WHO PAYS FOR THE BOOZE AND BALLOONS?

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In several days, the Republican National convention to nominate its candidate for President will begin. Soon thereafter, the Democratic Convention will be held.

The two events costly. Multi millions of dollars. All those balloons that come down upon the Presidential nominee and delegates cost money.

The national conventions have been referred to as summertime parties. And parties they are. Think back at the happy faces you have seen on television over the years.

The Nixon era focused on corruption in government. Political corruption. The evil of monies from major corporations and the wealthy.

At that time, the conventions cost reach party roughly $2 million. Congress came up with a scheme whereby taxpayer monies could be used to pay the cost of the conventions.

Taxpayers themselves would decide if they wanted their tax dollars used. The annual taxpayer form was amended to add a box. If a taxpayer wanted $3 of his tax dollars to go to pay for national political conventions, the box had to be checked.

The first year for those tax dollars to be used for the conventions was 1976. Each party received a little more than $2 million. Since that time the fund has grown.

Through the 2012 nominating conventions, the number contributing $3 grew to 33 million. The amount to each political party rose similarly.

The 1976 $2 million became $18,248,300 to each political party. A total of $36.5 million.

On top of which (there is always more), each party received directly from the federal government $50 million for security. Generally, for the streets outside the convention halls.

This brings the total the parties received in 2012 for convention purposes to $136 million.

The desire for a corruption free process to nominate Presidential candidates eroded over the years. In 1976 and the early years thereafter, convention costs were able to be paid out of taxpayer monies.

Then came a politically free spending Congress and a Supreme Court that held corporations are people. As such, they could contribute as much as they wanted. Even in the billions. Called free speech. Likewise, the very rich. Through PACs and corporations set up for that purpose.

In 2012, the Republican convention cost $74 million. The Democratic one $66 million. Note again only $18.2 million of taxpayer monies was available to each party. The almost 100 percent percent public funding of the conventions in 1976 became significantly lower in 2012. The 2012 tax dollars paid for 25 percent of the Republican convention and 28 percent of the Democratic convention.

The balance of monies needed came from big corporations and the very wealthy.

Prior to 2012, a simple rule was invoked as to how the taxpayer dollars were to be used. Generally, the dollars could be spent for anything inside the convention hall. Outside was the headache of others. The delegates, corporations and the wealthy.

Examples of the inside convention hall expenses included payroll for staff (in the millions), lodging (close to the million mark), catering, airfare, film production, banners, promotional items, photography services, floral arrangements, communication consultants, political consulting fees, music, production podium, gifts/trinkets, make up consultants, and entertainment.

The booze and balloons part of the above.

Now came 2014. Not a Presidential election year. Obama recognized that the conventions really did not need the taxpayer dollars any longer. Corporate and wealthy donors were more than sufficient to pay all convention costs.

Congress agreed with him. A bipartisan law resulted.

Obama signed a bill doing away with taxpayer monies coming out of the fund to pay the costs of national political conventions. The monies hence forth would be earmarked for pediatric research: Cancer, autism, fragile X syndrome, and other childhood diseases.

A noble effort on the surface.

Congressional Republicans said they wanted to ditch the political money and put children first. A joke. It would have been one of the first times in recent years if it were true. Think how many child programs were cut or eliminated by Republican majorities in recent years.

The monies were to go to the National Institutes of Health to distribute and oversee. The problem was Congress never authorized the money. Remember, the taxpayer dollars used for the conventions came from the $3 check off box. Pediatric research required direct Congressional appropriation.

Thus to this day, no monies, not one penny, have gone to pediatric research. Cause there ain’t no monies! None ever legislatively appropriated.

To answer the question raised in the title as to who would be paying for the booze and balloons this year, Corporate America and the very rich. Those that can afford it.

By so doing, the big corporations and very rich acquire additional influence over members of our government. Whether Republican or Democratic.

CAPTAIN BLIGH A GOOD GUY

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Hollywood has a tendency to play with the truth.

Hollywood has made several Mutiny on the Bounty movies over the years. All depicting William Bligh as a despicable mean naval captain.

Typical of the industry, Bligh was misrepresented. He was not the Charles Laughton of the 1935 movie, nor the Trevor Howard of the 1962 movie, nor the Anthony Hopkins of the 1984 movie. Bligh was a competent caring ship captain.

Fletcher Christian as portrayed by Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, and Mel Gibson respectively not quite the nice guy reflected in the films. Though not bad per se. I think in the end his penis got in the way of his judgment.

Bligh’s notoriety comes from his Bounty experiences. The Bounty was not his only court martial trial, however. Two more followed the Bounty episode.

The Bounty mutiny occurred in 1789. The second was the Spithead Mutiny in 1797. The third and last, the Rum Rebellion in 1808.

Bligh was exonerated/found not guilty in all three court martial trials. He was returned to duty in each instance.

He was a Lieutenant at the time of the Bounty mutiny. He thereafter captained eight major vessels rising in rank from Commodore to Admiral. Followed by appointment as Governor of New South Wales.

Not reflective of Hollywood’s Charles Laughton, Trevor Howard or Anthony Hopkins.

The Bounty was a small ship. Not even referred to as a ship. It was a cutlass. Had on board only one officer. A lieutenant. Bligh was the lieutenant. No Marine contingency. Marines were placed on ships to maintain security.

Fletcher Christian was on board the Bounty. He and Bligh had met in the early 1800s and became close friends. Fletcher a younger man. Fletcher was eager to learn navigation. Bligh took him under his wing.

The Bounty was headed for Tahiti. The purpose of the voyage was to obtain breadfruit which grew on Tahiti. Then return the breadfruit to slave islands in the Caribbean. The British government was hopeful the cheap breadfruit would suffice in feeding the slaves.

Bligh’s intent was to take the Bounty around South America’s Cape Horn and then onto Tahiti. Bad weather confronted the Bounty. Bligh could not get it around Cape Horn. He was required to change direction to South Africa and around its tip.

The change in course screwed up the Bounty’s time table. Involved was the breadfruit growing season. The Bounty arrived in Tahiti not at the end of a growing season. Relatively close to the beginning of the season. The Bounty was required to remain in Tahiti five months waiting for the breadfruit to reach harvesting time.

Fletcher was a Master’s Mate. Bligh gave him the added responsibility of being in charge of one of the three watches. In effect making Christian a sort of number 2 in authority.

The crew had nothing to do during the five months of wait. Tahiti was beautiful. A care free attitude existed among the natives. Love making was a constant activity. Sexual license pervasive.

The crew became accustomed to the hedonistic pace.

When the time came to leave Tahiti, the men were reluctant. They had found heaven on earth.

During the trip to Tahiti, Bligh might be described as a kinder captain that most in the British Navy. He punished sparingly. Never hung. Whipped where other captains would hang. Maintained a good diet for the men and strict sanitation on the ship.

