The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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Before the Declaration of Independence, there was the Olive Branch Petition. Written 250 years ago today, the Olive Branch Petition was Thomas Jefferson’s first attempt to explain to King George III why the American Colonies were rebelling and ask for reconciliation. The “Shot heard ‘round the world” had been fired almost three months earlier, and the Battle of Bunker Hill had just ended. It was readily apparent to the Second Continental Congress that the situation was spinning out of control...
World War II ended in Europe 80 years ago, but without obtaining its stated objective. The cause of the war — the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Poland — went unrealized. Poland had merely traded Nazi occupation for Russian domination. For all the high-minded conjecture about a safer, more secure world, the fate of Poland was completely lost in the shuffle. The future peace and stability of a new world order sacrificed Poland to the Soviet sphere of influence. Even bef...
That great standard of liberty, the Magna Carta, is 810 years old this month. Historians and political scientists have examined its provisions extensively, carefully allocating each clause to various rights and freedoms we now take for granted. Indeed, it is a fascinating inquiry to consider that so many centuries ago, various rights now considered standard and common were first tested in the body politic. Many refer to the United States as an experiment because our Constitution created a form...
There is only one place on the continental United States where enemy action killed American citizens. 80 years ago in Bly, Oregon, 5 people died when a Japanese bomb exploded. The bomb had been sent over by a balloon to cause indiscriminate damage and loss of life. America's mainland has generally been spared the destruction of war that has ravaged so many countries in the last century. Until September 11, offensive attacks on the United States mainland were limited to sabotage efforts executed...
One of America’s most famous combat correspondents was killed 80 years ago on the island of Ie Shima in Japan. Pulitzer Prize winner Ernie Pyle died when a burst of enemy machine gun struck him in the head. His death was mourned throughout the country, from President Harry Truman to Eleanor Roosevelt to General Eisenhower to the masses of infantrymen Pyle wrote about throughout the war. He was a journalist of the old school, providing the facts from his experience embedded with combat troops and...
By: Will Sellers World War II ended in Europe 80 years ago, but without obtaining its stated objective. The cause of the war — the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Poland — went unrealized. Poland had merely traded Nazi occupation for Russian domination. For all the high-minded conjecture about a safer, more secure world, the fate of Poland was completely lost in the shuffle. The future peace and stability of a new world order sacrificed Poland to the Soviet sphere of inf...
One of America's most famous combat correspondents was killed 80 years ago on the island of Ie Shima in Japan. Pulitzer Prize winner Ernie Pyle died when a burst of enemy machine gun struck him in the head. His death was mourned throughout the country, from President Harry Truman to Eleanor Roosevelt to General Eisenhower to the masses of infantrymen Pyle wrote about throughout the war. He was a journalist of the old school, providing the facts from his experience embedded with combat troops and...
Two hundred years ago, the Marquis de Lafayette spent nine days in Alabama traveling across the midwestern portion of the state from Georgia to Montgomery and then to Selma, the Capitol at Cahawba, and downriver to Mobile. Alabamians came out of the woodwork to see him; Lafayette drew crowds that any politician or public figure would envy. But what prompted his visit and why is it being commemorated with such veneration today? At age 19, Lafayette came to America to join the colonies in...
King James of England was rather unremarkable so at his death 400 years ago, only his retainers and courtesans grieved his loss, and most assumed his historical legacy was limited. His memory today would likely be little more than a footnote except for the one thing that would make any marketing director green with envy for product placement —the King James Bible; the Royally authorized translation of the Holy Scriptures. In James’s case, this contribution was substantial, and he deserves cre...
All beginnings are hopeful, but 50 years ago the future of the Conservative Party in Great Britain was dismal. Their leader, Edward Heath, had managed to lose two general elections in a single year-- far from an auspicious beginning. Sensing rumblings among his fellow Conservatives in Parliament, Heath decided to confirm his position as party leader, and to do this, he would convene the party and hold an election. His assumption was that the malcontents would have an opportunity to put up or...
Seventy-five years ago, William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, an accomplishment that was significant enough, but what he said in his acceptance speech is perhaps even more significant and timeless. The dawning nuclear age of the 1940s called into question the viability of civilization and continued existence of mankind. Science was in its heyday, and the American military was on the cutting edge to achieve global hegemony. Given the might and power of the United States,...
January rarely affords what anyone would describe as good weather in Washington, but this January 6 was adequate and normal, though it was probably good to have a Republican cloth coat. The U.S. House of Representatives had convened at noon to consider routine matters, not the least of which was to accept the oath of office from Alabama Congressman George Grant, who, due to illness, was not able to be in town to take the actual oath with the other re-elected House members. The Speaker adjourned...
