Sanitized History

Gettysburg

When Trump says that the removal of Confederate statues is destroying our history, what he means is that it is destroying his view of history, the mostly white, sanitized view of history. What we learn as children, teens, and young adults often stays with us our entire life, even if it is wrong. 

What triggered this post is a very interesting article in The Atlantic titled "What Trump's Generation Learned About the Civil War". I happen to be of that generation too and can attest to the points the article makes. While I did not go to public school in New York or even go to public school in Florida where I lived, the viewpoint and tone of the history books were similar. I went to Catholic schools from kindergarten through high school, 13 years. I'll be honest here, I do not remember specifics of what was taught about the Civil War, but the Confederate States of America (CSA) leaders, politicians, and military officers were not portrayed as bad guys. Grant was no more noble or right than Lee. Reconstruction was evil and the carpetbaggers were the devils. I can not recall any mention of Jim Crow laws. There was ambiguity about what caused the war. Being Catholic schools, they may have been more condemning of the KKK since Catholics were also the Klan's target along with Blacks and Jews.

Col. John S. Mosby, CSA

I've mentioned before that I wrote a high school history term paper about Col. John Mosby, the Grey Ghost, of the CSA. I did significant research at the library in those pre-internet and pre-Google days. I had to go to the main library downtown to do the research. A beautiful but very cramped and musty Carnegie library building. The paper would have been written in late 1963 or early 1964. Amazingly, I still have that paper and reread it. My Mom saved everything. I do mention that Mosby was opposed to slavery and was somewhat torn between the Union and Virginia. Obviously, he chose the CSA. The paper does not go into the rhymes or reasons for the Civil War. It is 10 typed pages plus footnotes and a bibliography of 10 books. Not once do the words "Civil War" appear in the paper. It is mostly a recount of Mosby's exploits along with his Mosby's Rangers. No moral judgment or even expression of my views of the Civil War. I did conclude that Col. Mosby was a brilliant and successful military leader whose efforts prolonged the war. BTW, I got an A on the term paper. Not a foregone result during my academic career.

I suspect that if a high school student today was given the assignment of documenting Mosby or any other CSA military leader, there would be more information and opinion about the Civil War in general.

The article in The Atlantic also points out that the post Civil War history taught in the 1950's and 60's was not critical of whites, except for the Carpetbaggers, during Reconstruction or the Jim Crow years. The KKK was sometimes criticized for their methods but not for their reasons or beliefs. The draconian Jim Crow laws were barely mentioned or completely ignored. Blacks, while technically free and equal, were still considered inferior. Besides the slant of the white point of view, Blacks were mostly ignored completely. According to those history texts, Blacks contributed little or nothing to the nation.

This is what was taught to the white children of the Boomer generation and before, both in the North and the South. It appears that Trump and many others took the "facts", omissions, interpretations, and opinions in those school history books to heart and have clung to those views to this day. I continued to study and read about the Civil War into my adulthood. What started as a pro-CSA and Southern view, has evolved to see what the Civil War and those who seceded from the USA were really about. It was slavery, pure and simple. After the Civil War loss and Reconstruction, it was about doing everything possible to keep the African-American population suppressed. They certainly succeeded in influencing the history textbook authors. 

If you are a Boomer, think back on your American History classes and textbooks. With the perspective of 2017, maybe it is time to review those "facts". 

The current demonstrations and removal of Civil War statues it is not about destroying history, it is about unsanitizing the last 150 years.

wjh

Trump & Afghanistan

On 8-21, President Trump made a speech about the continuing military actions of the US in Afghanistan. The speech was purported to be a reveal of our new policies and actions in that country. As Trump pointed out, the war is the longest in US history at almost 17 years.

I am not a Trump supporter but this speech was better than most he delivers. By that I mean he didn't say anything stupid or offend large segments of the country. 

