As the champagne flowed and the Jazz band played for the seated White House illuminati gallery stuffed with Stevie Boy’s friends and philosophical neighbors, the Know Nothing wingers got their Trump.45 bonus as both enabler Pence and Pruitt gave the opening and closing Trump.45 rhetorical sandwich accolades.
Missing in action were Jared and Ivanka, and Gary Cohn was sent out to cable for humble pie consumption and retroactive fulsome praise on Friday morning for penance
In a lengthy (for him) and earnest wedding cake speech fueled with the full thrust of his climate hating, Obama envious, and “Don’t tell me what to do” shoulder harness on display, Trump was on stage and on fire.
He made the usual assortment of numerical errors, such as his opening claim of one million plus new jobs already created by his young American reboot.
But many agree the diamond -hard verbal bon mot, already sloganized for future effect was his most sincere statement that Trump.45 represents Pittsburgh, not Paris. Beautifully alliterative, speechwriter polished, it sprang full grown upon the thirsty news receptors, and doubles as a 10-second sound bite to energize the Trumpian base and stoke their inner fires as they wait for coal mines to actually come back to historic levels (in Trump.45’s dreams).
Trump’s Climate Remarks Maligning the Great City of Pittsburgh (June 1, 2017)
See the favored Fox News take on the “Pittsburgh, not Paris” meme.
Just One thing (or Two)
Just one thing to start with. The last time anyone checked, the great city of Pittsburgh is an essential core element of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania. And like the rest of America, Allegheny County voters got their unbridled say in last November’s hotly contested Presidential contest.
And speak they did. In fact, they shouted out loud and clear for all who can count.
Here are the cold, hard, based-on-real-facts results from November 8, 2016. Donald J. Trump got his ass well and truly kicked down the road in all of Allegheny County (1.322 voting districts), including Pittsburgh, by a margin of 55.9% to 39.5% on election day, He lost by 108,000 votes (16.8%- a blowout) in a populous county where 643,000 total votes were cast.
He did 6% worse in the Pittsburgh area (Allegheny County) than he did in his minority non-victory popular vote display in the U.S. as a whole. And this despite the fact that the entire state of Pennsylvania went for Trump.45 in the statewide popular vote (48.6% to 47.9%), so his weak non-performance in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County is comparatively even worse (by another 1.2%). Losersville, man.
Pittsburgh and Allegheny County
A little perspective. Allegheny County is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, and is the second largest county in the state. The county seat and historical heart of the county is the City of Pittsburgh, named for the English founder of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the English Earl of Chatham, William Pitt.
From the Wikipedia entry for Allegheny County:
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern quarter of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2016 the population was 1,225,365, making it the second-most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh. Allegheny County is included in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is in the Pittsburgh Designated Market Area.
Allegheny County was the first in Pennsylvania to be given a Native American name, being named after the Allegheny River. The word “Allegheny” is of Lenape origin, with uncertain meaning. It is usually said to mean “fine river”, but sometimes said to refer to an ancient mythical tribe called “Allegewi” that lived along the river long ago before being destroyed by the Lenape.
Allegheny County was officially created on September 24, 1788, from parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties. It was formed due to pressure from settlers living in the area around Pittsburgh, which became the county seat in 1791. The county originally extended all the way north to the shores of Lake Erie and became the “mother county” for most of what is now northwestern Pennsylvania. By 1800, the county’s current borders were set.
Allegheny County Courthouse, County Seat at Pittsburgh PA
Pittsburgh has been a historically vital and important city in the United States since before there was a United States (1750’s). It has a magnificent location at the junction of three rivers, making it a powerful interior transportation hub for more than 220 years.
Back to the 2016 Election and Trump’s Electoral Status
Allegheny County has 1.2 million residents, of whom 305 thousand live in Pittsburgh proper, the historic county seat. In 2016 643 thousand county residents cast their ballots for President.
Trump’s major loss in Allegheny county was only worsened inside the Pittsburgh city limits itself, where the vote was Democrats 74.8 % and Trump.45 a piddling drizzle at 20.6%. A total bad news wipeout in Trumpian terminology.
Lest any clever sots say well that result must be from the influence of blacks who have nothing to lose and don’t know any better, or illegal immigrants running around loose and voting anyway, let the record show that Allegheny County demographics show a non-Hispanic White population of 64.8%, Blacks at 26.1%, and Hispanics at 2.3%.
From the Wikipedia entry for Pittsburgh:
At the 2010 Census, there were 305,704 people residing in Pittsburgh, a decrease of 8.6% since 2000. 66.0% of the population was White, 25.8% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.4% Asian, 0.3% Other, and 2.3% mixed. 2.3% of Pittsburgh’s population was of Hispanic or Latino origin of any race. Non-Hispanic Whites were 64.8% of the population in 2010, compared to 78.7% in 1970.
So, cool your jets, man.
