The United States of Racism

One of my heroes is Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Stricken by polio at an early age he did not let this devastating disease to keep him from his professional and personal goals. He was elected to the Presidency four times. He gave the country hope to survive the great depression and the very darkest years before and during WW II.  Historians agree that those years, when he was struggling with polio, allowed him to gain deep insights and develop much personal empathy for the American people and their very real personal and economic problems in the depths of the great depression. More on that in a future blog post.

In FDR's First Inaugural address (March 1933) he stated:
"I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days."

Eight years later, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan there was something other to fear other than fear itself.  The irrational and racist fear of Japanese citizens of the US. This lead to the Japanese Internment, ordered by FDR shortly after  the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was the forced relocation and incarceration in camps of about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast. More than 60% of whom were US Citizens. A truly shameful action all caused by irrational fear.

I do not think the United States is a racist country. Nor am I calling anyone a racist, though I could make a very long list. But there are so many examples in US History that irrational  fear directly results in shameful acts that endanger our freedom and the values that are the foundation of this country. 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." - US Declaration of Independence.

President John Adams, in the late 18th century signed the Alien and Sedition laws. They made it harder for an immigrant to become a citizen and allowed the President to imprison and deport non-citizens who were deemed dangerous. Even worse it criminalized making statements critical of the federal government.  At the time the US was a small and weak nation in a world of European super powers (England, France, Spain). But throwing out due process of law, not to mention the First Amendment was another shameful act.

The institution of slavery, the 100 years of Jim Crow after the Civil War, and the continuing fight for Civil Rights is a topic in it's own right. Institutionalized racism continues to exist. Shameful.

In 1882 the Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. After the Chinese came here the build the railroads they were told they were not wanted. Thanks for building the railroads. Now leave.  It was the first law implemented to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States. It was repealed in 1943.

The US has a long history of restricting immigration. The immigration act of 1924 imposed the first permanent numerical limits and began a national-origin quota system.  The law was primarily aimed at further restricting immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans especially Italians and Eastern European Jews. Jews trying to escape the Holocaust of Nazi Germany found the doors to the US slammed shut. See "While Six Million Died - A chronicle of American Apathy".
In addition, it severely restricted the immigration of Africans and outright banned the immigration of Arabs and Asians. 

In the 1950s, the fear of communism was the root cause of Senator Joseph McCarthy's shameful witch hunts against alleged communists in politics and the arts. Very few people stood up to him. See the Army-McCarthy hearings.

Now we come to Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim-majority nations.  A major statement of America's new posture towards Islam. This is NOT going to make us safer. It is going to do the exact opposite. It is going to only foster more radical Islamic fundamentalism.

Not to mention the the ban on ALL Syrian refugees means that the US is showing no compassion for the victims of this awful humanitarian crisis.

Just to be clear. It is a Muslim Ban. It is about Religion.  It is NOT about Terror.

Lastly, the incompetent way this was rolled out by the administration (total chaos) only portends more of the same. It's not like we did not know all about Trump's lack of policy experience and his total incompetence.

When will we ever learn?

Andrea Nicole Baker

"america first" and isolationism

Hearing the words "America First", in Trump's Inauguration speech, brought to mind many events in American History where uneducated people who think, because we live between two oceans we can retreat from the rest of the world. Not to mention those in the Midwest who feel themselves even more "insulated" from the rest of world.

I'll never forget, maybe 20 years ago, reading a letter to the editor in the local newspaper which suggested that we should be "Fortress America".  That we are so lucky we have two oceans between us and that we should build a giant wall all around the country. Obviously my first thoughts were that this person has no clue about how the US is so inter-connected with the rest of the world for trade, resources, security, our standard of living and so much more.  Can someone be truly so close-minded and ignorant of reality?

American isolationism in the 1930s and the "America First" committee is the most recent and stark example. The fact is that the Great Depression and the losses in WWI (especially that the Versailles Treaty to end WWI only guaranteed another World War) tilted US public opinion and policy towards isolationism. That meant non-involvement in Asian and European conflicts and also in International Politics.

In 1937 as the situation in Europe continued to grow worse and the Second Sino-Japanese War began in Asia,  President Roosevelt likened international aggression to a disease that other nations must work to “quarantine.”  

Enter the America First Committee (AFC) in 1940 which strongly opposed America's involvement in WW II. By that time  Hitler had invaded Poland (Sept 1939), and was marching through Europe.  The allies (Britain and France) were unable to resist the Nazi military. France had already capitulated. Russia had a non-aggression pact with Germany which allowed it to pursue its own expansionist interests. The majority of American opposed American entry in the war to help Britain.  The AFC opposed FDR and his lend-lease program which was to to help Britain with equipment but could not do much else with the current political climate.

There were several hundred chapters of the AFC in the US of which the great majority (2/3) would be in the Midwest. Charles Lindbergh served as the committee's principal spokesman.

A sacred trust - Richard Nixon's Betrayal and Treason

"People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. "

- On November 17, 1973, President Richard Nixon infamously denied any involvement in the Watergate scandal with his now timeless defense.  Of course, as we learned at the Watergate and impeachment hearings  in 1973-74 Nixon was the principal in the Watergate cover up.  In legal terms "Obstruction of Justice."

I have always held that Richard Nixon was the most morally corrupt person in the history of the Presidency. His fatal character flaws were his paranoia, his bigotry (his racial slurs and his southern strategy) and, for a public person, his inability to connect with people at a personal and humane level. 

Nixon's betrayal of the public trust fueled a general cynicism and antagonism that people have felt toward presidents and the federal government ever since.— Presidential historian Robert Dallek

The incredible thing is that his Presidency was not a failure. Both in foreign affairs and domestic policy he had some significant accomplishments. The openings to the USSR and China and the creation of the EPA are examples. Also, Nixon served his country in WW II.

Now we learn the truth of what we have always suspected which, in my opinion, is far worse that the Watergate cover up.   That Nixon sabotaged the 1968 Vietnam peace talks. This is the recent article in the NY Times.

“My God. I would never do anything to encourage South Vietnam “not to come to the table,” Nixon told Johnson, in a conversation captured on the White House taping system.

Nixon feared that the peace talks could give his opponent, Hubert Humphrey, an edge in the 1968 election.  New documents show that Nixon  intentionally scuttled negotiations to end the Vietnam War for political gain. On Oct. 22, 1968, he ordered Haldeman to “monkey wrench” the initiative. 
His actions violated federal law, which prohibits private citizens from trying to "defeat the measures "of the United States. In another word "Treason".  How many Americans and Vietnamese died needlessly for Nixon's  own political gains? 

At the Nixon-Frost set of interviews the most damning statement from Nixon was:
 "When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.  

According to Nixon the President is above the law.

"“A government of laws, and not of men.”   John Adams .
In his 7th “Novanglus” letter, published in the Boston Gazette in 1774 

This has been a primary element that has separated the United States from most every nation in History.

“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule.”  Gerald Ford Aug 9, 1974.
Of course, Ford gave Nixon a pardon not much later.  But that's a topic for another post.

We are now facing  the next four years of a President who not only is a minority president but has significant legitimacy issues.  Whose basic values are power and greed.  A true demagogue.
Will this be a country of laws or a county of powerful and rich people like the Roman (so-called) Republic?