Month: June 2017

James Comey’s Testimony Before Senate Intelligence Committee, Plus Jared Kushner Controversy, Further Steps Toward End Of Trump Presidency!

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Former FBI Head James Comey, by giving testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on his dealings with Donald Trump, is raising the ante on Trump’s being eventually forced out of office. It was stunning to hear Comey state that Donald Trump is a liar, who he knew was from the beginning, and that, therefore, Comey needed to keep notes of his meetings and conversations with the President. No matter what the criticism of Comey in his handling of the Presidential Election of 2016, which many think undermined Hillary Clinton’s candidacy dramatically, it is clear that Comey is much admired by fellow workers in the FBI, and that he has no record of lying, while Trump has been the most outstanding example of a liar ever to hold the office of the Presidency, even more than Richard Nixon,

The Jared Kushner controversy of dealing with the Russian Ambassador during the transition, before being appointed as an adviser to his father in-law is another issue that will make Trump’s life much more difficult.

With the process moving ahead in Congress and with the Special Counsel Robert Muller, former FBI head, and with Trump constantly making things worse with his own utterances, the clock is ticking on the duration of the Trump Presidency.

It still seems highly likely that Trump will not last in office as long as Zachary Taylor, who died after 492 days, on July 9, 1850, a date which will be reached in the Trump Presidency on May 27, 2018.

National Archives Office Of Presidential Libraries Excellent Site For All Presidential Museums From Herbert Hoover To Barack Obama

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At a time when this blogger and author is adding to his list of Presidential Libraries and Museums that he has visited in person, this is a good time to make clear to my readers that an excellent site to explore, which is listed on the right side of my blog, is the National Archives Office of Presidential Libraries, which includes information on the libraries and museums of all President since Herbert Hoover through to Barack Obama, so a total of 14 such institutions.

The Barack Obama Presidential Library and Museum is being planned to open in 2021 in Chicago, and it will add to the long list of reasons for tourists, as well as scholars, to visit Chicago.

This author has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit the libraries of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, so a total of 10 of the 13 museums that are open.

The problem with the Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and George H. W. Bush Libraries and Museums are their relative inaccessibility, particularly the case of the first two Presidents having their museums in Iowa and Kansas, quite far from major aviation hubs.

But hopefully, at some point, there will be an opportunity to visit the Houston, Texas metropolitan area, and travel the distance to the first Bush Library in College Station, Texas, at the campus of Texas A & M University.

45 Years Since The Watergate Scandal, And My Visit To The Richard Nixon Presidential Museum And Library, As Trump Scandal Metastasizes!

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I finally have made it to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, while on my week long vacation in Los Angeles, California.

This blogger has spent his entire teaching career, beginning in 1972 when he started teaching his first class just eleven days before the Watergate break-in on June 17, 1972, surrounded by Nixon, who I despised at the time, and analyzing and evaluating Nixon over the rest of his life, and in the 23 years since his death in 1994. I also had a sabbatical period where I did a lot of reading and reflection on the 37th President.

It can be said that the half century from Nixon’s first election to Congress in 1946 to his death in 1994, is the Age of Nixon. One cannot fully understand American history since 1945 without addressing the positive and negative legacy of Richard Nixon.

Many would say that Nixon was the most significant and influential President of the years since World War II, and still has a role in our lives in 2017, with all of the accomplishments he had, often forgotten in the cloud of the Watergate Scandal.

And with Donald Trump facing likely removal from office due to scandal and abuse of power, it makes it incumbent upon us to compare Trump to Nixon, as I did before the election in an article on History News Network, found on the right side of my blog. Nixon shines in so many ways, as he was a very intelligent, perceptive, experienced political leader, unlike Donald Trump. But Nixon also had demons which undermined his ability to be successful, so he ranks in the mid 20s among our Presidents, and is seen by many as a failure, due to the fact that he faced certain impeachment and removal from the Presidency, if he had not resigned in disgrace in August 1974.

My impressions of the Nixon Library and Museum are that after much work to change the tone and exhibits of the museum, originally not accepted as legitimate, now the ability to recognize the truth of Richard Nixon’s life is possible, and I would highly recommend everyone visiting Southern California to visit and reflect on the Nixon historical role in our history. I would say that the Nixon Library has succeeded in presenting the complex aspects of Richard Nixon, both good and evil.

Ken Burns’ New PBS Documentary On The Vietnam War Due In September

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Ken Burns, the brilliant documentary producer, is about to present to America what may be his most brilliant series yet, on the Vietnam War, scheduled for 18 hours on PBS in late September.

