Month: December 2023

Many historically-significant events have occurred during the month of December. Below please find what I consider the most significant:

12/1/1955 – Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, AL for refusing to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man. This action precipitated a year-long bus boycott and many other protests against segregation led by the Reverend Martin Luther King, among others, and was what many consider the seminal event for the civil rights movement.
12/2/1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France by Pope Pius VII.
12/2/1823 – President James Monroe articulated the “Monroe Doctrine,” which, essentially, forbad any further colonization of the Western Hemisphere by any European power, and which became a key element of the US’s foreign policy prospectively.
12/2/1954 – The Senate condemned Senator Joseph McCarthy for misconduct, effectively ending his irresponsible communist witch-hunt.
12/3/1967 – Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa.
12/6/1492 – Christopher Columbus “discovered” the “New World,” landing at the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
12/6/1865 – The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, which abolished slavery.
12/6/1973 – Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president replacing Spiro Agnew who had been forced to resign following his pleading “no contest” to charges of income tax evasion.
12/7/1787 – Delaware became the first state to ratify the US constitution.
12/7/1941 – Japan perpetrated a surprise attack of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor destroying the US Pacific Fleet and precipitating the US’s entry into WWII. FDR called it a “date that will live in infamy,” and it has.
12/10/1896 – Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel died. In his will he stipulated that a committee of the Norwegian Parliament award from his estate annual prizes (valued at approximately $1 million) for Peace, Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Literature and Economics.
12/11/1901 – Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic radio signal.
12/11/1936 – King Edward VIII abdicated the English throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
12/13/1642 – Dutch navigator Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand.
12/14/1799 – George Washington died at Mt. Vernon.
12/14/1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole.
12/15/1791 – Virginia became the 11th state to ratify the Bill of Rights making it an official part of the Constitution. (Ratification of an amendment to the Constitution requires 75% of the states, and Vermont had become the 14th state. The three holdouts were Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Georgia, which did not ratify it until 1939.)
12/15/1961 – Notorious Nazi SS Colonel Adolph Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem for his role in the Holocaust during WWII.
12/16/1773 – A group of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded British ships anchored in Boston Harbor and dumped 300+ containers of tea overboard as a protest to what they viewed as an unjust tax on the product. This became known as the Boston Tea Party and was a part of the chain of events that culminated in the American Revolutionary War.
12/17/1903 – The Wright Brothers – Wilbur and Orville – made the first successful airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.
12/19/1946 – War broke out in what was then called French-Indochina. Eventually, the French were ousted, and the US got drawn into war in Vietnam, which did not end well for us.
12/20/1860 – South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Over the next few months ten other states followed, and the Civil War ensued.
12/21/1846 – Dr. Robert Liston was the first surgeon to use anesthesia (in a leg amputation in London).
12/21/1945 – General George Patton, aka “Old Blood and Guts,” died from injuries suffered in a car accident in Germany. Some historians have postulated that the accident was intentional, but this has never been proven.
12/23/1947 – The transistor was invented at Bell Laboratories.
12/25 – Christmas Day when Christians commemorate the birth of Christ.
12/25/1776 – George Washington led a small contingent of Colonial troops across the Delaware River from Valley Forge, PA to Trenton, NJ in the dead of night, where they surprised and defeated a substantially larger contingent of Hessian mercenaries. This daring and famous victory provided a major boost to the flagging revolutionary war effort.
12/26 – Boxing Day is celebrated in the UK, Canada, and various other countries that, formerly, were part of the British Empire. It has nothing to do with pugilism. Most likely, it has evolved from the 18th Century English custom of giving a “Christmas box” containing gifts, such as food or clothes, to servants and tradesmen as a reward for good service throughout the year.
12/26 – 1/1 – Kwanza, an African – American holiday established in 1966, is observed. It celebrates family unity and a bountiful harvest. The word means “first fruit” in Swahili.
12/29/1890 – The US cavalry massacred in excess of 200 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee, SD., which became a symbol of the white man’s brutality to Native Americans.
12/31/1781 – The Bank of New York became the first bank to receive a federal charter. It commenced business on January 7, 1782, in Philadelphia.
12/31/1879 – Inventor Thomas Edison first demonstrated the incandescent lamp (light bulb) at his lab in NJ.
12/31 – New Year’s Eve is celebrated throughout the world.

