Your critique of the Monticello Association's decision to reject the descendants of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson for membership ("Multiculturalism at Monticello," editorial, May 24) was inspiring. But in noting the shift in scholars' thinking on this subject, you did not cite the work responsible for this re-evaluation.

"Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy," by Annette Gordon-Reed, was published a year before the DNA tests and predicted the results of those tests with total accuracy.

The vindication of Professor Gordon-Reed, who is black, is worth noting. It shows that the perspectives of black people — historical actors and scholars — are vital to the writing of American history. That is the purpose of multiculturalism. It also proves that historians, using their own conventional tools at the highest level, need not be hostages to science.

Source: NYT, May 31, 2002.

May 28, 2002

From the New York Times review of a new TV documentary,"Vietnam Passage: Journeys from War to Peace":

It's an old journalist's trick, especially among foreign correspondents, to find revelation in the wisdom of cabdrivers. David Lamb, of The Los Angeles Times, had one of those perception-altering taxi rides on his most recent tour in Vietnam, 25 years after he'd covered the war there as a young reporter.

Upon discovering that his driver had fought for the North Vietnamese, Mr. Lamb asked whether the cabby hated him because he was an American. The driver pulled over and said:"We fought the Chinese for 1,000 years, we fought the French for 100. You were here just for 10. You were just a blip in the history of a proud nation."

Source: NYT, May 23, 2002.

April 24, 2002

Rep. Dan Burton -- yes, Dan Burton, scourge of the Clinton White House -- at a recent hearing on legislation to repeal executive order # 13233, which gives ex-presidents the right to restrict access to their public papers, in apparent violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978:

"This Executive Order just goes too far . . . . [F]or the White House to block access to historical documents that Congress has a right to is just insane."

Thanks to Bruce Craig for drawing attention to the quotation in his recent newsletter on behalf of the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH).

April 2002

And they say political reporters are so liberal they can't treat Republicans fairly. In his new book about the Bush campaign, NYT reporter Frank Bruni makes the following observation:

Until September 11, Bush had never cut a profoundly commanding figure; his pursuit and attainment of the presidency had been less a passionate quest than an excellent adventure. He lacked the churning ambition of Lyndon B. Johnson, the roiling demons of Richard Nixon, the pristine idealism of Jimmy Carter, the ideological certitude of Ronald Reagan, the enormous and self-destructive appetites of Bill Clinton. He was simpler and plainer than most of his predecessors, and that seemed to be one reason many Americans voted for him: he was an unthreatening, easygoing man for unthreatening, easygoing times. Yet the abruptness with which those times had changed, trapping Bush in a labyrinth of obligations for which he was ambiguously prepared, was turning him into one of the most interesting presidents in decades. He had indeed exceeded expectations, at least as an unusually riveting character in a newly compelling drama.

Source: Frank Bruni, Ambling into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush (HarperCollins, 2002), p. 265.

March 2002

Evidence that history is richly ironic: Last Spring CLS Publishing -- a famously anti-Clinton organ ("The Clinton Atrocities,""Davidian Massacre," etc. etc.) -- sent out a flier advertising its latest publications. Among CLS's pithy observations ...

As of the date of this production (June 21, 2001), since Clinton left office, there have been no terrorist bombings of World Trade Centers, US Naval vessels, US embassies, or federal buildings; no major airplane crashes and no untimely deaths of government officials -- unlike ANY five month period during the entire 8 years that the Clintons were in power."

Thanks to HNN reader Edward Olshaker for sending this in.

February 22, 2002

An alert HNN reader, Earl Kinmonth, has pointed out that President Bush's largely overlooked speech to the Japanese Diet on February 18 included a whopper. Four paragraphs into the speech the president declared,"My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times."

That is what he actually said.

Here's what the White House website says he said:"My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for half a century now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times."

You can hear the speech by clicking here. (To listen you must have a RealNetworks audio player installed on your computer. Click here for the free version.)

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February 5, 2002

An HNN reader alerted us to the following blurb that appears on the hardcover edition of John Dower's Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II.