The beginning section of the speech had nothing to do with Afghanistan. Instead, Trump talked about prejudices, race, integrated military, brothers and sisters, the American family, regardless of race, camaraderie, ethnicity, color or creed. It was obvious that he was doing damage control for his complete fumble of the Charlottesville events. Then he bitched about the situation he inherited, a few times. He stuck to the script completely. 

As for the policy changes in our approach to Afghanistan, I'm not sure what they are or what they mean. My takeaway from the speech are these points:

• No specific timetable
• No specific troop numbers
• A change in our relationship with Pakistan
• More involvement by India
• Free up military commanders in the field to make more decisions
• Fight to win
• Ask allies to for more support. Money and troops
• No more nation-building

With the exception of more local commanders decision making, I'm not sure what any of the other points mean. Trump did say that we would not withdraw from Afghanistan prematurely.

In my opinion, it was a typically vague Trump speech. Regardless of almost any outcome in Afghanistan, he will say that is what he meant. If we are successful, he will take credit for it. If we continue to flounder with no real progress he will say he never promised any specific goals or achievements. 

In the scheme of Trump's administration, it was a successful speech. He stuck to the teleprompter. We'll have to wait to see if and when any real changes occur in Afghanistan either in approach, intensity or troop levels. 

I hope whatever strategy Trump and the military have in mind works. The efforts so far have not been our country's finest hours. It seems we are in the same position we were about six months after the conflict began. We certainly don't need to have combat troops, in harm's way, in Afghanistan for another 16 years. 

Make Afghanistan great again. 

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Nuclear War

Are we entering another serious nuclear crisis?

Way back in the dark ages the world had a nuclear showdown. Thankfully that did not end in a nuclear war. I am referring to the Cuban Missile Crisis. It happened in October 1962. The whole crisis lasted about two weeks. In the end, the Russians backed down, we compromised, and the world let out a collective sigh of relief. That outcome was very much in doubt right up until it happened.

Russia and the United States, both nuclear powers, had been engaged in a cold war since the end of World War II. The tensions kept building until this 1962 event. Briefly, the crisis was preceded by the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961 and the deployment of US missiles in Italy and Turkey. Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, requested that Russia deploy missiles in Cuba to protect against another invasion. USSR Premier Nikita Khrushchev finally agreed. US reconnaissance planes confirmed that missile facilities were being constructed in Cuba. At that point, the US established a blockade on any offensive weapons entering Cuba. There were Soviet ships on their way to Cuba when the blockade was put into effect. No one knew what would happen when the US Navy ships tried to stop the Soviet ships. 

After days of very tense and intense negotiations, the Soviets agreed to dismantle and return the missiles to the Soviet Union. Their ships turned around. The United States agreed not to invade Cuba. They also removed the missiles from Italy and Turkey.

It was a real crisis with Khrushchev and President Kennedy staring each other down. Who would blink first? I lived in Florida at the time of the Cuban Missle Crisis and it was a nervous time. Military reserves were called up, troops and ships were very visibly deployed to the area. Jacksonville, where I was, had three Navy bases at the time. Two Naval Air Stations and a port. We figured at least some of those Cuban missiles would be aimed at us.

Thankfully cooler heads and logic triumphed and a devastating war was averted. Kennedy and Khrushchev came to a reasonable agreement. As an aside, because of this crisis, the hotline, the red phone, between Washington and Moscow was established. The Cold War has ebbed and flowed, but there have been no close calls with Russia since then.

So fast forward to the summer of 2017 and it's beginning to feel a little like the fall of 1962.

Now it appears that we are at least approaching another missile crisis. This time between North Korea and the United States. The North Koreans continue to test intercontinental ballistic missiles and atomic weapons. They are either already or very close to being able to deliver an atomic warhead to the continental United States. 

President Trump insists that that is unacceptable and there will be dire consequences unless North Korea stops the missile and atomic testing. The United States has unilaterally imposed sanctions on North Korea and the UN has also imposed sanctions. With almost every new test, the sanctions have been ratcheted up. Mostly to no avail. With each new round of sanctions, Kim Jong-un, North Korean dictator, becomes more belligerent. 

