Tag Archives: History

A Modest Plea

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In the late 19th Century the fix was in for the wealthy. This era, remembered as the Industrial or Gilded Age, witnessed overawed politicians who regularly legislated for and bowed to those known as America’s robber barons.

Ferocious drama played out between classes in the decades following the Civil War.  In an oppressive atmosphere only the courageous and determined risked all to seek economic justice. Unionizers, in particular risked their lives in the cause of organizing labor. Individuals like Eugene Debs of the American Railway Union and Terrance Powderly of the Knights of Labor faced physical and economic harm through government sanctioned violence. The historic record is teeming with instances of brutality, hazardous working conditions, and bloodshed meted out by powerful business owners.

Particularly dangerous was organizing in American mines, mills, and factories. It didn’t help that the general public was unsympathetic to workers plight, universally convinced that the rich were chosen by God, therefore entitled to lord over the working class. In general laborers, especially the foreign-born were viewed as a cheap commodity, a disposable cog in the wheel of production and profits.

The most significant use concerned the Pullman Strike of 1894. Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company (think Wild Wild West railcars) sold their freedom as a condition of employment to the company’s powerful owner, George Pullman. Workers lived in his town, (Pullman, Illinois) where their wages were debited for utilities, rent, and other monthly fees. During the economic downturn in 1893, hourly wages were drastically reduced, but Mr. Pullman still deducted his usual payments.

Denied temporary leniency Pullman workers voted to strike. 

Mr. Pullman was not amused.

Of course the U.S. Attorney General at the time issued an injunction, and deployed federal troops into the fray. Soldiers soon poured into Pullman’s town, and opened fire. Some thirty strikers fell, while many more lay wounded.

The Pullman Strike fell apart in bloody violence, however, the heavy-handed tactics used by Pullman left people across the country uneasy.

How could a land that aspired to liberty, not check the tyranny of powerful industrialists?

Other disputes followed the same pattern; The Railway Strike of 1873, The Haymarket Riot of 1886, the Ludlow Massacre in 1914 Colorado, and New York City’s tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 which killed nearly 150 immigrant girls.

The aim of this essay was meant to discuss the advances made by labor from the New Deal through the 1960’s. I hoped to share my childhood as a daughter who benefited from my father’s membership in the Steel Workers Union. And how my blue collar family sent me to college allowing me to passed on my good fortune as a public school teacher.

That story isn’t going to happen. Not today.

Once again the fix is in with overawed Republicans bowing to the moneyed class. Lawlessness defines a new oppressive atmosphere through the administration of a blowhard who scorns us all. Government sanctioned violence is an everyday occurrence, meted out by poorly trained thugs who track down immigrants and bystanders considered deserving of violence..

A new breed of robber barons has emerged with names like Gates, Bezos, Musk, and Thiel. These men demand Congress kiss their rings of power, along with a pedophile, opportunist president always on the take.

Again those who stand up against injustice are cut down by violence like Renee Goode, and Alex Pretti and many others denied due process and locked up in ICE detention centers.

Everyday Americans are once again uneasy, viewed as we are as merely cheap commodities to a GOP that wishes to strip us of our inheritance of liberty, including the right to the secret ballot.

“The man who has his millions will want everything he can lay his hands on and then raise his voice against the poor devil who wants ten cents more a day.” ~ Samuel Gompers, founder of the AFL

Have a thoughtful Labor Day

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

A Fanciful Tale

PEER REVIEW

The stage lights rise. Two wingback chairs sit

aside a table center stage. The sounds of voices

are heard off stage as two men, The President,

and his chief of staff step onstage. The President

appears unhappy, the chief of staff paces

alongside, shoulder to shoulder.

THE PRESIDENT

Lawsuits, nothing but lawsuits! Tariffs, my arch, my fund for my January 6th supporters!

And ethics complaints about my DOJ, and they won’t shut up about Epstein! I’m

President, and these liberals won’t stop me, EVER! I want this done Stephen, no bullshit.

Noem is from South Dakota, right? You tell Kristi no is not an answer, I’ll make her life

more hell than it already is. (Mumbles) A husband who wears fake boobs.

STEPHEN MILLER

The liberals fear you, Sir. You are the greatest Chief Executive of all time and they know

it. Consider it done. Your face will be carved on Mt Rushmore.

