Marci Hamilton: The History of Religion in The United States

Source:National Constitution Center-

Source:The New Democrat

I believe Marci Hamilton hit it best that one of the great things about America is our Freedom of Religion and religious diversity. Because we are such a diverse country both ethnically and racially a country of Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians, Germanic's, Slavs, Mediterraneans, Latinos, Africans, Asians, Indians, Middle Easterners, Jews and others, we are also a very diverse country religiously as well. Because all of these people's have their own cultures, traditions, faiths, that represents where their ancestors come from. That we don't have one dominant ethnic or racial majority with one religion for the whole country and we certainly aren't governed by any religion either. We have Freedom of Religion and freedom not to practice any religion, but we also have Separation of Church and State.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, is free to believe that homosexuality is a sin and that gays are sinners simply for being gay and that same-sex marriage is some moral threat to straight marriage. And she's also free to be deeply wrong about that. But as a government official she swore a duty to serve and protect the public. And even in Rowan County, Kentucky that includes gay people and she simply can't deny gays access and deny them marriage licenses simply because they are gay. She has a sworn duty to serve those people as much as she has a sworn duty to serve straight people. And if she has a problem from that she always resign from office. And perhaps take up the fight of protesting against homosexuality in America wither other members of the Christian-Right in this country.

And while Kim Davis is still serving the whole public in her country she still retains the right to believe that homosexuality is a sin and that gays should be second-class citizens in her county and perhaps everywhere else. Simply by using her First Amendment right and her freedom of religion. But that stops when it comes to forcing your religious beliefs as deep as they may be on everyone else in your community. Freedom of Religion in America doesn't give people the right to force others to live by your beliefs and deny people access because of your beliefs especially when you're a public official. If Clerk Davis doesn't want to serve the entire public in the county she can always resign her office and go work in the private sector like at her church.

David Von Pein: The Age of Kennedy: NBC White Paper (1966)

Source:David Von Pein- 1966 documentary about President John F. Kennedy. From NBC News,

Source:The New Democrat

"THE AGE OF KENNEDY" is an outstanding "NBC White Paper" documentary that was first aired (in two parts) on the NBC Television Network in late May and early June of 1966.

The two "White Paper" programs (subtitled "The Early Years" and "The Presidency") chronicle the life and political career of the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

This black-and-white documentary is filled to the brim with excellent archival film footage of JFK and his family. This program is definitely one that should be seen and downloaded for future viewings. It's absolutely wonderful.

Adding to the classy flavor of this particular JFK video biography is the frequent narration of distinguished actor Henry Fonda in the first half of the program, as Fonda reads words that were written by John Kennedy himself. Chet Huntley of NBC News also serves as a narrator throughout this 101-minute documentary.

In 1997, "The Age Of Kennedy" programs were released by NBC News on home video in a 2-Tape VHS collector's set, with a slightly-altered title: "NBC White Papers: The Kennedy Era".

©1966, 1997 National Broadcasting Company, Inc.
©1997 New Video Group, Inc."

From David Von Pein

John F. Kennedy's early years as an adult  are not very impressive. He was in the U.S. Navy for a few years during World War II and got out in 1945 to and then ran for the House of Representatives in 1946 and got elected there mostly because of his name and his father literally buying votes and ballots. I think the way to look at Jack Kennedy in the 1940s and 1950s is as a student who is still figuring things out and trying to decide what he wants to do in life. But I don't believe he figures that out until his first term in the Senate in 1953. Jack Kennedy, was a playboy in Congress really the whole time he was there from 1947-61. His six years in the House and eight years in the Senate. He marries Jackie in 1953 and that doesn't make him any more responsible.

Kennedy doesn't figure out what he wants to do and where he's going in life really until he gets reelected to the Senate in 1958. And he writes the book Profiles in Courage where you get to see his political and ideology emerge. As a Cold War Liberal Democrat who sees communism as the biggest threat to freedom and even mankind. As well as someone who wants to use a limited government to empower people in need to get themselves up and live well in life. Kennedy, wasn't a Conservative that today's right-wingers want to portray him as, or a Social Democrat that had a government program to solve everyone's problems for them. That today's so-called Progressives want to see him as.

By the time Jack Kennedy completed his first term in the Senate and decided that he wanted to be President of the United States is where he got serious as a public servant and political leader. That communism needed to be defeated and that freedom needed to be expanded at home. For Americans who were struggling and living in poverty, but also for Americans who were simply denied access in America because of their race and color. Which is just one reason why JFK being assassinated at the age of 46 in 1963 is so tragic. Because the great liberal Jack Kennedy as a political leader was just emerging. He probably gets reelected fairly easily in 1964 against Senator Barry Goldwater. And I think we would have seen one of the best American leaders of all-time.

