The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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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...
Fifty years ago, Americans were so distracted by Watergate that they failed to notice the unmasking of one of the most consequential spies during the Cold War. Even today, few will remember the name Günter Guillaume; but most will remember a spy precipitating the fall of the West German Chancellor, Willy Brandt. While it is hard to quantify exactly what state secrets Guillaume disclosed to his East German handlers, it is even more difficult to connect his espionage with any specific action...
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...
Four hundred years ago, King James I of England convened his last parliament, the most significant and enduring legacy of which was the “Statute of Monopolies.” This act was both a restriction on royal prerogative and the beginning of legal protection for patents and intellectual property. Prior to this act, the crown arbitrarily granted monopolies to bestow royal favor and also to receive a fee for the privilege. The grant of monopolies had become an end-run around parliament to indirectly rai...
On March 5, 1774 - 250 years ago this month - John Hancock cemented his legacy as a leader of colonial resistance to British rule when he delivered his “Boston Massacre Oration” on the fourth anniversary of the murder of civilian colonists by British troops. The tragic event was a touchstone of resistance to royal subjugation of the American colonies. While it was one thing to have British troops protecting the colonists and fending off the territorial ambitions of the French, stationing tro...
One hundred years ago, Vladimir Lenin died. Lenin was an unlikely revolutionary. His story was not one of meager beginnings or social depravation. Rather, he came from a family of means that had little connection with the proletariat he came to champion. He was well educated, attended college, and became a lawyer. But, during his “education,” he was radicalized when exposed to Marxism and embraced its view of 19th century revisionist history. Throwing facts aside, the history lessons he acc...
When James Monroe addressed Congress 200 years ago, many assumed his annual message would be limited to legislative initiatives. Since he had no spin doctors to help him explain his position, clarify its broad impact, or narrate its context, it was left to him to simply announce the Monroe Doctrine and let others decide its ramifications. Two centuries ago, the New World was shedding Old World political connections as new nation states were emerging after achieving independence. President...
