Chris Purdy

US lawmakers balance security and openness as threats of political violence rise Elected officials and law enforcement are starting to take threats more seriously in wake of political assassinations

Elected officials across the country are facing a rising tide of threats and intimidation.

These aren't just attacks on individuals—they're attacks on us. On our shared democracy.

This from @theguardian.com lays out the danger:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I would perhaps encourage him to learn about consent before offering to touch more people

2,000 National Guardsmen being withdrawn from Los Angeles mission, Pentagon confirms Nearly 4,700 National Guardsmen and active-duty Marines were deployed to L.A. with the mission to protect federal buildings following ICE protests.

Grateful to see half of the Guard coming home from Los Angeles. But troops don’t belong on American streets.

We need all military forces out of our cities. Policing civilians is not the Guard’s mission. It’s a threat to our troops and our democracy.

https://bit.ly/4nNP4EG

'Making America militarized again': Use of military in U.S. erodes democracy, veteran advocates say Advocates for families of active-duty troops, legal scholars and ex-military leaders critique the decision to deploy U.S. armed forces to Los Angeles.

Troops are being used to police civilians. That’s a red line in any democracy.

I joined other veterans this week to call out the use of Guard and Marines in LA. This isn’t national defense—it’s mission creep. And it puts our rights, our troops, and our democracy at risk.

LA Times: lat.ms/3W8vbD0

Thanks for anyone who stuck around over this 4 day journey. I’m especially grateful to my Other Half™️ who tolerated me stealing the tv for basically an entire week.

Until next year!

The movie production itself, aside from the vomit inducing list cause bits, is still fantastic. To see that level of combat with no CGI and so well researched… is amazing

Everything else is a set up for these two. Buford gives them a battle that puts them together on day 1. Lee acts as the orchestra director they both have to play to.

There are other figures that move the story along, sure. The Hancock/Armistead story line is tired. But really it’s these two figures who both are put in impossible positions in this battle and one comes out on top, while the other essentially loses the war.

And that’s the end of the movie Gettysburg. I think for the first time in watching this over the years I’ve realized that this is really a movie that centers on just two people: Chamberlain and Longstreet.

“General Lee… I have no division”

a man in a black shirt is making a face and saying that 's correct . ALT: a man in a black shirt is making a face and saying that 's correct .

Lee says “it’s my fault”

When Armistead dies in the arms of Tom Chamberlain he says that he is sorry. I wonder if he’s actually sorry for what he’s done or just sorry that he got shot.

The cannons here are part of Cushing Battery. Alonzo Cushing, their 22 year old commander, who died in the battle was from Fredonia NY where I went to college.

The Irish Brigade getting their revenge for Fredericksburg

The charge scene is about 20 minutes too long. Even in the theatrical version

Armistead gives a speech to the audience about how American his brigade is. How people in his unit came from Americas founding fathers. Ok bro… so why did you all decide to tear it apart?

The cannonade is now forced to slow down because Colonel Alexander just learned a hard lesson on exterior and interior lines. That means that if you are spread out it’s more difficult to reinforce and resupply than if you’re packed in together

The barrage begins! This is actually a really good demonstration of a mass civil war cannonade. Filmmakers don’t do this anymore - it’s all CGI.

The attack itself was actually so loud that it was heard 60 miles away in Harrisburg.

This scene is like the fourth time we see Hancock or Armistead talk about how sad they are to be fighting each other. But we do get a brief glimpse of Chamberlain talk about his time as a teacher. Chamberlain is what we today would call: kind of a nerd. His sole focus was learning and teaching

Longstreet just can’t catch a break here. He’s this movie’s Cassandra. Here he has to tell Harrison, and the audience, that he knows everyone is going to die in the charge.

a little girl in a red and purple dress is saying stop it !! ALT: a little girl in a red and purple dress is saying stop it !!

There is far too much saluting that goes on in this movie. Everyone is always saluting all the time. Please stop

**Commence dramatic foreshadowing sequence where we realize Pickett's men are all going to die**

Lee and Longstreet arguing over whether or not to order a mass attack in the center. I'm not aware of many battles where the strategy of a frontal assault in the middle of the line actually succeeded. Lee knew this. It was his own hubris that thought it would be different for him.

And we're back. Day 3 of the Battle of Gettysburg. Begins at midnight where Lee quips that tomorrow is the 4th of July before chastising JEB Stuart for failing to keep the rebels aware of where the US Army was.

Lee married into the Washington family, a lot of people forget that. But he was not a very good person, even by the standards of southern aristocrats. He was cruel to his children. He was also just a mediocre commander who rose to the top among a sea of pretty shitty southern generals

I’m sorry. I thought this was America

The scenes at the end of the second day do a good job of dramatizing the personal connections among leaders on both sides. But in emphasizing the relationships, it misses the why. Why did these people betray their country and their friends to defend slavery? Because they were true believers

Where are the monuments to Confederate Gen. James Longstreet? | CNN Steven Holmes writes that the relative lack of statues of Longstreet, who favored Reconstruction after the Civil War, shows that Confederate history is seen through a political lens.

Longstreet is such an interesting figure. Gettysburg clearly broke his commitment to the cause of dismantling the Constitution. And after the war he became a leading figure in The Reconstruction and even endorsed Grant for President. This made him no friends in the South

www.cnn.com/2017/08/23/o...

After the loss on Little Round Top, Longstreet visits a field hospital. Civil war field hospitals were horrible places where your chances at survival was 50/50 at best.