Miller begins to walk off stage and the President

calls out.

THE PRESIDENT

And I want it painted gold!

Watches Miller walk off stage, shakes his head

and speaks.

People are right, Miller does look like he sleeps in a crypt.

A clutch of tourists appear looking about,

pointing toward “walls,

” taking pictures, selfies

and chatting quietly. The president straightens

his tie, and touches his hair.

THE PRESIDENT

Welcome to my White House. Bet you wanna a picture with your greatest President.

The tourists murmur quietly, indifferently

looking around. They turn and wander offstage.

The president follows a few steps.2.

2.

You people deaf? What is wrong with you? This is disgraceful. I’m President of the

United States!

A man, Theodore Roosevelt appears on stage

left. He wears a top hat, mustache, pince-nez

spectacles and cutaway jacket with tails. He

carries a cane. The man approaches the

President from behind. He speaks in an

aristocratic voice.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Am I to understand that you are a New Yorker?

The President startles.

THE PRESIDENT

Checks his hair.

What the hell! (Pauses) Um, hello. Are you here with a tour group? Bet you want a

picture with me, your favorite president.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

I ask a simple question, and you reply with a question. I understand you are a New

Yorker. Is that so?

Annoyed, the President attempts to leave, but

cannot move. The man approaches the president

standing uncomfortably close.

THE PRESIDENT

Looking around

I can’t move! What the hell have you done! Where is my security detail! Help! Where are

my Marines?

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

We have all been watching you, and even Mr. Nixon is appalled. Once again, I ask are

you a New Yorker? Speak up when I’m addressing you.

THE PRESIDENT

Mr. Nixon? How the hell did you get in here?

The muted sound of tourists continues off stage.3.

3.

Yes. Yes. Everybody knows me. I made my fortune in New York real estate, if you must

know. I’ve heard many people say I’m the best businessman ever . . .

Roosevelt begins to pace and speak at the same

time.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

From my understanding you are nothing beyond a scoundrel from the wealthy criminal

class. I made a career of exposing popinjays such as yourself.

THE PRESIDENT

Well, you’re a nasty piece of work. No one talks to me like that. I am the President of the

United States. I won the election by the biggest margin in American hist . . .

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Poppycock! We have come to find that result came about through skullduggery, billions

in dark money, and a mere tilt in the electoral count through foreign interference. From

Russia no less.

THE PRESIDENT

Wrong. Another liberal lie.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Hush you foolish pip. Meeting with Putin in Helsinki, and proclaiming you believe him

over our own intelligence agencies? Closed door summit in Alaska? Unacceptable! Never

should foreign adversaries be permitted to undermine American policy. Nor condoning

those villains who pillaged the Capitol. Pardons? Payments to perpetrators? Mr. Lincoln

will have more to say on that travesty.

The President appears shocked. He mouths

“Lincoln.

”

You have besmirched the nation before the people and the world. I would say you are a

compromised pawn of billionaires, foreign meddlers, and their sinister purposes.

THE PRESIDENT

You’re a nasty piece of work, and you can’t talk to me like that. My security is coming

and you’ll be thrown out.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Sergey Witte.

THE PRESIDENT

What? Who? Get the hell out!4.

4.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Hold your tongue! When you are in the presence of a gentlemen, behave accordingly.

Witte was a Russian, so you will approve. The Japanese had defeated the Tsar’s navy on

the far side of the Pacific. America had no quarrel with either Japan or Russia, and I was

asked to chair peace negotiations. My view of Russians changed with Witte. What a

crude, unmannered man, a contrast to the well-mannered Japanese delegation. This so-

called “diplomat” grew increasingly belligerent during sessions insisting Russia be

awarded more territory, though they had lost the war!

Roosevelt removes his top hat and sets it on a

table, and checks his pocket watch.

Good I have time.

THE PRESIDENT

Time? Don’t stay on my account. I’m a busy man. Law suits, attacking opponents,

tweeting.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Sit down this instant.

The president instantly sits. Looks alarmed.

Witte is the point! The Russians only look out for Russia, not you, a bankrupt fool who

fell backward into the presidency.

