Today in infamy

Thirty two years ago today I was pardoned by Jimmy Carter; an act for which I am forever grateful.

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 76: if, following the letter of official US policy, John McCain wasn't tortured as a prisoner of the Vietnamese that can only mean that his confession to war crimes wasn't coerced and he must be a traitor.

Quote(s) of the day

"He was a patriot - the best sort, the kind who do not walk around with American flags in their lapels."

"Twelve wrecked homes. The chaplain's words echoed. That's twelve wrecked homes. The doctor and I think in terms of human suffering not statistics. I thought about Sullivan again. He was one of the statistics, just like the four enemy soldiers killed that morning. The only difference was that they were in different columns on the colonel's scoreboard. Twelve wrecked homes. I thought about Sullivan's young widow in Pennsylvania, and a chill passed through me. Maybe her husband had died for nothing, maybe for something. Either way, it could not make much difference to her now."

Both come from Philip Caputo's book, Rumor of War, about his time as a US Marine in Vietnam in the Sixties. Not that much has changed.

TodayYesterday in infamy - "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" edition

Somehow I missed that yesterday was the anniversary of the fall of Dien Bien Phu leading to end of French involvement in Indochina and, unfortunately because we weren't really paying attention, inevitably leading to the American involvement in Indochina with the subsequently high and futile price we paid.

Today in infamy - America doesn't commit war crimes edition

Forty years ago today Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division carried out a massacre in My Lai.

Today in infamy - special cut and run edition

On this day in 1973 the Paris Peace Accords ending the Vietnam War were signed by North Vietnam and a Republican American government.

Today in protest

Forty two years ago today a mass burning of draft cards first took place in Berkley CA.

Note to American teens. You'd best look up how it is done. You're probably going to need the skill soon.