 annual meeting concluded the 17th annual Save the Day Campaign, and the results lifted the spirits of all who were involved.
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Some Vigo roads washed out
Spring storms resulted in $250,000 in damages to roads in southern Vigo County, with costs including sand and labor to save homes near river bottoms, said county highway Assistant Superintendent Dan Bennett.
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County Council votes $78K toward rail spur
County officials voted Tuesday night to make good on a 2011 promise to help improve a railroad spur just north of Terre Haute for Menard Inc.
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Spring flooding damages future CSO holding lagoon
Flood waters from the Wabash River have done costly damage to one of the city-owned “lagoons” on former International Paper property.
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Vigo tops state average for IREAD-3 scores
The Vigo County School Corp. exceeded the state average in the percentage of students passing the state’s mandatory Grade 3 reading test, IREAD-3.
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Storms cause minor damage in Valley
Tuesday morning storms in the Wabash Valley caused thousands of Duke Energy customers to lose power.
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Vigo County Jail Log: May 21, 2013
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Monday and Tuesday, based on jail records.
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UPDATE: Damage surveys show 2 weak tornadoes hit near Indy
INDIANAPOLIS — The National Weather Service says storm surveys show two weak tornadoes struck central Indiana.
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Storm causes scattered Indiana power outages
INDIANAPOLIS — A line of thunderstorms that moved across Indiana caused scattered building damage and power outages for several thousand homes and businesses.
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Kindergartner diagnosed with MD treated to a day with the fire department
“He’ll just never forget this day,” Stacey Manley said, a little bit tearfully, as she watched her smiling 6-year-old son Carter sitting happily in the captain’s seat of Fire Engine 2.
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Casey, Illinois aims for another world record
The town of Casey, Ill., may soon weave its way into the record books as the small town with the most world records. After setting records for the world’s largest wind chimes and the world’s largest golf tee, Casey is now looking to become home to the world’s largest knitting needles and crochet hook.
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Rose-Hulman projects will promote growth, learning for people with physical challenges
Life changed dramatically for college engineering student Drew Christy on Feb. 22, 2008 when he was involved in an auto accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
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‘500’ gas stations being sold to Speedway LLC
After several decades in business, the area’s familiar “500” gasoline stations and convenience stores will soon be missing from the roadsides of Vigo and Sullivan counties.
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Terre Haute woman faces 14 charges
A Terre Haute woman faces 14 criminal counts after her arrest Friday on drug-related charges.
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Two adults injured in ATV accident
Two adults were injured Sunday evening while riding an all-terrain vehicle near Lexington Farms Subdivision off Moyer Drive in southern Vigo County.
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Vigo schools’ medical claims down 4 percent
The Vigo County School Corp.’s medical claims were about $13 million over the last 12 months, down 4 percent from the prior year, said Diane Titchenell, an Anthem account manager that works with the school district.
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2013 Government Directory now available
The 2013 Government Directory is now available.
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UPDATE: 5 killed, 6 injured in I-70 van crash in Illinois
ST. LOUIS — A van carrying church members returning from a California gathering careened off of a southern Illinois freeway and overturned several times today, killing five people and sending six others to hospitals, authorities said.
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2 children reported dead from Indianapolis fire
INDIANAPOLIS — Authorities say some autistic children lived in the Indianapolis condominium unit where a fire has killed two children.
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Tighter Indiana drunken driving law seems unlikely
INDIANAPOLIS — Some key Indiana legislators say it’s unlikely that the state will any time soon go along with a federal safety board’s recommendation that the threshold for drunken driving be cut nearly in half.
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Vigo County Jail Log: May 20, 2013
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, based on jail records.
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Life-Size Ping Pong: Valley pickleball tourney draws large crowd to Brittlebank Park
It’s been described as “ping pong on steroids.”
Some people call it “life-size ping pong where you stand on the table.” - More Local & Bistate Headlines
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Illinois Senate approves sex education bill
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