THE PRESIDENT

You’re setting me up. Some a-hole is filming this. Where is the camera? I hate pranks.

(calls out) Miller!

The muffled sound of passersby continues. The

president sits uncomfortably, and shuts his eyes.

I’m dreaming. That’s it, I’m asleep. Jesus, I hope I’m not in a meeting. It’s so unfair when

they take my picture sleeping.

To the man.

I’m opening my eyes now and you better not be here.

The man leans over the sitting president. He

opens his eyes face to face with the man. The

president startles again.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

I am not finished.5.

5.

The man again paces and speaks.

The emoluments clause is in place for a purpose. We show strength through integrity–not

by manipulating the stock market for personal gain. The Chief Executive is meant to

serve the people not himself.

THE PRESIDENT

Stop right there! I don’t take a salary. People love me for that.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

All the while racking up billions through shady dealings.

The man turns toward an imaginary window.

The president attempts to stand, but only

succeeds in moving the chair a little. He utters a

grunt.

THE PRESIDENT

My people don’t care about that. They want to win because we don’t win anymore. We’re

going to win big now. Barack Hussein Obama gave in to Iran. Not me. I’m bombing the

shit out of them, and Venezuela too. Cuba is next!

Roosevelt shakes his head in disbelief, and

shifts his gaze to the “Room.

”

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Napoleon’s foreign minister, Charles Talleyrand once remarked that though President

Thomas Jefferson loved France, and he did, Jefferson was still an American first. In

speeches you echo Talleyrand’s words, but you mean something else.

THE PRESIDENT

TalleyWho? Let me out of this chair!

The President tries to free himself as he speaks.

Everyone knows I am the greatest Americ. . .

Roosevelt sighs, and with a turn of his hand

silences the President.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

It appears you have no pets. Quite revealing that-regarding the character of a man. We

moved into this house with dogs, cats, and other pets, including a pony. How the boys

loved their animals. Our pets were considered part of the family. They and the children’s

presence made the White House feel like home.6.

6.

Roosevelt again turns his hand, and the

president speaks.

THE PRESIDENT

Kids and animals here? No thanks. (Pause) I know men who leave their businesses so

they can spend more time with their children, and I say,

‘Gimme a break!’ My children

couldn’t love me more if I spent fifteen times more with them.

Roosevelt looks doubtfully toward the audience.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

When men and women cease to regard a worthy family life, with all its duties fully

performed, and all its responsibilities, then evil days for the nation are at hand.

The president wiggle-walks his chair still stuck.

THE PRESIDENT

No one talks like that anymore. And for your information I would feel like a phony

having a dog. I don’t like dogs. And, you should know, my children love me, and my

wife, too. They are so proud of me, so proud. I’m President. It’s those Liberals that are

the problem.

Roosevelt snaps, waving his cane.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Is that why thousands of migrant children have been separated from their parents, seized

by masked thugs and detained without warrants? Why immigrants are dragged from the

streets and deported to foreign countries without due process? Liberals are not, as you

say, the problem!

Roosevelts clears his throat, and quietly

continues.

President Grant requested I touch upon the subject of military service. (Pauses) My father

did not serve in the War between the States, leaving me a confused boy. I could not

understand why. To me soldiering is the highest service a patriot can perform.

THE PRESIDENT

And now you’re going to tell me how great the military is. I really don’t care. Look, Greg

Smith from Newsmax is calling my office.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Ignoring the President.7.

7.

His decision concerned my mother. A lovely woman, my mother, she hailed from

Georgia, and her brothers were serving the Confederacy. You see, my father loved her–

simply loved her. He hired a substitute in his place, and aided President Lincoln in other

ways.

Roosevelt taps his cane and smiles.

Still. I idolized him. He believed so much in public service. He cared about children,

orphans living on the streets. Father founded the Newsboys Lodge, the Children’s Aid

Society, and the American Museum of Natural History. The last he did for me.

Roosevelt strokes his mustache lost in thought.

THE PRESIDENT

On Central Park West?

The man nods.

Been there. Your father had it built? For you? Seems like a big waste of money to me.

Bunch of bones and dead animals.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Serving the public is an obligation. My administration assured fair rail rates for farmers,

passed the Meat Inspection Act, and the Pure Food and Drug Act, to protect all

Americans consumers.

