Browsing: Politics

A Brief History On October 29, 1877, former Confederate States of America Army General Nathan Bedford Forrest died, but despite being an early member of the infamous racist organization, the Ku Klux Klan and serving as the first Grand Wizard of the notorious hate group, he had changed his tune, denying involvement with the Klan and denouncing the racism and violence associated with the KKK! Digging Deeper If you believe Nathan Bedford Forrest is something of a folk hero to White Supremacists, and conversely a hated and despised person by those seeking racial equality, you would be right!  Forrest’s contribution…

A Brief History On October 24, 1871, a number of Chinese immigrants to the United States (perhaps 17 to 20) were lynched in Los Angeles, California, the victims hanged by the neck until dead by a mob of White and Hispanic Americans.  The mob had heard that a Chinese man or men had shot a lawman and killed a rancher assisting that lawman while trying to effect the arrest of a Chinese man in the Chinatown section of LA known as “Calle de los Negros” (Street of the Blacks).  We previously discussed lynching in the United States, but recent events…

A Brief History On October 22, 1983, the Federal Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois was the scene of a tragedy when inmates overpowered and killed two corrections officers in two separate incidents.  This terrible incident resulted in the concept of the “Supermax” prison, short for “super-maximum security” in the United States Federal prison system (Bureau of Prisons).  The idea is to provide secure housing for the “worst of the worst,” prisoners that are either so dangerous, represent such a tempting target to assassins, extreme escape risks, or ones that are a danger to national and/or international security. Digging Deeper The “supermax”…

A Brief History On October 16, 2019, we take a critical look back at last night’s Democratic Presidential Debate among the 12 major candidates still remaining in the race for the Democratic nomination for President.  (Click link for full transcript.)  No earthshaking news this time, and no candidate was either blown out of contention or latched onto a rocket of success in the next poll, but we believe there were some definite winners and losers. Digging Deeper Loser, Senator Elizabeth Warren. As the co-front runner this time around, she was not immune to attacks from the other candidates, though the…

A Brief History On October 11, 1910, with aviation still in its infancy, President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt took a flight in a Wright Brothers airplane piloted by Archibald Hoxsey, a former auto mechanic from Illinois.  The flight, which took place near St. Louis, Missouri, was the first time an American President had ever flown in an airplane, starting a long tradition of US Presidents flying to vacations, international meetings, campaign events, and whatever other reason the Executive needs to travel. Digging Deeper Oddly enough, Roosevelt’s flight was not the first ever by a national head of state, as the Tsar…