Economic and other demographic data show that Pittsburgh and Allegheny County ought to be prime Trump.45 Country, the home of many classical DWA voters whom Trump.45 prattles on about every day, pledging his ardent, eternal love and respect.
Further documentation of the independent voting streak in Allegheny County is that there are three U.S. Congressional Districts contained in the county: the 12th, 14th,and 18th. Two of the three seats are held by Republicans (Keith Rothfus (R), 12th district, Michael F. Doyle (D), 14th district, and Tim Murphy (R), 18th district).
Allegheny folks know how to pull the Red Lever when they’ve a mind to , in their own best interests.
Source: Wikipedia entry for Allegheny County
We also have readily evidence from a number of previous presidential elections in Allegheny County, Here are the results going back to 1960, almost 60 years ago. In all that time Trump.45 received a lower percentage of Allegheny County votes than any Republican except Goldwater (1964), Nixon (1968), George Bush I (twice in 1988 and 1992) and Bob Dole (1996). A woeful record of 5 and 9 lifetime. No major league star pitching power evident in those results.
As for comparisons of actual number of votes tallied, Trump.45 scored fewer votes than every Republican since 2004: Bush II (2004), McCain (2008), and yes even loser Romney (2012), Trump.45 fell equally short in one-on-one contests against Nixon (1968, 1972), Ford (1976), and Reagan (1980, 1984). We can add that in total votes Trump.45 was a loser to all 15 Democrats since 1960.
Compared to all other Republicans In head to head matchups, and counting both actual votes and the partisan percentage of votes cast at the same time, Trump has beaten only Goldwater (1964), Bush I (1988, 1992), and Dole (1996). 4 out of 14, a pitiful 29% winning performance in the heartland of America’s steel, coal and manufacturing country.
A Little Trip Down Coal Country’s Memory Lane
The high quality coal under Pittsburgh is so important that the deepest, thickest, largest, and most valuable coal seam in the entire eastern United Sates, stretching from Maryland though Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, is named The Pittsburgh Coal Seam. It spans 11,000 square miles, and 53 counties.
Physical Extent of Pittsburgh Coal Seam (except Maryland branch) (1914)
In 1760 across the Monongahela River bluffs from Fort Pitt that place now called Mt. Washington was originally named Coal Hill. In the 19th and 20th centuries (1860-1940), Pittsburgh coal dominated American industry, and was the essential ingredient in establishing and expanding the entire American Steel Industry. This era was accurately called the “Golden Age of King Coal, Queen Coke and Princess Steel.”
The historic beating heart of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County has been coal, mining, and its associated industries, and has been in the DNA of its people since before the Revolutionary War of Independence. Since the late 1990’s pollution effects and economic diversification have coalesced to help Pittsburgh remake itself into a vibrant modern American City and a thriving economic engine.
Today Pittsburgh is in coal country in spirit and heritage, but it is not a coal based economy any more. Trump.45’s boisterous appeal to a lost Pittsburgh memory of 100 years ago is vain and foolish. We don’t drive horse buggies any more, and indoor plumbing is no longer a luxury item.
With full knowledge of their civic pride and heritage, the actual voters of Allegheny County roundly and soundly rejected and blew off Trump.45 in 2016, and they want no more of him today, eight months later.
It is an Insult for these unwilling citizens to be singled out in Trump.45’s bloviating defense of his personal vendetta motivated exit announcement from the Paris Climate Accords. They shouldn’t be dragooned into service as a cheap catchphrase by a parvenu outsider like Trump.45, who knows not a damn thing about Pittsburgh’s culture, ethos, civic life, and its workers, businesses, and their economic struggles and successes.
Wind Up and Au Revoir
Trump.45 seems to now be mainlining the Breitbart supplied fantasy heroin about an older restored American ecosystem long gone somehow coming back by magic. Bannon, Pruitt and Pence ascendant, in a bad dream trip.
However that goes in future, leave the Pittsburghers alone. They are doing fine without Trump.45’s pointless, baseless rhetoric.
Trumpster, you don’t speak for them. You surely don’t represent them electorally. You lie about your connection with them for a glitzy 10-second sound bite for Fox.
Aw, Let’s just tell it like it is. Your claim that you must fulfill your solemn duty to Pittsburgh is just so much more empty, rhetorical bullshit. Pittsburgh and Paris both deserve better, much better, from the so-called ‘Leader’ of the Free World.
Why don’t you go pick on Nome?
By the way, Allegheny County made you a veritable historic Republican political loser at the voting booths last November, Cogitate on that one, why don’t you?
And in the end, since Trump.45 obviously didn’t write his little homily on Paris and the Environment, why must we all continue to suffer the incompetence and arrogance of half-smart aides and speech writers, like Stevie II, the Miller Boy, who was likely responsible for putting this demonstrably stupid new slogan-to-be on your lips?
Pittsburgh declines the unwanted offer to be your Mascot of Environmental Perfidy.