Birthdays – Charles Stuart, American portrait painter (of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, among others), 12/3/1755; Joseph Conrad, Polish novelist, 12/3/1857; Martin Van Buren, 8th President, 12/5/1782; General George Armstrong Custer, 12/5/1839; Walt Disney; 12/5/1901; Ira Gershwin (wrote several hit songs for “Broadway” shows), 12/6/1896; Eli Whitney (cotton gin), 12/8/1765; Clarence Birdseye (invented process for freezing foods), 12/9/1886; Emily Dickenson (poet), 12/10/1830; Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey (invented Dewey decimal system used to categorize books in libraries), 12/10/1851; NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia,12/11/1882; John Jay (first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), 12/12/1745; General James Doolittle (led audacious bombing raid on Tokyo during WWII), 12/14/1896; Alexandre Eifel (Eifel Tower), 12/15/1832; Ludwig van Beethoven (composer), 12/16/1770; George Santayana (philosopher) (“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”), 12/16/1863; Wily Brandt (Chancellor of West Germany), 12/18/1913; Harvey Firestone (Firestone Tire and Rubber), 12/20/1868; Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvli, aka Josef Stalin, 12/21/1879; Claudia Alta Taylor, aka “Lady Bird Johnson,” 12/22/1912; Japanese WWII Emperor Hirohito, 12/23/1901; Christopher “Kit” Carson, frontiersman, 12/24/1809; Howard Hughes, 12/24/1905; Isaac Newton (theory of gravity), 12/25/1642; Clara Barton (nurse who founded American Red Cross), 12/25/1821; Humphrey Bogart, 12/25/1899; Mao Tse Tung, 12/26/1893; Louis Pasteur (pasteurization process), 12/27/1822; (Thomas) Woodrow Wilson, 28th President, 12/28/1856; Andrew Johnson (17th president, first to be impeached), 12/29/1808; Pablo Casals (cellist), 12/28/1876; Rudyard Kipling (poet, wrote Jungle Book), 12/30/1865; Hideki Tojo (Japanese WWII Prime Minister), 12/30/1884; General George C. Marshall (Army Chief of Staff, WWII), 12/31/1880.

In retrospect we should have expected this. Hamas has repeatedly exhibited wanton brutality and indifference to human life, not only to Jews but even to fellow Palestinians. Regarding Jews, members of Hamas have freely and repeatedly stated that they want to annihilate all Jews in the area “from the river to the sea.” Moreover, they have demonstrated their disregard for the civilian Palestinian population by hiding and storing weapons and explosives in hospitals, schools and other locations where innocents, including children, the elderly and the infirmed would likely become collateral damage. The Hamas terrorists don’t care. In fact, they want collateral damage. To them, any person who is not a “true believer” is the enemy and fair game. They “spin” it as Israel being the oppressors, being indifferent to innocents. As preposterous and inane as this argument is, much of the world’s antisemites and anti-Jew media “buy” it. In view of the foregoing, now that some of the released hostages have been examined by medical personnel and debriefed regarding their time in captivity the horrific reports of maltreatment that have been reported in the media recently should not be surprising.

As you know, the hostage situation has been a very fluid situation. By the time you read this blog there may have been changes, perhaps, significant ones. But below please find a summary of the recent developments as published by the BBC, USA Today, the Times of Israel, and various other media outlets. Warning: some of you may find what follows most disturbing, but I believe this information needs to be disseminated.

1. Hamas kidnapped 240 hostages on October 7. 105 of them have been released. Of the remaining 135, several are believed to be dead from various causes. It is estimated that perhaps as many as 20 have since died in captivity due to disease, torture, malnutrition, or other causes. We do not know for certain the whereabouts of the rest of them. They could be in the tunnels; they could have been handed off to other terrorist groups; or they could also be dead.