Burns, of course, produced series on the Civil War, Baseball, National Parks, Jazz, The Roosevelts, The War (World War II), The West, New York, Prohibition, Jackie Robinson, and other creative films, many of which have been seen as the best documentaries ever produced.

No one can accuse Burns of not tackling difficult subjects, and this new extended series, will be exhaustive in covering all angles of the impact of the Vietnam War on Southeast Asia, as well as the United States.

With the Vietnam War now part of the past for 42 years, since its ultimate end in 1975, it is time for a thorough study of that war which divided America like no event since the Civil War, and Ken Burns does a superb job!

The President of Vietnam was greeted at the White House last week by President Trump, with nary a mention of the fact that we fought there for a decade, and lost 58,000 military personnel. As I watched, I wonderered why there is still so much tumult over Cuba, with the hint that Trump would cut back on the advancements in the relationship between America and Cuba made under Barack Obama, a nation where we lost no combat troops.

13 Years Since Ronald Reagan’s Death, And My Visit To The Reagan Museum And Library

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Yesterdat, June 5, was the 13th anniversary of the death of President Ronald Reagan, and guess where this blogger was!

I finally made it to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, as part of my week long vacation to Los Angeles. I spent the entire day at the museum.

Ronald Reagan was certainly a very influential President, who everyone liked, even if one did not agree with his agenda and his policies.

Never a fan of Reagan in office, and believing that conservatives have distorted the reality of the Reagan Presidency, it was very revealing to visit the magnificent museum, which is the largest in total space of any Presidential library.

Of course, like any Presidential library and museum, the tendency is to glorify the life and historical record of such President. However, I wish to point out that I was surprised that the Reagan Museum and Library did not discuss any of the four Reagan children, from Reagan’s two marriages, and made no mention of actress Jane Wyman, Reagan’s first wife, with whom he had his first two children. I wonder how Reagan’s three surviving children, Michael from Wyman, and Patti and Ron Jr from Nancy, feel about that!

I can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed this visit, and that it has added to my understanding of Ronald Reagan, and that it will assist me in teaching and lecturing in the future on the 40th President. And as I write today, I also mark exactly 45 years since I walked into my first time teaching a class, on June 6, 1972, which turned out to be 11 days before the Watergate break in that brought down Richard Nixon, whose Presidential library and museum I am visting tomorrow, June 7!

And I wish to point out that I wrote an article on History News Network last year, comparing Reagan to Donald Trump, with Reagan coming out shining by comparison, and it can be found on the right side of the blog.

49 Years Since Robert Kennedy’s Assassination: The Beginning Of The End Of The Triumph Of Liberalism In The 1960s

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It is now 49 years since Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York was tragically assassinated in Los Angeles, where I am right now, in my first visit to the number two city in America.

RFK was seen as likely to win the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1968, and it is believed that he would have defeated former Vice President Richard Nixon in a close race, without being tied to the Vietnam War policy of Lyndon B. Johnson, which Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey had as an albatross around his neck, from which he was unable to escape.

It often seems as if RFK’s death marked a turning point to the right, from which America has never fully recovered, despite the best efforts of Barack Obama, the most liberal President since LBJ, but with the reality of a strong Republican opposition that helped to prevent much of his agenda.

Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, while certainly more “liberal” than any Republican President in the past half century, were unable, and also to a great extent, unwilling to go anywhere as far as Obama attempted.

So in a sense, America lost its liberal champion, which Ted Kennedy represented after his brother’s death, but due to his own Chappaquiddick scandal, was unable to promote, with one failed attempt in 1980 against President Carter.

RFK was certainly one of the most talented and creative politicians we have seen, and had a broad appeal, and his goals and aims to unite people of all backgrounds in promoting progressive change, remain the goal of Democrats as they look ahead to 2020, and wish to find the best Presidential nominee possible.

A Half Century Since The Six Day War Of Israel Against Arab Nations In 1967

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It is now a half century since the Six Day Arab-israeli War of June 5-10, 1967.

Israel was able to overcome Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, and gain control of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Desert, and the Golan Heights.

Israel has had to engage in war since, and lost territory to Egypt in the 18 day Yom Kippur war in October 1973.

It has also had to engage in conflict with the Palestinians and their engagement in terrorism and warfare over the past half century, with the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) after the Six Day War.

The Sinai Desert, the Gaza Strip, and parts of the West Bank have been returned, but much of the West Bank, along with the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem remain under Israeli control, and the tensions in the area remain high.

This author wrote a study of the US-Israeli relationship from Harry Truman to Donald Trump, worthy of your attention, with the publication recently on History News Network, and then republished by Newsweek, and both versions are on the right side of my blog.

