Hiroshima

There is a new book on the A-bombing of Hiroshima out in January. It is The Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino. The problem is that many believe it is based on faulty source material. Much of the book is based on accounts from a Joseph Fuaco who claims he was a substitute engineer for James Corliss who was the regular engineer on one of the planes that accompanied the Enola Gay. The historial record and the Corliss family insist that Corliss was on that flight that day and not Fuaco. The book makes the claim that there was an "accident" prior to the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. That accident "...killed one American and irradiated others" and caused the destructive power of the bomb to be "...greatly reduced...".

(Source: "Doubts Raised on Book's Tale of Atom Bomb" by William Broad. New York Times online on 2/20/10)

New Deal Legislation

In an article about the rising of popular discontent as indicated by the "Tea Party" movement, The Nation magazine makes the following comment about FDR and New Deal laws; "It was unsanctioned moblization of people that drove congress and FDR to go further than they had intended in passing such landmarks as Social Security and labor rights for working people. In 1933 the American Bankers Association led the fight against federal insurance of bank deposits. 'Unsound, unscientific, unjust and dangerous' the ABA thundered. Federal Reserve officials objected to the measure too. Even the Roosevelt admin declined to endorse it. Congress enacted it anyway, knowing how angry people were at losing everything in...bank failures". (How could the ABA object when someone else was going to back them up?)

(Source: "Political Fever" by William Greider. The Nation magazine 2/15/10).

Update on Citizens United case

Pres Obama referred to "one hundred years" of law being overturned by the recent Citizens United Supreme Court case. It would seem that may be determined by the passage of the Tillman Act of 1907-under TR. This act "...banned corporate donations to federal campaigns". The McCain-Feingold Act of 2002 on campaing contributions was "...partly overturned". The Citizens United decision brought up another issue; that being the rule that corporations are individuals in regard to free speech rights. That point was first made in 1886 in the Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company case. The issue here is "corporate personhood". Another case of interest here is the Buckley v. Valeo ruling of 1976 stating that "...the expenditure of money is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment" (but burning a draft card was not protected; O'Brien v. US 1968). The Valeo case "...allowed individuals unlimited spending in pursuit of political ends...".

(Source: "Democracy Inc" editorial. "Corpus Ex Machina" by Patricia J. Williams. The Nation on 2/15/10).

Hollywood and Discrimination

I recently viewed the movie "Casablanca" and wondered about the career of Dooley Wilson. Wilson, an African American, played the piano player and sidekick of the Humphrey Bogart character. Wilson was "Sam". Another supporting actor in the movie was Sydney Greenstreet who played Ferrari; he owned the Blue Parrot nightclub. Wilson was paid $ 350 a week for 7 weeks while Greenstreet was paid $ 3750 a week (and this was liberal Hollywood?).

(Source: Wikipedia on 2/17/10)

Right to Privacy

Five times prior to the establishment of a right to privacy in 1965-Griswold v. Conn.-the Supreme Court laid the foundation for claiming this right. In 1923 they ruled that parents had the right to teach their own children a foreign language- Meyer v. Nebraska. In 1925 they ruled that parents could send their children to a private school-Pierce v. Society of Sisters. In 1942 they ruled that a person of limited intelligence could procreate-Skinner v. Oklahoma. In 1952 they ruled a person could resist "certain invasions of the body"-Rochin v. California. In 1964 they ruled that a person had the right to travel abroad-Aptheker v. Secretary of State. In addition the court twice passed on the opportunity to establish this right, once in 1943 and again in 1961. Thus when the Griswold ruling came out it was not out of the blue.

(Source: The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States 1992 edition).

Eugenics

I came across this Supreme Court case while researching privacy cases. In 1927 the US Supreme Court ruled that Carrie Buck could be sterialized because, as Oliver Wendall Holmes said, she came from "...three generations of imbeciles...". A lower court described the family as "...shiftless, ignorant, and worthless class of anti-social whites in the south". The case was Buck v. Bell (1927). The wider significance of this case is that after the ruling and Carrie Buck's sterialization "...numerous states passed similiar laws and Nazi Germany gave the fullest sweep to the argument".

(Source: The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States 1992 edition. Page 98).

General George McClellan

While reading a history of the United States from 1934, I came across an interesting point about Gen McClellan by Gen Robert E. Lee. The author states; "In truth, Lee had the highest regard for McClellan. Some years after the war he expressed the opinion that McClellan was the best commander the Army of the Potomac ever had and that among his opponents he was the ablest. Indeed, any man who could take such heavy toll of Joseph E. Johnston and Robert E. Lee as McClellan inflicted in almost every battle was no ordinary soldier. Furthermore, few commanders have won the heart of a great army as McClellan won that of the Army of the Potomac". (Is the compliment accurate? I don't know)

(Source: History of the United States by Asa Earl Martin. Published in 1928, 1934 and 1946 by
Ginn and Company. Page 856)

Senator Joseph McCarthy

The republican senator from Wisconsin claimed, 60 years ago, that he knew of "206 card-carrying communists" who worked in the US State Department. As we know he said this in a speech he gave in West Virginia. Shortly thereafter he wrote to President Truman and said he had the names of 57 communists. On Feb 20, 1950 he told congress that he had a list of 81 commies. "When Congress actually started to investigate, the list shrank to 10 names". Even though there was no proof of the charges "...many of the accused lost their jobs and reputations". "McCarthyism now describes the practice of using unsubstantiated accusations of subversive activity to discredit an opponent".

(Source: "Did You Know" by Jan Housewerth from The Record on 2/8/10).

"Sexting"

An interesting First Amendment case might be in the making in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. A decision would effect NJ, PA, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands. The court is presently considering whether "...teens can be prosecuted...for taking their own photos and sending them to their friends". Sexting is the ..."cell phone messaging of either explicit photos or words". How is this be be considered? Is it "...constitutionally protected speech or a public safety concern..." that the law must deal with. Some say it is teenage indiscretion and others say it is child porn. (For those who think the First Amendment is dull, think again).

(Source: "Sexting" by Kibret Markos of The Record on 2/3/10).

Wartime Conscription

I have come across, from time to time, reference to the wartime conscription of women in England during WWII. A short front page article in a 1945 newspaper was headlined, "England to stop draft of all over 30". It stated, "conscription for men and women for war jobs under Britain's national service law" has been discontinued. "No British women have been called up for a considerable time". (I will try to find more on this).

(Source: Headline above. The Philadelphia Inquiror on April 13, 1945).