He could not be labeled as cruel.

His one negative was that he could be abrupt and insulting.

Bligh’s nature and disposition had nothing to do with the mutiny. Most of the crew was reluctant to leave the idyllic life they were enjoying on Tahiti.

The Bounty did depart Tahiti. It did not get too far. In the middle of the night, Fletcher led the rebellion. Fletcher and some mutineers entered Bligh’s cabin, woke him, tied him and brought him upon deck.

Bligh chastised his friend Fletcher. Fletcher’s response was short…..I am in hell.

Bligh and most of the crew not supporting the mutiny were placed in a 23 foot launch. Too many bodies for such a small boat. They were given four cutlasses, food and water for a week, a quadrant, and a compass. No charts.

The Fletcher led mutineers returned to Tahiti. History tells us they lived the exotic life a while till Fletcher told them they had to leave to avoid discovery and arrest. Fletcher and the crew took their native loves and sailed off. History knows not where they went.

Bligh was a sailor of the first class. He was determined to get himself and his men home.

The nearest island with European settlers was Timor. 4,164 miles away. Bligh got the cutlass and men there. Only one died on the way. The trip took 47 days. Bligh and the crew survived on 1/12 pounds of bread per day. Bligh navigated the whole way. To this day considered a marvelous accomplishment.

The court martial honorably acquitted Bligh. Note was made that had there been more officers and a Marine detachment, the mutiny would never have occurred.

A small number of crewmen were found guilty. Only three hung. Found guilty not of mutiny, but barratry. Barratry was defined as the misappropriation by those entrusted with the care of a ship to the detriment of the owner (British Crown).

Bligh was returned to duty as a captain of a larger vessel.

Bligh was to stand court martial a second time in a mutiny situation in 1797. Bligh was captain of the HMS Director. Several other ships were involved in the mutiny. The mutiny referred to as the Spithead Mutiny.

The mutiny had nothing to do with Bligh personally. The crews mutinied for more pay and an end to brutality.

Bligh was found not guilty and returned to sea duty as captain of an even larger vessel.

Bligh’s competency and leadership were recognized by the British government in 1805 when he was appointed as Governor of New South Wales. New south Wales was near or a part of Australia.

New South Wales had a high society consisting of colonists and senior officers of the New South Wales Corp.

They were stealing the island and British government blind.

Bligh was confrontational. Actually pissed off. He ordered them to cease and desist.

No one heard him. No one wanted to hear him. Those he was chastising were making huge profits from illegal private trading. The trading primarily in rum. The incident is referred to as the Rum Rebellion.

Four hundred soldiers revolted. Took over. Found Bligh hiding under his bed. Arrested him. Kept him prisoner for two years till a court martial trial was held.

Bligh again was acquitted. The rebel leader was found guilty and dismissed from the military service with loss of pension. Meant nothing to him. He returned to New South Wales and enjoyed the balance of his life living off his ill gotten gains from the rum trade.

Bligh was obviously a competent leader. Good to his crews in comparison to other naval captains of the time. A straight arrow, however.

He faced trial three times. Was exonerated three times. Continued in service after each acquittal.

Why do I write this piece re Bligh? Simple. I think Hollywood has given him a bad deal. Hollywood has portrayed him as a villain in the Bounty movies. I wanted to set the record straight. Showing also that Bligh walked with a black cloud over his head. Three times subjected to court martial trial.

NAPOLEON 2 Xs

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Nature and illness have a way of thwarting events.

As Napoleon well learned.

Two times.

First in what led Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Territory so cheaply to the United States. The other the cause of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.

Napoleon was a busy man in 1802 and 1803. He was waging battles all over Europe. A war was contemplated against the United Kingdom. A slave revolution was taking place on the French island of Haiti in the Caribbean. Thirty thousand French troops were headed for New Orleans. Napoleon intended to land in New Orleans and move out to establish a French presence in the Mississippi Valley.

Napoleon’s plate was full.

He sent his brother-in-law General Victor Emanuel LeClerc to New Orleans to do the necessary to make North Americans aware that France was a player on the continent. LeClerc led a force of 30,000 crack French troops.

A slave mutiny was underway on Haiti. Napoleon told LeClerc to stop at Haiti first and put down the insurrection. Napoleon viewed the uprising as a fly on his arm. It could quickly be put down. He thought it would take 2-3 months. Then on to New Orleans.

At the time, there was a small garrison of French troops on the island guarding French planters and colonists.

Napoleon and LeClerc failed to take into account another Haitian enemy. A small one. The mosquito. Whose bite caused yellow fever.

Note that the Haitian slaves in rebellion had come from Africa. They had a built in immunity to yellow fever. Those white colonists born on Haiti developed an immunity after suffering a mild yellow fever attack in their youth.

Within a year, most of LeClerc’s troops were dead or dying. LeClerc himself died.

Napoleon sent General Rochambeau to Haiti with 20,000 additional troops. In less than a year, those troops were laid low by yellow fever. Rochambeau returned to France late in 1803 with only 3,000 survivors of the 50,000 troops sent.

Interestingly, twice as many French troops were felled by yellow fever on Haiti than were killed in the Battle of Waterloo years later.

Medical science did not know how to deal with yellow fever at the time. The best remedial/preventive activity engaged in was the burning of Haitian cities and villages to the ground.

Napoleon was infuriated. His response in effect was screw the Americas! He was not going to waste one more French life in Haiti, New Orleans or the Mississippi Valley.

Thomas Jefferson was President at the time. He had envoys in Paris negotiating with the French to purchase New Orleans. All of a sudden, France was offering to sell all the Louisiana Territory to the United States. Cheap. Dirt cheap.

Four cents an acre. Total price $15 million. A give away.

Jefferson jumped on the opportunity. Bought it all. Eight hundred twenty seven square miles of land. The purchase doubled the size of the United States. Opened the country to westward expansion.

Jefferson had to work hard to get Congress to agree to the Louisiana purchase. A major effort. History gives Jefferson credit for the purchase.

Few historians mention Napoleon, Haiti, or the mosquitoes. Few tell the story set forth herein.

Twelve years later, the Battle of Waterloo. June 18, 1815. Napoleon’s final fall from grace.

Historians again tell only a part of the story. Fail also to give credit to the actual cause of Napoleon’s defeat. His hemorrhoids.

The night before, Napoleon’s hemorrhoids were killing him. On top of which he had a bladder infection.

In order to relieve the pain and help him to sleep, Napoleon took a dose of opium. It worked. Worked so well that he failed to wake in the morning . Slept till just before one in the afternoon.

Napoleon’s delay in getting to the battlefield gave opposing armies time to change their positions. To more favorable ones. Such would never have occurred had Napoleon been on the job early that morning. The opposition moves assisted them greatly in countering Napoleon’s actions.

