April 28, 2016


New and Views


INSIDE POLITICS TODAY

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-boehner-calls-ted-cruz-lucifer-in-the-flesh-miserable-sob/

John Boehner calls Ted Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh," "miserable" SOB
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
April 28, 2016, 9:38 AM

Play Video -- Boehner Says Goodbye To House Colleagues

John Boehner sounded off a litany of insults for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz Wednesday night, labelling the Texas senator "Lucifer in the flesh" and a "miserable son of a bitch."

"I have Democrat friends and Republican friends," the former House speaker said during a frank on-stage discussion at Stanford University Wednesday. "I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life."

Boehner, who retired from Congress at the end of October, also let loose on the two other GOP candidates in the race.

Of his relationship with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Boehner said that he was "my friend, and I love him" -- but with the caveat that Kasich "requires more effort on my behalf than all my other friends."

Boehner said he was on friendly terms with Republican front-runner Donald Trump, adding that he often played golf with the New York business mogul and billing their friendship as one between "texting buddies."

The ex-congressman seemed to accept that Trump would be the party's nominee and said that he would vote for him if that prediction came to pass. Boehner said he would not, however, cast a ballot for Cruz if the Texas senator won the nomination.

After Boehner's comments gained traction on social media, Cruz responded to the insults in a tweet Thursday morning:

Ted Cruz ✔ ‎@tedcruz
Tell me again who will stand up to Washington? Trump, who's Boehner's "texting and golfing buddy," or Carly & me? https://twitter.com/bosnerdley/status/725689480926101505 …
10:23 AM - 28 Apr 2016

Boehner also weighed in on the Democratic primary contest, according to the Stanford Daily, the university newspaper that first reported Boehner's comments. The former House speaker praised Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as the most honest politician in the White House race. Of Clinton, who he has known for 25 years, Boehner called her accomplished and smart.

He predicted, however, that if Clinton's email scandal escalates, a surprise could come out of the Democratic race.

"Don't be shocked ... if two weeks before the convention, here comes Joe Biden parachuting in and Barack Obama fanning the flames to make it all happen," Boehner said.

The Ohio Republican also commented on the retirement life, looking back at his time in Congress with fondness for the "knuckleheads" and "goofballs" that worked there.

"I think my proudest accomplishment is walking out of there the same jackass I was 25 years before," he said.



“He predicted, however, that if Clinton's email scandal escalates, a surprise could come out of the Democratic race. "Don't be shocked ... if two weeks before the convention, here comes Joe Biden parachuting in and Barack Obama fanning the flames to make it all happen," Boehner said. The Ohio Republican also commented on the retirement life, looking back at his time in Congress with fondness for the "knuckleheads" and "goofballs" that worked there. "I think my proudest accomplishment is walking out of there the same jackass I was 25 years before," he said. …. Of his relationship with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Boehner said that he was "my friend, and I love him" -- but with the caveat that Kasich "requires more effort on my behalf than all my other friends." Boehner said he was on friendly terms with Republican front-runner Donald Trump, adding that he often played golf with the New York business mogul and billing their friendship as one between "texting buddies."


"I think my proudest accomplishment is walking out of there the same jackass I was 25 years before," he said.” I take this to mean that he wasn’t bought out to change his personal opinions. His high praise of Bernie Sanders and John Kasich is nice, too. He doesn’t say what he thinks of Joe Biden, except to predict that he will be the party’s last attempt to control the presidential nomination and prevent Sanders from getting the center spot. Sanders doesn’t play ball.

I do hope that the party won’t do that. As Boehner said, Sanders is probably the most honest and one of the brightest politician I’ve seen in years. I don’t think that his unabashedly left-leaning (overly idealistic, radical, foolish) and stubborn plan to stay in the race is anything other than heroic, given the Koch/Big Money controlled politics of today. We also have a few other true liberals, but not as many as we need. If Biden were to take the nomination on a draft I wouldn’t hate it, because I also think he is intelligent and (from all I know of him) honest. That doesn’t mean he isn’t too cozy with a centralist majority in the party for my tastes, but I think he, like Sanders and Obama before him, is courageous and will try to do a fair and wise job. I wish I still trusted Hillary completely, but I don’t, as much as I want to at any rate. I will still vote for the Democrat who runs to prevent Republicans of any stamp from being elected president. This is an emotionally fraught election for me, in that I am truly worried about the outcome. As for Boehner, I have always liked him, and thought he was better than any of that Tea Party crew. I am concerned with his close relationship with Trump, though.



