Browsing: Politics

A Brief History On June 14, 2017, in Alexandria, Virginia, a man belonging to a Facebook group called “Terminate the Republican Party” opened fire on several Republican members of Congress and their staffers, who were practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, scheduled for the next day.  Amidst this appalling act of violence, several heroes acted to prevent a bad situation from being potentially far worse.  This article honors those heroes! Digging Deeper The practice game had been underway for about half an hour when the assailant, identified as former Bernie Sanders-campaigner James Thomas Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois,…

A Brief History On June 16, 2010, Bhutan, a landlocked country in Asia and the smallest state located entirely within the Himalaya mountain range, became the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco. Digging Deeper Long before the enactment of the Tobacco Control Act of 2010, Bhutan’s government struggled against tobacco use.  In 1916, the first King of Bhutan Ugyen Wangchuck (r. 1907–1926) promulgated a ban on the “most filthy and noxious herb, called tobacco.” Just shy of a century later, 2010’s The Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan regulates tobacco and tobacco products, banning the cultivation, harvesting, production,…

A Brief History On May 31, 1866, Irish nationalists known as Fenian Brotherhood invaded Canada in an attempt to force Britain into granting Ireland independence. This invasion was not the first raid into Canada by the Fenians, an American based Irish Republican group, nor would it be the last, with raids starting in April of 1866 and continuing until 1871. Digging Deeper As many as 10,000 Irish Americans were involved in the Fenian movement, a movement motivated by the British crushing of the Irish Independence movement in 1865. Those Fenians involved with the raids were mostly battle hardened veterans of…

A Brief History On May 26, 1868, US President Andrew Johnson was acquitted at his impeachment trial by the narrowest of margins, one single vote. Johnson had been charged with 11 counts of “high crimes and misdemeanors” by the US House of Representatives and tried by the US Senate, the first time any US President had been impeached. Digging Deeper The next time a US President was impeached was when President Bill Clinton made the blunder of lying to Congress about his sexual relationship with intern, Monica Lewinsky. President Clinton was charged by the House of Representatives with 2 counts…

A Brief History On May 22, 2015, voters in Ireland passed a referendum legalizing same sex marriage. Digging Deeper With the passage of the Thirty Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland, the land of Shamrocks and Leprechauns became the first country in the world to legalize same sex (Gay) marriage by a direct vote of the people (referendum), meaning gay people have every right to be as miserable as everyone else!  (Kidding!) The gay marriage referendum passed with a 62.07% for and 37.03 against vote.  Turnout for the election was only 60% of registered voters, but that actually compares…