  2. Freed hostages have told shocking stories of the various hardships they and others have endured such as scarcity of food, a dearth of bathroom facilities, family separation, and perhaps worst of all the uncertainty of their ultimate fate. Were there attempts being made to rescue them? Would their captors torture or kill them? Had they been forgotten? Remember these were civilians, children even, not soldiers trained to deal with captivity.

  3.  Sharon Alony-Cunio and her two three-year-old twin girls, were released but her husband was not. He was “taken away” three days before their release. She believes he is still alive and being imprisoned somewhere in Gaza, but she does not know for sure. She remains “petrified” he is dead or will be murdered. She described the food as “meager” and related how her girls had limited access to a toilet and often had to pee in a sink or a trash can. She characterized her experience as “a Russian roulette.” Captives were afraid they could be killed at any time “just because they want to.” One of her girls was separated from the family for ten days. Why? Who knows? She is hopeful that the remaining hostages will be released asap. ”We are not just names on a poster. We are human beings, flesh and blood.” Amen.

  4. Medical personnel who have been examining the freed hostages have been reporting many of them were drugged with depressants, such as valium, to keep them compliant.  At least one girl was given ketamine, which is often used as a “date rape” drug. Additionally, an untold number of them were subjected to physical, mental, psychological and sexual abuse. As an example, one man was told his wife was dead when, in fact, she was alive and not a captive at all. Another former hostage described how she and several others were placed in total darkness for several days.  Another former hostage opined “they wanted to break us not only physically [but also] mentally.” Renanna Eltan, director of the psychiatric division of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center-Ichilov, described the degree of abuse as ” just terrible” and remarked she had “never seen anything like that in 20 years of treating trauma victims.” She noted that several have become “psychotic,” “developed suicidal thoughts,” devolved into “dissociative states” (wherein one minute they think they are back as captives and the next they are back at the treatment center) and/or suffered from “hallucinations.” The aftereffects are akin to PTSD and could be long-lasting.

5. It has been widely reported that the IDF has commenced flooding the tunnels with seawater to flush out the terrorists. Obviously, this will be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it will be an efficient way to kill terrorists with a lesser cost of Israeli soldiers’ lives. But on the other hand, there is likely to be some collateral damage among hostages that may be sequestered there, which could result in a public relations nightmare. Hopefully, the IDF will exercise proper restraint.

There have been further developments regarding antisemitism on college campuses.

1. Harvard, with its $51 billion endowment, has become the “poster boy” for antisemitism on college campuses. Congresswoman Elise Stepanik, who has been in the forefront of this issue, has declared “we must defund the rot in America’s higher education. Harvard’s president has refused to resign and despite growing outside pressure the board of directors has refused to fire her. In addition, she has been accused of plagiarizing parts of her doctoral thesis, which would constitute a clear violation of the school’s academic integrity policy. That, by itself, should be sufficient cause to fire her. Yet, she is continuing to refuse to resign, and the school is still refusing to fire her. Could it be due to the fact that she is a black woman? Regardless, I find this excessive arrogance and insensitivity incredulous. This is despite extensive and intensive negative press, donors clawing back donations, the possible loss of copious federal payments, grants and tax breaks (presently, for instance, Harvard pays no taxes on capital gains, bond interest and dividend income), bills being introduced in Congress to penalize colleges that fail to curb on-campus antisemitism, and a pending investigation by the federal Department of Education to determine whether or not the school has transgressed against the civil rights of its Jewish students in contravention of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  It’s as if Harvard thinks it is untouchable and can do whatever it wants.
2. Some Jewish students at MIT have claimed that pro-Palestinian groups have been offering “bounties” to anyone who identifies one of them. Furthermore, a group of alumni has authored a blistering criticism directed at school officials for the school’s failure to condemn antisemitism on campus or even to issue an apology. (Subsequently, the school did issue a feeble, vague statement “rejecting antisemitism in all its forms,” but, to me, it was too little, too late.)
3. At the University of Pennsylvania, the president resigned, and donors are continuing to claw back donations. That’s a fine beginning, but the school has not gone far enough to deal with antisemitism.

