Gerald Baliles and the Virginia film industry

Former Virginia Governor Gerald Baliles was laid to rest yesterday after a funeral service at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville.  After serving in the House of Delegates and as Attorney General, Baliles was elected governor in 1985 and served a four-year term ending in 1989.  He succeeded Governor Chuck Robb and was, in turn, succeeded by Governor Doug Wilder.

Gerald Baliles (c) Rick Sincere 2013

During his term as governor, Baliles became a co-founder (with Patricia Kluge and others) of the Virginia Festival of American Film, which eventually became the Virginia Film Festival.  The most recent film festival, the 32nd annual, took place across various venues in Charlottesville last month.

At the 26th annual Virginia Film Festival in 2013, I spoke to Governor Baliles -- who was then director of the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia -- and asked him about the beginnings of the film festival and his role in enhancing the footprint of the film industry in Virginia.

Baliles had just moderated a panel discussion following a screening of the CNN documentary film, Our Nixon, with the film's producer, Brian L. Frye, and Miller Center historian Ken Hughes (see below).

I began by asking whether the Virginia Film Festival, as it had developed over the years, had met or exceeded his expectations back in the 1980s.

"When one launches a new venture," he said, "one has a vision. One has hopes, expectations. I thought it was entirely conceivable that the first couple of years, if they went well, would provide the setting for a much larger public acceptance and interest in support of what has come to be known as the Virginia Film Festival."

He conceded that "it is impossible to predict the details but it is also possible to envision the possibilities and that's what we had 26 years ago."

I also asked about his desire to expand the activities of the film industry in Virginia. He explained how he used a legislative maneuver to authorize what became the Virginia Film Office.

Virginia Film Festival logo

Baliles explained that every state in the United States and foreign countries "are competing for production of films in their own localities."

He noted that, "when I was a young legislator, I was struck by a film that was made in Hampton Roads, and I read that the producers had left 40 percent of their budget in Hampton Roads and I thought, 'Why don't we do this sort of thing?'"

After he learned about that, he said, "I put a bill in to create a Virginia film office as a way of enticing producers to come to the state. We would provide advice and counsel and scouting locations and that sort of thing."

The bill failed, however, but then-Delegate Baliles "happened to serve on the Appropriations Committee and the budget always contains a lot of fine print in the back. So, when my bill was killed, I just inserted the same language in the back of the budget. The budget was approved, of course, and so was the film office. The film office then started, I think, to create the possibilities of attracting film producers to the state. The Virginia Film Festival was created 10 to 15 years later, when I was in office as governor."

His aim in seeing more movies in Virginia was not incidental, he continued.

"My interest in film has been one of long standing. I read a lot but I also recognize we are a visual society, and pictures speak louder than words."

The entire interview with former Governor Gerald Baliles is available for listening as part of the November 9 podcast episode of The Score from Bearing Drift, "The Score: Virginia Elections, Candidates Speak, Assessing Politics, Business Ethics, Gerald Baliles."

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Here is the video of Governor Baliles moderating the panel discussion on Our Nixon in 2013:

And here is Governor Baliles introducing a screening of All the President's Men at the Virginia Film Festival in 2012:

He also moderated a post-screening panel discussion about the movie with journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward:

Unrelated to the Virginia Film Festival, here is former Governor Baliles speaking at the ceremony marking the opening of the visitors' center at Monticello in 2009:

From the Archives: Actress Tracey Ullman reflects on citizenship and equality at Monticello

Actress Tracey Ullman reflects on citizenship and equality at Monticello
July 4, 2010 4:28 PM MST

Tracey Ullman at Monticello, July 4, 2010

At the 48th annual Independence Day naturalization ceremony at Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello on July 4, the featured speaker was actress and comedienne Tracey Ullman, who has won seven Emmy Awards® for her work in television. Her self-named Fox-TV show of the 1980s introduced the world interstitially to The Simpsons.

Ullman is a dual British-American citizen. Born and raised in Slough, England, she has lived and worked in the United States for 25 years and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006.

In her remarks to the 71 immigrants from more than two dozen countries (from Afghanistan and Armenia to Uzbekistan and Vietnam), Ullman emphasized how her early impressions of America were those of “confidence,” that the American attitude was one of “if you want it, come and get it.”

After the ceremony, Ullman sat down for a one-on-one interview with the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner, answering questions about citizenship, the American dream, and what she finds valuable in the American founding.

Subjects and Citizens
Noting that it was recently revealed that, in his draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote the word “subjects” and smudged it out so he could replace it with “citizens,” Ullman talked about the difference between “subject” and “citizen,” because she has been both.

She said she was pleased to learn about Jefferson’s editing, that “he changed it, that he moved on, that he made the change.”

“Yes,” she said, “I have been a subject and now a citizen and it’s interesting. I just think that we are equal. There’s no one better than us. We’re not paying people millions of pounds to be better than us,” as the British pay their royal family.

“I’ve never been a royalist,” Ullman explained, “and that [equality] is something that really appealed to me about America.”

Image of Confidence

When she was growing up as a girl in England, Ullman absorbed many images of America that she saw on television. What most impressed her, she said, “was the Olympics,” not only because American athletes won so many gold medals, but “it was the confidence,” they exhibited.

In addition, she said, “it was that ‘you can be anyone you want to be’” attitude and “kindness,” as well as “inspirational people like Lily Tomlin. I impersonated her at my school when I was like 10. I said, ‘I want to be Lily Tomlin. I want to be Gilda Radner.’”

