Why do we always refer to the GI “Bill”?
Recent comments
- 160serpentinegmailcom on An open letter from the populists of the 1890s to the populists of today
- 160serpentinegmailcom on Trumpism, local and global
- eric on A wreck by any other name: on the inadequacy of “Great Recession”
- Brad DeLong on A wreck by any other name: on the inadequacy of “Great Recession”
- Alex on Hitchens minor on the English and their history
- David in San Jose on Trump, populism, Hofstadter, Heer.
- eric on What does Paul Campos know that the Public Policy Institute of California does not?
- ari on What does Paul Campos know that the Public Policy Institute of California does not?
- eric on Keeping a finger on gold
- ari on Keeping a finger on gold
- kevin on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- eric on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- ari on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- eric on “Eight schools account for half of all history professors.”
- eric on A life well lived!
This is officially an award-winning blog
Archives
- September 2021
- July 2017
- April 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- November 2015
- August 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- January 2013
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- May 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
The Edge of the American West 
16 comments
December 5, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Ken Houghton
Because “G.I. Act” has REALLY BAD connotations?
December 5, 2011 at 1:20 pm
jazzbumpa
Conflation with the G.I Bill of Rights?
December 5, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Pudd'nhead Wilson
Yeah, I thought it had to do with the GI “Bill of Rights.” But perhaps FDR partisans (a tenacious lot) wanted to emphasize its introduction to Congress (at the behest of our second greatest president) rather than its final passage.
December 5, 2011 at 2:03 pm
rosmar
I never thought of this before! So weird, now that you mention it.
December 5, 2011 at 3:25 pm
elizardbreath
By analogy with the better known G.I. “Joe”.
December 5, 2011 at 5:20 pm
are we there yet?
As jazzbumpa said, I always heard of it as the GI Bill of Rights on first reference, GI Bill after that. Is there more than one thing by that name?
December 5, 2011 at 6:35 pm
JWL
Why is Candlestick Park commonly referred to as “The Stick” in today’s Bay Area?
[Hell-In-A-Hand-Basket Interlude] I never called it that when I was a kid.
Why is the word “liberal” deemed a pejorative in today’s U.S.A., especially among democratic party politicians?
Why am I typing this when Monday Night Football has just begun?
December 5, 2011 at 6:44 pm
JWL
Having just turned on the tube, I’ll answer my own question about Monday Night Football.
It’s because tonight’s match-up is the Chargers vs. the Jags (you dolt).
December 5, 2011 at 8:04 pm
eric
Of course the association with GI Bill of Rights must be correct, yet see, e.g.:
December 5, 2011 at 8:56 pm
TF Smith
Not be to confused with the “Montgomery GI Bill” (or MGIB) which is what the cold warriors got; it was certainly helpful, but the sunset clause did me in when I went back for grad school…10 years after separation/retirement and it is history.
Best,
December 6, 2011 at 2:53 am
joel hanes
I was drafted. Afterward, the 1972-era GI Bill was for me a Very Good Thing.
Todays troops have nothing like it. A damned shame, especially considering the horrors we’ve demanded of them.
December 6, 2011 at 5:29 am
Anderson
For the first time in American history returning soldiers were not only supported, but enabled to pursue success–a revolution in America’s policy towards its veterans.
Yeah, we got over THAT pretty quick.
I wonder if the difference is the lack of a draft in our 1991/2003 endeavors?
December 6, 2011 at 11:50 am
kevin
And hey, why do we call them fingers? I’ve never seen them “fing”.
And what’s the deal with airplane food? Amiright, people?
December 6, 2011 at 12:11 pm
eric
Hey, this blogging thing is harder than it looks, you know.
December 7, 2011 at 6:59 am
Kieran
I presume that somewhere in JSTOR—or if not, in a file drawer somewhere—there is a scholarly paper titled “How a GI Bill Becomes A Law”.
December 7, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Main Street Muse
My father, a Korean War veteran who got his law degree thanks to this, always called it the GI Bill of Rights (not just “the GI bill”), and was very grateful it existed….
As am I, beneficiary as I was to the upward mobility his education gave him.