Donald Trump’s Lack Of Concern For Human Rights In America And Other Nations

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We now have a President who does not give a damn about human rights, whether in America or in other nations around the world. He embraces authoritarian leadership with gusto.

Nothing matters more than the defense and protection of human rights, but here we have a President who flirts with white supremacists, who promote antisemitism, anti Muslim, anti African American, anti Asian, anti Latino, and misogynistic attacks, and he has nary a word to say.

Here is a President who denounces Muslim terrorism, but ignores Christian extremists who encourage anti Muslim threats, and stir the kind of disaster that occurred in Portland, Oregon, by a Christian extremist, who stabbed three courageous men with two murdered, who defended two young women on a train from anti Muslim hatred.

Here is a President who consorts with governments that deny their citizens basic human rights, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, the Philippines, China and others, giving up the American ideal of speaking up for the basic rights of all people.

Trump even has the gall to say we have no desire to tell other nations how to treat their own citizens, when we have always stood, at least in theory, if not in action, for condemnation of such violations.

Trump has no concern for America’s basic values of civil rights, civil liberties, and human decency, and is ready to abuse those in any way he can, and to embrace foreign dictators who do the same.

This is not what our President should be representing or doing, and he needs to be attacked vigorously on this every day until he finally is forced out of office as a disgrace to the Presidency!

Donald Trump Rejects The Paris Climate Deal, A Tragedy Long Term For America And The World!

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Donald Trump has just done the most disastrous long term action so far in his Presidency. by rejecting the Paris Climate Deal!

His own daughter, Ivanka, could not get through to him, and neither could Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; thousands of climate scientists; and hundreds of corporations, including Shell Oil and Exxon Oil, where Tillerson was once its leader.

It is a smack in the face to the entire world, with 195 countries having agreed to it, and only Syria and Nicaragua not taking part, and in the case of Nicaragua, they rejected the deal as too weak and wanted a stronger deal. So only a nation in the midst of a long civil war has refused to cooperate, as millions are dying, being wounded, or fleeing for their lives in that tragic war in Syria.

Trump is rejecting science, and allowing Scott Pruitt, his despicable head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and White House Advisor Stephen Bannon, to control his decision.

Trump will be condemned in history for this dastardly act, and his super nationalistic view reeks of Fascism, and it must be bitterly opposed by marches and demonstrations, and the push to defeat every Republican in Congress who supports what Trump has done.

Trump is showing no concern for future generations, and we will see over this century the eventual flooding of such cities as New York City, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans, and his legacy will be that he helped to cause this to occur.

Politicians go to doctors for medical treatment, for their expertise, so why not have politicians leave it to scientists to warn us what we must do to prevent climate change and global warming from destroying the nation and the world?

Imagine if Franklin D. Roosevelt had rejected the advice of Albert Einstein about nuclear weapons in 1939, because after all, one cannot see the atom visually!

America has given up world leadership, and will pay long term for our isolationism, and whatever can be done to reverse this crazy decision legally and politically over the next few years must be done!

How selfish and self serving can a President be? And Trump says the world will laugh at us if we do not rescind the Paris agreement, as the world is taking advantage of us, when in fact, the world is laughing at his stupidity and ignorance precisely because he has made this despicable decision!

Presidential In-Laws: Jared Kushner Is No William Gibbs McAdoo (Wilson) Or Sargent Shriver (Kennedy)!

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There have been Presidential in-laws who have worked for Presidents before Jared Kushner, son in-law of President Donald Trump.

William Gibbs McAdoo, son in-law of President Woodrow Wilson, served as Wilson’s Secretary of the Treasury for the first six years of Wilson’s Presidency, and was crucial in the economic buildup for World War I.

Sargent Shriver, brother in-law of President John F. Kennedy, served as the first head of the Peace Corps, and went on to serve as the head of the War on Poverty under Lyndon B. Johnson, and as Ambassador to France under Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Both were solid citizens who made major contributions, and I discuss this in my recent article on History News Network, out this week, and found on the right side of the blog.

Jared Kushner, by comparison is a spoiled rich kid, who has no special qualifications to be in charge of so many different responsibilities under his father in law. Now with the revelation of his contacts with the Russian Ambassador, including suggestions that they have contact outside of official channels, is making Kushner an albatross around Donald Trump’s neck. However it is clear that Kushner would not have become involved in such dealings without Trump’s support and knowledge, so it puts Trump under further suspicion and investigation.

So do not expect that Kushner will ever reach long term the significance of either McAdoo or Shriver, and in fact, will likely contribute to the downfall of Donald Trump.