Related:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-not-running-for-president-i-regret-it-every-day/

Joe Biden on not running for president: "I regret it every day"
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
January 6, 2016, 6:08 PM

Photograph -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden walks back to the Oval Office after Biden announced he will not seek the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, during an appearance in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington October 21, 2015. REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA


After a lengthy soul-searching process that ended with the vice president turning down a 2016 bid, Joe Biden still thinks about the campaign that might have been.

"I regret it every day," Biden said during a round of interviews with local television news affiliates, "but it was the right decision for my family and me."

Biden, who flirted with the possibility of a White House run for months before deciding against it in October, has previously said he had made the "right decision" not to launch a campaign.

"I plan on staying deeply involved," he told WVIT, an NBC affiliate in Connecticut.

He added that so far this election cycle, there has been "real robust debate between Hillary and Bernie" and noted that "we've got two good candidates" -- seemingly omitting the third Democratic primary competitor, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.

The vice president also spoke with several news stations to address the latest White House executive actions on guns, which the president announced Tuesday.

"We do have to feel a sense of urgency about it," an emotional Obama said from the East Room of the White House. "People are dying and the constant excuses for inaction no longer do."

The president's plans involve expanding background checks during gun sales and strengthening enforcement of existing gun laws. The president also plans to improve care for the mentally ill and promote information-sharing to prevent them from buying guns.

Like Mr. Obama, who will join a CNN-hosted town hall on Thursday to discuss gun violence, Biden is participating in a media blitz to wrangle support for the executive actions, which could still face considerable legal and Congressional hurdles.

Speaking with CBS' Roanoke, Virginia affiliate WDBJ -- a station victimized by gun violence last August when a reporter and photographer were shot dead on live television by a former disgruntled employee -- Biden countered the argument that "we're going to confiscate everyone's gun."

Of gun-rights activists, Biden said that "we're not infringing on their rights at all."

"They can stand by their gun if they're legally entitled to have a gun under the Constitution," he added, adding that the executive actions were "modest in relative terms."

Biden further claimed the new actions would have prevented the Virginia Tech massacre.

"Imagine what would have happened had Virginia reported the mental state of the shooter in Blacksburg down at Virginia Tech," he said. "I mean, you know, you say well Joe you're not going to solve--would have solved that. Wouldn't have been able to have a gun."

Asked whether the latest executive actions go far enough, the vice president said "no, they don't."

"I don't think there's any rationale why someone, a hunter needs to have a clip that can hold 40 rounds in it or 60 rounds in it, if you're going to do that we ought to at least give the deer a kevlar vest or something to give him an even chance," Biden said. "I mean this is ridiculous. We don't need some of the stuff that's out there."

He explained further the initiatives to implement more "smart gun" technologies, saying, "Why can't you have a gun [where] you cannot fire the gun unless your thumbprint is identifiable? We have the technology to be able to do that. We can drive down the cost so that it will not impede you, a law-abiding citizen buying a gun that's a smart gun."

And to WCSC, a CBS affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina -- where a shooting rampage killed nine black church-goers in June -- Biden defended the president's actions as well-intentioned.

"He wants to make sure people who shouldn't own a gun don't get one," Biden said of the president. "He wants to make it quicker for people who are able to own a gun under the law to be able to own a gun. That's the whole background check system."

The vice president further assured that rather than changing the laws completely, Mr. Obama's actions are all about "enforcing the existing law on the books."

"If you are mentally ill, if you are a felon, if you are an abuser in a domestic violence, you are not allowed under the law, consistent with the Constitution, to own a weapon," he said.

The vice president also addressed the recent North Korean claim to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, saying only that the White House was "trying to run down the assertion."

"I'm not at liberty to tell you what we can certify now," Biden told WDBJ, "but we are determining whether the claim is accurate."



