Archive for government
The Chaos of Early U.S. Presidential Elections
Posted by: | CommentsThe elections of 2000 and 2004 were nothing short of amazing considering how hotly contested they were. Unfortunately, that’s more of the rule than the exception. Here are a few scenarios which will make you question the American electoral system.
1796: John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson
In 1776, the mutual respect of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson was so strong, that each thought the other should write the Declaration of Independence. Ultimately, Jefferson wrote it, but it was Adams who defended the document in front of the Continental Congress. During the American Revolution, the two men shared a common purpose; to free America from the tyranny of Great Britain. Sadly, it would be political exploits during George Washington’s presidency which would ultimately drive these two into one of the most bitter political rivalries in American history. Once the nation was established, Adams and Jefferson had opposing views on the role of the federal government and foreign policy, with Jefferson opting for states’ rights and an alliance with France, while Adams supported a strong central government and an alliance with Britain. It also didn’t help that Jefferson was George Washington’s first Secretary of State, while Adams was Washington’s Vice President. So, the stage was set for a showdown when Washington decided that he would not seek a third term in 1796. In the first contested election in U.S. history, John Adams won by only by three electoral votes! Strangely, election rules at the time stipulated that each member of the Electoral College got two votes, but they had to cast them for separate people. Thus, whoever received the 2nd-highest number of votes would be Vice President. Jefferson, being the 2nd-place vote getter ended up becoming Adams’ VP, which didn’t bode well for the Adams Presidency.
1800: John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson (Part II)
For four years, Mr. Adams set about strengthening the federal government, as well as ties with Great Britain, much to the chagrin of Mr. Jefferson. One major point of contention was the Alien and Sedition Acts, which greatly expanded the power of the federal government. So great was Jefferson’s opposition to this legislation, that despite being Adams’ Vice President, he set out to undermine him by co-writing the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. These resolutions stated the opposition to a strong federal government and laid the groundwork for future states’ rights arguments. After four years of undermining the President, Jefferson decided to run again, but this time his political party was better organized. While jockeying for electoral votes, he asked that any elector who cast a vote for him, cast a vote for his running mate, Aaron Burr, with one elector abstaining. This was to prevent what would have likely been a Jefferson presidency with Adams as VP. However, due to miscommunication, every elector who voted for Jefferson also voted for Burr, creating the only tie in U.S. history. Ultimately, the House of Representatives had to resolve the debate, and they chose Jefferson as president. This debacle led to the creation of the 12th amendment, which stipulated that each elector had to cast a distinct vote for President and VP. It was also the pinnacle of the Jefferson-Adams rivalry, which was so strong that Adams didn’t even attend Jefferson’s Inauguration.
1824: John Quincy Adams vs. Andrew Jackson
The Era of Good Feelings was a time of strong national unity and little to no partisanship in government. In fact, James Monroe ran effectively unopposed in 1820 and got all but 1 electoral vote. Four years later, though, it would be a different story, as four men, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Crawford would jockey for the presidency. When the dust settled, Andrew Jackson had won a plurality of the popular vote, as well as the electoral vote, but he had not won the majority, which was necessary to assume the presidency. Per the rules of the 12th amendment, the vote goes to the House of Representatives, but they could only choose between the top 3 vote-getters, which left out Clay. Conveniently for Adams, though, Henry Clay was a bitter enemy of Andrew Jackson, in addition to being Speaker of the House. Clay threw all of his support behind Adams, who would win the presidency in just one round of voting. Adams subsequently made Clay his Secretary of State, prompting Jackson supporters to accuse the two of a corrupt bargain, which would cast a pall over Adams’ entire presidency. The Era of Good Feelings was officially over.
1828 Andrew Jackson campaign poster
1860: Abraham Lincoln vs. Everyone Else
The 1850s saw the deterioration of U.S. politics, as the country become increasingly partisan, with many regional rivalries. It also didn’t help that the 14th and 15th Presidents, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan, respectively, did very little to try to prevent the slide into civil war. Thus, the stage was set in 1860, as the upstart Republican party, led by Abraham Lincoln, took on the fractured Democratic Party, which presented three separate candidates. Needless to say, the lack of unity among the Democrats was their downfall, as Lincoln was able to take a majority of the electoral votes despite winning only 39.8% of the popular vote. Southern states quickly cried foul, as Lincoln had no support in the south, and won by carrying the northeast and upper midwest, which had the majority of the electoral votes. Sadly, barely six weeks after the election, South Carolina seceded from the Union, leaving Lincoln to preside over the most difficult period in American history.