Napoleon had another problem. He had difficulty mounting and riding his horse. The hemorrhoids again.

Napoleon’s habit was to ride around the battlefield while the fighting was ongoing. Based on his personal observations, he would make tactical determinations to redeploy his forces.

Such reconnaissances were not possible that day.

Napoleon continued taking opium during the day. It is thought the opium affected his judgment.

In spite of these negatives confronting Napoleon, victory did not come to either side till late in the day.

Credit for the victory is generally given to the Duke of Wellington, leader of the allied forces. Prussians were part of that force. However the Prussians did not arrive on the battlefield till late in the day. Some historians give the Prussians credit because victory was achieved only after they arrived.

No one gives Napoleon’s hemorrhoids credit, expect for a handful of historians.

Historians look for flesh and blood heroes. Human ones. Rather than mosquitoes and hemorrhoids.

People want heroes, people need heroes.

THE RAPE OF SOCIAL SECURITY

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Three years ago in 2013, I wrote a column entitled The Theft of Social Security. I have retitled the column to The Rape of Social Security. At the same time, updated the column where appropriate and added additional reflections.

My motivations in rerunning the column twofold.

First, I am sick and tired of hearing politicians continuing to cry for the cutting or privatization of Social Security. I am angered by their cries that Social Security is an entitlement increasing the national debt. They make it sound like the elderly are getting something for nothing.

Social Security is not an entitlement. Not one cent of U.S. monies has ever been spent making Social Security payments. Social Security payments come from the paychecks of working people over the course of their lifetimes, with a lesser contribution by the employer added on.

I honestly believe that many of our elected representatives do not even know this. They are unaware. They believe the garbage the American public has been fed over the years that Social Security is breaking the back of the economy.

Second, I am aggravated every time one from a younger generation tells me it is not his or her responsibility to support me in my old age. They are totally unaware of where Social Security payments come from and the theft of Social Security’s surplus funds by the government over the years.

All of which compels me to republish my 2013 column. With what I perceive as a stronger title, a more appropriate one: The Rape of Social Security.

October 2013

The U.S. Government has stolen significant monies from the Social Security Trust Fund. Legally, of course.

The theft of Social Security is not understood by many. Even elected officials whose business it is to understand a federal program as large as Social Security. Congressional persons have standard talking points which are not true. They erroneously represent to the American public that Social Security cannot support itself, that Social Security is broke, that Social Security benefits must be cut, etc.

These Congressional persons either know not that of which they speak, or are intentionally misrepresenting the facts.

You will find this column interesting. Guaranteed.

The United States is in debt to the tune of $18 trillion dollars. Who is the biggest creditor of the United States? To whom does the United States owe the most money?

If you believe China, you are wrong. The largest creditor of the United States, the entity the U.S. government owes the most money to, is Social Security. Specifically, its Trust Fund. $2.8 trillion dollars and going up each day. The second biggest creditor is China. The United States borrows money from China sometimes on a daily basis. The United States owes China $1.4 trillion. Japan is close behind at $1.1 trillion.

The United States owes Social Security more than twice what it owes China. And more than its combined debt obligation to China and Japan.

Surprising. Shocking.

Social Security is not broken. It has worked well for 81 years. The United States government is broken. Government has been grabbing money from Social Security for years, has never paid a cent back, and from what I can determine, has no plan to pay any money back. It has been made to appear that Social Security is a noose around the neck of the United States economy. The people have been told that Social Security benefits must be cut so the economy may survive. Bunk!

Examine the pertinent facts.

Social Security comes out of every American pay check. An employer contribution added to it. The Government pays not one penny of the monies deposited in the Social Security Trust Fund.

The amount a person pays into the Trust Fund over the course of a working life time is substantially more than the benefit derived. A worker pays into the Fund generally for 40-50 years. The monthly Social Security check received by the senior citizen is peanuts in comparison.

Except for 11 years, Social Security has in every year of its existence taken in more than it has paid out. There is always a surplus. Since 1984, Social Security has taken in more each year than it has paid out.

The monies Social Security pays out include Old Age Retirement Benefits (the monthly check), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and SSI. All out of the Trust Fund. A surplus left over each year besides. Amazing! A terrific program Franklin Roosevelt put in place!

One problem exists. There should be a hell of a balance in the Social Security Trust Fund. Revenues annually are generally more than what is expended. There is no money in the Trust Fund, however. The Government has taken it all. Continues to do so.  And never pays a cent back.

The genius for the legal looting of Social Security had its beginnings minimally with President Lyndon Johnson.  President Ronald Reagan and his financial advisor Alan Greenspan  jumped in with both feet.  As did President William Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Bush 2 made no contribution to the formulation of the plan. He simply took advantage of a program already in place. By so doing, he financed significant tax cuts for the rich, paid for the Iraqi War, and funded the 2008 bank bailouts.

The plunder of the Social Security surplus funds had been legalized. The procedure simple. The United States government was allowed to “borrow” the surplus monies. In return, the United States would give the Trust Fund what were termed  “special service non-marketable U.S. Government  bonds.”

What are these bonds? Nothing. Non-marketable. They could not be used as collateral for a bank loan. No sane person would buy them. The bonds nothing more than IOUs.

Respectfully stated, good for use as outhouse toilet paper.

A scam

It was thought that if and when things turned adverse for Social Security, the government would redeem these bonds. In effect, pay back Social Security. After all, the commitment of the United States and Congress is to meet the country’s obligations.

The Government’s ability to pay depends on its power to tax and/or borrow. Congress reflects neither past nor present desire to pay. The Government refrains from even discussing these IOUs and their payment.

Where did all this surplus money go? How did certain Presidents and Congress spend the money?  In four areas.

First, to make up for the reduced taxes on the rich. Thank you Bush 2. Second, two unpaid wars. Thank you again Bush 2. Obama receives some credit also for not yet successfully ending the wars. Third, the 2008 bailout of the banks. Thank you Bush 2 and Obama. Finally, other government programs that needed to be funded and for which there might not be sufficient funding without invading the Social Security Trust Fund.

The process again simple. Surplus Trust funds are borrowed by the United States. An IOU is given to purportedly secure repayment. The money goes into the nation’s general fund to help pay for the tax cuts, wars, etc.

Certain economic experts have suggested a simple 30 year program to repay the IOUs would correct the problem and pay off the $2.8 trillion still growing debt.

The real problem is no one cares about paying back. It is the old story of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Except, Peter never gets paid back. The Government takes Social Security surpluses and spends them like a bunch of college kids out on a night on the town.

Social Security and Medicare should not be touched in any fashion. Other than to perhaps increase benefits.  Another plan would be for the government to stop immediately removing funds from the Trust Fund. The surpluses would build up rapidly.

This sad scenario makes one wonder whether the Government even cares about the 99 per cent. It appears to me that all our elected officials are concerned with are their images and friends. Not for anything or anyone else.