“After a lengthy soul-searching process that ended with the vice president turning down a 2016 bid, Joe Biden still thinks about the campaign that might have been. "I regret it every day," Biden said during a round of interviews with local television news affiliates, "but it was the right decision for my family and me." …. "I plan on staying deeply involved," he told WVIT, an NBC affiliate in Connecticut. He added that so far this election cycle, there has been "real robust debate between Hillary and Bernie" and noted that "we've got two good candidates" -- seemingly omitting the third Democratic primary competitor, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. …. "Imagine what would have happened had Virginia reported the mental state of the shooter in Blacksburg down at Virginia Tech," he said. "I mean, you know, you say well Joe you're not going to solve--would have solved that. Wouldn't have been able to have a gun." Asked whether the latest executive actions go far enough, the vice president said "no, they don't." "I don't think there's any rationale why someone, a hunter needs to have a clip that can hold 40 rounds in it or 60 rounds in it, if you're going to do that we ought to at least give the deer a kevlar vest or something to give him an even chance," Biden said. "I mean this is ridiculous. We don't need some of the stuff that's out there." …. He explained further the initiatives to implement more "smart gun" technologies, saying, "Why can't you have a gun [where] you cannot fire the gun unless your thumbprint is identifiable? …. "If you are mentally ill, if you are a felon, if you are an abuser in a domestic violence, you are not allowed under the law, consistent with the Constitution, to own a weapon," he said.”


What I really hate about the “conservative” views, in so many cases, is that they either attempt to violate the spirit or the letter of the Constitution so some of their loyalists can have an extreme amount of societal privilege, or they are based on irrational thought patterns, from extreme patriotism to extreme religiosity. Basic logic is something that they fight tooth and nail.


HEROES -- TWO ARTICLES


http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/04/28/teacher-of-the-year-2016/

Connecticut History Teacher Named National Teacher Of The Year
April 28, 2016 9:30 AM

Photograph -- 2016 National Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes (Credit: CBS This Morning)
Tweet: CBS This Morning ✔ ‎@CBSThisMorning
JUST IN: Congratulations to @JahanaHayes on being named 2016 National Teacher of the Year! #NTOY16
8:45 AM - 28 Apr 2016
Play CBS News Video
Tweet: CBS This Morning ✔ ‎@CBSThisMorning
All the mistakes that I have made… It really reminds me of what it means. -- @JahanaHayes on lessons learned #NTOY16
8:50 AM - 28 Apr 2016


HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A Connecticut high school history teacher chosen as the National Teacher of the Year says she was surrounded by poverty, drugs and violence as a child but imagined other possibilities for her life with help from educators.

Jahana Hayes teaches at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury.

The honor by the Council of Chief State School Officers was announced Thursday. Hayes will be recognized by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on Tuesday.

“I have so many emotions — it’s exciting, I’m nervous, thrilled, blessed, grateful,” Hayes told “CBS This Morning.”

The 44-year-old Hayes grew up in a Waterbury housing project and became a teenage mother while still in high school. She says the influence of her own teachers taught her that a school’s job sometimes overlaps with the job of parents, and she wants her students to know there are no dead ends.

“Everyone has a gift and I think that once you figure out what that gift is and you make a connection with them and meet them wherever they are, that learning occurs,” Hayes said.



“A Connecticut high school history teacher chosen as the National Teacher of the Year says she was surrounded by poverty, drugs and violence as a child but imagined other possibilities for her life with help from educators. …. Hayes will be recognized by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on Tuesday. …. The 44-year-old Hayes grew up in a Waterbury housing project and became a teenage mother while still in high school. She says the influence of her own teachers taught her that a school’s job sometimes overlaps with the job of parents, and she wants her students to know there are no dead ends. …. “Everyone has a gift and I think that once you figure out what that gift is and you make a connection with them and meet them wherever they are, that learning occurs,” Hayes said.”