A political cartoon depicting the Democrats trying to keep Lincoln out of the White House (click to enlarge)
1876: Rutherford B. Hayes vs. Samuel Tilden
This was the most disputed election in U.S. history, and the first election in which the winner of the popular vote did not win the electoral vote. With all but 20 electoral votes counted, Tilden held the lead 184-165, but the count was delayed in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida due to allegations of fraud and voter intimidation. The vote ultimately had to go to the Electoral Commission, which was made up of 5 representatives, 5 senators, and 5 Supreme Court Justices, 8 of whom were Republican, and 7 of whom were Democrat. Voting along party lines, the commission determined that the 20 disputed votes should go to Hayes, and in exchange, Hayes ended Reconstruction. By the way, this election wasn’t settled until 2 days before the Presidential Inauguration, the closest call in U.S. history.
"A truce - not a compromise, but a chance for high-toned gentlemen to retire gracefully from their very civil declarations of war" -Thomas Nast
1884, 1888, & 1892: The Elections of Grover Cleveland
In 1884, a young, Democratic upstart from upstate New York shocked the country when he defeated Maine Senator James Blaine for the presidency. Cleveland’s political career was more of a rapid rise to political stardom, as he didn’t get started until 1882, when he was elected Mayor of Buffalo. Then, in 1883, he was elected Governor of New York, before being elected President of the United States in 1884. What’s also amazing about Grover Cleveland is that he was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War, and the only one between 1860-1912. Unfortunately, he could not parlay that early success into another victory in 1888, and he was voted out after just one term, despite the fact that he had won a plurality of the popular vote. Nevertheless, he didn’t give up, and ran again in 1892, this time winning both the popular and electoral vote. This makes Cleveland the only president to serve split terms. He also holds the distinction of being one of only three people (the others being Andrew Jackson and Franklin Roosevelt) to win the popular vote 3 times. Interestingly, though, Cleveland never won a majority of the popular vote, ironically coming the closest in 1888, when he lost the presidency.
"Who Dares Give Battle With Me?"
This is the first in a two-part series. Be sure to subscribe to EiH so you’ll be notified of the second part in the series.
Could the Iranian Revolution Have Been Avoided?
Posted by: | CommentsToday is the 30th anniversary of the Iran Hostage Crisis, which could have been avoided, as illustrated below.
In 1951, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was elected Prime Minister of Iran, with his main campaign promise being the nationalization of the country’s oil fields, which were owned by British Petroleum. The bill would pass unanimously in the Iranian Parliament, which would change Iran’s path forever. BP, despite being offered a reasonable buyout, did not wish to relinquish the oil fields, so the British government placed an economic embargo on Iran. In addition, the CIA began to brainstorm ways in which to eliminate the democratically elected prime minister. Why would the CIA step in, you ask? Because Iran shared a long border with America’s Cold War nemesis, the Soviet Union, and Iran was the most powerful nation in the Middle East. What commenced was Operation AJAX, one of the CIA’s most successful covert operations, which would remove Mossadegh and replace him with the Shah of Iran.
Life Under the Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran
The Iranian Revolution
Mass Demonstration during the Revolution
Blowback
The CIA would coin the term “blowback” to describe the 1953 coup. Sure, Operation AJAX was a success, as Dr. Mossadegh was overthrown, and the US got to share in Iranian oil profits for the first time in history. However, the fundamentalist regime that rules Iran today, would not have had the popular support to overthrow a democratically elected government. As rapper Immortal Technique put it, “You f***** the Middle East and gave birth to a demon.” I suppose the CIA can take solace in the fact that Iran is not currently ruled by communists.
For more in depth information about modern Iranian history, take a look at All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
Patriots or Politics?
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Ever since that fateful night in November 2008, conservatives have come out of the woodwork waving (or wearing) the flag, protesting the Obama administration, and professing their hatred for socialism. But what has gotten these folks so riled up? Obama has promised us an open, transparent administration, and so far has held up his end of the bargain. I’m all for individuals engaging in more political activity than in the past, but I have to ask, where were all these so-called patriots during the previous administration? These patriots were eerily silent while the Bush administration all but eliminated habeas corpus through the Military Commissions Act of 2006, illegally invaded the privacy of American citizens through the PATRIOT Act, and lied about Saddam Hussein’s connection to al Qaeda in order to gain support for invading Iraq, in addition to other criminal acts.
Isn’t it odd that these patriots decide to come out of the woodwork now, as opposed to when we had a president that was actually screwing us over?