Addendum for Legitimate Heraldic Displays
The U.S. does not formally recognize hereditary heraldic symbols for persons, having been founded on the principal of no noble class or hereditary royalty shall have sway here. As a result there is a private unregulated Free Speech seam for scammers to peddle fakish Family Coats of Arms, as if they can be registered and officially sanctioned. The major exception is that the U.S. legally recognizes and controls certain institutional coats of arms, such as for State and city seals, flags, etc.
The City of Pittsburgh has a legitimate coat of arms in its seal and as part of its official city flag, a rather beautiful device.
Here it is.
Official Coat of Arms Pittsburgh PA (1816)
This sanctioned coat of arms has been in place since 1816, and the coat of arms is based on the official English royally granted family arms for the Earl of Chatham, William Pitt, whose name the city bears proudly.
The flag of the City of Pittsburgh includes three alternating vertical stripes of black and gold, two black and one pale gold. If you don’t come from the Pittsburgh area, you might not know, as I didn’t until now, that the city flag design is the origin of their pro sports teams’ color schemes, like the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. I am a huge fan of this particular sports franchise, dating back to the real glory days of the late sixties and seventies, when they won four Super Bowls in six years (1974 (IX), 1975 (X), 1978 (XIII), 1979 (XIV), and the Curtain of Steel Defense wreaked havoc across America’s football landscape.
My team sports heroes included the usual suspects of Mean Joe Greene (#75, a defensive tackle nonpareil, leader of the Steel Curtain quartet: Greene, Greenwood, Holmes and White), Terry Bradshaw (winning quarterback of grit and heart), Franco Harris (unstoppable fullback and the leader of the Italian Army of Pittsburgh fans), Lynn Swann (acrobatic grace under pressure receiver), all under the leadership of legendary Coach Chuck Noll (1969-1991), an actual tough, smart son of a gun.
Hall of Fame Fullback Pittsburgh Steelers: Franco Harris (2009)
Even Rocky Bleier, who was the ultimate tough guy (not the greatest player talent), but who served his country with honor and heroism, volunteering for military service during a time when moat privileged athletes and others ducked their chance to serve, even in an unpopular war. Kudos for his courage and example.
The Essence of Sports Fandom A Kid and His Hero: Mean Joe Greene (1979)
I confess to an understandable favoritism bias, since Defensive Tackle was my own minor Glory Days position playing football from 1965-1967 as a callow youth in New York City scholastic sports. The real Joe Greene attended college at North Texas State when the team’s original nickname was the Eagles, the same name as that of my High School team, half a continent away. A coincidental connection, but it makes me smile anyway.
In proper heraldic language terms, the description of the City of Pittsburgh Seal coat of arms is:
On a field Sable, a fess chequay Argent et Azure, between three bezants bearing eagles rising with wings displayed and inverted Or. For crest, Sable a triple-towered castle masoned Argent.
Argent, as used in heraldic descriptions, originally referred to a silver color, but has been adopted in most modern representations to be the color white.
The Great City of Pittsburgh has a legitimate, historically accurate coat of arms for its people to celebrate and honor. A vivid contrast to the usurper Trump.45 and his jiggery-pokery in purloining the Davies family coat of arms that he found lying around at Mar-a-Lago in 1985 when he bought the estate compound for a fire sale price.
Joseph Edward Davies, the third husband of Marjorie Merriweather Post, the socialite who built Mar-a-Lago, was the genuine grantee and owner of the coat of arms from the Royal College of Arms (1939). The legitimate coat of arms did not pass along with the real estate sale. Trump.45 just blatantly hijacked it, without consideration or right, as is his wont.
Pittsburgh has an honorable heraldic emblem and history, Trump.45’s misappropriation is based on fakery and usurpation for pursuing symbols of social status, otherwise denied to him.
Sad. The heraldry gods have taken adverse notice of Trump.45’s status effrontery for future punishment.
No one else should be fooled by this con-artist flim-flam.
Trump.45’s purloined symbol has spread like viral kudzu now across the United States, emblazoned on golf links, buildings, Trump.45’s personal property toys and furnishings, pseudo-classy souvenir merchandise tchotchkes, and other rubbish.
From the Wikipedia entry for the Pittsburgh Coal Seam:
The Pittsburgh Coal Seam is the thickest and most extensive coal bed in the Appalachian Basin; hence, it is the most economically important coal bed in the eastern United States. The Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal bed of the Monongahela Group is extensive and continuous, extending over 11,000 mi2 through 53 counties. It extends from Allegany County, Maryland to Belmont County, Ohio and from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania southwest to Putnam County, West Virginia.
This coal seam is named for its outcrop high on the sheer north face of Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and it is considered to form the base of the upper coal measures of the Allegheny Plateau, now known as the Monongahela Group. The first reference to the Pittsburgh coal bed, named by H.D. Rodgers of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, was on a 1751 map.
