Vietnam/Afghanistan

President Obama is seeking advice on the war in Afghanistan from Stanley Karnow, the Pulitzer Prize winning historian on the Vietnam War. BO has doubled the size of our force there and given Gen. Stanley McChrystal the task of reviewing our effort there and creating a plan for victory. The special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, made contact with Karnow for his advice. Historians have questioned the legitamacy of the Hamid Karzai government, and the recent elections there, and the preception of graft and corruption of that government. There is a comparison to an election in 1967 in Vietnam to lend popular support for a military regime there by "an imposed presidential election". It failed then. Karnow's book is Vietnam: A History. Karnow was asked what we learned from the Vietnam War and he replied; "We leaned that we shouldn't have been there in the first place. Obama and everybody else wants to be there. I don't".

(Source: "Vietnam scholar's advice sought" taken from McClathchy Newspapers. The Record on 8/7/09).

Homeland Security

Tom Ridge has published a memoir of his years in the Bush II admin called The Test of Our Times: American Under Seige and How We Can Be Safe Again. He says that "Bush cronies" pressed him to raise the terrot alert prior to the 2004 election. He says he refused (I thought it was raised). He notes he was the head of the "largest federal agency created since WW II". He also says he was "shut out of National Security Council meetings. The book "paints an unflattering picture of the politics behind securing our country".

(Source: "Protecting the Homeland" by Sachi Fujimori. The Record on 8/27/09)

Civil Rights Act 1964

The case that sparked passage of this landmark legislation was that of the three civil rights workers murdered in Jackson, Mississippi on June 21, 1964. They were James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner and they were in Mississippi to register black voters. This case is still open-referred to as a "cold-case"-and the FBI says it is still trying to prosecute it. "Four suspects remain alive" even thou the "key suspect"-Billy Wayne Posey-died recently. The case was the background for the movie "Mississippi Burning".

(Source: "Investigators won't drop 1964 civil rights killings". The Record 8/16/09)

Update: In 1967 Edgar Ray Killen was tried for these crimes. He was found not guilty of the charge of "violation of civil rights"; he wasn't even tried for murder. In 2004 he was tried again and found guilty of murder; he was at that time 80 years old. An interesting part of this trial is that the case was investigated and re-opened based on the work of a group of Chicago high school girls working on a research project for National History Day. Their work sparked the FBI to re-open the case. Information on National History Day can be found on http://nj.nhd.org or by phone at 973-720-3978)

(Source: "Make 21st century skills come alive" by Joan Ruddiman. NJEA Review Sept 2009)

Edward M. Kennedy 1932-2009

Ted Kennedy's parting words at the Democratic National Convention in 1980 are appropriate now to note his passing. "For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, and hope still lives, and the dream shall never die".

Robert Novak

An obituary. Novak was 78 and was known as a "die-hard conservative" (at least by this source) was also known as the "prince of darkness" by fellow columnists. He worked for the Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Sun Times and most recently was a co-host of CNN's "Crossfire". Recently he became a story in himself when he published the name of a CIA agent; a federal crime to my knowledge. The case of Valerie Plame was news during the second term of GW Bush and became famous because it appeared the Bush admin leaked her name in an effort to embarrass her husband who had criticized the reasons for going to war against Iraq. (To my knowledge neither he nor those who leaked her name were ever punished for the crime). In 2005 while working for "Crossfire" he swore on the air in a debate with James Carville; his last appearance on the program.

(Source: "Robert Novak, 78; columnist, 'Crossfire' host" by Barry Schwed and Will Lester. The Record on 8/19/09)

Woodstock

Woodstock music festival held its 40th anniversary this week. August 15-18 of 1968 was the "Aquarian Exposition" held in the town of Bethel, NY. The event was defined as a "counterculture utopia". There were 400,000-estimated-people at the event including my good friends Carol and Jim. (I was in Fort Hood, Texas at the time and being a nerd I probably would not have gone anyway). It is noted that two people died during the festival-one run over by a dump truck while he slept. One of the leaders of the Hog Farm commune, Hugh Romney AKA "Wavy Gravy", and his organization provided food and security. The security called "Please Force" used the password "I forgot". (My friends C & J went back this weekend; I wished they would haved asked me to go. I am a little less nerdy now).

(Source: "She left festival after 4 hours" by Mike Kelly in The Record on 8/17/09)