US History - Texas Outlaw Writers

A Turbulent and Troubled Land

"We refuse to own our history, to learn from it, and cannot know who we truly are as a people or what binds us as a nation, because we have been hiding from ourselves for too long."

Election'

A Culture of Cowardice

I thought about a conversation I had with him on an airplane once because of the recent speculation that George W. Bush might endorse Kamala Harris. Sure, there is a non-zero chance of that happening, but I suggest you place your bets elsewhere.

US History

What Kind of an American Are You?

"Trump’s anger is not likely to be constrained by a courtroom. He will send emails to supporters, many of whom struggle to pay their own bills, begging to give him money because he’s a victim. They will send their cash and credit card payments to a man who claims to be among the world’s richest."

personal stories

Independence Way

I understood that there were economic and educational forces at work that made our lives abundantly different. My mother carried burgers and open-faced sandwiches as a waitress at a short-order restaurant. My father lifted bumpers out of a metal press for delivery to the assembly line.

Trump

We've Been Here Before

"The fear of speaking ill of Putin is so great that when Vlad killed his chief critic, Alexei Navalny, the only mention from Donald J. Trump was to compare his legal troubles to Navalny. One more reminder, Mr. President, Navalny is, uh, dead."

national politics

The Burning Man

“Free Palestine, free Palestine,” he screamed as the fire brought him down. Colleagues who knew him in the military described him as kind, soft-hearted, and caring, the diametric opposite of the angry radical that he is being portrayed in widespread reporting.

US History

History Does Rhyme After All

"Though most of the South had already seceded, when it came time to count electoral votes on February 21st, a crowd formed outside the Capitol with the intent of breaking in and with or without a buffalo horn headdress, disrupting the counting of the electoral votes to confirm Lincoln's victory."

US History

Frankly My Dear, the Base Doesn't Give a Damn

Trump is facing trial for what some term an insurrection, or at least an attempt to overthrow a fair election. The endless possibilities are not very good. And despite the hopes of liberals, not a slam dunk. Despite the hopes of conservatives, the results will be humiliating - no matter how it goes

US History

The Second Casualty

"Nothing seems to have changed in a century and a half. Humans are still killing other humans because of their differing gods or how they look, or the things they believe... and the children still fall first."

War

Oppenheimer and Me

Humans continue to live with the same fear that has haunted us since we initially split the atom. Robert Oppenheimer, a brilliant and heroic man, was just the first scientist to accomplish the inevitable. There tends to be little moral calculus to science.

Indigenous People

An American Tale

The genocide of native peoples,, Americans argued, was an inevitable consequence of Manifest Destiny, the belief that white Europeans and their progeny had a right to any land they wanted to settle in the West. Indians were characterized as savages, while settlers were the brave pioneers.

Travel

American Memory

Within an hour, we went from curious explorers of history to mercenary capitalists, transporting alcohol in quantity across state lines w/o a license or a permit. In the dorm, we sold out in a few hours at $3 a can, $20 for a six-pack, and $90 for a case. I had never made more money in one day.

personal stories

A Port in History's Storm

The Titan submersible, carried past the narrows on a ship for a launch above the Titanic’s wreckage, now leaves its imprimatur of sadness on a people who have known too long and too well that the sea exacts a price for its glory and bounty, and preparation is the best hope for survival.

US History

Diamonds (and the Waco Fire) Are Forever

30 years ago today, the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco, TX went up in flames. 78 Davidians including their messianic leader, David Koresh died in the conflagration. For 51 days, hundreds of reporters from all over the world covered the siege, standoff, and fire. It was surreal.

Women's Issues

Women’s History Month: At War with the Law

Today’s discrimination against women has an origin and fair laws and decency were not freely given or guaranteed. Sexist, racist, homophobic creatures make laws, run for office, teach our children, and are in our places of work.

Women's Issues

Women’s History Month: Inspiring Change from the Inside, Forcing Change from the Streets

There's a structure of organizational norms created by a ruling class with little regard for human rights, fairness, or equity. Long ago, these women did both to move the needle toward fair and equitable treatment.

Journalism

My War Story

As the Anglican Archbishop of East Jerusalem - a Palestinian Christian - Samir Khafiti told me on this trip, “For people here, the Bible is like yesterday’s newspaper. They are fighting battles that go back centuries.”

Conspiracy theories

American Coup: The Day Democracy Died

“American Coup” is the true story of a pivotal moment for the United States. It’s the tale of how an ambitious young man from the Hill Country aligned himself with economic, intelligence, and military forces to kill a president in order to replace him. LBJ was complicit in the killing of JFK...

national politics

Another U.S. Civil War: Is it Inevitable or Avoidable? What Do the Clues of Today Tell Us?

"With a landscape divided by racial, religious, or ethnic lines, civil wars are most often started by the groups that had once been dominant and are in decline. A major trigger for a group in decline is losing a series of elections..."

US History

Last Flight of the Texas Raiders

The tragedy in Dallas should cause some introspection and rule changes.

Texas History

The Boys of Praha

"In the space of 12 months and nine days, Praha gave up most of its youth -- and nearly all of its future -- to confront unimaginable forms of evil on faraway continents."

US History

My Celebration for Labor Day

It took a labor union movement to protect workers from abusive conditions. It always takes a movement to wrestle basic rights and decency from the reluctant hands of those in power. Labor Day has been celebrated in the U.S. and Canada since 1894.

national politics

Two Nations Under God?

In my mind, conservative extremists are a potential danger to me and my family, and I'd rather not live next door to pro-gun-toting racists who ignore the truth and follow their political reps with cult-like allegiance in matters of race, economics, the environment, and personal health.

national politics

Fourth of July Reflections

"Stop your non-productive whining. Yes, there has been a series of giant steps backward. It is NOT, as thousands of tweets would have you believe, “the lowest point in our nation’s history” nor “the end of our republic” nor, for that matter, is it the worst of anything in our American past."

US History

What Does America Want?

"Bradley Freeman was a 19-year-old freshman at Mississippi State University in Starkville when he enlisted in the U.S. Army and became a paratrooper. He knew that America was worth fighting for. Freeman, who passed a day before July 4th, would be the last of the "Band of Brothers." "

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