The section of the Pittsburgh seam under the Georges Creek Valley of Western Maryland is known as The Big Vein This is isolated from the rest of the Pittsburgh seam by Savage Mountain (part of the Deer Park anticline), the Negro Mountain anticline, the Laurel Hill anticline, and the Chestnut Ridge anticline. Between these anticlines, the strata containing the Pittsburgh coal have been almost obliterated by erosion. The exception is a small remnant in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the Berlin Syncline between Negro Mountain and Savage Mountain.
Formation
The Pittsburgh coal is one of many minable coal beds that were deposited across the Pennsylvanian (late Carboniferous) and Permian (330–265mya) eras in a subsiding foreland basin that was filled in with sediments eroded from an ancient landmass located to the east. The Monongahela Group and other northern and central Appalachian Basin Pennsylvanian sediments were deposited on an aggrading and prograding coastal plain within a foreland basin adjacent to the Alleghanian fold and thrust belt.
The Pittsburgh coal bed formed during a hiatus in active clastic deposition that allowed for the development of a huge peat mire. The extensively thick peat deposit was destined to become one of the most valuable energy resources in the world. The distribution of some of the sediments, particularly the channel sands, may have been controlled in part by deep, Early Cambrian basement faults that were reactivated during the Alleghany orogeny (Root and Hoskins, 1977; Root, 1995).
Significant parts of the clay layer immediately below the Pittsburgh coal rest on an unconformity, that is, an old eroded surface. For this reason, the Pittsburgh seam is taken as the basal member of the Monongahela Group. The underlying erosion surface is considered the top of the Conemaugh Group, formerly known as the Lower barren measures because this formation contains few coal seams.
The Monongahela is composed mainly of sandstone, limestone, dolomite, and coal, and consists of a series of up to ten cyclothems. During each cyclothem, the land was flooded, allowing the accumulation of marine deposits such as shale, limestone and sandstone. When the sea level fell, coal formed from the remains of swampland. Some of the coal beds in the Monongahela group are erratic, sometimes little more than a black streak in the rock, while others are of commercial importance.
The Pittsburgh coal seam is laterally extensive. It commonly occurs in southwestern Pennsylvania in two benches, and the lower bench can be over six feet thick. The Pittsburgh rider coal bed, which overlies the lower bench, can range from 0 to 3 feet in thickness.
Exploitation
Mined out areas of the Pittsburgh Seam in Pennsylvania and West Virginia as of 1973.
In 1760, Captain Thomas Hutchins visited Fort Pitt and reported that there was a mine on Coal Hill, the original name given to Mount Washington across the Monongahela River from the fort. The coal was extracted from drift mine entries into the Pittsburgh coal seam at outcrop along the hillside about 200 feet above the river. The coal was poured into trenches dug into the hillside, rolled to the edge of the river, and transported by canoe and boats to the military garrison. Sometime around 1765, a fire broke out in this mine, which continued to burn for years, leading to collapse of part of the face of the hill. Mining rights were formally purchased from the chiefs of the Six Nations in 1768, and from this point on, coal fueled the explosive growth of industry in the Pittsburgh Region.
By 1796, coal mines extended along the face of Mount Washington for 300 fathoms (1800 feet), centered across the Monongahela from Wood Street.40°25′55.74″N 80°0′24.08″W By 1814, there were at least 40 coal mines in the Pittsburgh region, worked from adits in the face of the coal seam using room and pillar methods. By 1830, the city of Pittsburgh consumed more than 400 tons per day of bituminous coal for domestic and light industrial use. In the early 19th century, Pittsburgh coal became the city’s primary fuel source: about 250,000 bushels (approximately 400 short tons) of coal were consumed daily for domestic and light industrial use. The primary reason for the switch from wood to coal was one of economics. In 1809, a cord of wood cost $2.00 and a bushel of coal cost $0.06, delivered. The coal was plentiful and laborers, working in mines within a mile of Pittsburgh, earned about $1.60 per week and could produce as many as 100 bushels of coal daily.
The Pittsburgh seam was America’s principal seam of coal production during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Pittsburgh-seam coal was ideally suited to making coke, particularly for iron blast furnaces. It fostered the development of much of southwestern Pennsylvania, particularly a section of the Pittsburgh seam known as the Connellsville district. The Pittsburgh seam was America’s principal seam of coal production during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Exploitation of the Pittsburgh-seam coal began slowly. Initially, blacksmiths and foundrymen made coal into coke to use in their hearths and small furnaces. During the early nineteenth century, entrepreneurs in western Pennsylvania adapted British coke-making practices to produce coke for local iron works. To make coke, coal is burned under controlled conditions to drive off volatile matter (gases expelled when coal is burned), leaving carbon and ash from the coal fused together in the form of coke. They made coke in turf-covered “mounds,” in which coal burned slowly and without oxygen to drive off impurities. The adoption of beehive coke ovens in the 1830s spurred the use of Pittsburgh-seam coal in iron furnaces, and these ovens made better-quality coke than mounds.