Ullman joked that “our images of America were like Dallas, when I was a kid, like soap operas and things” but even so, when she first arrived in the United States at the age of 20, she was “very inspired.”

Citizenship Test
Since Ullman so recently went through the naturalization process, she spoke about the most surprising things she learned as she prepared for the citizenship test.

One was, she laughed, a question about two forms used by the immigration authorities, the N-200 and the N-400. That’s “a real question,” she said, and applicants had to know the difference between those forms. “I think they’ve dropped that one now, it’s a little obscure.”

She was most impressed, however, by the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, which is why, she said, it is so inspiring “to be here, where Thomas Jefferson” lived. He was “so forward thinking,” for his time, Ullman remarked, and that is why she remembers “really being impressed with the words of the Founding Fathers, in particular Thomas Jefferson, who was just so enlightened and so brave and so incredible at that time and still holds up” today.

Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on July 4, 2010. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016.  I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

Briefing with Congressman Tom Garrett and Afghan and Czech Ambassadors

Fifth District Congressman Tom Garrett on Friday hosted several diplomats on a tour of Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello. After the tour, he and two of them – Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib from Afghanistan and Ambassador Hynek Kmonícek from the Czech Republic – answered questions from the local Charlottesville news media.

Garrett explained that even though, as a slaveholder, Thomas Jefferson was a flawed individual, the Declaration of Independence that he drafted was a “brilliant” document that led to freedom not only in the United States but around the world. Both Ambassador Mohib and Ambassador Kmonícek acknowledged that they learned things about U.S. history and Jefferson himself by taking the tour of Monticello, and that there are lessons they could convey to their compatriots back home.

(Ambassador Kmonícek joked that, where he comes from, a 200-year-old house is considered new.)

You can see the entire press conference here:

Congressman Garrett also answered questions about current domestic policy. Tyler Hawn of the Charlottesville Newsplex asked him about the budget bill that was passed late in the night and signed Friday morning by President Trump, and whether the process was frustrating. Garrett replied (starting at the 9:28 minute mark in the video):

It’s ironic that we stand at the home of Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration of Independence, which was signed by people who knew when they put their name on that paper that if they were captured they would be killed. We’ve devolved into a political class with the inability to say “no.”

I voted against the National Defense Authorization Act even though people would describe me as a hawk, because thirty-plus years ago department of defense agreed with other federal agencies to be audited – it’s never been audited.

To continue to spend and spend and spend is a symptom of a political class without the courage to do what they think is right when it’s too difficult and standing for reelection having done what you said, even when it was difficult or uncomfortable, is the hallmark of who we are supposed to be as a people.

I voted against that. I think President Trump was wrong to capitulate on heightened spending. He can spin it however he likes. We need to draw lines and assure that taxpayer dollars are being spent efficiently and on the core functions of government. We’re not doing that. It wasn’t OK when President Obama spent profligately. It’s not OK when President Trump does it. So, yes, I’m frustrated.

Garrett also answered a question (about 10:40 in the video) about pending immigration legislation and how it will affect participants in DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).

That’s going to start in the Senate, for sure, because that’s the chamber where I think they can get something out. I’ve spoken with dozens of DACA recipients – dozens may be low – they can prove it because they’ve filmed me. I’d love to have a solution for DACA. I don’t think deferred action is the proper long-term solution but I’m not going to vote for anything until we secure our southern border.

To do the same thing again and again and expect a different result is the definition of insanity. And I’ve said this to these people with whom I’ve spoken: I think border security should be this AND that, not a this THEN that. We tried this in ’86 with a this-then-that and it failed. And I haven’t had any of the people with whom I’ve spoken who are DACA recipients have a problem with that.

So, I think if we set aside some of the hyperbolic rhetoric that we can get something done but right now people need to step back from the rhetorical edge, acknowledge the existential reality to the young people who are DACA recipients, and also acknowledge that it makes no sense not to take action to secure our southern border.

There are plenty of other gems in the conversation, from both the ambassadors and from Congressman Garrett, who said he would like to do more programs like this, perhaps three or four times each year, bringing ambassadors from Washington to Charlottesville to visit both the University of Virginia and Monticello.

In addition to Tyler Hawn of the Newsplex, Pete DeLuca of NBC29 covered the press event in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith Gallery at Monticello's David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center.

This article was previously published, in slightly different form, on Bearing Drift.

From the Archives: Gary Johnson reflects on his first visit to Jefferson's Monticello

Publisher's note: This article was originally published on Examiner.com on May 5, 2010. The Examiner.com publishing platform was discontinued July 1, 2016, and its web site went dark on or about July 10, 2016.  I am republishing this piece in an effort to preserve it and all my other contributions to Examiner.com since April 6, 2010. It is reposted here without most of the internal links that were in the original.

Examiner.com exclusive: Gary Johnson reflects on his first visit to Jefferson's Monticello

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson visited Charlottesville on Monday, May 3, to give a speech sponsored by the two local Republican unit committees and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia.

Johnson, a two-term Republican who served from 1995 to 2003, is now honorary chairman of OUR America Initiative, a public-policy advocacy group. Prior to becoming governor, he was a successful entrepreneur who took a one-person handyman operation and turned it into a 1,000-employee contracting and construction company by the time he sold it.

