TRE45ON

August 27, 1776: British troops rout the Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island, making it very likely that America would lose its war for independence.

General George Washington does not meet with his opponent, General William Howe, on ground friendly to his opponent, to surrender, and does not tell the American people that the battle didn't happen, and that they are safe from further enemy attack.

August 24, 1814: British troops invade the national capital, Washington, D.C., and burn the U.S. Capitol and the White House, making it very likely that America would lose the War of 1812. President James Madison and his wife Dolley had already escaped.

Madison does not meet with his counterpart, Robert Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool and Prime Minister of Great Britain, on ground friendly to him, to surrender, and does not tell the American people that the attack didn't happen and that they are safe from further enemy attack.

April 12, 1861: The Provisional Forces of the Confederate States of America attack Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, beginning the American Civil War.

President Abraham Lincoln does not meet with his counterpart -- officially, he didn't have one, as Jefferson Davis didn't take office as the Confederate President for another 10 months -- on ground friendly to him, to surrender, and does not tell the American people that the attack didn't happen and that they are safe from further enemy attack.

December 7, 1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacks Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, bringing America into World War II. About 2,400 servicemen are killed, and 9 ships are sunk.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt does not meet with his counterpart, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, on ground friendly to him, to surrender, and does not tell the American people that the attack didn't happen and that they are safe from further enemy attack.

September 11, 2001: Agents of al-Qaeda hijack 4 American commercial airliners. Two of them are crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, destroying it. A third is crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, causing major damage. A fourth is retaken by the passengers long enough to crash it into an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, preventing it from hitting its target, whatever that was going to be. In total, about 3,000 people are killed.

President George W. Bush does not meet with his counterpart, General Emir Osama bin Laden, on ground friendly to him, to surrender, and does not tell the American people that the attack didn't happen and that they are safe from further enemy attack.

November 8, 2016: Donald Trump receives enough votes in the proper states to obtain election as the next President of the United States. It becomes known that this was achieved by, among other things, interference by agents of the Russian Federation. This was an attack on American sovereignty.

July 16, 2018: Trump meets with his counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, in Helsinki, Finland, on ground friendly to him, to surrender, and tells the American people that the attack didn't happen, and that they are safe from further enemy attack.

It is no longer enough to compare Trump's crimes, lies and failures to those of other Presidents. We're far beyond that stage.

It is time to say it: Donald Trump has repeatedly committed treason. Donald Trump is an active agent of the Russian Federation.

And he has the powers of the President of the United States.

It is time for 218 members of the U.S. House of Representatives to step forward, and vote to impeach him.

Once that is done, it will be time for 67 members of the U.S. Senate to step forward, and vote to remove him from office.

This will require said members to look at not just evidence, but proof, of Trump's treason.

In the case of each house of Congress, this will require some members of the Republican Party. They need to be reminded that -- assuming he is not also complicit in all this, and he might be -- they can get tax cuts, conservative federal judges, and attacks on the legal rights of women, nonwhites, non-Christians and gay people just as easily under Mike Pence, currently the Vice President.

Pence is unacceptable to me for many reasons. But, as far as I know, he is not guilty of treason.

Donald Trump is guilty of treason.

Or, as someone else put it: If we presume that Trump is not an active Russian asset, then we need to ask: Would he be acting any differently if he were?"

He would not.

Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.
-- Sir John Harington (1564-1612), English author and scientist

TRE45ON

Note: I did not think that one up. My hat is off to whoever did.

*

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 4, this Saturday night, home to the New England Revolution.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": See the previous answer. Their 1st game of the season against D.C. United, and their 1st game ever at the new Audi Field, will be on Wednesday night, July 25. Their next game against New York City FC will be on Wednesday, August 22, at Yankee Stadium II. Their next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Sunday, October 21, at Talen Energy Stadium.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 16, on Thursday, August 2, at Fenway Park.

Days until The Arsenal play again: 9, on Thursday, July 26, against Atlético Madrid in the International Champions Cup, a glorified friendly, at the National Stadium in Singapore.