Pittsburgh-seam coal, especially the highest-quality coal found in the Connellsville district, was the best coal in America for making coke. When converted into coke, it was sufficiently strong to withstand the weight of iron ore that was piled with coke inside iron furnaces. It has a high proportion of carbon, which accelerates combustion, and a low proportion of impurities, including ash and moisture, which retards combustion. Pittsburgh coal also has a low proportion of sulfur, which is critical to making high-quality iron. In addition, the Pittsburgh seam was located close to Pittsburgh, then the center of the growing American iron and steel industry. Coke had to be transported by water or rail to iron furnaces, and the Pittsburgh seam’s proximity to iron furnaces gave the bed another competitive advantage over more distant coal seams that could produce coke.
The mining of Pittsburgh-seam coal boomed off after 1860 as the rapidly expanding iron and steel industry adopted coke. The output of the iron and steel industry burgeoned during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as demand for steel products surged. To meet the corresponding demand for coke, Pittsburgh-seam mines vastly increased their production from 4.3 million tons of coal in 1880 to a peak of forty million tons in 1916. Most of the pre-1900 growth in coal output occurred in the Connellsville district. However, the iron and steel industry’s demand rose so rapidly that it became clear by 1900 that this district could not satisfy demand by itself. During the 1900s and 1910s, mine companies exploited the Lower Connellsville district of the Pittsburgh seam, adding greatly to total output. The growth of Pittsburgh-seam mining was so massive, and so intertwined with coke production for the iron and steel industry, that the late nineteenth and early twentieth century has been called the “Golden Age of King Coal, Queen Coke and Princess Steel.”
Beginning in the 1910s, important technological and industrial changes spelled the end of the Pittsburgh seam’s importance. By-product coke ovens, which yielded more coke per ton from coal, replaced most beehive coke ovens from 1910 to 1940. By-product ovens utilized coal that was lower quality than Pittsburgh-seam coal, greatly reducing demand for Pittsburgh-seam coal. The Great Depression also contributed significantly to the decline of production. Pittsburgh-seam output continued to fall after a World War II surge as steel mills adopted alternative fuels such as natural gas and oil and improved the energy efficiency of iron furnaces. Another major blow came during the late 1970s and 1980s as the American steel industry closed many steel mills in the Pittsburgh region and elsewhere. The decline of Pittsburgh-seam mining brought large-scale social and economic changes to southwestern Pennsylvania, as unemployment climbed, the region lost population due to out-migration, businesses dependent on coal miners’ income folded, and municipalities had declining tax bases.
Despite two centuries of mining, about 16 billion short tons of resources remain, with the largest remaining block in southwestern Pennsylvania and adjacent areas of West Virginia. Much of the remaining resource to the south of Marion County, W. Va., and west through much of Ohio is high in ash and sulfur, and is not likely to be extensively mined in the near future given current economic trends.
The Big Vein
The Big Vein was discovered in 1804, in an outcrop east of Frostburg, Maryland, but it was not until 1824 that small-scale shipment to Georgetown began. The first mine was the Neff mine, later known as the Eckhart mine 39°39′4.46″N 78°54′1.59″W. Mining was seasonal, confined largely to winter time. Coal was hauled overland to Cumberland, Maryland and then loaded onto flatboats for shipment down the Potomac River during the spring floods.
In 1842, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Cumberland, followed in 1850 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. These allowed large-scale exploitation.
Pittsburgh reacts to Trump.45’s blathering climate catchphrase:
President Trump thrust Pittsburgh into the international spotlight Thursday afternoon by referencing it in his speech about withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate pact.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump said about 20 minutes into the speech, drawing applause from those gathered in the White House Rose Garden.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto took to social media almost immediately to pan the remark.
“As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future,” Peduto wrote on Twitter.
Peduto noted that Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly defeated Trump among city voters in the November election.
Allegheny County Elections Division records show Clinton collected 74.8 percent of the 155,104 votes cast by Pittsburghers, compared with 20.6 percent for Trump.
Even before Trump referenced Pittsburgh, Peduto had been critical about plans to withdraw the United States from the climate pact.
“The United States joins Syria, Nicaragua & Russia in deciding not to participate with world’s Paris Agreement. It’s now up to cities to lead,” Peduto tweeted before Trump’s speech began.
In a related news conference Thursday evening, Peduto said he was “personally offended” that Trump used Pittsburgh as an example.
“This city didn’t support Donald Trump. This city does not support the initiatives that he is doing. This city is adamantly opposed to it, and for him to then use this city as his example of who he is elected to represent, he is not representing us at all, or not very well,” Peduto said.
“In his speechwriters’ mind, Pittsburgh is this dirty old town that relies on big coal and big steel to survive,” Peduto said. “He completely ignores the sacrifices that we made over 30 years in order to get back on our feet in order to be creating a new economy, in order to make the sacrifices to clean our air and clean our water. What he did is used us as this example of a stereotype in order to make a point, and it missed completely.”