CONCLUSION

Obviously, I find this entire antisemitism issue to be extremely disturbing. It has the potential to tear this country apart. This issue is a direct attack on the very foundation of what America stands for, free speech, freedom of religion and the rest of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Even those of you who are not Jewish should be appalled at the current state of affairs and should help quash this in the bud. Speak up. Act. History has taught us that the oppressors will not stop at the Jews. Next, they will come after Catholics, Blacks, Hispanics, and anyone else they deem to be different. Even moderate Muslims would not escape their wrath.

We would be advised to heed the warning conveyed by Martin Niemöller. Niemöller was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. He was an early supporter of the Nazis, but later he was imprisoned for speaking out in support of the church. Upon his release he uttered the following advice, which still resonates today.

“First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I wasn’t Jewish; then they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I wasn’t a communist; then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist; and then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The moral of the quote is obvious. The current wave of antisemitism affects us all. We must all speak out before it is too late.

I am very disappointed, but not surprised, that the Administration and the Democrat Party, in general, have not been more forceful in supporting Jews in general and Israel in particular. The far-left wing of the Dems has been particularly vociferous in espousing antisemitism. As a result, it has cowed the Administration and mainstream Dems into silence. The Dems solution to this problem is the same they offer to deal with any problem. They offer platitudes and vague generalities but never solve it. Therefore, in my opinion, I see no reason why any Jew or other minority would vote for any Dem. As Election Day 2024 approaches they will do what they always do – obfuscate, deflect, exaggerate and make false promises and accusations. These tactics worked in 2020. Don’t be fooled again.

He was a brilliant politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant. He played a significant role in virtually every US foreign affairs policy and issue in the past 60+ years. Despite his humble beginnings he rose to become Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to two presidents and unofficial consultant to several others.

Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born on May 27,1923 in Bavaria, Germany. His father, Louis, was a teacher. His mother, Paula, was a homemaker. He had one younger brother. According to Wikipedia Henry’s great-great-grandfather chose the surname “Kissinger” in 1817 after a Bavarian town called “Bad Kissingen.” (As some of you know, until the late Middle Ages Jews did not generally have surnames, so many Jews chose surnames based on a town, an occupation or a physical characteristic.) As a youth Henry’s favorite sport was soccer both to play and to watch. He was proficient enough to play for the youth team of SpVgg Fürth, which was one of Germany’s best clubs at the time.

When Hitler came to power 1933 the Kissinger family’s situation, like that of all other Jews in Germany, took a severe turn for the worse. Henry’s father lost his teaching job. Henry was denied admission to the Gymnasium, which was the most prestigious and advanced of German secondary schools. The family was subjected to harassment, beatings and terrorizing by Hitler youth gangs and antisemites.

Young Henry liked to push the envelope. For example, he would often sneak into stadiums to watch soccer games, which, as a Jew, was forbidden. Sometimes he would be caught by security and beaten for that transgression.

By 1938 the family could see the handwriting on the wall. It emigrated a mere days before Kristallnacht. First, it fled to England and then later to the US to escape. In later years some historians, including his biographer, Walter Isaacson, postulated that his early experiences as a youth in Nazi-dominated Germany affected his politics. Henry disagreed, but its veracity remains a matter of opinion.

In the US the family settled in the Washington Heights section of NYC where Henry attended high school. Henry readily assimilated into American culture. He worked odd jobs, such as in a toothbrush factory, and spent his spare time learning English. Oddly, however, he never lost his heavy German accent. He attributed this anomaly to shyness as a youth, which made him reluctant to speak. Henry attended college at CCNY, and then in 1943 he joined the Army.