For a communist country, it was strange to have an unsanctioned gathering of a million people, but 40 years ago in Poland, the funeral of a simple parish priest brought the nation to a halt to pay their last respects. Father Jerzy Popiełuszko was not known as a great scholar or a powerful intellectual. In fact, he barely made the grades to graduate from seminary, but Popiełuszko was a man of the people, and he spoke to them in unadorned, persuasive sermons, chiseling a significant crack in P...
We should be thankful as a nation that electing a president has matured. Two hundred years ago, it seemed certain that Andrew Jackson would be the next President of the United States. Any casual observer would notice that he had won the popular vote and was on track to win the vote in the Electoral College. But when the presidential electors met in December of 1824, what seemed so obvious was soon in doubt. In fact, Jackson would be denied the presidency because he fell short of a majority of...
Communication has always been critical to international growth, development and understanding. But we take the ability of people to communicate for granted as everyone has at his disposal immediate communications: phone, email or text messaging. But instant communication is new, and it wasn’t that long ago that the main source of communication was the written word, transmitted primarily by letters. As each country developed, the need to communicate increased exponentially. Private couriers w...
For a communist country, it was strange to have an unsanctioned gathering of a million people, but 40 years ago in Poland, the funeral of a simple parish priest brought the nation to a halt to pay their last respects. Father Jerzy Popiełuszko was not known as a great scholar or a powerful intellectual. In fact, he barely made the grades to graduate from seminary, but Popiełuszko was a man of the people, and he spoke to them in unadorned, persuasive sermons, chiseling a significant crack in P...
Communication has always been critical to international growth, development and understanding, but we take the ability of people to communicate for granted as most everyone has immediate access to phones, email, and text messaging. While instant communication is new, not too long ago, the main source of communication was the written word, transmitted primarily by letters. As each country developed, the need to communicate increased exponentially. Private couriers worked great for the...
I’ve never understood why Donald Trump seems to attract such a level of hatred and vitriol. There is nothing unusual about political candidates being vilified by opponents, but after an election or a term in office, the level of animosity usually subsides, and attacks focus on policy decisions and not as much on personality. I experienced some hostilities when I was a Republican presidential elector in 2016. It was my 4th time to be an elector from Alabama, so it was out of the ordinary when a...
An Englishman named Joseph Priestley made a discovery 250 years ago that marked the beginning of modern chemistry and continues to have important ramifications today. His remarkable find was, in a word: Unlike inventions, which create something new, discoveries acknowledge something that already exists and quantify it to explain its significance. Of course, oxygen has always existed, and its utility to human life is completely independent of the need for explanation. We know exactly what it is,...
"Experience must be our only guide. Reason might mislead us." So said John Dickinson at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, some 237 years ago this month. As we celebrate the birth of the United States Constitution, Dickinson's admonition is critical to understanding our Founding Fathers' thoughts that served as the basis for our constitutional government. Our Constitution, revered my many, detested by some and imitated worldwide, has stood the test of time. Even with disputes about its...
Inspired by the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther’s confrontation with church hierarchy, peasants staged an insurrection which challenged the socioeconomic order. This revolt would have a lasting impact on Europe and set the stage for future conflicts between the elite aristocracy and the growing middle class. In 1524, the strata of society was organized according to land: its ownership, its use and ultimately, its profitability. The various plagues that decimated Europe in the past c...
I’ve never understood why Donald Trump seems to attract such a level of hatred and vitriol. There is nothing unusual about political candidates being vilified by opponents, but after an election or a term in office, the level of animosity usually subsides, and attacks focus on policy decisions and not as much on personality. I experienced some hostilities when I was a Republican presidential elector in 2016. It was my 4th time to be an elector from Alabama, so it was out of the ordinary when a...
Five hundred years ago, peasants in Central Europe revolted against their overlords. Inspired by the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther’s confrontation with church hierarchy, peasants staged an insurrection which challenged the socio-economic order. This revolt would have a lasting impact on Europe and set the stage for future conflicts between the elite aristocracy and the growing middle class. In 1524, the strata of society was organized according to land: its ownership, its use and u...
One Hundred years ago, Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed a new immigration bill. While relatively uncontroversial in the United States - it had passed the Senate 69-9 and 308-62 in the House - the Act had a global impact. Its genesis was a study completed by the Dillingham Commission, which was formed by President Theodore Roosevelt and tasked with studying and identifying which immigrants would contribute most to the social fabric of America. The commission unfortunately...
Bloodless revolutions are the exception, not the norm. Indeed, history is replete with wars pitting various national or regional groups against one another for territory or other economic benefit. Survival of the fittest was not a theory but was a present reality for most of the history of the world, and the slogan “might makes right” was the equivalent of the rule of law in many places. Merge these ideas with the concept of the divine right of kings, and you have a formula for arbitrary gov...