The former governor took advantage of his time in Charlottesville, appearing by telephone on the Joe Thomas morning drive-time radio show on WCHV and on Rob Schilling’s mid-afternoon radio program on WINA-AM.

He also strolled along Charlottesville’s downtown mall, where he wrote a message about “freedom” and “liberty” on the First Amendment Monument near City Hall, and he made his first visit to Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello.

The Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner asked Governor Johnson to reflect on his tour of Monticello.

Jefferson the Architect
The word he repeated in his answer was “fascinating” in reaction to the many elements of Jefferson’s home.

“I found it fascinating,” Johnson said about Jefferson’s design, “and I found it fascinating to see the quirks, if you will, in how it was built and all the fascinating elements”: the wind-direction indicator above the front porch, for instance, and the two-faced clock that Jefferson built for his entryway, a clock that tells just the hours on the outside but minutes, hours, and days of the week on the inside.

“What I found most interesting,” Johnson said, was that Jefferson was a self-taught architect “and that he built this home and that he took 40 years to do that.”

“That’s my background,” he continued. “My background is building and just recently I took two and a half years of my own life to build the home that I’m now living in.”

Contrasting himself with Jefferson, the architect, Johnson added that he “was in the trades long enough to know that I wasn’t going to be a part of that architectural component other than just [giving] advice.”

Jefferson the Politician
Asked about his reflections on Jefferson the man, the politician, and the Founding Father, Johnson replied that he learned on the tour that “having given 50 years of his life in public service, he enjoyed his time here [at Monticello] more than any of that. Yet he did give of himself and I, just in my own small way, felt like I could relate to that also.”

MacArthur Genius Grant Winner Annette Gordon-Reed Speaks at Monticello

Word comes from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that one of the recipients of this year's so-called "genius grants" -- a $500,000, no-strings-attached fellowship -- is historian Annette Gordon-Reed, whose Pulitzer Prizing-winning book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, also earned the National Book Award in 2008. Gordon-Reed is also author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, published in 1998.

Days before she received the Pulitzer Prize for history, I captured Gordon-Reed on video as she delivered remarks at the grand opening ceremony of the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center and Smith Education Center at Monticello. In this video clip, she is introduced by Leslie Greene Bowman, president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

The ceremony took place on April 15, 2009, two days after Thomas Jefferson's birthday and, perhaps coincidentally, the same date as the first boisterous exercise in democracy known as the Tea Party at the Charlottesville Pavilion.

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Madeleine Albright and Craig Ferguson on Citizenship

On tonight's edition of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS-TV, the lead guest was former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

The interview touched several issues, including the potential of Texas secession, Albright's collection of brooches and pins (including a "snake pin" she wore at the United Nations to goad Saddam Hussein), the Secretary's new book (Memo to the President Elect), and one thing that both host and guest have in common:

Both Madeleine Albright (born in what was then Czechoslovakia) and Craig Ferguson (born in Scotland) are naturalized American citizens -- that is, they are Americans by choice (and working to achieve it) rather than by birth.

In the course of their conversation, Dr. Albright mentioned that, on July 4, 2000, she visited Monticello and participated in the annual citizenship ceremonies there. She said that, as she handed out the certificates of citizenship to each of the new Americans, she told them, "Treasure this paper. It's the most important piece of paper you will ever have."

I reported on Albright's visit to Monticello for The Metro Herald, as I have reported on subsequent Independence Day naturalization ceremonies.

Let me make a suggestion to the folks up on Mr. Jefferson's little mountain: Craig Ferguson would be an excellent candidate to speak at the annual July 4th event. He's earned it. He'd also be entertaining, and I'm sure his remarks would be both intelligent and witty.

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The Speaker's House Has a Blog

Those of us who live in Virginia are downright spoiled by the presence of historic homes. Just within a few-mile radius of Charlottesville, we have Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson), Montpelier (home of James Madison), and Ash Lawn-Highland (home of James Monroe). There are also Mount Vernon (home of George Washington) and Gunston Hall (home of George Mason) in Northern Virginia, the John Marshall House and the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, John Tyler's plantation house (Sherwood Forest in Charles City County), Stratford Hall (birthplace of Robert E. Lee), and many more.

Up in Trappe, Pennsylvania (I'm sure you've never heard of it) is a home belonging to the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, Frederick Muhlenberg. Long in disrepair, the Speaker's House, as it has come to be known, has recently been rescued by a non-profit group and will soon be open to the public for tours just like our stately homes in Virginia.

I visited the Speaker's House in 2006, I photoblogged about it a while back.

Now it turns out that the historians working on the Speaker's House have started a blog of their own, which you can find here. It looks like the blog will be used to alert people to activities and events attached to the Speaker's House:

This blog will post updates on the renovation done to the House, any new artifacts or historical records discovered in connection with the House, interesting historical facts and anecdotes about the House and its inhabitants, and best of all, your story.

Don’t forget to come to our Bar-b-que and Open House Fundraiser on July 26, 2008, 11:30 AM – 7:00 PM. Check out our announcement on our Home Page!

The blog is an effort, in addition to the Speaker's House web site, to bring the Frederick Muhlenberg House (and Muhlenberg himself) to the attention of the history-hungry public.

Although Muhlenberg may seem obscure when compared to such giants as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, or Alexander Hamilton, he played an important role in the founding of this country and its constitutional order: In addition to being the Speaker of the House in the First Congress, Muhlenberg was a member of the Continental Congress, a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, and the first signer of what we know as the Bill of Rights.