Days until the 2018 trading deadline, after which we won't have to fear Yankee general manager Brian Cashman trading any proven good players for "prospects": 14, on Tuesday, July 31. Just 2 weeks.

Days until Arsenal play a competitive game with a manager other than Arsène Wenger: 25, in the 2018-19 Premier League season opener, on Saturday, August 11, home to defending Premier League Champions Manchester City. A little under 4 weeks.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 46, on Saturday, September 1, home to Texas State University. Under 7 weeks.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown. The 2018 schedule hasn't been released yet. But the season opener is usually on the 1st Friday in September. That would be September 7, which is 72 days from now.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 52, on Friday, September 7, a "friendly" against Brazil, at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 81, on Saturday, October 6, against the Edmonton Oilers, at... Scandinavium, an arena in Göteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden. Yes, that will be a regular-season game, part of the NHL Global Series. The Mulberry Street Marauders will warm up for it on October 1, with an exhibition game in Switzerland against SC Bern; while the Oilers will visit Kölner Haie in Cologne, Germany on October 3.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 95, on Saturday afternoon, October 20, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The 1st game against the New York Islanders, a.k.a. the Fish Sticks, will be on Saturday night, November 3, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The 1st game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Thursday night, January 31, 2019, at the Prudential Center.

Days until the next Congressional election, when we can elect a Democratic Congress that can impeach and remove Donald Trump from the Presidency: 112, on November 6. Exactly 16 weeks.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State game: 123, on Saturday, November 17, at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game: 128, on Thursday, November 22. A little over 4 months.

Days until the next North London Derby: 157, on Sunday, December 2, at the Emirates Stadium. It had been set for December 1, but was moved due to Arsenal once again being stuck playing Europa League games on Thursday nights. No more "Thursday is Spursday" jokes for us Gooners.

Days until a Democratic Congress can convene, and the impeachment process can begin: 170, on Thursday, January 3, 2019. A little under 6 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 190, on January 23, 2019. A little over 6 7 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 325, on June 7, 2019, in France. A little under 11 months. The U.S. team, as 3-time and defending Champions, has, as usual, a better chance than the men's team would have had in 2018 anyway.

Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 347, on June 29, 2019. A little under a year, or a little under 12 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 519, on December 18, 2019. A little under a year and a half, or a shade over 17 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 554, on January 22, 2020. A little over a year and a half, or a little over 18 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 738, on July 24, 2020. A shade over 2 years, or just over 24 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 840, on November 3, 2020. Under 2 1/2 years, or a little over 27 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 918, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 3 years, or a little over 30 monnths. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 1,298, on February 4, 2022. A little over 3 1/2 years, or a little over 42 months.

Days until the next World Cup for which the American team will be eligible is scheduled to kick off: 1,588, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 1/2 years, or a little over 52 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.

O, Say, the Yankees Do Yet Wave

After dropping both halves of a rain-forced doubleheader to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday -- a shocking extra-inning collapse in the opener, and then a miserable, feeble-hitting nightcap -- they Yankees needed a win yesterday afternoon. Not just to keep alive their hopes for the Playoffs, as thin as those were, but just to put the previous day's disaster behind them.

Shane Greene started for the Yankees. At this point, any pitcher who starts for the Yankees has to go in thinking, "We're not hitting, we're not scoring enough runs, and Joe Girardi is going to take me out too soon and use umpteen pitchers in relief, so does it really matter how well I pitch?"

Greene pitched as though it does matter: 5 1/3rd innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, only 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts.

How many pitchers does it take to hold the Orioles to 2 runs at Camden Yards? If you're Girardi, the answer is, apparently, 5: Greene, Esmil Rogers, Josh Outman, Shawn Kelley and David Robertson. In 3 2/3rds innings, the bullpen shut the O's out, allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk.

But the Yankees needed 3 runs to overcome the Orioles' 2. They all came in the top of the 2nd, which must have been a big (pardon the choice of words) relief to Greene. With 1 out, Brian McCann smacked a home run to right field, his 19th round-tripper of the season. Mark Teixeira, a native of nearby Severna Park, Maryland who still gets booed by Oriole fans for choosing the Yankees when he was a free agent (nearly 6 full seasons later), drew a walk. Chris Young struck again, doubling Teix over to 3rd. Rookie September callup Antoan Richardson singled Teix home. Zelous Wheeler struck out.