A White House spokesperson said in an email that Trump’s speech was the “culmination of a long-standing campaign promise.”
“The people of Pittsburgh, and the other hard-working American families across the country, are the families (Trump) is fighting for and who know that in this administration, America comes first,” the spokesperson said.
More about Pittsburgh’s demographics from Wikipedia:
At the 2010 Census, there were 305,704 people residing in Pittsburgh, a decrease of 8.6% since 2000. 66.0% of the population was White, 25.8% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.4% Asian, 0.3% Other, and 2.3% mixed. 2.3% of Pittsburgh’s population was of Hispanic or Latino origin of any race. Non-Hispanic Whites were 64.8% of the population in 2010, compared to 78.7% in 1970.
The five largest European ethnic groups in the city are German (19.7%), Irish (15.8%), Italian (11.8%), Polish (8.4%), and English (4.6%), while the metropolitan area is approximately 22% German-American, 15.4% Italian American and 11.6% Irish American. Pittsburgh has one of the largest Italian-American communities in the nation, the fifth-largest Ukrainian community. Pittsburgh has over 200,000 Croatian people making it the city with the most extensive Croatian community in the United States.
According to a 2010 ARDA study, residents include 773,341 “Catholics”; 326,125 “Mainline Protestants”; 174,119 “Evangelical Protestants;” 20,976 “Black Protestants;” and 16,405 “Orthodox Christians,” with 996,826 listed as “unclaimed” and 16,405 as “other” in the metro area.
There were 143,739 households, out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.2% were married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.4% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.9% under the age of 18, 14.8% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,588, and the median income for a family was $38,795. Males had a median income of $32,128 versus $25,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,816. About 15.0% of families and 20.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.5% of those under the age of 18 and 13.5% ages 65 or older.
In a 2002 study, Pittsburgh ranked 22nd of 69 urban places in the U.S. in the number of residents 25 years or older who had completed a bachelor’s degree, at 31%. Pittsburgh ranked 15th of the 69 places in the number of residents 25 years or older who completed a high school degree, at 84.7%.
An overview of the City of Pittsburgh, PA from Wikipedia:
Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. As of 2017, the city proper has a total population of 305,704, making it the 63rd-largest city in the U.S. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania (behind Philadelphia), and the 26th-largest in the U.S.
Located at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, Pittsburgh is known as both “the Steel City” for its more than 300 steel-related businesses, and as the “City of Bridges” for its 446 bridges. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a pre-revolutionary fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. The city developed as a vital link of the Atlantic coast and Midwest, as the mineral-rich Allegheny Mountains made the area coveted by the French and British empires, Virginians, Whiskey Rebels, and Civil War raiders.
Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment; it had the most U.S. stockholders per capita. America’s 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. This heritage left the area with renowned museums, medical centers, parks, research centers, libraries, a diverse cultural district and the most bars per capita in the U.S.
Today, Google, Apple, Bosch, Facebook, Uber, Nokia, Autodesk, and IBM are among 1,600 technology firms generating $20.7 billion in annual Pittsburgh payrolls. The area has served as the long-time federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research and the nuclear navy. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The nation’s fifth-largest bank, eight Fortune 500 companies, and six of the top 300 U.S. law firms make their global headquarters in the Pittsburgh area, while RAND, BNY Mellon, Nova, FedEx, Bayer and NIOSH have regional bases that helped Pittsburgh become the sixth-best area for U.S. job growth.
In 2015, Pittsburgh was listed among the “eleven most livable cities in the world”; The Economist’s Global Liveability Ranking placed Pittsburgh as the first- or second-most livable city in the United States in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014. The region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction.
The Flag of the City of Pittsburgh and its Heraldic Municipal Seal from Wikipedia:
The flag of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a tricolor flag featuring vertical bands of black and gold, with the city’s coat of arms in the centre.
In 2004, the flag was ranked 24th best flag design out of 150 city flags by the North American Vexillological Association, and was the top-rated tricolor.
In tribute to the flag, all three professional athletic teams in Pittsburgh in the sports of baseball, football and hockey are black and gold.
Design of the flag
The flag is defined in the Code of Ordinances, City of Pittsburgh, Title I, Article I, Chapter 103, Section 3 as follows:
(a) The following shall be the forms, devices and colors of the City civic flag, ensign, pennant and streamer: the colors in the several forms shall be black and gold, of the hues or tints as expressed upon the pattern, and the exact copy of which is on file in the office of the City Clerk.
(b) The civic flag, or standard of the City, shall be as follows: the material shall be American-made bunting or silk of the colors or hues above designated, ten (10) feet in length and six (6) feet in width, or in proportion thereto. The same shall be parted vertically per pale in three (3) equal parts, of which the first and [third] shall be black and the second or middle pale gold. Upon the latter shall be blazoned the City arms, as borne upon the City seal, and the same shall be blazoned upon the middle, and occupy one-third (1/3) of the surface thereof.