Liveblogging President Bush at Monticello

From the air-conditioned comfort of my living room, I am watching this year's naturalization ceremony at Monticello, with featured guest speaker George W. Bush. Channel 29 (WVIR-TV) is covering the event live, with Crystal Cameron on the scene and the Charlottesville Municipal Band playing in the background.

Seventy-six immigrants are being sworn in as American citizens today.

Black-robed members of the judiciary are taking their seats on the platform on the west front of the house at Monticello. Governor Tim Kaine is in attendance, as well as First Lady Ann Holton.

The band is playing Ruffles and Flourishes, and "Hail to the Chief." The President is introduced.

Dan Jordan takes the podium. "What a magnificent day, and let's give a hand to the Charlottesville Municipal Band." He welcomes everyone on behalf of his wife and the trustees of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation. He notes that we are celebrating what Mr. Jefferson "that great charter of independence... an everlasting and universal expression of self-evident truths."

Jordan says we "honor the men and women who wear our country's uniform whose sacrifices make it possible for us to be here today," and he singles out a gentleman on the platform. He thanks the President and Governor for being here. (Jordan does not mention that this will be his last time presiding over this annual event, as he has announced his retirement.)

Jordan presents Judge John Charles Thomas to read the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. (See last year's video post to hear what he says.)

The platform looks a bit more formidable than in years past. A black ruffle surrounds the stage, about waist-high.

Alice Handy takes the microphone to quote Jefferson, a few days before his death. She mentions the three previous presidents who joined us at Monticello to celebrate Independence Day: Roosevelt, Truman, and Ford. "Today that number becomes four, with George W. Bush." She introduces the President, who is cheered and applauded.

The president takes the microphone. "I am thrilled to be in Monticello."

Protesters erupt in heckles. Bush says, "We believe in free speech in the United States of America."

"This is a fitting place to celebrate the Fourth of July. Thomas Jefferson said he would rather celebrate the Fourth of July than his own birthday. For me it's easy: the Fourth of July weekend is my birthday weekend."

Bush addresses the new citizens-to-be.

More protests erupt in the background. Bush mentions the governor, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, and other distinguished guests.

More protesters in the background. Also applause.

Bush thanks the Thomas Jefferson Foundation for "preserving this treasure," Monticello, which he calls "the first western White House."

He mentions how "late in life, he founded a public university that has become one of the nation's finest, the University of Virginia." Applause.

"It seems," he says, that Thomas Jefferson "got away with delivering only two public speeches during his presidency. I am sure there are people who wish that were the case today." Applause, then more hecklers shouting in the background.

Bush moves beyond the quips to the substance of his speech. Text will no doubt be posted to whitehouse.gov later today.

Bush says that on this occasion, "we pay tribute to the brave men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America." Great applause, standing ovation (even from the judges, who should know better).

Loud hecklers in the background. Apparently David Swanson did a good job in organizing.

"This love of liberty is what binds our nation together," says Bush.

Bush mentions a Burmese immigrant who lives in Charlottesville. "The desire for freedom burns inside every man, woman, and child."

"I wish you all a happy Fourth of July. Thanks for inviting me.... May God continue to bless the United States of America." Speech ends. It was short; shorter than 15 minutes.

The Clerk of the Court opens the session. Judge James B. Jones is presiding and takes the microphone. It looks like J. Harvie Wilkinson is sitting to his right and behind the podium.

The names of the new citizens are read out. The immigrants walk up to the platform as their names are read. You have to give the clerk credit for pronouncing all those names in unusual languages.

The list of names is long.

Judge Jones administers the oath of citizenship, which is much wordier than the oath of office taken by the President on Inauguration Day. (Perhaps ironically, because the President is required to be native-born, he never has to take the oath of citizenship.)

Judge Jones declares the immigrants to be "citizens of the United States of America." Lengthy applause from the crowd. He invites the President to assist him in welcoming the new citizens.

Each new citizen walks across the stage to shake the President's hand and receive the certificate of citizenship. The Charlottesville Municipal Band begins to play a medley of Irving Berlin songs, starting with "This Is the Army."

The president poses for photos with some of the new Americans.

Shane Edinger and Steve Rappaport of Channel 29 provide color commentary from the studio. It reminds me of coverage of the Tournament of Roses Parade.

President Bush looks like he's really in his element. There's no doubt that he enjoys meeting and chatting with each of these new citizens. He's all smiles, standing tall, shoulders broad. For their part, the new citizens are beaming.

Edinger notes that the President flew in on Marine One today, landed at Monticello High School and then took a motorcade to Monticello from there.

Steve Rappaport mentions that Channel 29 meteorologist Clayton Stiver is a member of the Charlottesville Municipal Band.

The presentation of certificates ends. Judge Jones says "ladies and gentlemen, we can now truly address you as 'our fellow citizens.'"

Jones mentions the other judges on the platform: Wilkinson, Judge Allison Duncan from Raleigh, Judge Sam Wilson from Western District in Roanoke, Judge Norman Moon from Lynchburg, Judge Glen Conrad, Judge Jim Turk from Radford, Judge Dan P. Jordan III of the Southern District of Mississippi in Jackson. "He is the son of our beloved Dan Jordan." Judge Crigler of Charlottesville, Judge William Webb from the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Judge Jones asks Judge Wilkinson to say a few words.