Make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

It seems to be working.

CORN FLAKES…..CURE MASTURBATION

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Groups have existed throughout the ages condemning sex. Considered sex a vice. However in the 18th and 19th centuries, sex took a second seat to masturbation.

Masturbation as practiced by both men and women.

Religion was the motivator in decrying masturbation. From time immemorial, the Judaeo-Christian tradition has had a negative attitude about people touching themselves. Then came the Victorian Era and the Great Awakening. The extreme prudishness of these eras created the perfect storm for people to become obsessed with masturbation. Masturbation also known as onanism.

Soon masturbation was considered not merely a moral failing. It was also a physical and mental ailment requiring medical assistance, treatment and cures.

John Harvey Kellogg was a physician. In the late 1800s, he was Superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan.

He was popular and respected. He was considered America’s newest and most prominent health guru.

His upbringing was as a Seventh Day Adventist. The group anti-passion.

Dr. Kellogg believed sex was bad for the physical and mental well-being of his patients. Of people in general. The sanitarium served a strict vegetarian diet. No alcohol, tobacco or caffeine. The Doctor believed that spicy and sweet foods increased the passions.

The intestines and bowels were also important in caring for Sanitarium patients and guests.

Dr. Kellogg described masturbation as a solitary vice and self pollution. Fitting words.

To understand Dr. Kellogg’s mental perspective, one has to recognize how the man lived. Though married, he was a celibate. His marriage never consummated. He and his wife had separate bedrooms. Their children were adopted.

Dr. Kellogg had an enema administered every morning of his adult life. He lived into his 90s.

He wrote several successful books on the dilatory effects of masturbation. Two interesting quotes from his novels follow.

“If illicit commerce of the sexes is a heinous sin, self pollution is a crime doubly abominable.”

“Neither plague, nor war, nor small pox have produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of onanism. Such a victim dies by his own hand.”

An observation…..”Such a victim dies by his own hand.” What a way to go!

Dr. Kellogg, as well as much of the medical profession at the time, believed masturbation caused the following: leprosy, tuberculosis, heart disease, epilepsy, dimness of vision, insanity, idiocy, death, cancer of the womb, urinary diseases, nocturnal emissions, impotence, defective development, fickleness, bashfulness, bad posture, acne, and palpitations.

Dr. Kellogg saw the need for a healthy ready to eat anti-masturbatory morning meal. He accidentally invented corn flakes in 1894. A patent was obtained in 1896. A company was started to mail order corn flakes to customers.

With the advent of corn flakes, Dr. Kellogg was feeding it to patients and guests. In addition to another procedure he developed to insure their clean intestines. An enema that ran water through the bowel followed by a pint of yogurt. Half the yogurt delivered through the mouth, the other half through the anus.

From the early 1900s through the 1920s, many famous people attended Dr. Kellogg’s Sanitarium for treatments. Some I cannot understand. The Sanitarium was anti-sex, anti-masturbation, and for clean intestines and bowels.

An attendee was President Warren G. Harding. I find his participation amusing. Historians are clear regarding the President’s sex escapades with his lady friend Nan Britton. They frequented a White House closet to do the dirty deed.

Other frequent guests at the Sanitarium included movie star Johnny Weissmuller (one of the first Tarzans). Henry Ford, and Amelia Earhart.

Recognize that Dr. Kellogg was the man, the authority as regards masturbation cures. His methods extreme in many cases.

As well as adults, boys and girls participated in masturbation. To control what he described as “nasty habits,” the Doctor advocated and employed the following procedures.

For boys, threading a silver wire through the foreskin to prevent erections and cause irritation.

For girls, an application of carbolic acid to the clitoris to burn it. Thereby discouraging touching.

Dr. Kellogg had a brother, W.K. Kellogg. Popularly known as Willy. The Doctor and Willy were in business together in the running of the Sanitarium and the discovery of corn flakes.

Willy was the business man. His interest was making money. Not the per se health of the patients and guests.

The relationship between the two thinned. They were on separate roads. Willy for example wanted to add sugar to the corn flakes to make them more tasty and hopefully more saleable. His brother said absolutely not.

The two eventually split. Willy started Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Company. Dr. Kellogg sued. The litigation went on for years. Eventually Willy became the sole proprietor of the company.

Corn flakes never achieved its intended effect. People continued to masturbate. Today, Kellogg’s sells corn flakes and other breakfast products world wide. No one ingesting the corn flakes for any other reason than they taste good.

I think Dr. Kellogg was a nut. Simply stated. Not because of his discovery of corn flakes. For his anti-sexism and anti-masturbation. He took his treatments a step too far.

On the other hand, perhaps I am wrong. Many in his day believed based on religious fervor that sex and masturbation were wrong. The Doctor gave them what they wanted and I am sure what he thought correct at the time.

Right and wrong change with time. Medical treatments change with time.

TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE

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A Shakespearean delight this is not. Entomological warfare involving bees it is.

Entomological warfare is biological warfare using insects to the attack the enemy. This article is limited to the use of bees.

Bees have been used as weapons of war since man’s earliest beginnings. Right up to today. Research constant and ongoing.

The cave man used bees. When the cave man had an enemy hiding in a cave, he threw a bee’s nest into the cave. His opponent quickly came out.

In 2600 B.C., a Mayan city was under siege. Soldiers within the city made sham soldiers. Mannequins. The mannequins were outfitted with clothes, war bonnets, spears and shields.

Gourds were used as heads. The gourds were filled with bees, wasps and horseflies. When the enemy was close to the embattlement, the gourds were smashed. The enemy was overcome by the bees and other stinging insects.

The Mayans also made hand grenades from beehives.

The Romans used bees as weapons of war constantly. The Romans would catapult bee hives into enemy ranks and fortifications.

Today’s Romania was once known as Dacia. Roman legions were attacking. The Dacians catapulted bee nests into the oncoming Roman legions.

A turn about. Dacia won the battle. However eventually lost the war.

The Third Crusade took place in the 12th century. King Richard utilized hives of bees against the Saracens. Catapulted.

The 13th century found Austria and Hungary at war. Both sides used bees against the other.

In the 14th century, the Moors were close to defeat by Portugal. The Portuguese army was at the walls of the city. The Moors won the battle by throwing down beehives upon the Portuguese.

At the Battle of Alba in the 18th century, the Turks were close to entering the city. Those defending the city erected barriers/walls of beehives to prevent the enemy from entering.

A sea battle was won because of bees. A small pirate vessel of only 50 men was engaged in battle with a large galley of 500 men. The pirates were losing. Some of the pirates climbed the masts and threw bee nests down upon the larger galley.

The pirates won the battle.

Honey comes into play. Honey and water are mixed to make mead. Good booze! Intoxicating. drunkenness guaranteed.

