Новости за 13.10.2018

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Why would the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), the primary umbrella organization for the field of Middle East studies, oppose the New York Times partnering with George Washington University (GWU)’s Program On Extremism to produce a public archive of the thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) documents the newspaper retrieved from northern Iraq? Analysis based on solid evidence, after all, is far superior to speculation and guesswork that may be proven erroneous. While there are many media articles... Читать дальше...

The Color Purple at Paper Mill Playhouse, Photo by Matthew Murphy, Adrianna Hicks (Celie) and The Company of The Color Purple

Counterfactuals endure as the odd man of historiography. Audiences are fascinated by the Amazon adaptation of the Philip K. Dick science fiction classic The Man in the High Castle and readers ponder alternate history as imagined by Philip Roth in The Plot Against America, but academic historians are circumspect about the question of “What if?” The rest of us, however, can’t resist contemplating alternate history – what if Napoleon had been victorious at Waterloo? If Hitler had only been accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna? Читать дальше...

Laura Robson is a scholar of modern Middle Eastern and international history. Her areas of interest encompass local, regional, and global iterations of internationalism and international governance, modern histories of mass violence, and the politics of ethnicity and religion in the twentieth century Arab world. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University and is currently Associate Professor of History at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Visit her website at www.lauracrobson.com.

In The War Years Lincoln biographer and poet Carl Sandburg wrote,“Lincoln was the first true humorist to occupy the White House. No other President of the United States had come to be identified, for good or bad, with a relish for the comic.” More recently Richard Carwardine has devoted a whole book toLincoln's humor. In contrast, former FBI director James Comey has stated that he never personally witnessed President Trump laugh, and conservative columnist Max Boot has written, “Has there ever been a president as humorless as Donald Trump? Читать дальше...

Jefferson was a uncompromising liberal when it came to religion. He expresses that sentiment in a letter to Patrick Henry (11 Oct. 1776): “The care of every man’s soul belongs to himself. But what if he neglect the care of it? Well what if he neglect the care of his health or estate, which more nearly relate to the state? Will the magistrates make a law that he shall not be poor or sick? Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves. God himself will not save men against their... Читать дальше...

America has seen about one third of its Presidents who were “retreads,” those who lost earlier bids for the White House. They span from Thomas Jefferson to Donald Trump, and this reality of later success is what emboldens others to continue attempting to be elected President. There will be a number of such “retreads” likely to seek the Presidency in 2020.

In the context of the press’s struggle to cover the world of Trump and beyond, it’s important to recall that Murrow, in his memorable 1954 See It Now broadcast about Senator McCarthy, helped bring an end to a political crusade that was frightening the American people and undermining American democracy. He exposed McCarthy as a lying charlatan who deserved the Senate censure he was to suffer a few months later. Though many other reporters covered the same story, only Murrow will likely be remembered... Читать дальше...

I can’t say I’ve courted controversy as an author.

A historian’s daily schedule is, after all, hardly the same as a Fox or MSNBC commentator.

But sometimes controversy finds you.

As I wrapped up my latest book, TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, The Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy, I re-visited a rather minor footnote detailing the suicides of two of Roosevelt’s more prominent business supporters.Then, I recalled TR’s son Kermit had to talk TR out of ending his... Читать дальше...

British prime minister Neville Chamberlain declared that the Munich agreement meant "peace for our time."

Over the next few days, millions of Americans will be anxiously watching and waiting to see whether a few undecided Republican Senators will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as our next Supreme Court Justice. Their vote will help shape the Court for a generation. More importantly, their vote holds the potential to help Donald Trump further transform this country into an authoritarian, exclusionary democracy. 

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In the 1960s, gay bars in New York City were illegal. They stayed open because of bold owners, large crowds of patrons and police who, bribed, tipped off owners before a raid. It was a rough, problematic, turbulent world for the bars and their gay patrons.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sept. 27, 2018. AP/pool image, Michael Reynolds

Far from being unusual, the hurried and partisan Supreme Court confirmation process for Brett Kavanaugh mirrors several notable examples of similarly politicized confirmations in U.S. history.

Undated photo provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families

In Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty, John Boles offers us another biography of Thomas Jefferson. In his brief introduction, he mentions that his aim is to present Jefferson as “politician, party leader, executive; architect, musician, oenophile, gourmand, traveler; inventor, historian, political theorist; land owner, farmer, slaveholder; and son, father, grandfather.” He cautions readers that his portrait is “admittedly sympathetic but critical when appropriate.” (The choice of “sympathetic” is unfortunate... Читать дальше...

National School Lunch week is here (October 15-19), a time for shining the spotlight on this essential program that feeds hungry children. For just a moment, let’s take a step back in time to see what President Harry Truman and the United States Army were doing about school lunches in the fall of 1946. Truman had recently signed the National School Lunch Act, which provided meals for needy children.  This meant free or reduced price school lunches for children of families living in poverty. The... Читать дальше...

The rich made off with the money the GOP predicted would be shared with workers.

Donald Trump is the first candidate to win the Presidency who lacked government or military experience. Only Wendell Willkie before him in 1940, and H. Ross Perot as an Independent in 1992 and 1996, are comparable.

Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway could solve many mysteries about her famous husband.  She could tell us how he got his start as a playwright, how he negotiated work and family, how he grieved for the death of his only son, how he died, and whether or not he was a closet Catholic. She could reveal where he wrote his plays, if he was a family man dutifully traveling back to Stratford, or if he heartlessly abandoned his wife and children to seek fame and fortune.  She could also tell us why her name is on their marriage bond... Читать дальше...

Professor Nell Painter, Artist 

(Detail, John Emerson Photo)

In my history books I have already had my say in clear language and discursive meaning about community. Now what history means to me in images is freedom from coherence, clarity, and collective representation. Nell Painter, Old in Art School

At age 64, Nell Irvin Painter retired from her chaired history professor position at Princeton University. During her distinguished career as a historian and teacher she was acclaimed... Читать дальше...

This goes far toward explaining one of the most troubling facts historians have uncovered about myths: they don’t die. They just go into hibernation, ready to spring back to life when circumstances become favorable. Take Joseph Stalin. He was officially repudiated by the Soviet Union shortly after his death in 1953. His horrors were fully exposed. But on the sixtieth anniversary of his death, who did Russians tell pollsters was the greatest Russian leader in history? Joseph Stalin. It’s not the man Russians were celebrating. Читать дальше...

On the second Monday of October various cities and states celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day. Some locales do so along with Columbus Day, others instead of honoring a man who began the conquest of America’s Indians. Thus, it seems an appropriate occasion to ask whether in ranking our forty-five presidents we are mindful enough of their policies toward Native Americans. 

Four centuries ago, somebody starving in the drought afflicted Elbe region in what is today the Czech Republic, anonymously chiseled onto the stone of the receding river bank a warning. Here, along the river where one day American and Soviet troops would meet on their duel approach to Berlin, a graffito made by unknown hand marks 1616 as the oldest year recorded on one particular “Hunger Stone”, and on that surface there is a memento mori which reads “Wenn du mich sicht, dann weine.” This summer... Читать дальше...