Wilkinson: "I want to welcome our new citizens. I feel like giving each and every one of you a big bear hug... We couldn't be happier to see you.

"It's such a pleasure to see the president on this Independence Day. He and I were at college together and I can tell you that he was widely liked and widely admired.

"This is Dan Jordan's last naturalization ceremony as president of Monticello, and that hardly seems possible. He's been here for 25 years and he has enhanced Thomas Jefferson's legacy in the most magnificent way. He's faced some difficult and delicate controversies and he's met them with a healing and inclusive spirit....

"This is a day of family pride...

"Do you know what my favorite part of the Fourth of July is? Do you think it's the fireworks, perhaps? I love fireworks.... But as much as I love fireworks, that's not my favorite part of the Fourth of July.

"Do you think my favorite part of the Fourth of July is the Charlottesville Municipal Band?...

"I love to see the Pledge of Allegiance ... I particularly admire the Boy Scouts because I wanted to be an Eagle Scout, but I stopped at being a Tenderfoot. I couldn't tie the knots....

"The favorite part of my day is the chance to hear from you, the new citizens, because of everything you did and went through to get here. Think of all those documents you had to fill out. We had an expression in the Army called 'hurry up and wait.'...

"The wait is over now, and here you are. I want to express my appreciation to the senior citizens among you, who have waited all their lives for this day, and for those young folks....

"It's a two-way street. It's not about us telling you what America means to you. It's about America in your own words. So if some of you would ... tell us what it means to you to be here today, to say a few words about America from your heart. You might think, 'well, the President's here, I might be embarrassed'... but don't be embarrassed. If you speak from your heart, you'll do just fine.

"Congratulations to each and every one of you."

Judge Jones notes that it has been the tradition to ask the new citizens to say a few words, and invites them to come to the microphone.

Mary McFadyen (sp?) came to the United States from Scotland over 30 years ago. She is the first to take the microphone. She thanks her friends and neighbors from Herndon, Virginia. She thanks the President for giving her the inspiration to complete the naturalization process.

A man takes the microphone and says, "I am proud to be an American."

Zenia Diaz (sp?) from El Salvador says "I came here when I was ten years old, I have lived here half my life.... I am very happy and I am speechless."

A man with an unspellable name from India says "It is a great opportunity to be an American."

Another former Indian citizen says he came here to seek "a better life for my family." "Some people don't like the freedom that we live," he adds, and thanks the President.

A woman says she has lived here for about 11 years. "What I am asking, Mr. President, I need Iraq to come back to peace with God's help."

A man from Burma who has been here about six years says "I am very proud to be a U.S. citizen. Thank you."

Jason Kim says he has spent half of his life in Korea and half of it here. "The reason I am proud to be an American now is that the United States is a country where God brought people of different races ... religions ... together."

Judge Jones says "Those remarks mean a great deal to all of us."

Judge Jones says that Mr. Carl Proffitt will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Proffitt landed in the first wave on D-Day in 1944.

The Clerk declares the Court "stands adjourned."

Dan Jordan returns to the podium. He congratulates the new citizens and their families. He thanks the President for his presence and his remarks. The President waves to the crowd, acknowledging their applause. Jordan thanks Judge Wilkinson.

The National Anthem is played by John D'earth. The crowd stands and is invited to sing along. (It's hard to hear if any of them do. The solo trumpet predominates. The crowd makes the right choice in listening rather than singing.)

Jordan says the program is ended but asks everyone to remain in place. The president exits through the house and says "congratulations."

Edinger and Rappaport come back to give their voice-over. The camera returns to the studio.

Crystal Cameron is back. "Quite a morning, indeed, Steve," she says. "This is truly what America is all about.... Hopes, dreams, and opportunities they could never even imagine in their homelands.... Quite an awe-inspiring morning... Overall the event was pretty peaceful."

Cameron says the president spoke for about five minutes and he was interrupted by protesters. "In classic George W. Bush style, he took it in and he smirked and said free speech is what it's all about," says Cameron.

The departing crowd closes in on Cameron and begins to interview individuals. One says: "People who stayed away missed a great day."

Someone says "it was the wrong place and the wrong day for protesters."

That's it for liveblogging. The whole thing took about an hour and ten minutes. Now it's time to enjoy the rest of the day.

Happy Independence Day, readers!

Update: The MSM is now reporting on the event. The Washington Post has an AP story on line here. NBC 29 has a text report here. WCAV-TV (another local Charlottesville station) has its report here. Business Wire has a transcript of the President's remarks.

Remembrances of Independence Days Past - Part I

Today (July 4, 2008) will see President George W. Bush speaking at Monticello's Independence Day celebration. He is the fourth sitting president to do so, following Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, Harry S Truman in 1947, and Gerald R. Ford in the Bicentennial Year of 1976.

Eight years ago, the principal speaker at the ceremony was, like Monticello's builder and first owner, a U.S. Secretary of State. At the swearing in of some six dozen new American citizens, Dr. Madeleine Albright spoke about her own experience as an immigrant to the United States and of the contributions foreign-born Americans have made to our culture and our communities.

I covered the event that year for the Metro Herald in Alexandria. It was my first time visiting Monticello on the Fourth of July and certainly not my last. (Last year I used the new citizen-journalist tool, YouTube, to post video of the event.)