“… there are no dead ends.” This article is about “faith, hope and love.” This lady is right. All of my “best” teachers were also those for whom I had more than a little bit of LOVE. They weren’t irascible old witches, socially biased against me or hostile in any way, and they were themselves interested in the lessons. They enjoyed thinking and talking about it, and welcomed questions and class discussion. There are some teachers who are just doing it to have a job. Others, just like the abusive parents around the world, don’t really like children. If there were a way to detect who they are on the first interview, perhaps we could see that they aren’t hired in the first place. They should go get a job in business and try to climb the corporate ladder. Jahana Hayes “has the right stuff.” A great teacher builds good citizens and warm, sane human beings from the kids who are put into her care.



http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/German-Shepherd-Helps-Rescue-Children-from-House-Fire-in-Central-Florida-377248281.html

Family's German Shepherd Helps Rescue Children From House Fire in Central Florida
The dog, named Maxx, helped crews navigate through thick smoke to find the 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl

April 28, 2016

Photograph -- Maxx is recovering from his injuries at a veterinary hospital and is said to be doing well, Photo credit: Seminole County Sheriff's Office


A German shepherd helped firefighters find his owners' two young children as flames ripped through the family's central Florida home, authorities said.

The dog, named Maxx, helped crews navigate through thick smoke to find the 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl Monday night in their burning home in the Orlando suburb of Longwood, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.

Moments earlier, neighbors who saw the fire spreading called 911, broke windows and helped rescue the children's mother, Margo Feaser, a 12-year veteran of the sheriff's office who currently serves as an auto theft investigator.

Firefighters then were able to rescue Feaser's husband and the two children, with Maxx's help.

Family members were hospitalized and their conditions ranged from serious to critical. Maxx was treated for smoke inhalation and is said to be doing well.

A GoFundMe page has been established to help the family's medical, veterinary, and other housing expenses as they work to recover from the effects of the fire. As of Wednesday morning, more than $11,000 had been raised to help the Feaser family.

In addition to her role with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, Feaser served three years in the U.S. Army and is a member of the Army National Guard. Her husband is also a military veteran.



“Moments earlier, neighbors who saw the fire spreading called 911, broke windows and helped rescue the children's mother, Margo Feaser, a 12-year veteran of the sheriff's office who currently serves as an auto theft investigator. The dog, named Maxx, helped crews navigate through thick smoke to find the 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl Monday night in their burning home in the Orlando suburb of Longwood, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. …. Family members were hospitalized and their conditions ranged from serious to critical. Maxx was treated for smoke inhalation and is said to be doing well. A GoFundMe page has been established to help the family's medical, veterinary, and other housing expenses as they work to recover from the effects of the fire. As of Wednesday morning, more than $11,000 had been raised to help the Feaser family. …. Family members were hospitalized and their conditions ranged from serious to critical. Maxx was treated for smoke inhalation and is said to be doing well.”


I’ve always loved dogs, especially smart, courageous and beautiful dogs like a German Shepherd. See the poor dog’s photo on the site. He looks miserable with his head down and his right front leg is splinted and bandaged all the way up. He apparently sustained more than “smoke inhalation”. If you can help them a little, there is a“GoFundMe” page that has been established to help the family's medical, veterinary, and other housing expenses as they work to recover from the effects of the fire. As of Wednesday morning, more than $11,000 had been raised to help the Feaser family.” I did post this to Facebook and send the GoFundMe account $10.00. If lots of people do that, they will receive enough to start over again, hopefully. If not, pass this on by Facebook so others will see it.



http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/maine-gov-paul-lepage-has-history-controversial-remarks-n492826

Maine Gov. Paul LePage Has History of Controversial Remarks
by CORKY SIEMASZKO
POLITICS APR 28 2016, 12:56 PM ET

Video -- A Short History of Gov. LePage's Controversial Comments 1:43
Play -- Maine Governor's Remarks About Out-Of-State Drug Traffickers 0:32


Racist, insensitive, crude — these are just some of the adjectives that have been used to describe the shocking remarks that Maine's outspoken governor has made over the years.

But Gov. Paul LePage has rarely apologized for speaking his mind like he did this week after he stalked off-stage just 45 seconds into a speech at the University of Maine at Farmington, calling student protesters "idiots" on the way out.

The last time LePage, a Republican and Tea Party favorite, issued a mea culpa was in January after saying that out-of-state drug dealers come to Maine to peddle heroin and impregnate "white girls."

Here are some of LePage's other "greatest hits":

"Lovely people, but you've got to have an interpreter."

That was LePage over the weekend discussing the accents of Indian immigrants while criticizing a referendum proposal to raise Maine's minimum wage to $12. He also said he couldn't understand workers "from Bulgaria." And he made a crude remark about President Barack Obama, saying Obama stands for "one big-ass mistake, America."

"Tell them to kiss my butt."