Slavic St. Olga’s son was killed by the enemy in 946 A.D. Olga set up a banquet with much mead. Then she and her guests left. The enemy believing it was victorious came to the party and meaded up. Became drunk. Olga and her supporters returned and slew them.

In 1489 A.D., the Tartars and Russians were at war. The Russians were being beaten. They made mead. Left it all over the city before fleeing. The Tartars came in and got drunk. Vomiting drunk. The Russians returned and slaughtered them.

To modern times.

The American Civil War. In the Battle of Antietam, the Confederates inadvertently laid down a barrage of cannon fire on a nearby bee farm. The 132nd Pennsylvania Infantry were routed. Not by the Confederates. By the bees.

During World War I, both sides utilized bees as weapons of war. Two ways. The first by hand throwing bee hives at enemy positions. The second, connecting bee hives to trip wires.

The Vietnamese used bee hives in substantial numbers against U.N. forces.

It should be noted at this point that Japan utilized bees as weapons in every century, including during the time of World War II.

Which brings us to today. Or, should it be called tomorrow?

Croatia was flooded with land mines during the conflicts of the 1990s. Many of those land mines lie hidden today. A constant danger to Croatians.

The Croatians soon will test whether bees can help identify the location of the land mines. Whether naturally or trained, the theory is bees flying freely will land on a trouble spot.

British scientists disagree with the Croatian approach. Their thought being the bees will forget their mission as soon as they pass the first apple tree.

Bees are a new weapon in the war on terror.

The U.S. is experimenting in training bees to sniff out explosives. A bee’s smell is as good as a dog’s. The hope is bees can then be used to uncover landmines and bomb factories.

Great Britain is far ahead in bee experimentation in the battle against terrorism.

Britain believes, as many do, that bees can be trained to smell explosives. A test is presently underway at Heathrow Airport. Bees trained to smell explosives are placed in a hand detector. Thirty six in each one.

When the detector passes something containing explosives or chemicals, the tongues of the bees shoot out. Bees have sensitive tongues.

The tongues trip an infra-red sensor. The sensor lighting is the alert/warning. Bomb disposal experts would then be called in.

Still in the testing stage in the United States is the utilization of bees to identify explosives in freight cargoes and passenger planes.

The little bee has a long history. It has been and is becoming a big player as an instrument of warfare and in the battle against terror.

In this age of nuclear weapons, planes, all kinds of guns, tanks, etc., the little bee has especially attained increased importance in the war on terror.

The bee…..An instrument of war.

HEROIN WILL SURVIVE NEW DRUG BILL

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Three weeks ago, I wrote an article titled Afghanistan and America’s Heroin Addiction. Heroin drug sales are rampant on the streets of America. The purpose of the column was to bring to light that the American government and media were doing next to nothing to correct or advise re the situation.

The number of heroin deaths and addictions are unprecedented in our history. Growing daily. While the U.S. government has been sitting on its ass.

Though I was a voice in the wilderness, I take no credit for what occurred last week. Congress passed a bill to deal with prescription pain killers and heroin. The bill appears heavy as regards prescription painkillers. Heroin, an add on.

It is expected Obama will sign the bill when it reaches him.

The new law is titled the Comprehensive Addiction and Drug Act.

The bill provides $103 million annually from 2017-2020. It includes additional oversight by federal agencies to curb the heroin epidemic. The DEA, FBI, Justice and Treasury will be involved.

The aim of the bill is to provide prevention, treatment, recovery and law enforcement.

$103 million a year is a drop in the bucket. The U.S. has already spent $10 billion to eradicate the opium problem in Afghanistan. Most of the $10 billion was spent in Afghanistan.

If $10 billion did not work in countering the Afghanistan heroin problem, how can a measly $103 million per year for four years do better? Especially when shared with the pain pill killer problem.

Not enough money in the new bill. A drop in the bucket. Wasted dollars as far as heroin is concerned.

Where did the $10 billion go? Into the pockets of corrupt officials and persons. The money has lined the pockets of former President Hamid Karzi, his half brother, governors, police chiefs and war lords. Some is suspected to have found its way into the pockets of American officials and contracted persons.

Money is really not the problem. The problem is the lack of desire on the part of the U.S. to do the necessary to destroy Afghanistan’s poppy fields.

Especially since 2010. Obama ordered a 100,000 troop surge. The military was not concerned with poppy fields. Rather with keeping casualties down and training an Afghan force to defend itself. Military higher ups took the position that heroin was not their concern/responsibility.

And it was not. The U.S. needed the help of the Taliban. The Taliban in those years was financing its war activities with the proceeds of opium sales. The U.S. could not upset Taliban who had become an ally.

There are those I describe as goody goodies. They take the position Afghans are a poor people. Many work the poppy fields and distribution arm within Afghanistan. It would be improper to destroy their ability to support themselves, feed their families, etc.

These people recommend a slow deliberate reduction of opium production over decades. Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institute said anything less or draconian would be “…..morally reprehensible…..the human security of large segments of the Afghanistan population is dependent on poppy.”

I find it hard to understand such a philosophy. Americans are dying in large numbers every day from heroin addiction. Many more are supplying their addiction. If there is a choice between Aghhans dying or American citizens, I say let the Afghans die. If this be America First, so be it.

There are two draconian methods to swiftly solve the poppy growing problem. Bomb the hell out of the poppy fields.

Very few, if any, are near cities. The poppy patches are in the hills and valleys and in desert areas. Similar with what the Jews did with Israel, the drug dealers have taken large tracts of desert far out and irrigated that portion of the desert.

The desert located poppy fields are so far out into never- never land that any American helicopters utilized to destroy the fields would have to refuel. The only way to refuel them would be the use of fuel bladders parachuted out of the back of cargo planes.

Another is spraying. The fields can be destroyed with chemical spraying.

The Taliban were in power in 2000.  The Taliban decided opium was a disgrace to Islam. They spent the year 2001 eradicating the poppy fields. One year.

The Taliban program is noted as one of the world’s most successful anti-drug programs. In one year, there was a 99 percent reduction in poppy growth.

One problem. By killing the opium business, the Taliban also pissed off everyone in the Afghan population. People lost money big time.

One year later in 2002, Taliban was out of power.

How did the Taliban eradicate poppy growth in one year? Simple. They used their ways of conviction. Similar to those of al Qaeda and ISIS. Threats, forced eradication, and public punishment. The stop or we will chop your head off approach.

Religion can be hypocritical. In 2001, opium was a disgrace to Islam. The poppy fields were destroyed. Since 2008, Taliban has needed money to support its war efforts. Poppy growing provides a significant portion of the funding. An example of the end justifying the means.

Russia has a concern about the problem It affects Russia also. Putin has not been sitting on his ass. He is threatening force. Putin and the U.S. do not see eye to eye as to how the problem is to be handled.