This article appeared in the Metro Herald on July 7, 2000:

ON THE MOUNTAINTOP: A CELEBRATION OF CITIZENSHIP AND FREEDOM
Rick Sincere
Metro Herald Charlottesville Bureau Chief

Atop the “little mountain” he called by its Italian name, Monticello, Thomas Jefferson reflected on life and liberty, wrote thousands of letters, and received many visitors from Virginia and elsewhere.

As the epitaph on his gravestone, Mr. Jefferson chose to be remembered for only three things: that he was the father of the University of Virginia, the author of Virginia’s statute on religious liberty, and the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Mr. Jefferson died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, just after noon in the bedroom that was the center of his life in the home he built at Monticello.

Every year since 1963, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation – which owns and runs Monticello as a monument to the third president – has sponsored a ceremony on the anniversary of American independence and Mr. Jefferson’s death at which immigrants to the United States take the oath of citizenship, forsaking their foreign allegiances to become true Americans.

On July 4, 2000, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was the keynote speaker at a ceremony on the West Lawn of Monticello. Nearly 80 adults from 27 foreign countries took the oath of citizenship, and nine children adopted into American families were given certificates of citizenship.

Secretary Albright, herself an immigrant (from Czechoslovakia) and a naturalized American citizen, welcomed her new compatriots in a brief but impassioned speech.

Speaking of her own arrival in New York Harbor at the age of 11, a refugee from Communist tyranny after previously fleeing Nazi occupation, Albright remembered her doubts and worries. But, she said, “I should not have been worried. At its best, America’s embrace is as vast as this continent is broad. We [her family] were welcomed, given refuge, and provided the chance to make new friends and build new lives in freedom.”

Addressing the concerns of those who fear the aliens among us, Albright reminded us that America is richer for its immigrants. Today, she said, “we see the contributions of immigrants everywhere in the vitality of our neighborhoods, the health of our economy, the strength of our democracy, and the enduring miracle of our unity.”

Gently scolding those xenophobes who would have prevented her and such eminences as Albert Einstein, Mother Frances Cabrini, and Andrew Grove from coming to America and helping to make it great, Albright noted: “There are some who resent all this and think that the day after they entered is the day the door to America should have swung shut. Let us pray that day never comes. For our nation needs the continued refreshment of new sources of energy and strength.”

It would have been impolite to fail to make note of the day’s host, Mr. Jefferson. So Secretary Albright paid tribute to him by saying that “the mind that conceived Monticello’s original design also helped to conceive an approach to government that had never truly been tried before. It was based on a conception of the individual not as a mere subject to the throne, but as a citizen with responsibilities and rights, and tracing all the powers of government back to the will and consent of the people.”

Those principles, Albright added, “fueled a revolution and launched America on its journey from wilderness to greatness – with important milestones of slavery’s abolition and the full enfranchisement of women and minorities along the way.”

Not content to make a speech and then return to her duties in Washington, Secretary Albright stood alongside the new Americans as they were sworn in by Samuel G. Wilson, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. She took the oath of citizenship with them and then greeted each one of them individually, shaking their hands and presenting them with the certificates proving their new nationality.

Also speaking at the ceremony were former Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas, who read the stirring opening section of Mr. Jefferson’s Declaration (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…”), and James H. Michael, Jr., the senior U.S. District Judge, who tried to explain, in a few words, how the day’s ceremony was not the end of a journey for the new citizens, but a beginning. Opening remarks were provided by Daniel P. Jordan, president of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, and the Foundation’s chairman, Benton S. Halsey. The ceremony closed with the Pledge of Allegiance led by local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and the assembly sang the National Anthem, accompanied by the Charlottesville Municipal Band.

All photos by Rick Sincere.

(Special thanks to the Metro Herald's Greg Roscoe for digging up this piece from the newspaper's dusty archives.)

Lamentation for Independence Day

The editorial board of the Jewish Daily Forward gets it exactly right in the June 26 issue, written in anticipation of Independence Day one week from now. Under the headline, "The Gift of Freedom," the Forward says:

Most of us seldom give much thought to the Fourth of July. It’s one of the most important holidays on our national calendar, one of the very few that is observed simultaneously by all Americans without regard to faith, origin or regional whim. It is, some say, the only holiday specifically dedicated to celebrating this nation. For all that, we mostly celebrate with barbecues or trips to the beach. If we seek some holiday spirit, we might watch a parade or catch some fireworks. A few of us might even get to thinking — some joyfully, others with mixed feelings — about patriotism, the flag or our soldiers overseas.

Ever since I moved to Charlottesville (with, I think, one exception), I have spent the morning of the Fourth of July on top of Mr. Jefferson's Little Mountain to celebrate Independence Day with new citizens as they take their oath of naturalization at the able hands of judges from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Over the years the speakers have included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (in 2000; photo at left), author Frank McCourt, newspaper publisher Al Neuharth, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and actor Sam Waterston (in 2007, photo below) (I've been hoping that late-night talk show host Craig Ferguson will be invited soon; he became an American citizen in February and talked about the process on his show -- his pride in being an AmCit is palpable.)

I've been lucky in that some years I've gone as "press" (even before I was blogging) and usually had a great seat in the media corral. Consequently, I've got some terrific pictures and (last year, for the first time) video. In addition, Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville take turns, year by year, in setting up a voter registration table to grab the new citizens before it's too late.

I won't be going up the mountain this year, however, because although it was earlier announced that the speaker would be documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, today the word went out that Burns has been bumped by Bush -- President George W. Bush, that is.

