Jackass

The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History January 13 - 19.

Jan 13, 2025

There’s a great lyric in Public Enemey’s 1991 hit By the Time I Get to Arizona:

Cause my money is spent for the goddamn rent
Neither party is mine, not the jackass or the elephant

At 15, even a dork like me knew what Chuck D was talking about – he didn’t fall into either political gang.

I’m sure I have mentioned this about a million times, but our country desires a political system with more than two parties. What’s funny about that concept is that there are already numerous political parties; it’s just that only two actually rise to the level of being elected.

That’s how it’s pretty much always been, and that’s how it will always be. Political parties can transform, break off, focus on one issue, or flip on any given issue. Political parties are living organisms that can conform to any environment. Out with the Whigs and the Federalists and in with the Republicans and the Democrats.

Distinguishing the two parties by color is only a recent phenomenon, but the parties' symbols have been around for a long time.

When Andrew Jackson was running against John Quincy Adams in 1828, Quincy Adams supporters called Jackson a Jackass because “Jack” is in both words, but the three letters after each are different. Don’t you love it when I describe how a joke works?

Jackson embraced being called a Jackass and quickly adopted the image of a donkey in his political advertising, telling everyone that he was a stubborn, loud, smelly jackass.

On January 15, 1870, Harper’s Weekly formalized the donkey as the symbol for the Democratic Party, which President Jackson had organized many decades before. It remains to this day, even if it is not as prominent as it used to be. Maybe some Election Genius can educate the party about embracing the jackass more as an “ordinary” “average” thing “Regular Americans” can understand.

Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here's what I got:

1. Douglas Wilder became the first elected black governor on January 13, 1990. Wilder, who served as the Lieutenant Governor, won a close election against the Attorney General, whose name was Coleman. Wilder ran on a pro-abortion platform, while Coleman ran trying to remind everyone that Wilder was black and this was Virginia.

2. The Simpsons premiered on January 14, 1990. The Fox Broadcasting Company launched in 1986 and entered primetime a year later. Cartoonist Matt Groening conceived an animated family show based on his own and created shorts that aired on The Tracey Ullman Show. In December 1989, The Simpsons aired their first episode, but it wasn’t until their second aired in 1990 that they featured the unique opening sequences of Bart writing on a chalkboard and the family landing on the couch, making it the first actual episode.

3. Americans stopped purchasing alcohol on January 16, 1920. The 18^th and worst amendment to the US Constitution went into effect, and for the next thirteen years, Americans couldn’t manufacture, transport, sell, or consume alcohol. It was Dry January all the time.

You have been waiting long enough. The next round of rankings debuts this Friday. Are you ready? I’m ready. At least, I think I’m ready. I am excited! You excited? Let’s get after it!

I hope everyone has a great week. See you on Friday. 2025 is going to be fun!

Okay,

Chris