As reflected previously, the U.S. has varied and multiple interests in allowing the poppy/opium/heroin problem to continue. Does such cloud what we are told?

Government tells us Afghanistan is not the problem. It is Mexico. Experts disagree. Afghanistan is responsible for 85 percent of opium production worldwide. Mexico, only 15 percent.

Heroin must be defeated at its source. Where it grows. Not the way it has been approached. The U.S. has fought the big war for years trying to eliminate/control marijuana and cocaine. A person can still buy all they want on the streets of America.

The U.S. has been in Afghanistan all these years in pursuit of the War on Terror. While doing so, the U.S. lost the War on Drugs. Afghan drug control has never been a priority.

It still is not and will not via the new drug program proposed.

Heroin will survive.

AFGHANISTAN AND AMERICA’S HEROIN ADDICTION

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Afghanistanhas poppy fields galore. Poppy seeds become opium. The opium treated becomes heroin.

Today, the United States is facing its deadliest illicit drug epidemic in history. A heroin epidemic. Previous drug epidemics shade in comparison.

Afghanistan is responsible for 85 percent of the world’s opium production. A significant portion of that production has found its way to America’s streets.

I wrote a column in 2014 asking the question why Afghanistan poppy fields were basically untouched during the U.S. war years in Afghanistan.

The U.S. put boots on the ground in 2001. The U.S. military was still fighting in 2014 when the column was written. The U.S. military is still fighting today in 2016.

Not only were the poppy fields untouched by war, even the 3,000 farmers who worked the fields.

During the 15 years since 2001, thousands of Americans have been killed. More maimed. Legs and arms lost. Faces disfigured. Civilians suffered also. Children included. More thousands of civilians than U.S. soldiers dead and injured.

Communities destroyed. Thousands left homeless.

Yet, the poppy fields remain undamaged.

The U.S. spent billions during the early war years to combat/eradicate the opium problem. Nothing worked.

Money played a big part in the failure of the eradication program. Money found its way into the pockets of Afghan governmental leaders. From President Hamid Karzi down. Much went into the pockets of the war lords who owned the poppy fields. Some into the pockets of U.S. persons in charge of getting a handle on the opium problem.

Corruption at every level.

In those rare occasions where some one was convicted of opium violations in Afghanistan, that person walked into jail through the front door. A bribe is paid. The wrongdoer walked out the back door the same day.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan until the fall of 2001. The Taliban made billions from the opium trade. For reasons I cannot determine, the Taliban outlawed opium trade in mid 2000. Within one year, opium production was all but gone. Taliban had effectively destroyed Afghan’s opium business in one year.

The question arises if the Taliban could basically destroy the opium trade in one year, why has the U.S. not been able to do so?

The U.S. government bears significant responsibility for the heroin epidemic the nation is facing.

Bush 2 initiated an opium eradication program. It contracted with DynCorp. to do the work. In 2009, Obama’s administration failed to renew the contract with DynCorp. Since that time, the U.S. has had no eradication program.

Afghanistan has a small one for face-saving purposes. The Afghan eradication program in 2014 reduced the opium problem by 1.1 percent. No big deal. As of this year, Afghanistan is not continuing with the program or any other eradication program.

Heroin is cheap to buy on the streets of America. The cost of a bag of heroin is basically the same as the cost of a pack of cigarettes. In most instances, slightly cheaper.

Cigarettes are differently priced in each State. For whatever reason, the cost of one bag of heroin is similar to the cost of a pack of cigarettes in a particular state.

For example, a pack of cigarettes is roughly $7.75 in Baltimore. A bag of heroin roughly $5. In New York City, cigarettes run around $11-12 a pack. A bag of heroin $10.

Cost is affected also by quality and availability. Which does on occasion increase the price of a bag of heroin to $15-20.

Comparatively speaking, heroin is cheaper to buy than other street drugs.

The heroin trade is sophisticated. One example is that illegal heroin can be purchased over the internet. I tried to understand how. I could not. However, my research indicated it can and is being done safely by sellers and users. The heroin industry has its own computer geeks.

Tens of thousands were hooked on heroin in 2009. Today, millions.

In 2010, U.S. heroin deaths were 3,036. In 2014, 10,574.

2014 was a banner year. The number of deaths keeps going up.

Afghanistan opium production has also increased significantly. From 123,000 hectares in 2009 to 224.000 hectares in 2014. Two hundred twenty-four hectares equates to 6,400 tons of opium. A hectare is equivalent to 2.5 acres.

It is estimated there are 4,5 million heroin users in the U.S. today. 2.5 million are addicts. 2 million casual users.

With daily use, a person becomes physically addicted in 30 days.

The number of U.S. heroin deaths are difficult to estimate. One authority says one every 32 minutes. Another claims heroin deaths are difficult to trace via autopsy. Heroin breaks down in the body within hours to morphine. Coroners record the deaths as morphine prescription ones. It is estimated such coroner determinations result in heroin deaths being under reported by 100 percent.

The U.S. has failed to properly fund the heroin problem. The DEA, CIA and DOD are not provided sufficient funds to effectively seek out and eliminate heroin use.

The CIA uses the term “blowback.” Blowback is the “consequences at home of operations overseas.” The U.S. failure to renew the DynCorp. contract in 2009 a perfect example.

Another blowback was Obama’s desire  when he took office to reduce the number of U.S. combatants in Afghanistan and the costs of the war generally.

Millions of addicts require billions of dollars to treat. The U.S. has yet to address the problem. Medical care for in patient treatment is estimated at $25 billion a year. Out patient, $10 billion a year.

At some point, the U.S. has to confront the medical needs head on.

Heroin is a hell of a problem! One we are not yet as a nation facing.

The primary campaigns reflect the failure to address the heroin problem. I do not recall any candidate speaking to the issue.

LINCOLN: NOMINATION AND ELECTION

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We are into the Presidential season of primaries, nominations, campaigns and the election itself. Many believe this is the wildest and craziest campaign in the history of the United States.

There have been worse.

The Presidential election of 1860 split the nation. Abraham Lincoln was elected President after a tumultuous nominating process, campaign and election. Secession and Civil War followed.

The issue splitting the nation was slavery. Several parties ran Presidential candidates. Except for four, the others were non-consequential. The four consisted of the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the Southern Democratic Party, and the Constitutional Union Party.

Each its own thoughts re the slavery issue. The Republicans were anti-slavery. The Democrats thought the states should remain one nation and resolve the slavery issue through Congressional negotiation. The Southern Democrats were for slavery. No question as to its position. The Constitutional Union also had its own thoughts on the subject.

The Republican Party was the new kid on the block. Formerly the Whig Party, it made its first appearance in 1854.

Lincoln had become a Republican. He ran for the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 1858. His opponent Stephen Douglas. Douglas won.