Henry liked his army experience. He always maintained that being in the army “made me feel like an American.“ He was stationed in Germany near his hometown. I can only imagine what it felt like for Henry to return as a conquering US soldier to the very area where he had been terrorized as a youth. The US Army had a paucity of soldiers who spoke German. Consequently, Henry’s proficiency in that language was very valuable and led to various key administration billets. For example, he was assigned to the Counterintelligence Corps where one of his responsibilities was to track down Gestapo officers and saboteurs. His success there earned him a Bronze Star.

Upon his discharge in 1946 he attended Harvard University from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1950. He went on to earn his master’s and doctorate also at Harvard in 1951 and 1954, respectively.

After graduation Henry wrote several books and worked at a series of consulting and “think tank” positions. In 1960 he entered politics as a foreign policy advisor to the presidential campaigns first of Nelson Rockefeller and then in 1968 Richard Nixon.

In 1968 following his election Nixon hired Kissinger as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Kissinger was the only presidential appointee in history who held both offices contemporaneously. After Nixon resigned and was replaced by Gerald Ford Henry continued as Secretary of State. Nixon, who was normally suspicious by nature, trusted Kissinger implicitly. They shared many of the same geopolitical philosophies and turned out to be a perfect fit. For example, they both preferred operating in secrecy and employing back channels, which ruffled some feathers in other areas of the government particularly at the State Department.  They complimented each other perfectly. Kissinger was generally charming and worldly, which Nixon definitely was not. Furthermore, he provided the grace and intellectual-establishment respectability that Nixon lacked, disdained and aspired to.

Between 1969 and 1977 Henry played a prominent role in virtually every major aspect of US foreign policy. His objective was to seek to de-escalate tensions and mistrust between the US and adversaries such as Russia and China. For instance, he conceived and developed the policy of détente with Russia, enhanced international relations with China, pioneered what became known as shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East to end the Yom Kippur War, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords, which ended US participation in the war in Vietnam and for which he received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize.

Kissinger’s legacy in diplomacy and geopolitics is somewhat controversial. Although scholars and historians consider him to have been an effective Secretary of State, and they give him credit for his major achievements as described above, some have criticized him for his penchant for operating in secrecy. I leave that debate to the historians. In 2014 a poll of international relations scholars conducted by the College of William and Mary voted Henry as the most effective Secretary of State in the last 50 years. I would concur. In retrospect I believe his pluses far outweighed his minuses.

After leaving government, he formed Kissinger Associates, an international geopolitical consulting firm. Additionally, he wrote several books on the subjects of diplomatic history and international relations. He was the recipient of countless awards and honorariums, too many to list here. During this time, he was often sought out by presidents and various power brokers who valued his advice as a consultant. He always said that “diplomacy was his favorite game.” He played the “game” successfully for over seven decades.

Henry loved America. Moreover, he loved the idea of America. He was quoted as saying “in what other country could a man with my background stand next to the President?” That says it all.

Henry remained prolific and sharp until the very end. In addition to his frequent consulting gigs he authored numerous books. For example, earlier this year he went on a tour to plug his latest book. In October in one of his last interviews he warned about the dangers of Hamas. He cautioned, in part, that the Israel-Hamas War could potentially “engulf the entire Arab World.”

In his personal life Henry was somewhat of a ladies’ man. He was married four times and was reputed to have had several affairs. He was often seen in the company of high profile and beautiful female celebrities. The Village Voice dubbed him a “secret square posing as a swinger.” In some circles he was known as the “playboy of the West Wing.” In a 1971 article Womens Wear Daily labeled him “Washington’s greatest swinger.” However, his closest friends opined that image was an exaggeration fostered by the media.

CONCLUSION

Henry passed away at his home in Connecticut on November 29, 2023, at the age of 100. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, two children, David and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren.

Following his death countless tributes have come pouring in, many from former adversaries, which I find very significant. For example, Vladimir Putin called him a “wise and farsightedness statesman.” The China News Service called him a “person [who] had a sharp vision and a thorough understanding of world affairs.“ Winston Lord, a former assistant at the NSC, called Kissinger “a tireless advocate for peace.” George W. Bush stated “America has lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs.“

Rest in peace Henry. Your contributions to America were varied and vast, and you will be missed.