Let's forget the missiles and nukes for a moment. North Korea has thousands of conventional weapons that are aimed at South Korea. They can also attack Japan and other Southeast Asian US allies. Millions could be killed even without the use of nuclear weapons. It doesn't look like there are any good options to ending this crisis. 

Right now we do not know exactly what North Korea's capabilities are. Accurate intelligence of that very closed and isolated society is difficult and we have been mostly wrong so far about North Korea's capabilities and the timeline of their advances.  

Both Trump and Kim Jong-un are exchanging threats and ultimatums. There don't appear to be any diplomatic talks taking place. Although all 15 UN Security Council country's voted in favor of the latest sanctions, Kim Jong-un seems to have singled out the United States as the primary enemy. 

In response to the latest North Korean tests and rhetoric, Trump said: "They will be met with the fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before."  Another case of undercutting Secretary of State Tillerson who is encouraging diplomatic talks.

But within hours of Mr. Trump's threat North Korea's military said it was "carefully examining" a plan to strike the US Pacific territory of Guam with missiles.

Both sides are rattling their sabers and talking (yelling) at each other, not with each other. That is what is most scary to this old guy who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960's. 

During that Cuban conflict, there were direct talks before during and after the crisis between the USSR and the US. The leaders of both countries were stable and experienced politicians. They both were primarily concerned with the welfare of their countries and the world. Yes, Khrushchev was a tyrant and had done brutal things to those who opposed him, but he was a staunch nationalist. He wanted the USSR and Mother Russia to continue on. Kennedy had a huge ego and wanted to win at almost all costs, but not at the cost of a nuclear war. Both men had been involved in World War II. They knew the horrors of even a conventional war. They had both seen the devastation of the nuclear attacks on Japan.

This time around, we have two leaders who have egos the size of a continent, impulsive and erratic personalities, knee jerk reactions to criticism or confrontation, little or no experience in their position, no sense or knowledge of history, no diplomatic skills and most of all, no inclinations to give an inch or appear to be the least bit weak. 

I'm not feeling real good about this whole situation. The main players on both sides scare me. There is no such thing as a small nuclear conflict. In the case of even a conventional conflict, Seoul, South Korea, could have hundreds of thousands or millions of casualties and economic and property devastation. This is not a fake news, video game situation. Let's hope that more grounded and capable advisors can temper the actions of these two leaders. If not, I fear one or both will be reaching for that big red button. The whole world will suffer. 

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Loyalty?

After the firing of Reince Priebus, it seems as if one needs to be a family member or a general to stay on Trump's payroll.

Let's delve into this. Just recently, Sean Spicer and Reince were fired &/or resigned. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is under full blown attack. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is probably not long for the cabinet either. Neither is family or a general. 

If I were Steve Bannon or Kellyanne Conway I'd be a little nervous too. Although Trump demands loyalty from his staff, he has absolutely no loyalty to them. He will praise folks in public and then throw them under the bus the next day. 

Sessions was the first established Washington politician to endorse Trump. He did it when Trump and his candidacy was still mostly a joke. Priebus changed course and worked to get the whole GOP and RNC behind Trump even before he got the nomination. Kellyanne Conway went on every TV news program and lied for Trump. Spicer was made to lie to the press as his very first official assignment. They defended the indefensible. They spun the unspinable. For that, they have been fired or marginalized. 

The man who wants undying loyalty from others doesn't have a single loyal bone in his body. It is all about Trump, Trump, Trump, and then a lot more Trump. Me, me, me, I, I, I, is the agenda. There is certainly no we or us in Trump.

I'm not sure if Trump's behavior and methods will survive. I'm hopeful that anyone with even a shaky moral compass will refuse to work for Trump. If they do feel the pull of public service is compelling, that they will call out Trump and do the right thing.

I'm not overly hopeful. Trump is completely unqualified to hire the right people. He bragged during the campaign that he knew the smartest and best people. How is he doing so far? 

