History Always Repeats

The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History March 2 - 8.

Don’t ever believe or give credibility to the idea that we must “learn our history,” or we are “doomed to repeat it.”

I’m positive I have made this argument before – but history doesn’t work like that. Just knowing something that took place in the past doesn’t mean that you won’t repeat it. If that were the case, things like donuts or re-electing Donald Trump wouldn’t be a thing.

And yet, while I have family arguments about the cost of donuts, I still purchase them from time to time and delight in eating them, while lamenting the weight gain from such actions. Despite the numerous examples of Donald Trump’s inability to be an effective and empathic leader, we managed to bring him back to the White House and now suffer through another act of cruelty.

In what is a regular occurrence of his flip-flopping on important positions, over the weekend, President Trump declared War again on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The word “again” is notable because last June, the United States and Iran had what is now called the Twelve-Day War. Over the course of twelve days, US Air Force warplanes, supported by Tomahawk missiles from US Navy submarines, along with the Israeli Air Force, struck three nuclear facilities in western Iran with such force that President Trump declared the offensive had completely obliterated the Persian nation’s ability to enrich uranium, an important process if you want to develop nuclear weapons.

But with President Trump, nothing is ever true. Eight months later, he, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, decided that Iran was on the cusp of producing, or maybe acquiring, nuclear weapons. Who knows. But three American soldiers have already been killed, while many more have been wounded, since Iran started launching missiles into Israel and American military bases throughout the Middle East.

Did we learn anything from our past? Back in 1991, President George Bush asked the Iraqi people to rise up and overthrow their awful dictator, Saddam Hussein. That didn’t turn out great. So, despite learning that, Donald Trump is using the same playbook by encouraging the Iranian people to also rise up and take over the country. The same country that has been brutalizing its citizens for any dissent for the past 40 years.

History always repeats itself. The United States will always go to war with someone from the Middle East. We continue to have to fight racism despite past efforts that reduced it. The Cleveland Guardians always enter spring training with no serious offensive player to support Jose Ramirez.

Why do we succumb to these repeated outcomes? I have no idea, but it’s terribly frustrating. But remember, if you tell someone we must learn from our history, you are forgetting that learning does not mean we will not repeat.

Okay, let’s highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events mark their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here’s what I got:

1. The “Star-Spangled Banner” was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. The Star-Spangled Banner was also known as the Great Garrison Flag, stitched together to display the 15 stars and flown over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. During the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, a DC lawyer, Francis Scott Key, traveled to Baltimore to seek the release of an American prisoner who was being held on a British ship. Key witnessed the battle, which featured hundreds of rockets and bombs bursting into the air. By the dawn’s early light, Key saw that the American Flag was still there, with its broad stripes and bright stars, and wrote a poem on the back of a letter which asked the question: are we the home of the brave? It was then set to music from a popular British drinking song at the time, which is hilariously ironic, yet somehow became so popular that Congress passed a resolution declaring it the official hymn of the nation. President Herbert Hoover signed it into law, giving him at least one checkmark in the “Win” column in an otherwise low-ranking presidency.

2. Rodney King’s beating by the LA Police was caught on videotape on March 3, 1991. King was intoxicated while speeding down California Interstate 210 when police began to chase him. After finally catching him, King would exit the car, get on the ground, and grab his backside, which led the officers to believe he had a weapon. They also believed he was on PCP. Using a maneuver called “Swarm,” four officers proceeded to swarm King, who they also believed was resisting arrest, and beat him with their nightsticks. George Holliday lived across the street and was an amateur videographer who recorded the entire act of violence. He sent the tape to the local news, and King’s beating went viral. The accused officers were acquitted of the crime, and despite learning about the riots of the 1960s, people rioted in the streets of LA for days.

3. Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone on March 7, 1876. Bell was a Scottish immigrant who arrived in Massachusetts in 1871 to teach deaf students. As a child, Bell dabbled with inventions, and as he grew up, he had a particular interest in whether sound could be transmitted over wires. He experimented with whether sound vibrations could be converted into electrical signals and transmitted over wire — building on the telegraph, which could send coded messages rather than the human voice. The patent would eventually become the telephone, and it’s currently killing us all slowly.

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It’s going to be a busy week – but at the end, Anonymous and I head out of the country for a week. We are not going to our usual place but are headed to the Dominican Republic, home of Jose Ramirez, the greatest baseball player ever.

I have a few essays lined up for when I’m gone, but I appreciate your patience as I take this much-needed break from life and winter.

Finally, please keep Blue in your thoughts tomorrow. He heads back to the vet to have a cyst removed from his front right paw. Lumps and bumps are part of the aging process, but we were happy to learn from the Vet that Blue’s blood work is consistent with a two-year-old. Which sounds about right, because he is milking this injury for all it’s worth.

Thank you for your support of Okay History. I hope you have a great week!

Okay,

Chris

Blue - pre cyst. Just chilling.