"I steal from him shamelessly in my lectures; I do make sure to give him credit when I steal from his material in my books.... I learned more than I ever would have thought possible."

The blurb is attributed to Stephen Ambrose. No comment.

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January 29, 2002

Steven Aftergood, editor of the Project on Government Secrecy, reports:

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday that the Administration's refusal to disclose information requested by the General Accounting Office concerning Enron and the Vice President's Energy Task Force was a matter of high principle and was intended to reverse decades of erosion in Presidential power.

"I think it is to stop the decline of the power of the presidency that have taken place the last 35 years or so," Fleischer told the Associated Press, echoing remarks made by Vice President Cheney over the weekend.

But what was it that happened 35 years ago, years before Watergate, that initiated this supposed decline in the power of the Presidency?

The answer seems to be the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which was enacted about 35 years ago, in 1966.

By granting members of the public a legal right to public information, the FOIA and related"sunshine" laws did in fact diminish the power of the President to arbitrarily withhold information and to evade public accountability. Whether this is a sign of decline or of political maturity is evidently a matter of perspective.

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July 25, 2001

In a newspaper interview Jimmy Carter was asked about George Bush's presidency thus far. Carter commented:"I have been disappointed in almost everything he has done."

Somebody should tell W. what Grover Cleveland said."What shall be done with our ex-presidents? Take them out and shoot them." (Cleveland himself was quoting journalist Henry Watterson.)

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July 17, 2001

In the course of a long debate in the House of Representatives on a constitutional amendment to protect the flag from desecration, Ohio Congressman James Traficant related that the U.S. Trademark Office of Appeals has ruled that the Old Glory Condom Corporation has the right to sell red, white and blue prophylactics. Traficant went on ...

"If that is not enough to constipate our veterans, two men from Columbus, Ohio, were recently charged with burning a gay pride flag during a parade. Think about it. It is illegal to burn leaves and trash in America. It is illegal to damage a mailbox. Now it is illegal to burn a gay pride flag. And it is completely legal and patriotic to wear a red, white, and blue condom.

Beam me up, Mr. Speaker. I think if American citizens want to make a political statement they should burn their brassieres, burn their boxer shorts, but leave Old Glory alone, period."

The House approved the resolution, as it has in 1995, 1997, and 1999. The resolution is expected to die in the Senate. The Supreme Court in 1990 struck down the federal law banning the desecration of the flag. The vote was 5 to 4.

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July 2, 2001

Responding to criticism by Republicans that the president's ship is listing, Mary Matalin, the spokesperson for the vice president reassuring remarked:

"We're not unconcerned. We're not so inflexible or blind that we're like Stepford wives and husbands marching like lemmings over a cliff. What we're doing now is recalibrating."
And they say that George W. has difficulty with the English language.

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June 22, 2001

When the Ellis scandal first broke Joanne Creighton, president of Mount Holyoke, told the media:"We at the College do not know what public interest the Globe is trying to serve through a story of this nature." After receiving intense criticism for this comment, she issued the following statement, which can be found on the college's web site.

Recent developments concerning Joseph Ellis have been very difficult for the Mount Holyoke community, where he has a distinguished background as a scholar, teacher, colleague, and mentor. To my knowledge, during Professor Ellis's twenty-nine years at Mount Holyoke, no one has previously brought to the College's attention any allegations about misrepresentation of his military record, and I presumed his innocence when I first heard of this matter. However, Professor Ellis has since admitted, both publicly and to me privately, that he did misrepresent his military service.

While I was dismayed to learn about this issue through the press, I do not question the right of the press to pursue the truth. Misleading students in the classroom is a serious academic matter, and claiming service in Vietnam falsely is disrespectful, especially to all those who have served. Now, in view of the College's commitment to the highest standards of academic integrity, it is the duty of the College to investigate the facts that have been brought to light and to move ahead judiciously and justly.

Sincerely yours,


Joanne V. Creighton
President

Mount Holyoke College