The civic flag shall be displayed upon public building, at meetings of Councils and upon suitable public occasions, provided that it shall never be displayed in any position that indicates superiority or precedence to the United States flag.
(c) The City ensign or merchant flag shall be composed and parted as provided for the civic flag or standard in subsection (b) hereof; except that instead of the entire City arms there shall be blazoned upon the central pale the crest of the City arms, surrounded by thirteen (13) five-pointed dark blue stars, in a circle, whose diameter shall be four-fifths (4/5) of the width of the pale. The length or fly shall be six (6) feet, the depth or hoist four (4) feet six (6) inches or in proportion thereto.
(d) The City pennant shall be a triangular piece of gold bunting five (5) feet in length by four (4) feet in width, or in proportion thereto. In the center thereof shall be placed a black triangular field two (2) feet in width and three (3) feet in length, upon which shall be displayed the crest of the City arms and a circle of blue stars, as borne upon the City ensign.
(e) The City streamer shall be made of materials and colors above indicated two (2) feet in width and fifteen (15) feet in length, or in proportion thereto. The black shall be borne next to the staff, and shall be in length one-fourth (1/4) the length of the streamer, and shall bear upon the center thereof the City crest, gold or gilded.
The arms of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham form the basis for the arms of Pittsburgh.
Motto
The phrase Benigno Numine was the motto of the Earl of Chatham. It is generally translated as “With the Benevolent Deity” or “By the Favour of the Heavens”.
It was adopted by the newly formed city in 1816 but somehow fell off seals and official documents and emblems in the early 20th century before being restored to the seal by City Council on July 3, 1950 and signed off by the Mayor on July 7, 1950. However even then the motto was not implemented until council looked into the matter in November 1958.
Coat of arms and seal
The city of Pittsburgh’s coat of arms is based on the arms of William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham and the city’s namesake The crest of the city’s coat of arms, an image of a fortress, represents the city of Pittsburgh, serving as a mural crown of sorts.
The official blazon of the city’s coat of arms, as defined by a 1925 city ordinance, is as follows:
On a field Sable, a fess chequay Argent et Azure, between three bezants bearing eagles rising with wings displayed and inverted Or. For crest, Sable a triple-towered castle masoned Argent.
The design of the seal of Pittsburgh, is defined in the Code of Ordinances, City of Pittsburgh, Title I, Article I, Chapter 103, Section 2 as follows:
(a) The great seal of the City and the lesser seals of the same shall be of the following design:
(1) The great seal is a circle bearing in its center the arms and the crest of the City and upon its periphery a belt or band of Roman capital letters forming the legend “The Seal of the City of Pittsburgh, 1816, Benigno Numine.”
(2) Lesser seals are the great seal of the City with this addition: on an arc of a circle having the same center as, but shorter radius than, the aforesaid legend, and placed directly below the City arms, the proper designation of the sealing office, as “Office of the Mayor,” “Office of the City Clerk” or the like, such designation to be in Roman capital letters, smaller than, but of like face to those used in the peripheral legend.
(b) Hereafter all dies, engravings, plates or reproductions of the great seal and lesser seals of the City shall conform strictly to the aforesaid description, and the City arms and crest as used thereon shall adhere strictly to the official graphic rendering of the arms and crest as preserved in the archives in Council.
Some factual basics about Allegheny County, PA from Wikipedia:
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern quarter of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2016 the population was 1,225,365, making it the second-most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh. Allegheny County is included in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is in the Pittsburgh Designated Market Area.
Allegheny County was the first in Pennsylvania to be given a Native American name, being named after the Allegheny River. The word “Allegheny” is of Lenape origin, with uncertain meaning. It is usually said to mean “fine river”, but sometimes said to refer to an ancient mythical tribe called “Allegewi” that lived along the river long ago before being destroyed by the Lenape.
Allegheny County was officially created on September 24, 1788, from parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties. It was formed due to pressure from settlers living in the area around Pittsburgh, which became the county seat in 1791. The county originally extended all the way north to the shores of Lake Erie and became the “mother county” for most of what is now northwestern Pennsylvania. By 1800, the county’s current borders were set.
In the 1790s, a whiskey excise tax was imposed by the United States federal government. This started the so-called Whiskey Rebellion when the farmers who depended on whiskey income refused to pay and drove off tax collector John Neville. After a series of demonstrations by farmers, President George Washington sent troops to stop the rebellion.
The area developed rapidly throughout the 19th century to become the center of steel production in the nation. Pittsburgh would later be labeled the “Steel Capital of the World”.
Allegheny County is known for the three major rivers that flow through it: the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River converge at Downtown Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River. The Youghiogheny River flows into the Monongahela River at McKeesport, 10 miles (16 km) southeast. Several islands are located within the riverine systems. Water from these rivers eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Although the county’s industrial growth caused the clearcutting of forests, a significant woodland remains.