It's not that I have any objection in principle to the president speaking. Under other circumstances, it could be interesting. But his presence is going to cause inconvenience of major proportions. What has been a rather informal, local event -- the Charlottesville Municipal Band plays patriotic tunes, local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts lead the Pledge of Allegiance -- will be turned into a circus.

Normally, anyone can attend the naturalization ceremony. It requires no ticket, no entry fee. People are free to wander the grounds. (The ceremony ends just before noon, so that those who wish to do so can walk down to Mr. Jefferson's gravesite to observe a family service commemorating the anniversary of his death.)

None of that will be true this year. Security will be at a premium. People will be searched, prodded, and scrutinized for their political opinions. It won't be fun, entertaining, or informative -- just a hassle.

It's not just the metal detectors and body cavity searches that concern me. When President Bush comes to a public event, those who disagree with him are discouraged from attending -- sometimes even prevented from attending by force. What will happen if someone shows up with t-shirts indicating support for Barack Obama or Ron Paul? Or t-shirts with slogans like "The Constitution Means What It Says," "Stop the War!," or "What Part of 'Limited Government' Don't You Understand?"? (Placards and signs of any sort will, of course, be forbidden, though t-shirts can be hidden under other garments and displayed at the right moment.) Will Albemarle County police be on hand to arrest people for exercising their First Amendment rights?

This won't be the first time a sitting U.S. President has spoken at Monticello on July 4th. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford was the featured speaker. Unlike our current president, Ford was modest in his approach to the office. (Churchill might have said he "has a lot to be modest about," but he would have been incorrect.)

Ford inherited the White House from another president who, like Bush, failed to understand that the Constitution provides for three co-equal branches of government. Like Bush, Richard Nixon tried to expand the powers of the presidency with utter disregard for Congress and the Courts. Like Bush, Nixon was paranoid and rigid, with little understanding for free markets or individual liberty. Nixon famously compiled an "enemies list" of those who disagreed with him on policy issues.

Ford, in contrast, understood that Congress and the Courts also had a role to play in the making of public policy. He rejected the "imperial presidency" model, although his chief of staff (later vice president) Dick Cheney took away from the Ford White House a festering theory of the "unified presidency," which manifests itself in such things as "signing statements" in which the President, rather than vetoing a bill as provided by the Constitution, signs it but explains what parts he feels the Executive Branch can disobey. (Ford vetoed more bills in a month than Bush has vetoed in the entire eight years of his presidency.)

One of the traditions at the Monticello Independence Day celebration is for the Clerk of the Circuit Court to read the preamble to the Declaration of Independence (the part that begins, "When in the course of human events ...")

Wouldn't it be delicious if this year, in addition to the preamble, he could also read the bill of indictment that makes up the core of the Declaration? For those unfamiliar with it, here are a few lines of reminder:

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good...

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only...

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:...

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:...

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:...

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation...

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people....

While I would love to see the expression on George Bush's face as that text is being read out, I still prefer to spend my Fourth of July without being wanded by a security guard. So I expect I'll be as far from Monticello this year as possible. I may even head up to D.C. for the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival and the fireworks on the National Mall.

Leave it to this White House to ruin the Fourth of July.

Update, Monday, June 30: Monticello has announced that there will be a limited number of tickets available to the ceremony on July 4. Only one thousand free tickets will be distributed beginning at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 2. I wonder whether the friends and family members of the new citizens will be required to get those tickets, or if they have another means to attend the ceremony.

July 4th Report from Monticello

Today, being the Fourth of July, was marked at the home of Thomas Jefferson with Monticello's 45th annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony. Some 75 new American citizens, who came here from around the world, took the oath of citizenship from Judge James P. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

It is customary for Monticello to host a distinguished speaker at these events. Previous speakers have included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, author Frank McCourt, publisher Al Neuharth, and artists Christo and Jean-Claude. This year's speaker was an assistant district attorney from New York City -- or, more accurately, the actor who plays that attorney on TV, Oscar- and Emmy-nominee Sam Waterston, whose Scottish-born father was an immigrant to the United States.

I have pieced together some video excerpts from today's festivities. I reserve the right to replace these videos when I have a chance to do a better editing job.

In this 10-minute clip, the Charlottesville Municipal Band plays a march, John Charles Thomas reads the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, and Sam Waterston delivers some pointed remarks. (I have reduced Waterston's 22-minute speech to about 7 minutes. The full address may become available at the Monticello web site.)

The oath of citizenship was administered by Judge James P. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Certificates of citizenship were presented and new citizens were congratulated personally by Judge Jones and Mr. Waterston.

After all the new citizens had collected their naturalization certificates, Judge Jones opened the floor to comments. Two newly naturalized Americans rose to the occasion. Here is one of them, Ehonam Miheaye Agbati, an emigrant from Togo.

To close the ceremony, former Charlottesville Mayor Francis Fife, a veteran of World War II, led the new citizens and other Americans in the Pledge of Allegiance. A color guard from the Junior Air Force ROTC unit at Monticello High School in Albemarle County presented the U.S. and Virginia flags.

Happy Independence Day!

Mr. President

Congratulations and best wishes to President Gerald R. Ford, who today becomes the longest-lived former American president, surpassing the lifespans of Ronald Reagan, John Adams, and Herbert Hoover. He is now 93 years, three months, and 29 days old.