That was LePage's response to criticism from the state's NAACP after he opted not to attend Martin Luther King Jr. ceremonies in Bangor and Portland back in 2011. To be fair, LePage did attend a MLK breakfast in the town of Waterville.

"As your governor, you're gonna be seeing a lot of me on the front page saying 'Gov. LePage tells Obama to go to hell.'"

That was LePage's warning shot to the White House during his 2010 campaign.

"The only thing that I've heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women may have little beards."

That was LePage in 2011 dismissing concerns about the chemical BPA in plastic bottles.

"The minute we start stifling our speech, we might as well go home, roll up our sleeves and get our guns out."

That was LePage fuming after he was barred last May from speaking at a state Appropriations Committee meeting.

"What I am trying to say is the Holocaust was a horrific crime against humanity and, frankly, I would never want to see that repeated. Maybe the IRS is not quite as bad — yet."

LePage made the unfortunate comparison in 2012 during his weekly radio show and later apologized to anybody he offended, "especially the Jewish community."

Maine State Sen. Troy Jackson "claims to be for the people, but he's the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline."

LePage said this in 2013 after Jackson gave the Democratic response to the governor's budget veto.

"If you want a good education go to private schools. If you can't afford it, tough luck. You can go to the public school."

LePage said that in 2012 while discussing school choice during a talk at a local community college.



Little beards??? -- This man is a science-hater, it seems to me. In this case, he has underestimated the health problems with BPA. Read the list below. Men can have bad effects also, so he had better watch what he eats from microwaved plastic products. BPA doesn’t produce estrogen actually, but an “estrogen mimic” called estradiol, and can cause estrogen dominance just as natural estrogen does. See the two articles below.

http://www.ecopedia.com/health/estrogen-dominance-how-food-affects-men-and-women/

Estrogen Dominance: How Food Affects Men and Women
By Ginger Shelby
“1030 days ago” (From 4.28.16)

Photograph -- Beef with extra fat from added estrogen is a key part of the American diet.

Estrogen dominance occurs when estrogen levels in the body overpower all other hormones. For many years menopause has been treated as if it is a disease state resulting from a hormone deficiency, presumably from the failure of the ovaries. At the first sign of symptoms, women are encouraged to go out and get estrogen replacements so that their estrogen does not fall after the woman’s menses have stopped. New evidence connects too much estrogen in the system to a plethora of conditions and side effects…and these do not only affect women. Men can suffer the symptoms of estrogen dominance too.

What are the Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance? Estrogen dominance over stimulates the brain and glands, causing a number of symptoms that will be all too familiar to some, even some men. It can cause headaches, breast area swelling and tenderness, bloating, decreased sex drive, mood swings, weight gain, cold extremities, hair loss, thyroid disease, slowed metabolism, and excess facial hair on women. It is also associated with fatigue, brain fog, memory loss, and insomnia. It has also been linked to increased allergies, autoimmune disorders, blood clots, infertility, and a number of reproductive organ cancers. Those with abnormally high estrogen also experience an acceleration of the aging process. All of these conditions are worsened by stress of any type. The symptoms are similar for both women and men. The most common complaint from men is decreased sex drive and tenderness or swelling in the breasts.



http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/just-how-harmful-are-bisphenol-a-plastics/

HEALTH
Just How Harmful Are Bisphenol A Plastics?
Patricia Hunt, who helped to bring the issue to light a decade ago, is still trying to sort it all out
By Adam Hinterthuer on September 1, 2008

Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor that can mimic estrogen and has been shown to cause negative health effects in animal studies. Bisphenol A closely mimics the structure and function of the hormone estradiol by binding to and activating the same estrogen receptor as the natural hormone.



“Racist, insensitive, crude — these are just some of the adjectives that have been used to describe the shocking remarks that Maine's outspoken governor has made over the years. …. But Gov. Paul LePage has rarely apologized for speaking his mind like he did this week after he stalked off-stage just 45 seconds into a speech at the University of Maine at Farmington, calling student protesters "idiots" on the way out. The last time LePage, a Republican and Tea Party favorite, issued a mea culpa was in January after saying that out-of-state drug dealers come to Maine to peddle heroin and impregnate "white girls." ….”