ABC News: 'ABC World News Tonight, July 10, 1978'

Source:ABC News- anchor Peter Jennings.

Source:The New Democrat 

"The premiere edition, anchored by Frank Reynolds, Max Robinson, and Peter Jennings.Posted for educational and historical purposes only. All material is under the copyright of their original holders. No copyright infringement is intended." 

From News Active

The thing that people need to know about Marxist states which is exactly what the Soviet Union of Russia was for over seventy-years before the Soviet Union broke with all the non-ethnic-Russian states breaking away and creating their own independent countries, is that they can consider anything that goes against the state as treason. And anyone that says anything in opposition to the central state, is a treasonous. 

The fake trial of Natan Sharansky back in 1978 was which was obviously fake. Here’s a man who was simply calling for human rights in a Marxist state where human rights don’t exist. The only rights that exist in a Marxist state all belong to the central government. Which is supposed to use that power to take care of the people.

In the late 1970s you saw Russia get more aggressive with their foreign policy and make moves in North Africa and Central Asia to protect their interests. Like in Ethiopia to protect a Marxist government there and of course in Afghanistan to install a Marxist government there. 

You also saw Russian activists and non-ethnic-Russian activists in Russia like Natan Sharansky speak out in favor of human rights in a country where they simply don’t exist. As well as Russian citizens and non-ethnic-Russian citizens including Russian-Jews fleeing their country in hopes of finding freedom and coming to America so to speak because of that. And part of that had to do with President Jimmy Carter making human rights as part of his foreign policy.

1978 was a big year for tax cuts and a bad year for high taxes. As you saw several states with movements calling for cutting taxes across the board. Even in the so-called Republic of California that has always had high taxes and has been one of the most leftist states in the union when it comes to taxation. 

In 1978 there was a movement led by anti-tax advocate Howard Jarvis, who you could call a 1970s Tea Party leader who managed to get on the state ballot there a measure that would cut property taxes across the board. And it passed even though California is one of the biggest Democratic states in the union as far as party registration. With a 2-1 Democrat to Republican party ratio. With Democrats controlling both houses of the State Legislature going back to the 1950s.

ABC News: America Held Hostage: The Iran Crisis

SourceABC News Special Report on the Iran Hostage Crisis.

Source:The New Democrat

I never make excuses for terrorists and terrorism and don’t respect anyone who does. But the U.S. Government including the Carter Administration and every single American administration going back to Harry Truman, have some responsibility for this crisis. The Iran Hostage Crisis is the perfect example of the weakness and consequences of backing unpopular authoritarian dictatorships. Whatever you think of the Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and he did have come progressive qualities liked developing the Iranian economy, he was a brutal dictator to his opposition. Both Islamic Theocrats and more liberal democratic factions in that country.

The Iranian people and the Islamic revolutionaries in that country were simply fed up with the Pahlavi Regime there and wanted a different form of government and a different future there. Which is what and whatever you think of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni, a different future as an Islamic theocratic dictator of Iran is exactly what he represented for Iran. A different future for that country. The Iranian people essentially replaced one authoritarian dictatorship for another one. Which sort of goes to the judgement of that country and doesn’t make them look very good. But perhaps that’s for a different discussion. The United States, backed the Shah of Iran, because they were worried about what type of government would come to Iran instead and because of Iranian oil and gas.

The United States and the United Kingdom, interfered with the governmental operations of Iran for almost forty-years, because they were worried about the Shah falling and being replaced by an anti-Western authoritarian regime. But that is exactly what they got anyway which was an extreme Far-Right Islamic theocratic government to replace a more moderate and reasonable monarchy that they wanted all along. As America also found out with their backing of authoritarian dictator Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, there serious and deadly consequences that come from backing unpopular dictators. And the way you prevent even worst regimes from coming to power is to work with the people on the ground. Not backing unpopular dictators.

Bob Parker: ABC World News January 6, 1987: The 100th Congress and The Iran Contra Investigation

Source:Bob Parker- The opening of the U.S. House of Representatives, for the 100th Congress.

Source:The New Democrat

"ABC World News January 6, 1987 with Peter Jennings."

From Bob Parker

Early 1987 and really the whole 1987 year was a bad one for President Ronald Reagan and the Reagan Administration. Republicans, lost the Senate in 1986 which gave Congressional Democrats complete control of Congress going into 1987. Just when the Iran Contra investigation was in the news and when both the Senate and House was looking into that. The House and Senate put together a joint Congressional committee to investigate the Iran Contra situation in the summer of 1987. Where people like Marine Colonel Oliver North became a famous name and person and became a main focus of the Congressional Iran Contra Committee.