Douglas was a Democrat. He ran for President on the Democratic ticket against Lincoln. Interestingly, both had courted Mary Todd Lincoln in their earlier days.

Lincoln’s political experience was limited. He was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1834-1842. During that time, he did not distinguish himself as anything special. His most noteworthy event while in the Illinois legislature was leaping out of a second floor window.

The opposition wanted a certain billed passed. A quorum was needed in order to take a vote. The opposition locked the doors so no one could leave. Lincoln was not staying and helping make the quorum. He jumped out of the legislature’s second floor window to escape being counted.

Lincoln ran the nomination race differently from the other candidates. He neither traveled nor debated. Made a few speeches. Ran everything from his law offices in Illinois.

Lincoln relied on his friends David Davis, Leonard Swelt and Ward Hill Lamon to be out on the road lining up delegates, etc. Davis was an astute political operative.

The nominating convention was to be held in Chicago. Not the Chicago of today. Then a burgeoning middle west trade center. Population 110,000.

Ten thousand seats were required to hold the convention. Chicago had no building anywhere near the size. A special convention hall was constructed to hold 10,000. The new building was called Wigwam. The acoustics were the best of the day. Any person speaking in a normal voice could be heard anywhere in the convention hall.

Lincoln had attracted national attention when he ran against Douglas for the Senate seat two years earlier. Both men were excellent debaters. After his defeat, Lincoln traveled around the country giving anti-slavery speeches. He also made several fund-raising speeches to the New York City bank and business community.

America took to the back woods boy. Born into poverty. Self educated. Successful. He was the embodiment of the American dream.

There was not much support within the Republican Part for Lincoln as the candidate. Though he had become well-known in a short time, it was not his time. Party leaders thought he should wait his turn.

Lincoln did not agree.

He and his friends went to work lining up delegates. Lincoln from his Illinois offices. His three friends out on the road.

William Seward was the favorite of the Republicans to be the Presidential candidate. A former Governor of New York and U.S. Senator. Other contenders included Governor Salmon Chase of Ohio, former U.S. Representative Edward Bates of Missouri, and Pennsylvania’s Senator Cameron.

The significant campaign managers were David Davis for Lincoln, Thurdlow Weed for Seward. The battle these two men waged is similar to college basketball coaching with only 30 seconds left to play.

Davis turned out to be smarter than Weed.

It took three ballots to secure the nomination.

The first ballot resulted in a large lead for Seward. However, not enough to win. He came up short of the required number. Lincoln ran a distant second. The nomination was Seward’s and it was just a question of time before he won.

The Pennsylvania delegation had voted solidly for their favorite son, Senator Cameron.

The evening of May 17 was between the first and second ballots. Davis went to work that night. Most of the night.

Cameron was agreeable to throwing his votes to Lincoln. For a consideration, of course. Two of them. He wanted to be assured a Cabinet post and that all Pennsylvania federal patronage would go through him.

The telegraph was a means of swift communication. Lincoln wired Davis no way re any deal. Davis should make no promises. Lincoln would not live up to any promises made.

Davis ignored Lincoln and did what was necessary to secure Lincoln the nomination. The next day on the second ballot, Cameron had Pennsylvania switch all its votes to Lincoln.

Was a deal made? Cameron became Secretary of War in Lincoln’s first cabinet. As to the patronage, no one is sure.

The Pennsylvania votes had Lincoln breathing down Seward’s neck. No winner yet, however. A third ballot was required.

During the third ballot, other delegations, seeing the writing on the wall, threw their support to Lincoln. Lincoln was nominated.

Lincoln had his hands full. The South had threatened to secede. Lincoln made it clear he would not tolerate secession. Slavery at the heart of everything.

Immediately upon receiving the Republican nomination, Lincoln put aside his law practice. He ran a stay at home campaign. No whistle stopping for him.

His efforts from the home front were two fold. First, to guide the direction of the campaign. Second, to foresee and hedge any divisions within the Republican Party. Divisions of any nature. Lincoln knew he had to keep his side intact in order to win.

The Southern Democrats, in another convention six weeks later, nominated Senator John Breckinridge as its candidate. The battle lines between North and South were drawn.

Again, slavery the issue.

The Republicans were referred to as Black Republicans. As a result of the Republican Party’s anti-slavery position.

Campaigning consisted of local parades and rallies. The Republicans pushed its people to get the vote out. They worked at it.

The get out the vote was successful. Voter turnout was 81.2 percent. The second highest in American history. The highest ever was the 1876 Presidential election where 81.8 percent turned out to vote.

Shamefully, American elections today bring out nowhere near those percentages.

Lincoln won. He received 1,865,908 votes. Breckinridge, 848,019. Lincoln, 39.8 percent of the vote. Breckinridge, 18.1 percent.

Lincoln carried 18 states. Breckinridege, 11.

Three hundred three Electoral College votes involved. One hundred fifty two required for election. Lincoln won 180 to Breckinridge’s 72.

Lincoln failed to carry one slave holding state. In fact, Lincoln received no southern votes, except for Virginia where he received 1 percent of the vote.

War was inevitable. Lincoln’s election was the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the Civil War. His victory signaled the secession of the Southern States.

CLARENCE THOMAS / ANITA HILL

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In 1991, a vacancy existed on the U.S. Supreme Court. Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall had died. Marshall was the first person of African-American descent to sit on the Supreme Court.

President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to fill Marshall’s seat.

A contentious hearing was held before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee at the time was controlled by the Democrats. Senator Joe Biden, now Vice-President Biden, was Chairman of the Committee.

Anita Hill had worked as a legal adviser to Clarence Thomas when he was Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Later as Thomas’ legal adviser when he became Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hill worked for Thomas a total of two years. Following which Hill left public service. She became a law school professor. First at Oral Roberts University. Then at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

It was ten years after Hill left public service under Thomas that Thomas was nominated for the Supreme Court seat.

Hill claimed that Thomas had sexually assaulted her when she worked under him. Her testimony before the Judiciary Committee was required.

Thomas was neither approved nor disapproved by the Judiciary Committee. The vote was 7-7. Normally a tie vote would be considered a failure by the nominee to obtain approval to proceed to a vote by the full Senate.

For some reason, the Judiciary Committee referred the matter to the Senate for its advice and consent vote. The Senate approved Thomas’ nomination 52-48. The closest approval vote in more than 100 years.

Thomas’ approval might be considered a rejection/disbelief of Hill’s sexual harassment charge. Others believe Thomas only squeaked by because of it.

The story as told thus far is merely the bones of the situation. The meat/motivations of certain individuals more interesting and important.

I am approaching this column with the background of the five persons primarily involved in the battle over Thomas’ nomination. Much of what follows is generally unknown.

The five key players in the Senate Judiciary confirmation process were Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, Joe Biden, Arlen Specter, and John Danforth.

We start with Clarence Thomas.

