Don’t speak ill of your government?

MoonHowler

A big thanks to George Harris for the tip on this story.

Time.com:

The last American to die in World War I didn’t really want to fight in the first place — which makes his decision to run ahead toward enemy lines all the more confusing.

Henry Gunther died at 10:59 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, less than one minute before the end of the Great War. But it was only one year earlier that Gunther had been demoted after military censors intercepted a letter he sent home that criticized the war.

“You weren’t supposed to bad-mouth the American government,” Jonathan Casey, the Director of Archives and the Edward Jones Research Center at the National World War I Memorial, tells TIME. “You’re supposed to support everything and do what you’re told, otherwise you could get in trouble: and [Gunther] did get in trouble.”

Read the full story of Henry Gunther in Time Magazine.

I don’t know if I feel better or worse. The fact that at any time in our history a person could be in trouble for talking smack about his or her country is disconcerting. On the other hand, perhaps it should serve as a serious warning of times to come.

Look at what happened the day before yesterday to CNN reporter Jim Acosta. He was stripped of his White House press credentials for pushing the President a little too far about the president’s terminology. Making it impossible to do your job is pretty much of a demotion in rank.

Are we looking at some sort of dystopia in our future where there is danger in criticizing your government and its elected officials? I would like to say no but I always keep that scenario in the back of my mind. You never know. One should never grow too complacent. As I age…(yes, I said the A word) I have reflected on my good fortune to have been born in this great democracy called the United States of America. Yes, I have been lucky. I have enjoyed white privilege. Not all Americans have. I have never had to think about danger from my neighbors or my government. Not all Americans have had this luxury. I have always had a roof over my head. Not all Americans have. I have enough food for me and my family. Not all Americans have. I certainly don’t think I will be run out of my country or deported. Not all Americans have this assurance. I don’t expect my door to be rammed in by my government. Some Americans can’t make that claim.

All and all, I am one very fortunate vintage chick. How did I get to be so lucky?

Is this how the world now sees the United States of America?

MoonHowler

New Zealand Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson apparently sees a different America from the one that was drawn together by tragedy on September 11, 2001. Today, America seems divided by a crude incivility that looks at our differences rather than our common ground.

A tiki torch seems to have replaced the beacon of light held by lady liberty as we reflect on the events in Charlottesville, children kidnapped from their parents at our southern border and a president double fist pumping at a somber gathering of mourning in Shanksville, PA on 9-11-18.

America is better than this.

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick: The Vietnam War

MoonHowler

Has everyone gotten their initial Ken Burns fix? The first episode was 90 minutes last night and just excellent. Most of what I saw was new to me. I expect to learn so much from this series.  Last night did not disappoint.  I had no idea that the beginning  issues went back to 1858.

Like much that happened post WWII, we sure misread that one, and of course, sacrificed another generation of young men as a result.  57,000 names on a wall is just too many names–too many names for something we shouldn’t have been involved in.

Start looking for parallels.  How long will we be involved in our current wars?  Is there an end in sight?   Bush, Obama and Trump have all been swallowed up by our current wars.

When will we ever learn?

Meanwhile, enjoy a fine documentary.  I look forward to seeing all sides.  Each show is 90 minutes and it runs for 2 weeks.  For those who miss an episode, there are lots of opportunities the next day to catch a missed show.  The last few episodes appear to be 120 minutes each.  The series runs 18 hours in all.

Eclipse !!!!!!!

MoonHowler

Where will you be when the great eclipse of 2017 happens?  Will you go to the path of totality or sit it out here in boring old Prince William  County?  I am probably headed for splash down in my air-conditioned car.  I won’t be taking pictures.

I have my glasses though.  Several batches of them.  I have some I can’t verify.  Grrrrr.  Mind you, I ordered glasses 2 months ago.  So cast your politics aside and enjoy a good eclipse.  Oh, and pray for no rain!

Anyone named Moon-Howler has to love a good eclipse!!!

A word of caution——————————–>

Read More

Who says size doesn’t count?

MoonHowler

Newyorktimes.com:

The women’s march in Washington was roughly three times the size of the audience at President Trump’s inauguration, crowd counting experts said Saturday.