Our culture is definitely worse than when I was young about insensitive and crude comments among folks who consider themselves to be top notch examples of the human race. We used to be just as conceited, but more refined in general. The Tea Party have brought in a vicious group who are more than class conscious, they are also White Supremacists. The bit about “impregnating white girls,” is not a mere hint at what he meant by “out of state drug dealers.” It’s just like this usage of the term “thug” in the last few years to mean, specifically, “black thug.” The classical meaning of it did not refer to race at all, but to any brutish and violent man. These clever modern racists can avoid saying “nigger” and often get away without the punishment they will get otherwise. This article by CORKY SIEMASZKO has skewered him, however. Of course the crudest of the Far Right will cheer him on for his comments. I don’t think he’ll ever make it to the Presidency, though.



THINGS WE MUST NOT FORGET:

This article is too long for me to do the usual excerpts and (humble attempts at) analysis, so read it all, look at the videos, etc. There’s a scary set of 38 photos of Hitler’s army in Europe. You may want to put it on Facebook, email it friends, etc. Mainly, I hope we all will take note of our own attitudes and viewpoints and those of our friends. Better still, run for public office and include social issues in your platform. Above all, vote for a Democrat or an intelligent and honest Independent if you can.

From Wikipedia on America First:

Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan has praised America First and used its name as a slogan. "The achievements of that organization are monumental," writes Buchanan, "By keeping America out of World War II until Hitler attacked Stalin in June 1941, Soviet Russia, not America, bore the brunt of the fighting, bleeding and dying to defeat Nazi Germany."[15]

On April 27, 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump gave a foreign policy speech with an 'America First' platform. "America First will be the overriding theme of my administration"[16]



http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/27/opinions/trump-america-first-ugly-echoes-dunn/index.html

Trump's 'America First' has ugly echoes from U.S. history
By Susan Dunn
Updated 8:02 AM ET, Thu April 28, 2016

Editor’s Note: Susan Dunn is a professor of Humanities at Williams College and the author of 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler -- The Election Amid the Storm, from which several passages in this essay are adapted. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.


Related: Louis C.K.: 'Insane bigot' Donald Trump 'is Hitler'
Video -- Donald Trump’s entire foreign policy speech 38:34
Related: Trump responds to Hitler comparison
38 Photographs -- Hitler’s troops
Photograph -- Susan Dunn
Related: Anne Frank's stepsister compares Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler
Related: Ex-Mexican President Fox: Donald Trump reminds me of Hitler
Video -- Polish family reveals grim WWII Jewish hideout 02:17


(CNN)"My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people, and American security, above all else. That will be the foundation of every decision that I will make. America First will be the major and overriding theme of my administration."

It is extremely unfortunate that in his speech Wednesday outlining his foreign policy goals, Donald Trump chose to brand his foreign policy with the noxious slogan "America First," the name of the isolationist, defeatist, anti-Semitic national organization that urged the United States to appease Adolf Hitler.

The America First Committee actually began at Yale University, where Douglas Stuart Jr., the son of a vice president of Quaker Oats, began organizing his fellow students in spring 1940. He and Gerald Ford, the future American president, and Potter Stewart, the future Supreme Court justice, drafted a petition stating, "We demand that Congress refrain from war, even if England is on the verge of defeat."

Their solution to the international crisis lay in a negotiated peace with Hitler. Other Yale students -- including Sargent Shriver, who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and Kingman Brewster, the chairman of the Yale Daily News, future president of Yale and ambassador to the Court of St. James -- joined their isolationist crusade.

Robert Wood, the board chairman of Sears, Roebuck, agreed to act as their group's temporary chair. The growing organization soon included powerful men like Col. Robert McCormick of the Chicago Tribune; Minnesota meatpacker Jay Hormel; Sterling Morton, the president of Morton Salt Company; U.S. Rep. Bruce Barton of New York; and Lessing Rosenwald, the former chairman of Sears.

There would soon be several hundred chapters and almost a million members, two-thirds of whom resided in the Midwest. Charles Lindbergh would officially join America First in April 1941, serving as the committee's principal spokesman and chief drawing card at its rallies.