THE PRESIDENT

The president looks bewildered.

Why would you do that? There’s a lot of money to be made in big pharma.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Not listening.

As President, I never made a decision without wondering what my father would think.

THE PRESIDENT

Yeah, me too.

The president chuckles. Roosevelt frowns and

shakes his head.

THE PRESIDENT

Times have changed. Gotta get what you can when you can.8.

8.

The man whips around.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Which is why I am here.

The President’s smile disappears.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

(Wistfully) All four of my sons served in the Great War, and fulfilled their duty. We paid

the ultimate cost-our youngest, Quentin, lost in a dogfight over Germany. So difficult to

lose such a dear, sweet boy.

Roosevelt draws close to the president.

And Quentin was neither a sucker nor a loser! He believed in America, they all believed.

Quentin held fast to the tenets of our noble land and answered the call.

Roosevelt flashes disgust toward the President,

then becomes thoughtful.

In 1898, I, too, served as soon as I could. President McKinley had given me a position in

the Department of the Navy, but I resigned when war broke out with Spain. I assemble

the Rough Riders and shipped out to Cuba. Most exhilarating. My father would have

been proud, of that I’m certain.

THE PRESIDENT

My father would be proud, but the deep state is out to get me.

Roosevelt frowns, then and continues.

THE MAN

We were on foot in Cuba, a cavalry without horses. We lined up at the base of Kettle Hill,

and charged. The moment jolted electric, and my crowded hour began. Lifting my

carbine in the air, I rallied from the front, showing the men they had nothing to fear.

THE PRESIDENT

And see, that’s the problem! That is why the military is a chump’s game. Dying on some

hill for nothing, when I can live and make money.

Roosevelt gives the President an incredulous

glance.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

And as for rich, I understand your father made the fortune. Six bankruptcies I gather?9.

9.

THE PRESIDENT

Wrong. Lies. (Mutters, then smiles) And not any more.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Nouveau riche, new money. Gaudy, vulgar, pretentious, and hungry for the validation and

acceptance that you will never receive.

The president audibly snores. Roosevelt

continues to speak over the noise.

When I held office I used my “bully pulpit” in the best sense of the term. Once I believed

as you, that the natural world existed to enrich man. But that is false. The intrinsic value

of our land and resources cannot be found in stock indices or business transactions.

The president looks longingly toward the doors

of passing tourists.

Nowhere else in any civilized country is there to be found such a tract of veritable

wonderland made accessible to all visitors, not only the scenery, but wild creatures of the

parks are scrupulously preserved.

THE PRESIDENT

Well mister tree hugger I have gutted much of your precious protection and opened land

for logging, mining, and drilling. Say goodbye to the Grand Staircase in Utah, well, half

of it, anyway. Roads are being cleared as we speak, and off-road vehicles are roaring in.

And that goody two shoes, Obama created the Bears Ears National Monument. I chopped

it up for developers. Because that is profit. Profit is real.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

You are nothing new, but the only remorseless plunderer to reach the presidency. New

York City has produced a long line of blackguards such as yourself, criminals like Boss

Tweed, and Bernie Madoff. Driven by greed and power these men defraud the people and

the land.

For the benefit and enjoyment of the people.

Roosevelt walks around the chairs still looking

about. He speaks.

THE PRESIDENT

What is?

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Those words are inscribed on the arch at Yellowstone Park.

THE PRESIDENT

My Arch will be bigger and better, and even gold!10.

10.

Roosevelt strolls with his cane, and continues.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

I, too lived a life of affluence. However, with that type of wealth comes an obligation to

the less fortunate. (He pauses) Doors down from our home on 57th Street the poor

suffered in wretched poverty. And much like my father I possessed a troubled conscience.

Roosevelt touches the president’s chest with his

cane, then resumes his pacing.

As Commander in Chief, our charge is to work for the people. All the people.

Withholding aid to states you did not carry is a dishonorable breach of that trust. (Pause)

My love of justice and fair play may sound naive to you. But your blatant breach of the

law, while pretending you haven’t, is shameless!

The man strikes the president’s chair with his

cane. The president sits straighter.