On This Day: EiH Remembers 9/11/2001
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I’ll never forget where I was when I heard the news that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I was a junior at the University of Florida, and was just coming out of my geology class at Williamson Hall, and it was like something out of a movie. As I stepped out into the early morning sun, it seemed like everyone on campus was on their cell phone. Everyone. I could hear pieces of the same conversation. One person said, “A plane hit the World Trade Center?” Another said, “No way, what happened?” Another, “It just crashed.” Yet another, “A huge jet, it just slammed into it.” I didn’t really think anything of it; a plane crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945, and while it was tragic, it was not catastrophic. In retrospect, thousands of people having the same conversation should have struck me harder, but I was young and self-centered. It didn’t happen to me, so it was just another news headline. It wasn’t until I was standing in the mob to pick up the football tickets for that Saturday game against Tennessee that I realized the severity of what just happened. We were the number one college football team in teh country, about to play a major rival, and all anybody would talk about was this plane that hit the World Trade Center.
I got back to my apartment, and my roommate, Tom, was watching the news. “Can you believe this?” He said. I sat down and watched in disbelief, the first thought running through my head being, “How are they going to repair that building?” Up to that point, it was just another plane crash. Then it happened. Live on the news, I watched the second jet slam into 2 World Trade Center. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Twice in one day? What are the chances? Then the news comes in that another plane hit the Pentagon. The news was doing that picture in picture thing with pictures of the Pentagon side-by-side with the World Trade Center. Then out of nowhere, Tower 2 fell. Before I could fully digest what had just happened, Tower 1 fell. I couldn’t believe what I just witnessed. I grew up in New Jersey, and you could see those towers from just about anywhere on a clear day, and now one had fallen. I was shocked, hurt, angry, all of it, you name it, I felt it.
I was glued to the television for the rest of the day. Another plane crashed in Pennsylvania, then 7 World Trade Center collapsed. I was numb. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. After nearly 200 years of geography-based security, the USA had just been punched in the mouth. America’s naivete was lost. We were being held responsible for the crimes of our government, and 3,017 innocent people paid the ultimate price that day, with another 6300 injured. But we were all victims. Like a child who realizes his parents’ mortality, we learned that the oceans could not keep us secure. We learned that there are people so desperate that the U.S. military does not frighten them. We lost our innocence that day.
I’ll never forget where I was on September 11, 2001. I’ll never forget the bravery of the firefighters and police officers who looked death in the face and still did their job. I’ll never forget how everybody became a blood donor. I’ll never forget that there were no hyphenated Americans. I will never forget.
10 Questions You Should Have Asked About 9/11
Posted by: | Comments“Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.” -Ben Franklin
The above quote is one that my grandmother repeated almost daily during my formative years, although I didn’t fully understand what it meant until I reached adulthood. I’d probably never fully understand it if not for the great disaster that was 9/11 that happened during my 20th year on this planet. Like most people, in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 Incident, I was shocked, hurt, and most of all, full of vengeance. As that subsided, however, I came to realize that we, the American people, may have been duped. The greatest crime of all time may very well have not been perpetrated in the manner in which we’ve been told. Now, I’m not saying it was an inside job because I honestly don’t know. That is why I’m posting this; 8 years later, the greatest crime in American history shouldn’t have so many unanswered questions. This post is not meant to disrespect the victims of the 9/11 attacks, it is merely a quest to shine light where there is darkness. There are countless more questions that could be asked, but here’s a few that I hope will get you started.
- Why were plans finalized on September 10, 2001, to attack Afghanistan and remove the Taliban from power? Both Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell admit that without 9/11, there would be very little domestic support for an incursion against the Taliban.
- Why did World Trade Center towers 1 and 2 collapse so quickly, so cleanly, and in free-fall speed? The first plane struck Tower 1 at 8:46 AM, and it collapsed at 10:28 AM; 1 hour 42 minutes later. Tower 2 was struck at 9:03 AM and collapsed at 9:59 AM; 56 minutes later. Once the towers fell, they each took approximately 10 secs to collapse in on their own footprint. It was the first time in history that a steel-trussed building collapsed from fire, and it hasn’t happened since.
- Why did 7 World Trade Center collapse at all? 7 World Trade Center was a 47 story office building located across the street from the World Trade Center Plaza, tall enough to stand out in just about any other city’s skyline. It collapsed at 5:20 PM, supposedly from fire and debris from Towers 1 and 2. This one is decidedly more suspicious because only 8 floors were on fire, only 2 of which were visible from outside the window. However, it too collapsed in on itself at near free-fall speed. Here’s a side-by-side comparing a controlled demolition to the collapsed of WTC7: Interesting Note: The NE Regional Headquarters of the Securities and Exchange Commission was located at WTC7. The SEC was in the midst of its investigation into Enron, one of the biggest corporate accounting scandals in history. Enron was George W. Bush’s biggest political backer, former CEO Kenneth Lay was a close friend of Bush, and Bush frequently flew on Enron’s corporate jets during his 2000 campaign. With the collapse of WTC7, most of Enron’s SEC filings were likely lost.