Seeking to brand itself as a mainstream organization, America First struggled with the problem of the anti-Semitism of some of its leaders and many of its members. It had to remove from its executive committee not only the notoriously anti-Semitic Henry Ford but also Avery Brundage, the former chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee who had prevented two Jewish runners from the American track team in Berlin in 1936 from running in the finals of the 4x100 relay.

Still, the problem of anti-Semitism remained; a Kansas chapter leader pronounced President Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt "Jewish" and Winston Churchill a "half-Jew."

After Pearl Harbor, the America First Committee closed its doors, but not before Lindbergh made his infamous speech at an America First rally in Des Moines, Iowa, in September 1941. After charging that President Roosevelt had manufactured "incidents" to propel the country into war, Lindbergh proceeded to blurt out his true thoughts.

"The British and the Jewish races," he declared, "for reasons which are not American, wish to involve us in the war." The nation's enemy was an internal one, a Jewish one. "Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government," he contended. Booing began to drown out the cheers, forcing him again and again to stop, wait out the catcalls, and start his sentences over.

Lindbergh's unambiguous message was that Jews living in the United States constituted a wealthy, influential, conspiratorial foreign "race" that had seized "our" media and infiltrated "our" political institutions. They were the alien out-group, hostile to "us."

He put American Jews on notice that America's "tolerance" for them rested upon a fragile foundation.

"Lindbergh ought to be shipped back to Germany to live with his own people!" shouted a Texas state representative before the House of Representatives in Austin passed a resolution informing the aviator that he was not welcome in the Lone Star State. Across the country, newspapers, columnists, politicians and religious leaders lashed out at Lindbergh.

"The voice is the voice of Lindbergh, but the words are the words of Hitler," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle. "I am absolutely certain that Lindbergh is pro-Nazi," wrote New York Herald Tribune columnist Dorothy Thompson.

Donald Trump did not give an irrational speech on foreign policy Wednesday. Why then did he poison it with the sulfurous expression "America First," reminiscent of one of the ugliest chapters in recent American history?



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Committee

America First Committee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The America First Committee (AFC) was the foremost non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. Peaking at 800,000 paid members in 450 chapters, it was one of the largest anti-war organizations in American history.[1][2] Started on September 4, 1940, it was dissolved on December 10, 1941, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor had brought the war to America.

Membership[edit]

The AFC was established on September 4, 1940, by Yale Law School student R. Douglas Stuart, Jr. (son of R. Douglas Stuart, co-founder of Quaker Oats), along with other students, including future President Gerald Ford, future Peace Corps director Sargent Shriver, and future U.S. Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart.[3] Future President John F. Kennedy contributed $100, along with a note saying "What you all are doing is vital."[4][5] At its peak, America First claimed 800,000 dues-paying members in 450 chapters, located mostly in a 300-mile radius of Chicago.[1]

The AFC gained much of its early strength by merging with the more left-wing Keep America Out of War Committee, whose leaders included Norman Thomas and John T. Flynn.

It claimed 135,000 members in 60 chapters in Illinois, its strongest state.[6] Fundraising drives produced about $370,000 from some 25,000 contributors. Nearly half came from a few millionaires such as William H. Regnery, H. Smith Richardson of the Vick Chemical Company, General Robert E. Wood of Sears-Roebuck, Sterling Morton of Morton Salt Company, publisher Joseph M. Patterson (New York Daily News) and his cousin, publisher Robert R. McCormick (Chicago Tribune).

The America First Committee had its share of prominent businessmen as well as the sympathies of political figures including Democratic Senators Burton K. Wheeler of Montana and David I. Walsh of Massachusetts, Republican Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota, and Socialist Party leader Norman Thomas, with its most prominent spokesman being aviator Charles A. Lindbergh.

Other celebrities supporting America First were novelist Sinclair Lewis, poet E. E. Cummings, Washington socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth, film producer Walt Disney, and actress Lillian Gish. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright attempted to join, but he was rejected when the local board decided that he had a "reputation for immorality". The many student chapters included future celebrities, such as author Gore Vidal (as a student at Phillips Exeter Academy), and the future President Gerald Ford, at Yale Law School.

Issues[edit]

When the war began in September 1939, most Americans, including politicians, demanded neutrality regarding Europe.[8] Although most Americans supported strong measures against Japan, Europe was the focus of the America First Committee. The public mood was changing, however, especially after the fall of France in spring 1940.[9]

The America First Committee launched a petition aimed at enforcing the 1939 Neutrality Act and forcing President Franklin D. Roosevelt to keep his pledge to keep America out of the war. They profoundly distrusted Roosevelt and argued that he was lying to the American people.

