#NeverTrumpNeverKasich #NotInMYNameWelcome back to another installment of the Watercooler, RedState’s daily Open Thread! Today, we’ve got…

A Special Shoutout

This columnist would like to congratulate composer John Williams on the American Film Institute granting him a Lifetime Achievement Award, a long overdue recognition for The Man Who Made The Music That Made The Movies. Jaws wouldn’t have been Jaws without the lurking bass-line, Indiana Jones wouldn’t be larger than life without his signature theme, Darth Vader wouldn’t be so majestically menacing if he didn’t have The Imperial March behind him and even the tyrannosaurs of the Jurassic franchise wouldn’t be quite the towering terrors that stomped their way into blockbuster-dom without just the right notes at just the right time. Well done, sir!

This Week In History

• Sunday, June 5: Uncle Tom’s Cabin starts serial run, 1851; Orient Express first run, 1883; FDR kills gold standard, 1933; Marshall Plan announced, 1947
• Monday, June 6: Memphis falls, 1862; Great Seattle Fire, 1889; D-Day, 1944; NBA established, 1946; Tetris released, 1984
• Tuesday, June 7: Lee Resolution presented to Continental Congress, 1776; Lyons-Seward treaty establishes Anglo-American joint effort to suppress trans-Atlantic slave trade, 1862
• Wednesday, June 8: Madison issues first twelve proposed Constitutional Amendments, 1789*; Orwell’s 1984 published, 1949; USS Liberty incident, 1967
• Thursday, June 9: Donald Duck debuts, 1934; USS George Washington, first nuclear ballistic missile sub, launched, 1959; Secretariat takes Triple Crown, 1973
• Friday, June 10: First class at US Naval Academy graduates, 1854; Marines land in Cuba, 1898; St. Louis’s Gateway Arch opens, 1967; Apple II computer first sold, 1977
• Saturday, June 11: Sir Barton first horse to take Triple Crown, 1919; “Smoke-Filled Room” coined describing that year’s RNC in Chicago, 1920; Jurassic Park begins stomping into box-office records, 1993

*The first ten ratified are the Bill of Rights, his Article 2 became the 27th Amendment in 1992 and Article 1, the Congressional Apportionment Amendment, languishes awaiting ratification by 27 more states.

Today’s Birthdays: Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, 1867; First Ladies Ida McKinley and Barbara Bush, respectively 1847 and 1925; WWW creator Tim Berners-Lee, 1955; Dilbert creator Scott Adams, 1957

This Week In History is compiled with assistance from History.com and Wikipedia. Something interesting not listed here? Please share in the Comments section–this is an Audience Participation Encouraged featurette.

For The Gun Nuts Among Us

New month, new giveaway–this time Aero Precision’s giving away one in a finish they call “Jesse James Cold War Grey.” I like my rifles black, but when you’re getting it at just tax and transfer costs, it makes color less important… the build is a collaboration between Aero and Strike Industries. Check it out at http://gvwy.io/qsf9hcs –and for each of up to ten of you that enter, you’ll give us both a chance to win the beast. (Any additional entries y’all may give me are the only compensation I’m getting for this plug, and I’m trying to start keeping eyes out for other no-strings-attached Free Gun giveaways to bring you folks. Perhaps I should talk to them about a sponsorship… 🙂 ) Sorry, you’ll still have to buy your own red-dot, holosight or other optics–but when you’re getting the $1400 rifle to mount it on near-gratis, is $400-$500 for the optics really so big a deal for a well-equipped home-defender? Let’s show these guys what a little attention from RedState can do and maybe encourage ’em to consider buying some ads here… and even if I don’t win this one, I hope one of us does–maybe we can inspire them to consider a “RedState Special” for a future event.

If you’re of a more Do It Yourself bent, The Flat Spot has an interesting little lower for $28 made from sheet-metal that you weld or silver-solder together, or if you know your way around a mill there’s always this oldie-but-goodie that bolts together from the boys at DIY hotspot Weaponeer Forum. If there are any of us with welding, milling or other metalwork experience, it would be interesting to have your opinions on these–my “Holy Grail” of DIY would be a design so simple an untrained monkey could build it at a kitchen table with hand tools.

Quote of the Day

“I’m surprised Trump never mentioned that a French candidacy was doomed because only Americans can run.”–RedStater “bk,” on the aborted almost-run of David French

As always, the Watercooler is an Open Thread. Something on your mind? By all means, please share with the rest of the class–just play nice, and no dipping pigtails in the inkwells.

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