The Pittsburgh Steelers Professional Football Team from Wikipedia:
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC.
In contrast with their status as perennial also-rans in the pre-merger NFL, where they were the oldest team to never win a league championship, the Steelers of the post-merger (modern) era are one of the most successful NFL franchises. Pittsburgh has won more Super Bowl titles and hosted more conference championship games than any other NFL team. The Steelers have won 8 AFC championships, tied with the Denver Broncos, but behind the New England Patriots record 9 AFC championships. They share the record for most conference championship games played in with the San Francisco 49ers. The Steelers share the record for second most Super Bowl appearances with the Broncos, and Dallas Cowboys, but again behind by the Patriots. The Steelers lost their most recent championship appearance, Super Bowl XLV, on February 6, 2011.
The Steelers were founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 8, 1933, by Art Rooney, taking its original name from the baseball team of the same name, as was common practice for NFL teams at the time. To distinguish them from the baseball team, local media took to calling the football team the Rooneymen, an unofficial nickname which persisted for decades after the team adopted its current nickname. The ownership of the Steelers has remained within the Rooney family since its founding. Art’s son, Dan Rooney owned the team from 1988 until his death in 2017. Much control of the franchise has been given to Dan’s son Art Rooney II. The Steelers enjoy a large, widespread fanbase nicknamed Steeler Nation. The Steelers currently play their home games at Heinz Field on Pittsburgh’s North Side in the North Shore neighborhood, which also hosts the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Built in 2001, the stadium replaced Three Rivers Stadium which hosted the Steelers for 31 seasons. Prior to Three Rivers, the Steelers had played their games in Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field.
The Steelers’ history of bad luck changed with the hiring of coach Chuck Noll for the 1969 season. Noll’s most remarkable talent was in his draft selections, taking Hall of Famers “Mean” Joe Greene in 1969, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount in 1970, Jack Ham in 1971, Franco Harris in 1972, and finally, in 1974, pulling off the incredible feat of selecting four Hall of Famers in one draft year, Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 1974 draft was their best ever; no other team has ever drafted four future Hall of Famers in one year, and only very few (including the 1970 Steelers) have drafted two or more in one year.
The players drafted in the early 1970s formed the base of an NFL dynasty, making the playoffs in eight seasons and becoming the only team in NFL history to win four Super Bowls in six years, as well as the first to win more than two. They also enjoyed a regular season streak of 49 consecutive wins (1971–1979) against teams that would finish with a losing record that year.
The Steelers suffered a rash of injuries in the 1980 season and missed the playoffs with a 9–7 record. The 1981 season was no better, with an 8–8 showing. The team was then hit with the retirements of all their key players from the Super Bowl years. “Mean” Joe Greene retired after the 1981 season, Lynn Swann and Jack Ham after 1982’s playoff berth, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount after 1983’s divisional championship, and Jack Lambert after 1984’s AFC Championship Game appearance.
After those retirements, the franchise skidded to its first losing seasons since 1971. Though still competitive, the Steelers would not finish above .500 in 1985, 1986, and 1988. In 1987, the year of the players’ strike, the Steelers finished with a record of 8–7, but missed the playoffs. In 1989, they would reach the second round of the playoffs on the strength of Merrill Hoge and Rod Woodson before narrowly missing the playoffs in each of the next two seasons.
Noll’s career record with Pittsburgh was 209–156–1.
Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain Defense from Wikipedia:
The Steel Curtain was the front four of the defensive line of the 1970s American football team Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). This defense was the backbone of the Steelers dynasty, which won four Super Bowls (IX, X, XIII, and XIV), in six years.
The Steelers began their 1976 season 1–4 and lost their quarterback, Terry Bradshaw. For the nine games remaining in the season, the Steelers recorded five shutouts (three of them back to back), and only allowed two touchdowns (both in a single game), and five field goals. The defense allowed an average 3.1 points per game and the team had an average margin of victory of 22 points. Eight of the Steelers’ starting eleven defensive players were selected for the Pro Bowl that year, and four would be selected to the Hall of Fame.
The Steel Curtain’s famed front four were:
- No. 75 “Mean Joe” Greene – defensive tackle, 1969–1981 (1969 Defensive Rookie of the Year; 1972 and 1974 Defensive Player of the Year; NFL 1970s All-Decade Team; Hall of Fame)
- No. 68 L. C. Greenwood – defensive end, 1969–1981 (NFL 1970s All-Decade Team)
- No. 63 Ernie Holmes – defensive tackle, 1972–1977
- No. 78 Dwight White – defensive end, 1971–1980
From the good old days, Mean Joe Greene and the Boy with the Coke in one of the very best sports themed commercials ever made (1979), bar none:
Mean Joe Greene: Legendary Coca-Cola Commercial (1979)
Here is the full version on YouTube (1 minute)