terrorism
« Previous EntriesDid You Get the Memo?
Thursday, August 18th, 2022Every August I remember our history. For professional historians, history is based on documents. Documents give us a look into real time events rather than looking backwards. Documents help us separate reality from storytelling. On August 6, 2001 a Central Intelligence Agent handed George W. Bush a Presidential Daily Brief. Its title could not have […]
America–Home of the Brave
Thursday, May 19th, 2022On April 19, 1995 Timothy McVeigh attacked the United States of America. He murdered 168 Americans. Ten children were among the dead. At the time of his arrest, McVeigh had excerpts from the Turner Diaries in his car. This 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce depicts a coming race war. White supremacists attacked the United […]
Don’t Bear False Witness
Thursday, October 14th, 2021Justice requires the truth. As Americans we require anyone testifying to do it under oath. Oath breakers face penalties for perjury. The truth is no less important in other aspects of life. Both Civil Law and the Bible made bearing false witness a crime. Civil law calls it liable. Psalm 6 calls bearing false witness […]
Learn, Not Repeat, is the Goal
Thursday, September 30th, 2021A dedicated group of volunteers are trying to teach their neighbors the history of Grayson County Texas. Grayson County has a chance to learn from its mistakes. Melissa Thiel is leading the effort and has rallied local business owners and clergy. They want the following statement on a marker in front of the Courthouse. […]
Time to Come Home
Thursday, September 2nd, 2021The United States Armed Forces have shown the world again that it is the best trained and equipped on the planet. In 2001, they went into Afghanistan to kill Osama Bin Laden and dismantle the 9/11 terror network. Long after their mission to kill Osama Bin Laden was successful and Al Qaeda driven from Afghanistan, […]
Act of Terrorism in Grayson County
Thursday, March 18th, 2021Studying history shouldn’t take a profile in courage. Too many people want history to be a safe space for ancestor worship. History is part of the humanities. We study humans. Humans can be beautiful. They can be ugly. We should try to replicate the beauty and avoid the ugly. We can’t do either if we […]
The Pretender
Thursday, December 10th, 2020America has never had a pretender before. Pretenders were regular features of European monarchies. In monarchies the government, called the Crown, was the personal property of the king. It passed from father to son or, rarely, to his daughter. In America, we have a Republic. The term “republic†derives from the Latin phrase “res publica.†[…]
Samuel Paty
Friday, October 30th, 2020“Depuis la cour de la Sorbonne, lieu historique de l’enseignement universitaire français, le président de la République Emmanuel Macron a rendu un hommage national au professeur Samuel Paty.” Publié le 21 octobre 2020 Translation by Google A religious fundamentalist assassinated Samuel Paty for sharing satirical cartoons with his class. Satirical expression is an essential feature […]
Conservative Apocalypse
Thursday, July 16th, 2020Apocalypse means “to lift the veil.†In an Apocalypse you can see behind the curtain. Covid 19 has been an Apocalypse for conservatives. Their reactions have shown us who they are and what they value. In May, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said, “No one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, […]
White Supremacist Massacres
Tuesday, December 17th, 2019Too often I hear “I never learned this” or “I never learned that in a history class.” First, people in general don’t want to hear the tales of Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths from their own history. They prefer a “cleaned up” version. In the case of the United States, most prefer the Whitewashed version. Unfortunately, that […]
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