Two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066. It adopted a drastic policy toward Japanese-American residents, alien and citizen alike. Virtually all of them were forced to abandon their homes and property and live in camps for most of the war. Continue reading “Did Anyone Oppose Japanese Internment?”
Category: History Musings
Dealing with Trump
Joe Biden’s all wrong when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump.
I’m feeling insecure these days. I’m not sure Joe Biden knows how to handle Donald Trump in the current race for the presidency.
Early last August, Trump was speaking in Clyde, Ohio.
He said this about Biden: “He’s following the radical left agenda. Take away your guns, destroy your 2nd Amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God. He’s against God.”
Biden’s response: “For President Trump to attack my faith is shameful.” Well of course it was! That was the point. Maybe what Biden should’ve said was, “My faith is my own private business. Like President Kennedy, I believe in the separation of church and state.”
My advice to Joe: spent some time watching reruns of Andy’s Gang, a children’s show that ran from 1955 to 1960. It featured an impish puppet called Froggy the Gremlin. Here is a memorable episode.
Froggy was disparaging bunny rabbits. Andy was appalled.
ANDY: You shouldn’t say that about cute bunny rabbits. They’re so nice. FROGGY: Well, one way to settle that. You see that picture of water over there? ANDY: Yes, a nice frosty pitcher of ice water. FROGGY: Go over to the pitcher. (ANDY does so.) Grab the pitcher tightly by the handle. ANDY: (bewitched) What next, Froggy? FROGGY: I want you to pour the water all over your head. ANDY: Pour the water all over my head. (He does so, then snaps out of it.) Awwww Froggy! You got me all wet! FROGGY: (bounces around on his perch) Haw haw haw! There’s your answer! Haw haw haw!
Don’t play in Trump’s sandbox, Joe. Remember who you’re dealing with.
Remembering John Heartfield
It’s time to resurrect the satirical style of John Heartfield, who successfully lampooned Hitler and Nazism.
Whenever I encounter one of John Heartfield’s works, I say to myself, “We do need a few like him these days. So where are they?” Continue reading “Remembering John Heartfield”
Where’s Batista Now That We Need Him?
Fidel Castro dead? Big deal. What about Batista?
The recent death of Cuba’s Fidel Castro has got me thinking: I am starting to miss the glorious days of Presidente Fulgencio Batista. Continue reading “Where’s Batista Now That We Need Him?”
Found Interview with Ron McNair, Doomed Shuttle Astronaut
I wrote the following article for Minority Engineer about Ron McNair, one of the astronauts who died in the Challenger Disaster thirty years ago. The interview was conducted shortly before the fateful flight. Continue reading “Found Interview with Ron McNair, Doomed Shuttle Astronaut”