- Why wasn’t there more extensive damage at the Pentagon? A photo of the immediate aftermath at the Pentagon shows no scars or skid marks on the lawn immediately in front of the impact site. Also, that hole in the building is awfully small considering a Boeing 757 has a wingspan of 124 ft. 10 in.
- If the hijackers were such terrible pilots and opted not to learn to land, how did they strike the Pentagon in such a manner as to be able to penetrate to the 3rd ring of the Pentagon without skidding the ground?
- What’s the deal with Flight 93? We’ve all heard the heroic story of the passengers taking it to the hijackers, whereby the plane crashes in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It really is a powerful, emotional story, but it obscures the facts. Where were the bodies and the debris? Every plane crash in history, even the fiery, explosive ones have left behind bodies, yet Flight 93 only yielded bone and tissue fragments. As the Shanksville Medical Examiner put it, “I stopped being coroner after about 20 minutes because there were no bodies there.” And what of the debris. Here’s a view of the Flight 93 crash site (notice the lack of debris, lack of flames, and the single, relatively small crater):
And here’s one from the 1988 crash of Pan AM Flight 103 in Lockerbie Scotland:
- How come the FBI never changed the suspected hijackers’ list despite the fact that none of the hijackers’ names were on the passenger manifests, and at least 7 people are alive who claim ownership of those identities?
- If Osama bin Laden is responsible for 9/11, why isn’t he wanted for it? Bin Laden is on the FBI’s most wanted fugitive list, as well as the most wanted terrorist list for the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings, not for 9/11. Here’s the exact text from his wanted poster:
Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world.
On September 12, 2001, Al Qaeda denies involvement in the attacks. On September 16, Osama bin Laden personally addresses the accusation against him and denies involvement. On September 28, in an interview with a Pakistani newspaper, bin Laden again denies involvement in the 9/11 Incident.
- Why hasn’t there been a criminal investigation into 9/11? The closest thing was the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, more popularly known as the 9/11 Commission, which was made up of politicians appointed by George W. Bush and Congress. It was only meant to tell the story of 9/11 and provide recommendations for the future. Of note, it completely ignored the collapse of 7 World Trade Center, and had other serious omissions, including the testimony of former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, that there were serious cover-ups at FBI Headquarters. Furthermore, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney refused to testify under oath, Bush and Cheney testified together, and Condoleeza Rice, then National Security Advisor, was not required to testify.
- Would elements of the government kill me in order to foster international support for a war? Ever heard of Operations Northwoods?
“It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts… For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.”
-Patrick Henry
50 Years of 50 States: Hawaii
Posted by: | CommentsNickname: The Aloha State
Date Ratified: August 21, 1959 (50th)
Capital: Honolulu
Map of Hawaii
- Hawaii is the most recent state to have joined the Union.
- In 1993, then president Bill Clinton signed Joint Apology Resoultion for overthrowing Queen Lili’uokalani 100 years earlier. It marked the 1st time (and only time, to date) that the United States government has apologized for overthrowing the legitimate government of a sovereign nation.
- Barack Obama is the first presidential nominee, er go president, from Hawaii.
- Hawaii is the most isolated population center on Earth. It is 2390 miles from California, 3850 miles from Japan, 4900 miles from China, and 5280 miles from the Phillipines.
- Hawaii is the widest state based on the east-west axis.
- No racial majority exists in Hawaii. The largest ethnic group is caucasian at 34% of the population.
- The flag of the state of Hawaii has been flown as a kingdom, republic, British protectorate, and U.S. territory, and has been in use since 1816. As such, it is the only state flag that incorporates the British Union Jack flag.
Flag of Hawaii
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TIME on Unsustainable Farming Practices
Posted by: | CommentsUpton Sinclair’s seminal work, The Jungle, exposed the corruption and exploitation prevalent in the meatpacking industry, and transformed Americans’ attitudes toward food safety practically overnight. Today, we face a new issue in American agriculture; that of unsustainable farming, but most people are unaware of it. Hopefully this article will elicit the same sort of revolutionary response as The Jungle did 100 years ago.
Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won’t bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics. The waste produced by the pig and his thousands of pen mates on the factory farm where they live goes into manure lagoons that blanket neighboring communities with air pollution and a stomach-churning stench. He’s fed on American corn that was grown with the help of government subsidies and millions of tons of chemical fertilizer. When the pig is slaughtered, at about 5 months of age, he’ll become sausage or bacon that will sell cheap, feeding an American addiction to meat that has contributed to an obesity epidemic currently afflicting more than two-thirds of the population. And when the rains come, the excess fertilizer that coaxed so much corn from the ground will be washed into the Mississippi River and down into the Gulf of Mexico, where it will help kill fish for miles and miles around. That’s the state of your bacon — circa 2009.
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food – TIME (via Boing Boing)