In an editorial-page tribute, the Columbian newspaper of Clark County, Washington, states that the American people have fond memories of Ford, who took office during the dark days of Watergate, adding

when it comes to presidents who had just the right temperament, personality and empathy for the collective mindset of Americans at a crucial moment in history, Gerald Ford was one of the very best.

Ford's current hometown newspaper, The Desert Sun of Palm Springs, California, offers these memories:

In Washington, he's remembered as the great healer, the president confronted with the Herculean task of rebuilding trust in the White House on the heels of Watergate and Richard Nixon's resignation.

In Michigan, they recall the former Big 10 star who spurned a professional football career after graduation from the University of Michigan for a life in public service.

And in the Coachella Valley, he and his wife, Betty, are our neighbors in the desert, a former president and first lady who have contributed richly to the area's civic and social scenes.

As I have written before, Ford -- though much maligned and remembered perhaps too much for physical stumbles and not enough for principle and conviction -- represents an authentic conservative tradition of limited government, a "leave us alone" philosophy in tune with Barry Goldwater's and Ronald Reagan's and in contrast to the Republicans who just got "thumped" in the mid-term elections.

One of Ford's favorite maxims was this: "If the government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take away everything you have."

Despite an undeserved reputation as an amiable if dull thinker, Ford actually had a consistent and well-considered political philosophy, as well as a deep understanding of the meaning of the American experiment. This latter vision was perhaps best expressed in his remarks at Monticello on July 4, 1976, on the dual occasion of the Bicentennial of the United States of America and the annual naturalization ceremony for new citizens held on the lawn of Mr. Jefferson's house.

Addressing the dignitaries present -- Virginia Governor Mills Godwin, Senator Harry F. Byrd, Justice Lewis Powell, and others -- but aiming his words more directly at the new Americans, Ford said:

After two centuries there is still something wonderful about being an American. If we cannot quite express it, we know what it is. You know what it is, or you would not be here today. Why not just call it patriotism?

Thomas Jefferson was a Virginia planter, a politician, a philosopher, a practical problemsolver, a Palladian architect, a poet in prose. With such genius he became a burgess, a delegate, a Governor, an ambassador, a Secretary of State, a Vice President, and President of the United States. But he was first a patriot.

The American patriots of 1776 who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to declare and defend our independence did more than dissolve their ties with another country to protest against abuses of their liberties. Jefferson and his colleagues very deliberately and very daringly set out to construct a new kind of nation. "Men may be trusted," he said, "to govern themselves without a master." This was the most revolutionary idea in the world at that time. It remains the most revolutionary idea in the world today.

Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison and all patriots who laid the foundation for freedom in our Declaration and our Constitution carefully studied both contemporary and classic models of government to adapt them to the American climate and our circumstances. Just as Jefferson did in designing Monticello, they wanted to build in this beautiful land a home for equal freedom and opportunity, a haven of safety and happiness, not for themselves alone, but for all who would come to us through centuries.

I have attended several of the naturalization ceremonies at Monticello, and unfortunately on too many occasions, the celebrity speakers seem to offer little more than platitudes. There's nothing wrong with that -- the ceremonies tend to take place under the hot sun in the heavy humidity of Charlottesville's summers, and so keeping it light may be the polite thing to do -- but one wants to have a bit more to sink one's teeth into. Ford gave his audience something to think about.

Perhaps unconsciously, Ford used quite libertarian language to describe the benefits of living in a society made up of immigrants and the sons and daughters of immigrants. In terms that, say, Tyler Cowen might use, Ford continued his address:

To be an American is to subscribe to those principles which the Declaration of Independence proclaims and the Constitution protects -- the political values of self-government, liberty and justice, equal rights, and equal opportunity. These beliefs are the secrets of America's unity from diversity -- in my judgment the most magnificent achievement of our 200 years as a nation.

"Black is beautiful" was a motto of genius which uplifted us far above its intention. Once Americans had thought about it and perceived its truth, we began to realize that so are brown, white, red, and yellow beautiful. When I was young, a Sunday school teacher told us that the beauty of Joseph's coat was its many colors. I believe Americans are beautiful -- individually, in communities, and freely joined together by dedication to the United States of America.

I see a growing danger in this country to conformity of thought and taste and behavior. We need more encouragement and protection for individuality. The wealth we have of culture, ethnic and religious and racial traditions are valuable counterbalances to the overpowering sameness and subordination of totalitarian societies. The sense of belonging to any group that stands for something decent and noble, so long as it does not confine free spirits or cultivate hostility to others, is part of the pride every American should have in the heritage of the past. That heritage is rooted now, not in England alone -- as indebted as we are for the Magna Carta and the common law -- not in Europe alone, or in Africa alone, or Asia, or on the islands of the sea. The American adventure draws from the best of all of mankind's long sojourn here on Earth and now reaches out into the solar system. [Emphasis added]

Ford concluded his remarks on that historic occasion with a reminder about our responsibility to the past and the future:

Remember that none of us are more than caretakers of this great country. Remember that the more freedom you give to others, the more you will have for yourself. Remember that without law there can be no liberty. And remember, as well, the rich treasures you brought from whence you came, and let us share your pride in them. This is the way that we keep our independence as exciting as the day it was declared and keep the United States of America even more beautiful than Joseph's coat.

Historians are rightfully reconsidering the presidency of Gerald R. Ford and finding it better than it may have fared in the assessments of 30 years ago. If this be revisionism, let's have more of it.