Legalized Xenophobia Then and Now
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, IS THE 80th ANNIVERSARY of one of most shameful chapters in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. In deciding Korematsu v. United States on this day in 1944, the Court had to ignore the Constitution.
By a vote of 6-3, the Court ruled that forcing more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent out of their homes on the West Coast into concentration camps, based on nothing other than where they, or their parents or grandparents had been born, was not a violation of their constitutional rights.
Bad enough that the federal government was guilty of blatant racial discrimination in a time of national crisis; the evil was compounded by the Court’s logic-chopping approval, which shows that the Constitution can be a useless shield in times of national hysteria, a lesson that resonates loudly today. https://xxxxxx.org/2018-07-02/legalized-xenophobia-poster-week
Gramsci’s Dialectic of Hope
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, IS THE 95th ANNIVERSARY of the leading Italian Communist and anti-fascist Antonio Gramsci writing to his younger brother Carlo, “I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” At the time, in 1929, Gramsci had been in fascist prison for more than three years, convicted by a military tribunal of “incitement of class hatred.” As he probably understood, he was almost certain to remain a prisoner for the rest of his life unless Italy’s fascist government was overthrown.
It was not the first (or the last) time Gramsci would emphasize the interaction between understanding and aspiration, the importance of achieving a synthesis of pessimism and optimism that transcends each of them. “My mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic, he wrote. “Whatever the situation, I imagine the worst that could happen in order to summon up all my reserves and will power to overcome every obstacle." https://xxxxxx.org/2018-02-06/why-antonio-gramsci-marxist-thinker-our-times
‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, IS THE 55th ANNIVERSARY of Peter, Paul & Mary’s single rendition of “Leaving on a Jet Plane” rising to position No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It was only in 1969 that Peter, Paul & Mary’s cover of the ballad (which had been written and recorded by John Denver in 1966) was perceived as an anthem protesting the U.S. War against Vietnam. As such, it was Peter, Paul & Mary’s biggest hit. You can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/IVEATF7VNTk?si=sH-6NFlu2u2VVYQm
Mass Deportations by the U.S. – in 1919??
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, IS THE 105th ANNIVERSARY of the U.S. government’s mass deportation, of 249 radicals, including Emma Goldman and Alexander Bergman, to Soviet Russia.
At the time, the U.S. alleged that Goldman’s deportation was legal under the terms of the Anarchist Exclusion Act, but there was one catch. Goldman was a naturalized U.S. citizen, and the Anarchist Exclusion Act only allowed the deportation of non-citizens.
The federal government did some hand-waving to “prove” that Goldman’s citizenship was no longer valid, and Goldman decided it would be hopeless for her to try to prove she was still a citizen in the face of the government’s opposition. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/goldman/index.htm
CIA Lawlessness Exposed
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, IS THE 50th ANNIVERSARY of stunning revelations about the U.S. government’s crimes against a large assortment of U.S. citizens.
According to a New York Times article, for seven years the CIA had been conducting clandestine warfare against the anti-Vietnam War movement, other leftists, and thousands of people who were deemed potential “enemies,” including members of Congress.
The long article by Seymour Hersh, which he followed up with more than 30 articles with additional details, struck a nerve. Two days after it was published, the man who had been running the CIA’s domestic spying operation, James Angleton, resigned. Two weeks later, in an attempt to save face, the Ford administration created the President's Commission on CIA Activities within the US. Three weeks after that, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to appoint a special committee, headed by Frank Church, to conduct its own investigation.
Years later, when the dust settled, hardly anyone’s wrist had been slapped for the CIA’s illegal behavior, but the general public knew a lot more than it had about the CIA’s ability to break the law and get away with it. https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/the-cias-long-and-dangerous-history-of-refusing-to-answer-absurdly-obvious-questions
Will Boeing Ever Come Clean?
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, IS THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of the day that the Boeing Company’s aeronautical crime spree began to seriously backfire.
It was the day in 2019 when Boeing management ran out of fantastic excuses for the undeniable fact that its newest passenger jet, the 737MAX, was a death trap. Twice in the previous year, brand-new 737s had, in perfect flying conditions, mysteriously nose-dived and taken 346 people to an early grave.
Boeing had been largely successful in denying anything was wrong until the New York Times featured the headline, "At Boeing, C.E.O.’s Stumbles Deepen a Crisis" on page 1. Before the end of the day Boeing’s CEO was out of a job.
Boeing’s firing of its CEO turned out to be too-little-too-late. Before long the U.S. Department of Justice accused Boeing of a criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in connection with the 737MAX fiasco. Boeing and the Justice Department negotiated about the penalty Boeing would have to pay if it was allowed to plead guilty to the conspiracy, and they reached an agreement last summer. But on Dec. 5, 2024, a federal district judge rejected what he clearly saw as a sweetheart deal that let Boeing off easy. Stay tuned. https://www.planetcompliance.com/investigation-boeing-culture/
Giving Peace a Chance
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, IS THE 110th ANNIVERSARY of a day that frightened the commanders of the British, French, and German armies out of their wits.
It was the first Christmas Eve since the beginning of World War 1. Deadly trench warfare had been going on for five months and the troops hated the idea of spending Christmas slaughtering each other.
Many of them did what any sane person would do. They put their weapons down, climbed out of their trenches, walked across no-man’s-land, and shook hands with the “enemy.” Along vast stretches of the front, the fighting came to a complete halt.
On Christmas Day, British, French and German soldiers played what people in the U.S. call soccer in between the trenches, while the military brass was stricken with impotent apoplexy. The brass needn’t have worried; the shooting started again the next day and continued almost without cease for the next 46 months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce
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