In his youth, Thomas was a devout Catholic. He attended Conception Seminary College in Missouri. His goal to become a priest.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination intervened. Someone at the seminary made a racist comment re King. As a result, Thomas left the seminary.

Thereafter, he began attending Episcopal services.

Thomas was a product of affirmative action. Were it not for affirmative action, Thomas would not be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice today.

Interestingly, Thomas derided affirmative action during his professional career and in his votes/decisions as a Supreme Court Justice.

It was thought at the time of the Judiciary Committee hearings that Thomas was not a supporter of Roe v. Wade. His votes/decisions in the 25 years he has been a Justice reflect the same.

He is considered the most conservative member of the Court.

A Yale Law School graduate, his professional time has been primarily spent in federal public service. First as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil rights. Then as Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From 1990-1991, he was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Thomas during his time on the Court has not distinguished himself as a Thurgood Marshall. He is not a Thurgood Marshall.

An appellate judge asks questions. He probes counsel’s reasoning while searching for the proper decision. In his 25 years as a Justice, Thomas has asked 2 questions. In instances where he wants a question asked, he writes it on a note which he passes to Justice Stephen Breyer to ask.

Thomas claims to have been greatly influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand. Most, including this writer, consider her a nut. She wrote amongst other books The Fountainhead. The movie starred Gary Cooper as the strong willed person standing alone against society.

While heading the Washington departments, it is said he made the movie obligatory viewing for staff members.

Hill’s charges of sexual harassment involved words, comments, stories, date requests. No touching.

Thomas’ hearing was not going well because of the sexual harassment questioning by the Committee. The sexual questions were most embarrassing.

At one point in the proceedings, he expressed his deepest feelings to the Committee. He compared the Committee and Hill’s charges to a legal lynching: “…..it is a high-tech-lynching for uppity blacks…..it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order…..you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.”

I watched most of the Committee hearings on TV. To a lawyer, this was edge of the seat drama. I felt up to the point of the lynching exclamation, Thomas was losing the battle. The lynching comments were dramatic. The comments turned the tide. They made Thomas appear greatly wronged.

I believe they were connived.

Thomas’ second wife Virginia Lamb is white. He married her in 1987.

Mrs. Thomas is a distinguished conservative in her own right. She worked as a lobbyist and aide to Congressman Dick Armey. The second most powerful man in the House of Representatives at the time. She has been a consultant to the Heritage Foundation. Founder and President of Liberty Central, a non-profit conservative political advocacy group. In 2011, she stepped down to open a conservative lobbying firm. She describes her participation in the lobbying firm as that of “an ambassador to the Tea Party.”

Anita Hill.

A Yale Law School graduate also. A product of affirmative action.

Following her work under Thomas, she became a law professor at two law schools. Today, she enjoys a full professorship at Brandeis University.

Her accusations came ten years after the events occurred. The delay in reporting them did not help her position. She did tell several other people at the time, however. They were not permitted to testify by Chairman Biden and the Judiciary Committee.

Prior to her testimony, she was asked to take a lie detector test. She did. She passed. Thomas was asked to take a lie detector test. He refused.

She was calm and straight forward in her responses during Committee questioning. Never  lost her composure. The Committee questioning was rough. Tough. Especially by Senator Arlen Specter.

Following her testimony, Hill returned to her teaching career. Rarely to be heard from again.

Joe Biden.

I know Joe Biden. I have watched his career for years. Then when I was Chairman of the Board of Visitors at the Syracuse University School of Law was privileged to know him personally. A nice guy. One of the best.

Not during these hearings.

Joe Biden has been a great public servant. He is a good man. Nevertheless, I disagree with his conduct during the hearings.

Biden handled the Anita Hill phase poorly. He was chauvinistic and condescending.

Biden had chaired the Committee four years earlier during the equally contentious hearings regarding Robert Bork. Perhaps he did not want such a war repeated in the Thomas hearings.

He refused to permit Angela Wright to testify. Wright’s testimony involved similar charges as Hill had made.

Nor would he permit expert testimony on the issue of sexual harassment.

Biden’s excuse was he was trying to preserve Thomas’ right to privacy and the decency of the hearings. I disagree with his motivations. His responsibility was to protect the rights of the American people. Additionally, where sex is charged, sexual testimony is a must in being permitted. Not avoided based on a decency argument. Today, the decency argument would not fly.

Biden was severely criticized following the hearings by legal groups and women’s groups. For mishandling the hearings and not having done enough to support Hill. The appearance was the deck was stacked against Hill.

Arlen Specter.

Arlen Specter was a member of the Judiciary Committee. A long time Republican Senator from Pennsylvania. Prior to becoming a Senator, he was the District Attorney of Philadelphia.

He was politically a centrist. Time Magazine considered him one of America’s Ten Best Senators.

His conduct during the hearings was not representative of the manner in which he was viewed by people generally. It was abnormal.

Specter started his questioning by saying, “I do not regard this as an adversary proceeding.” He then proceeded to conduct a most antagonistic and fierce examination of Hill. He was hostile and adversarial. He treated Hill as if she were a murder defendant and he the district attorney cross examining her at a criminal trial.

I considered his conduct disgusting.

At one point, he stated to reporters that Hill’s testimony was perjurious in its entirety. She lied.

Specter’s conduct was so awful that 1,000 telephone calls were received by his office in protest. The calls kept coming in. Specter’s Senatorial office was required to have 40 people on the telephones. Eventually, the calls became too heavy for the telephone system. It died.

Let me interject at this point that both Specter and Biden’s conduct were not what the public had come to expect from them. They stepped out of their normal roles and became bad guys in pursuit of Hill.

Last, John  Danforth.

Danforth was respected by all. Thirty years a U.S. Senator representing Missouri. A political moderate. A conciliator.

An ordained Episcopal priest, he officiated at Ronald Reagan’s funeral.

Danforth carried considerable political clout.

Danforth and Thomas were two of a kind in that they both had attended a seminary.

Early in Thomas’ legal career, he served in Danforth’s office when Danforth was the Attorney General of Missouri. When Danforth  became a U.S. Senator, Thomas worked as his aide in the Washington offices.

The two were close.

When a person is nominated for the Supreme Court, a Senator becomes his guide through the approval process.

Thomas could not have had a better and more respected person guiding him.

Conclusion.

Everything herein is how I view the Thomas / Hill events. My personal thoughts and conclusions. As I watched the Committee hearings on TV 25 years ago and supplemented by my readings over the years. How I felt about them then and feel about them today.

I believe Anita Hill took an undeserved beating. Come hell or high water, Thomas was going to get out of the Judiciary Committee and to the Senate floor for a full vote by the Senate. What had to be done was done to accomplish the result.

Not quite American. Perhaps I am wrong. The Thomas / Hill scenario is typical American politics.

Consider the games being played today with President Obama’s most recent nomination to the Supreme Court.