My administration was known as the “Square Deal,

” and we, my cabinet and I,

scrupulously kept that promise.

The man taps his cane on the floor again.

My father counseled me to look after my morals, my health, and my scholarship. And

that, I did. Because he admired my turn of mind the noted sculptor, Gutzun Borglum

added my likeness to Mount Rushmore.

Coldly

If you have your likeness carved on Rushmore, I want mine off. (Pauses) It’s time for me

to leave, the others will join you presently.

The president fixes his eyes on Roosevelt as he

puts on his top hat. Then Roosevelt gestures and

the president bursts free from his chair.

THE PRESIDENT

Others?

As the man stroll off in one direction, the

President runs off the other. The stage goes

dark.


Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

Like Mice

The winter weather lay heavy upon the freezing soldiers on a kind of night even the smallest creature burrowed under, seeking warmth. But for General Washington the driving wind and snow presented a rare strategic opportunity.

Dividing his poorly clad troops into two wings, General Washington planned a pincer attack against German mercenary forces holding the town of Trenton, in New Jersey. This operation, set for Christmas night, 1776, aimed to alarm the British Crown, and to assure Americans that  the war for independence was by no means over. Not only the cold played ally to Washington’s attack, it was also Christmas night, usually a time of respite from hostilities.

As a one-time Colonel in the French and Indian War, Washington had learned a thing or two about guerrilla warfare from Native Americans. The attack on Trenton became the fruit of that learning curve.

While his army floated silently over the Delaware River, boatsmen poled into the freezing water, pushing ice floes left and right to reach the far bank. At dawn, through purple and gray skies his forces approached mercenary-held Trenton, opening musket fire upon dozing sentries, and unprepared Hessian soldiers.

In roughly an hour and a half General Washington and his Continental Army prevailed.

The Battle of Trenton did not defeat the King’s men by any means, no diplomats sat around a table in negotiations. Still Washington and his army proved controlling the place and time of engagement proved the key to defeating their Red-coated oppressors.

Whether he realized it or not, General Washington had effectively made use of what is called a Fabian strategy.

Quintus Fabius Maximus a 3rd Century Roman General lent his name, Fabian, to a military tactic of ceding space for time. Fabius made use of his philosophy to wear down invading Carthaginians in the Second Punic War. Fabius picked away at the enemy through hit and run tactics, avoiding direct battle, opting instead to wear down the invaders. Though not popular among Roman leadership Fabius’ approach proved effective in destroying the Carthaginian army under Hannibal, leader of Carthage.

Another example of a Fabian policy concerns Vietnam.

The French occupied Vietnam around 1858 ostensibly to protect Catholic missionaries in the region. Over time France began solidifying its colonial control laying claim to the land and its resources. Soon the French extended authority over adjacent Laos and Cambodia. The entire area was named French Indochina, where the French government held sway until 1940, when France surrendered and was occupied by the Nazi’s. With approval from the Reichstag Japanese forces invaded Vietnam and remained until 1945 and the end of the war.

After the war France insisted they could take Vietnam back as a colony, and for a number of reasons the western allies agreed.

However, no one consulted the Vietnamese people, and they had other ideas. General Nguyen Giap and his Vietminh, later Vietcong forces stood with revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh. Together they implemented a guerrilla strategy to defeat the returning French. Similar to General Washington’s America, the Vietnamese simply wished to be liberated from foreign occupation. Thus commenced a long, drawn-out resistance, that by 1954 ended in defeat for the French. Near the city of Dien Bien Phu, in the northern part of the country, the exhausted colonial occupiers surrendered. 

(In a side note, General Giap’s forces hauled heavy artillery by hand, up steep embankments without the French military detecting their movements. Giap then summarily blew the French out of the valley).

The United States, now neck-deep in Cold War politics raised the alarm. No longer viewed as  freedom fighters, Giap, Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh army became America’s enemy. The US Government was certain Vietnam was controlled by Communist China, and that could not go unchallenged.

In a hastily arranged conference in Geneva Switzerland, Vietnam was formally divided at the 17th parallel. Pro-Western people gained the South, while Pro-nationalists took the North. In reality the boundary meant nothing. Operatives from the North easily infiltrated the South by way of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, while American presidents passed the buck on military action until 1965. It was then that Lyndon Johnson deployed American Marines, and Americanized the conflict in Southeast Asia.