Marcel Altenburg and Keith Still, crowd scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University in Britain, analyzed photographs and video taken of the National Mall and vicinity and estimated that there were about 160,000 people in those areas in the hour leading up to Mr. Trump’s speech Friday.

Those are just Washington figures.  Consider all the sister marches around the world.  My guess is the new president and Congress are going to have a rough go of it.  That’s a lot of energy out there.

Not to snag and paraphrase a famous saying but…a sleeping giant has been awakened and she is pissed.

Old soldiers’ perspectives: Pearl Harbor

MoonHowler

“The mothers suffered the most.”  I think the fathers suffer equally.  It’s hard to imagine that the ones who died were 17 and 18 years old.  That’s the age most kids graduate from high school.

Often Americans envision our military as “fighting men” when actually those men are really someone’s son or daughter.  When we are chest thumping and calling for blood, it is prudent to remember who really goes in on the front lines.

The survivors are few now.  Pearl Harbor is passing into the ages.
Another personal perspective

More reading:  Tom Brokaw:  Pearl Harbor is the birth place of America’s “Greatest Generation”

Pearl Harbor: 75th Anniversary

MoonHowler

After 9-11, I asked my mother how it was different from Pearl Harbor and if she knew at the time how Pearl Harbor was going to affect all of them. She said on that Sunday afternoon, none of them had any idea just how life-altering the attack on Pearl Harbor would be on their lives. Most people had never heard of Pearl Harbor.

“Pearl Harbor” would soon be a household word in every American home.  Yes, it was life-altering for just about everyone in the world at that time and for as much of the future as most of us can imagine.

75 years ago seems like ancient history to many people.  To put some of the passage of time into perspective, Pearl Harbor happened 80 years after the start of the Civil War.  Queen Elizabeth was a young woman driving an ambulance for her country.  She was still a princess.  My mother was going to marry my father in 6 months.  My father would enlist a year to the day after Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor will always be remembered and will always be a solemn day for America.

The first woman president….

MoonHowler
This baby will be able to vote
This baby will be able to vote!

I would be remiss not to  mention the significance of the woman issue on this blog.  Never before has a woman been one of the candidates from a mainstream political party.  Yes, it is a big deal.

I can remember when President Obama was first elected.  There in that park in Chicago, on election night, one could see famous blacks like Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey standing there listening to the newly elected first black president who addressing the huge crowd.  Tears were streaming down their faces.  It was then that I realized I would never understand how blacks, rich or poor, felt about seeing the election of a first black American president.

I thought about how I would feel if a woman were elected.  I didn’t think it would hit me quite as hard but it would hit me.  I guess I am now on the precipice of testing my theory.

This morning I though about my own personal history.  My grandmother was 30 years old before she could vote.  My mother was born just 4 months after the passage of the 19th amendment.    WWII began when women had only had the vote for  21 years.  Now on November 8, 2016, some 96 years after getting the right to vote, a woman could be elected president of the United States.

Yes, as a female, I am standing in awe.  I don’t think I will cry when it happens.  I am not that moved.  However, the special social  and political significance is not lost on me.  It’s about damn time!

Zika prompts intense abortion debate in Latin America

MoonHowler

011516-Zika virus_1

Washingtonpost.com:

RIO DE JANEIRO — Across Latin America, calls to loosen some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world in the face of the Zika virus outbreak are gaining momentum but encountering strong and entrenched opposition.

In El Salvador, where abortions are banned under any circumstance, the health minister has argued for a revision of the law because of the dangers the virus poses to fetal development.

In Colombia, an organized movement to lift restrictions on abortion has gained allies in the government but has run into determined opposition from religious authorities. The same is happening in Brazil — and some doctors say that as a consequence, illegal, back-alley abortions are on the rise.

Nearly everywhere in Latin America, including in those countries hit hardest by Zika, women who wish to terminate their pregnancies have few legal options. But as U.N. health officials have projected as many as 4 million infections in the Americas this year, activists are pressing lawmakers to act as swiftly as possible to ease rigid restrictions.