Jacoby Ellsbury was up. Girardi, in one of those moves that makes you wonder how a guy so smart on offense can be so dense with handling pitchers, called for a double steal. It worked: Richardson broke for 2nd base, and it drew a throw from Oriole catcher Caleb Joseph, enabling Young to steal home.

Yankees 3, Orioles 2. WP: Greene (5-3). SV: Robertson (36). LP: Gonzalez (9-8).

The series concludes tonight, as the ESPN Sunday night game. Hiroki Kuroda starts for the Yankees, Chris Tillman.

*

Today is the 200th Anniversary of the most important moment in Baltimore's history: On September 14, 1814, in the key moment of the War of 1812, the British fleet retreated, recognizing their inability to pierce the defenses of Fort McHenry, and sailed off.

With the capital of Washington, D.C. already abandoned by the government and burned by the British, had Baltimore also fallen, it would have meant defeat for America, and likely a curtailed, possibly even a totally revoked, independence. (It was certainly possible for a nation to lose its sovereignty: Poland had lost its own about 20 years before.)

Seeing the garrison flag over the fort from a prison ship, where, as a local lawyer, he was negotiating a prisoner exchange, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem. He titled it "Defence of Fort M'Henry." The British spelling "defence," still used to describe hockey "defencemen" in Canada today, was still in place in America then. This was before the publication of Webster's Dictionary, and before "defense" with an S, not a C, became the more common American spelling of the word.

("M'Henry"? As late as 1968, when Denny McLain won his 30th game of the season for the Detroit Tigers, The New York Times put "M'LAIN" in a headline.)

The publisher he sent it to decided it would make a great song, and, to the tune of (ironically) an old English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven," retitled it after a line Key used at the end of each of the 4 verses (only 1 of which is remembered by most Americans): "The Star-Spangled Banner."

(Anacreon was a Greek lyric poet of the 6th Century BC, known for his songs about drinking, wenching, and other carousing. It was natural for an educated man who fancied himself a composer of drinking songs to pay tribute to him. He lived long enough to see the victory in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.)

Baseball, as much as anything else, is responsible for making "The Banner" America's National Anthem. As late as World War I, it was simply one of many well-known patriotic songs that were occasionally sung. During the 7th inning stretch of one of the games of the 1918 World Series, a band, seeing everyone standing, began to play it. In the patriotic fervor of the time, everyone sang along.

The war soon ended, but the song began to be played before special-occasion games. The U.S. Marine Band, directed by John Philip Sousa, played it at the opening of the original Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923. In 1931, Congress passed a resolution declaring the more-familiar-than-ever song to be the National Anthem.

But it wasn't until World War II that it began to be played before every major sporting event. There have been exceptions: Occasionally, the Yankees have played "America the Beautiful" instead, and the Philadelphia Flyers have used Kate Smith's recording of "God Bless America" as a good-luck charm, while the Yankees save that recording for the 7th inning stretch, before "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

On occasion, at least since their run to the 1979 American League Pennant, the Orioles have raised a copy of the Fort McHenry garrison flag, complete with 15 stars and 15 stripes, at their ballpark, first Memorial Stadium and, since 1992, Camden Yards. I suspect they will do so again today. (The original flag now resides at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, while the "Flag House" where it was sewn is a museum in Baltimore.)

The Orioles have already clinched at least a Playoff berth, and will probably win the AL Eastern Division for the 1st time since 1997, putting them in a great position to win their 1st Pennant and World Series since 1983.

But with 15 games to go, and 5 behind the 2nd AL Wild Card berth, the Yankees are still alive in the hope of reaching the Playoffs, where anything can happen. Their probability of making it is only 1.2 percent.

But you never know. Strange things happen in baseball, especially late in the season. O, say, the Yankees do yet wave, in this land of the free, in this home of the brave.