Thousands of America’s sons shipped over to Vietnam but the numbers did not seem to move the needle in terms of surrender. Military leaders and politicians claimed we were changing the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people. Then came the Tet Offensive in January, 1968 exposing the Pentagon’s wishful thinking about ending the war. From the DMZ (demilitarized zone) southward to the Mekong Delta, Vietcong (Vietnamese Communists) fighters appeared out of the oppressive mist attacking American installations all at once. Hearts and minds had not been changed, the proof coming to living room televisions via news networks across the United States. 

Americans had been misled and were sacrificing our sons and our money for a lie.

Lyndon Johnson had believed he could ratchet up the pressure on North Vietnam, until finally Ho would acquiesce. That didn’t happen. Even after the death of Ho Chi Minh the North kept pounding away at American personnel especially at night, or in the deep darkness of the elephant grass. Our country has assumed the role of the British in the Revolution; high casualties, extensive supply lines, and millions of dollars.

(In a side note, at peace talks held in Paris, North Vietnamese delegates stalled meaningful  sessions for a year, by arguing about the shape and size of the negotiating table. You see, every day Northern delegates dragged their feet in Paris, the war grew more unpopular stateside. Fabius would have recognized the ploy).

To wrap this object lesson up, Mr Trump is now stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. He can throw around his John Wayne banter, and puff his baggy chest, but the dude has stepped on a giant rake. Like GW Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan, this mess with Iran will not end well for America. Trump is a bumbling aggressor detached from any understanding of military precedence, the country of Iran, nor its government or people.

He has inadvertently bestowed a great gift upon the Iranians. Tehran holds the moral high ground, and a home court advantage, controlling both the time and space. Once again the US has long supply lines expending American blood and treasure. In fact Trump is talking boots on the ground and reactivating the draft.

In his 1989 book From Beirut to Jerusalem, Tom Friedman shares a conversation he had with a Lebanese national. In essence Friedman was told that Americans fight like elephants and that is effective fighting other elephants. But in the Middle East (and every other country touched by colonialism) people fight like mice, much like Quintus Fabius Maximus. 

A cautionary tale to be sure.

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

A Fabricated War

It was early August in 1964 when two American ships cruised into the Tonkin Gulf near the coastline of North Vietnam. The long narrow country facing the South China Sea had been divided following World War Two as had Germany and Korea. The demilitarized zone bisecting Vietnam lay somewhere near 17th parallel with the French controlling the South and Nationalist Chinese in the North.

From 1946 until 1954 the French and the Northern army, the Vietminh, jockeyed to unify the country, culminating with the Battle of Dien Bien Phu where the French got their clocks cleaned and arbitration in Geneva formalized the 17th parallel boundary. The US took an active interest in the fate of Vietnam because this was the Cold War Era. It was as if a global chess match shaped foreign policy with Soviet and Chinese Communism, and western democracies calculating strategic moves. As the preeminent post war power, the United States took the forefront in limiting Communist aggression, first in Korea, and then Vietnam.

By 1964 President Lyndon Johnson set his sites on Vietnam to limit the threat of Communist influence. To the President this was a backward country and people, and an overwhelming American force would easily conclude any resistance from Vietnamese Communists. After all how could people in black pajamas defeat the greatest nation in the world? President Johnson only needed a pretense, or provocation to commit American forces south of the demilitarized zone.

And that provocation cruised into the Gulf of Tonkin in early August of 1964. First the US destroyer, Maddox followed by another destroyer, the Turner Joy reported receiving fire from North Vietnamese forces. The ‘Gulf of Tonkin Incident’ as it became known resulted with President Johnson deploying Marines to Vietnam in March of 1965.

And that my friends was how the United States blundered into a land war in Southeast Asia.

Unknown to Johnson or his Warhawk cabinet was the character of their foe. Ho Chi Minh had been a Vietnamese Nationalist from his earliest days. Educated in France, Ho Chi Minh, as a student, bought a suit in Paris and made his way to the Hall Of Mirrors in Versailles. World War One had ended and he had hoped to plead Vietnam’s desire for relief from French Colonial occupation to President Wilson. But of course racism prohibited his entrance and embittered, Ho bided his time returning to Vietnam in 1941. He and his Vietminh worked with the Americans fighting Japan believing independence would come at the hands of the United States.