Read More

WaPo reporter Jason Rezaian released and headed home

MoonHowler


Christian Science Monitor:

TEHRAN AND VIENNA — Iran will release four detained Americans in exchange for seven Iranians held or charged in the United States, U.S. and Iranian officials said Saturday in a major diplomatic breakthrough announced as implementation of a landmark nuclear deal appeared imminent. A fifth American detained in Iran, a student, was released in a move unrelated to the swap, U.S. officials said.

Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, whose name had not been previously made public, were to be flown from Iran to Switzerland aboard a Swiss aircraft and then transported to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for medical treatment, U.S. officials said.

Rezaian’s wife and mother were expected to be on the plane.

This breakthrough is indeed good news. It is time for Iran to start behaving itself and stop acting like a rogue terrorist nation.

Good for Team America for implementing the release of these captives.    Hopefully their health is good and their homecoming uneventful.

Sometimes these international issues take diplomacy.  Too many people often want to throw on their proverbial “sh!t-kicker” boots and go barging in, risking the safety of the very people they want to rescue.

Multiculturalism: A rose by any other name?

MoonHowler

multi

Huffingtonpost.com:

In an address to the Christian Democratic Union on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to limit the flow of refugees entering the country, addressing critics in her own party who have questioned her decision to open Germany’s borders.

As a top economic and political power, Germany has a “humanitarian imperative” to accept people fleeing turmoil in Syria, Merkel said. Yet after accepting roughly 1 million refugees so far this year, she added that the country must now “noticeably reduce” the number of new arrivals.

In comments The Guardian translated into English, Merkel said refugees will have to make an effort to assimilate into German society. She also dismissed the idea of multiculturalism, which in parts of Europe is associated with a policy of encouraging distinct cultural groups to live in separate communities.

“Those who seek refuge with us also have to respect our laws and traditions, and learn to speak German,” she said. “Multiculturalism leads to parallel societies, and therefore multiculturalism remains a grand delusion.”

Read More

Anti-refugee bill on house fast track

MoonHowler

congress icon

Politico.com:

The fallout from the Paris terrorist attacks will begin to play out on the House floor Thursday as the chamber is set to approve a bill to block any refugees from Syria or Iraq from entering the country unless they pass a strict background check and receive government certification.

The bill, which was crafted by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), is expected to pass with a big bipartisan margin. A sizable number of Democrats are likely to cross the aisle and vote for it, despite White House opposition, said lawmakers in both parties. Some rank-and-file Democrats are concerned about looking soft on national security even as French authorities continue to track down suspects from last week’s deadly attacks.

Read More

The Refugee situation: Changes in Attitude…Changes in Lattitude

MoonHowler

 

1938 refugees

Washingtonpost.com:

 

The results of the poll illustrated above by the useful Twitter account @HistOpinion were published in the pages of Fortune magazine in July 1938. Fewer than 5 percent of Americans surveyed at the time believed that the United States should raise its immigration quotas or encourage political refugees fleeing fascist states in Europe — the vast majority of whom were Jewish — to voyage across the Atlantic. Two-thirds of the respondents agreed with the proposition that “we should try to keep them out.”

To be sure, the United States was emerging from the Great Depression, hardly a climate in which ordinary folks would welcome immigrants and economic competition. The events of Kristallnacht — a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms in areas controlled by the Nazis — had yet to take place. And the poll’s use of the term “political refugees” could have conjured in the minds of the American public images of communists, anarchists and other perceived ideological threats.

But look at the next chart, also tweeted by @HistOpinion. Two-thirds of Americans polled by Gallup’s American Institute of Public Opinion in January 1939 — well after the events of Kristallnacht — said they would not take in 10,000 German Jewish refugee children.

Read More

Another government shutdown?

MoonHowler

Politico.com:

A cascade of Republicans on Monday implored the Obama administration to scrap plans to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States next year, saying they pose an unacceptable security risk in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

And, in a dramatic twist, the sudden standoff is raising the possibility of a government shutdown next month.

Throughout the day a host of Republican governors around the country, wary that refugees could end up in their home states, blasted President Barack Obama’s plans. But those governors lack real sway over the process, and some are asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to insert a provision in the Dec. 11 spending bill that would bar more Syrian settlers.

Read More