I was eleven years old and in fifth grade for most of 1987, so I don't remember a whole lot about the politics that year. I remember seeing some of the Iran Contra Committee with my parents on TV. I remember hearing about Gary Hart running for president and then dropping out because he was caught having an affair with a woman who wasn't his wife. I remember hearing the name Michael Dukakis and a little about Robert Bork who President Reagan nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court. But most of these things except for Gary Hart and Mike Dukakis weren't good for President Reagan. And all issues that Vice President George Bush would have to inherit as he ran for president in 1988.

For really the first six years of the Reagan Administration, except for perhaps 1986 when Iran Contra became a big issue, President Reagan and his team were always on the offensive. And able to push their issues and get the country behind them in some key areas. They got their military buildup, tax cuts, Social Security reform, immigration reform, negotiations and better relations with Russia, to use as examples. But 1987 was the 1998 for the Reagan Administration. Where they played defense for most if not the whole year. Either answering questions they didn't want to answer, or trying to avoid questions that they didn't want to give the full truth on.

Movie Clips Classic Trailer Vault: ‘Lenny Official Trailer- Dustin Hoffman Movie (1974)’

Source:Movie Clips Classic Trailer Vault- The official trailer for Lenny 1974: the movie about comedian Lenny Bruce. 

Source:The Daily Review

"Lenny Trailer - Directed by Bob Fosse and starring Dustin Hoffman, Stanley Beck, Frankie Man, Gary Morton, Guy Rennie. The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public."

Source:Movie Clips Classic Trailer Vault

Lenny Bruce, was a comedian who used humor to talk about everyday American life. And part of how Americans live is how we interact with each other even in the most personal of ways. Including, marriage divorce, family and yes, even sex. All he did was talked about how Americans lived, but he did it in public. He said things in the public that right-wing culturally conservative establishment who perhaps thought we were a Middle Eastern fundamentalist country and not a Western liberal democracy, didn't believe Americans should be allowed to hear or say.

As I mentioned yesterday had Lenny came out 10-20 years later, he probably never spends a day in jail for his act. At least outside of the Bible Belt. He actually had a significant criminal record as a thief and dealing with drugs, but when it came to his comedy act he was arrested for literally using adult language in public. Which is clearly unconstitutional under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. He wasn't libeling people, he was inciting violence, he wasn't calling for violence to come against anyone. Even the cops who arrested him for using adult language. He was simply using adult language in public as part of his comedy routine.

People tend to think of political correctness as censorship against language that may tend to offend certain groups of people. And that is true obviously, but political correctness in the 1950s and early 1960s was used against people who used language that lets say the most religiously conservative of Americans not only find offensive, but immoral.

And when that language is used they believe the people who say those things should literally be arrested. Today political correctness is used against comedians and other commentators who say negative things even if they're true against minority groups in America. Lenny Bruce was a victim of 1950s and 1960s right-wing political correctness fascism. 

Mysteries & Scandals: Lenny Bruce

Source:Mysteries & Scandals- Comedian Lenny Bruce: free speech under assault.

Source:The Daily Review

Keep in mind that Lenny Bruce's act came out in the 1950s and up until the early 1960s when we were still living in this Leave it to Beaver Pleasantville, where a lot of Americans are supposed to live on the farm, or out West, type of culture. Where the idea of political correctness was not saying anything that went against this establishment. Where sex and divorce wasn't talked about, where government officials were considered gods and looked up to, where women's place was in the home and where gays place was in the closet, jail, or a mental institution. Where everyone at least was supposed to take their parents word as gold and if you questioned them, you were committing a sin.

Imagine if you're Lenny Bruce and this is the culture you live and work in and your act is not ahead of its time, but you might be twenty-years ahead of your time. Your act would be mainstream in 1975 or so and to a certain extent in the late 1960s in certain places, but you're starting out in the early and mid 1950s where America was still supposed to be Pleasantville. And you have this comedian whose literally being arrested and you have cops going to his shows for talking about things that the supposed culture and establishment of the time sees as unacceptable. Even with our liberal free speech and first amendment rights.

Lenny Bruce, was using swear words in a culture where words like damn, hell, bitch, bastard, ass, words that were very mainstream by the mid 1970s or so, that were considered very sinful and immoral in 1955, or so. Lenny, wasn't getting in trouble for calling for people to be hurt, or murdered, or libeling people, things that aren't protected by the First Amendment. Bruce was being harassed and prosecuted by government for using adult language. And talking about adult topics like marriage, divorce, sex and using adult language. All things that are protected by our first amendment.

I think the closest comedian to compare Lenny Bruce with would be George Carlin. Who came onto the scene about ten-years after Bruce. But they have similar styles and the ability to take on the system, or establishment and inform people that America and their country isn't as perfect as their government wants them to think it is. That America is Pleasantville at least not everywhere. That we have real issues and concerns that need to be dealt with. And that talking about things even adult subjects issues that all Americans do in private at least is okay to talk about those things in public as well. And besides we have a First Amendment that protects this speech anyway.