On the day after Roosevelt's lend-lease bill was submitted to the United States Congress, Wood promised AFC opposition "with all the vigor it can exert." America First staunchly opposed the convoying of ships, the Atlantic Charter, and the placing of economic pressure on Japan. In order to achieve the defeat of lend-lease and the perpetuation of American neutrality, the AFC advocated four basic principles:

The United States must build an impregnable defense for America.
No foreign power, nor group of powers, can successfully attack a prepared America.
American democracy can be preserved only by keeping out of the European war.
"Aid short of war" weakens national defense at home and threatens to involve America in war abroad.



Charles Lindbergh speaking at an AFC rally

Charles Lindbergh, a frequent guest of Hitler's in 1930s Germany and an admirer of the buildup of the Nazi air force, the Luftwaffe, had been, unsurprisingly, actively involved in questioning the motives of the Roosevelt administration well before the formation of the AFC. Lindbergh adopted an anti-war stance even before the Battle of Britain and before the advent of the lend-lease bill. His first radio speech was broadcast on September 15, 1939, over all three of the major radio networks (Mutual, National, and Columbia). Lindbergh urged listeners to look beyond the speeches and propaganda they were being fed and instead look at who was writing the speeches and reports, who owned the papers and who influenced the speakers.

On June 20, 1941, Lindbergh spoke to a rally in Los Angeles billed as "Peace and Preparedness Mass Meeting," In his speech of that day, Lindbergh criticized those movements which he perceived were leading America into the war. He proclaimed that the United States was in a position that made it virtually impregnable and pointed out that when interventionists said "the defense of England," they really meant "defeat of Germany." Lindbergh's presence at the Hollywood Bowl rally was overshadowed, however, by the presence of fringe elements in the crowd.

Nothing did more to escalate the tensions than the speech Lindbergh delivered to a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on September 11, 1941. In that speech he identified the forces pulling America into the war as the British, the Roosevelt administration, and the Jews. While he expressed sympathy for the plight of the Jews in Germany, he argued that America's entry into the war would serve them little better. He said in part:

It is not difficult to understand why Jewish people desire the overthrow of Nazi Germany. The persecution they suffered in Germany would be sufficient to make bitter enemies of any race. No person with a sense of the dignity of mankind can condone the persecution the Jewish race suffered in Germany. But no person of honesty and vision can look on their pro-war policy here today without seeing the dangers involved in such a policy, both for us and for them.

Instead of agitating for war the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way, for they will be among the first to feel its consequences. Tolerance is a virtue that depends upon peace and strength. History shows that it cannot survive war and devastation. A few farsighted Jewish people realize this and stand opposed to intervention. But the majority still do not. Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government.[10]

With the formal declaration of war against Japan following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Committee chose to disband. On December 11, the committee leaders met and voted for dissolution. In the statement which they released to the press was the following:

Students at the University of California (Berkeley) participate in a one-day peace strike opposing U.S. entrance into World War II, April 19, 1940

Our principles were right. Had they been followed, war could have been avoided. No good purpose can now be served by considering what might have been, had our objectives been attained.
We are at war. Today, though there may be many important subsidiary considerations, the primary objective is not difficult to state. It can be completely defined in one word: Victory.[11]

Communists were antiwar until June 1941 and tried to infiltrate or take over America First.[12] After Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, they reversed positions and denounced the AFC as a Nazi front (or infiltrated by German agents).[13] Nazis also tried to use the committee: at the trial of the aviator and orator Laura Ingalls,[14] the prosecution revealed that her handler, Ulrich Freiherr von Gienanth, a German diplomat, had encouraged her to participate in committee activities.

Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan has praised America First and used its name as a slogan. "The achievements of that organization are monumental," writes Buchanan, "By keeping America out of World War II until Hitler attacked Stalin in June 1941, Soviet Russia, not America, bore the brunt of the fighting, bleeding and dying to defeat Nazi Germany."[15]

On April 27, 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump gave a foreign policy speech with an 'America First' platform. "America First will be the overriding theme of my administration"[16]