His latest hire, Anthony Scaramucci, seemed to be working out very well. He basically set the West Wing on fire his first week. The bad news is that Ivanka and Jared Kushner endorsed the Mooch. So much for a steadying and moderating influence from those family members.

As soon as John Kelly was named Chief of Staff and objected to the Mooch, Trump turned his back on Pitbull Scaramucci too. Word has it that Ivanka and Jared abandoned Scaramucci too. Lack of loyalty seems to run in the family. 

At least for the moment, John Kelly is Trump's BFF. That doesn't appear to be a long term position. The general should be very careful.

Trump is a walking contradiction. The loyalty issue is no different. His talk and actions do not square up. If you work in the Trump administration, keep your resume up to date and handy.

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Even More Winning

A recap of more "winning" items for Trump, his administration and the GOP beginning in early July 2017.

• Isn't it ironic that the Trump's are having their own email scandal?
• Mitch McConnell introduces new version of Senate no-healthcare TrumpCare bill. Probably because the original version was so popular.
• Opening up about questionable behavior when someone else is about to reveal it is not transparency, it is cover your ass behavior, aka Donald Trump, Jr. 
  
• The Trump, Jr. Russian meeting story changes almost every day in both content and participants. More examples of a far less than transparent handling of the issue.
• Trump administration and family lawyers are coming and going. Seems everybody now has a private lawyer. At least Trump is creating jobs. 
• The various lawyers and legal teams are jockeying for position and power. They and the administration members are often contradicting each other.
• Trump wants the border wall to be both solar and transparent. That should be easy.
• He wants the wall to be transparent so that Americans walking along the wall will not be hit by the large bags of drugs being thrown over the wall. Is that an actual problem? 
• Mitch McConnell has to again postpone a vote on Trumpcare. This time because Senator McCain is absent. Republicans can't afford to lose a single vote.
• Oops, seems even with McCain's vote, the Republicans can not muster enough votes to pass their no-healthcare bill. Trumpcare is dead for the time being, again.
• Trump declares a "Made in America" week, how much of his or Ivanka's merchandise qualified?
• Close the border Trump policy has to issue thousands of additional H2B visas to fill job openings. Hope none of those visas go to any Muslims.
• The new GOP no-healthcare policy is to let Obamacare fail with significant sabotage by the administration and lack of funding by Congress.
• Trump throws Attorney General Jeff Sessions under the bus. He also warns Special Counsel Robert Mueller not to delve into Trump family finances.
• Almost immediately, it becomes public that Mueller is investigating the Trump finances.  
• Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigns. 
• Anthony Scaramucci named White House communications director despite objections from Spicer, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, and others in the administration.
• Son-in-law Jared Kushner questioned by Senate investigators about contacts with Russian officials. 
• Trump uses the speeches at the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier commissioning ceremony and the Boy Scout Jamboree as partisan campaign rallies. Classless.
• Suggests that he will fire Tom Price, Secretary of Health and Human Services, if he can't persuade GOP Senators to pass an Obamacare repeal/replace bill. 
• Trump bans transgender people from serving in the US military.
• Trump keeps up a steady stream of Tweets criticizing Attorney General Sessions.
• Senate once again fails to Repeal or Replace Obamacare. 
• New chief Pitbull, Anthony Scaramucci, in a profanity laced phone call, declares open war on Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and accuses him of leaking. Steve Bannon is also criticized. 
• The "skinny repeal" bill fails in the Senate. 
• No rebuke of the Mooch by Trump. 
• Reince Priebus is out as chief of staff. Did the Mooch win?
• Trump threatens to actively sabotage Obamacare by withholding reimbursement payments.
• Trump denies ever saying "repeal & replace" despite dozens of videos that contradict him.
• Anthony Scaramucci ousted as White House Communications Director after only 11 days on the job. 
• Technically, the Mooch got ousted before he even started. His official first day as Communications Director was supposed to be August 15th. That's like getting fired during your orientation.

Just another quiet month.

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