Reagan Shows the Union Who’s Boss (1981), On Vacation and Asleep at the Switch in Texas (2001), The Sniper Known as ‘Lady Death’ (1941), Police Brutality Gets an Official Work-Over (1931}, Taking a Baby Step Down the Slippery Slope (1961)
Oversize personalities converge, to introduce or, for most readers, reintroduce subject and author. Howard Zinn. Yet Zinn’s work and life stand against what Trumpians seek to do to US history and today’s hardly-surviving democratic institutions.
The Czar Saved His Neck, but Not Forever (1906), Major Demonstrations Need Lots of Planning, but Not Always (1970), If Ending Slavery Was Hard, Why Was Woman Suffrage Even Harder? (1866), A Big Step Down the Slippery Slope in Vietnam (1961)
Reader Comments: Soaring Gas Prices; Iran War; and now Push for Gilded Ballroom; New York City to Hold Free World Cup Fan Fests in Each Borough; Cartoons and more....
Last month, Vietnam marked the 58th anniversary of the Mỹ Lai massacre, when US soldiers killed hundreds of defenseless civilians. US public memory largely ignores the history of atrocities like Mỹ Lai, making it easier to repeat them in the future.
Imperialism does massive and fatal damage abroad. The wars in Gaza and Iran are the latest bloodbaths for all to see. Less visible are the wages of imperialism at home -Plans to plunder the planet of its land, labor, and vital resources are afoot.
The Trump administration’s miscalculation of Iran is not an anomaly. One of the oldest and most lethal traditions in international politics is the catastrophic gap between what leaders believe going in and what war actually delivers.
‘Do As We Say, Not As We Do’ (1981), Politics Was Never the Same (1951), The Civil War’s Cause, Explained Like It Really Was (1861), Mutiny in Vietnam Explained Away (1971), Reaganism Jump-Starts Central American Solidarity Work (1981)
In the first years of the war, it was more than coincidental that the frontline fighters were disproportionately Black. Still, the Pentagon was willing to tolerate Black soldiers only inasmuch as they forswore cultural expressions of Blackness.
The biggest lesson from this déjà vu moment? We must resist every one of Washington’s might-makes-right policies, and fight for an entirely different relationship between the US and the rest of the world.
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