That didn’t happen.

Over time Ho Chi Minh became the indispensable man in freeing Vietnam. A George Washington if you will, of the Vietnamese people. President Johnson ought to have understood that.

But no.

The American land war escalated and the bombing raids under “Operation Rolling Thunder” and Nixon’s “December Bombing” did nothing to bring the North Vietnamese to heel.

From President’s Johnson to Nixon to Gerald Ford the conflict dragged on until in 1973 all American forces came home. Over 58 thousand Americans died in Vietnam and the truth was the provocation that sparked the war never happened. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident. For real. The so-called incident had been fabricated.

Now we again are under the knuckle of a completely vacuous man who believes he can bomb a nation and culture centuries old. Ramping up force garners nothing from a proud people, in this case the Persians, to quit. Like the deadbeat he is, Trump believes he can wear down the Iranians like a window installer he’s refused to pay. But he doesn’t know who he is dealing with, and he can’t sue or counter sue or in anyway wait out Iran until they tire and give up. That will never happen, like it never happened in Vietnam.

A greedy, hateful, racist goomba from Queens cannot win this fabricated war. Reality doesn’t work like that.

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

A Plan of Action

The Republican Party and televised journalism have clashed since the early days of the small screen (The 1950’s). GOP politicians, and some Democrats too (see Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, and John Edwards) condemn the scrutiny of television news as it exposes the raw ambition, and ‘win at any cost,’ antics of political figures. Television, for the first time provided the public the opportunity to judge up close, political figures.

Angry with forty years of negative coverage the right wing movement left mainstream media behind and established their own outlet, Fox News. Fox has provided a safe haven to posture, misdirect, lie, and spin their way to electoral success.

Senator Joseph McCarthy, elected after WWII exploited America’s growing fear of Communist expansion. On his path to prominence he waved papers before adoring crowds recklessly accusing the US government of harboring Soviet sympathizers. McCarthy became a forceful favorite of the Right. 

But then came the household tv set and McCarthy’s rise came to a screeching halt.

His aggressive tactics faithfully reported in print media had now switched to the small screen. This time McCarthy accused the US Army of harboring Communists. He browbeat witnesses on live tv while bulldozing through hearing procedures. His belligerence did not play well with people watching at home, and shortly after, for this, and other misconduct the Senate voted to censure McCarthy. Still howling about the Communist menace the disgraced Senator died four years later from alcoholism.

Another case in point was Richard Nixon. 

His rise to high office came about quickly. Utilizing the dirty tricks that later brought him down Nixon served in the House, the Senate, as Vice President, and by 1960 the Republican nominee for President. Like McCarthy, he too held a hardline against the spread of Soviet Communism. But Nixon’s promising career hit a bump when he appeared with handsome, polished, Democrat John F Kennedy. In the very first of its kind televised debate Nixon stumbled before the viewing audience, appearing ill at ease and perspiring heavily. With questions from the debate moderator, and his unflattering appearance Nixon’s performance and candidacy flopped. 

Two-years later Richard Nixon ran for and lost the governorship of California. Defeated, and appearing before the cameras, barely controlling his frustration, Nixon snapped at the press they “didn’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”

Senator Barry Goldwater was the GOP’s 1964 hardliner nominee. Goldwater’s extreme rhetoric such as advocating use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam did not play well on broadcast airwaves, and he too lost his bid. 

But unlike Nixon, this time the Party’s loss translated into a plan of action. A Republican marketer, Richard Viguerie turned to a strategy to dispense with televised press coverage. Viguerie initiated a direct mailing campaign to wealthy Republican donors. Energizing the Far Right, and absent from television coverage, the GOP began to change their luck. 

In 1964 Republican candidate Ronald Reagan was elected Governor of California. Four years later Nixon, too, enjoyed a comeback, and in the tumult of the Vietnam War Nixon succeeded to the White House. However, the lengthy televised war in Southeast Asia, coupled with domestic upheaval stateside put great pressure on the Nixon Administration. Reporters, with cameramen in tow, generated a steady diet of unfavorable coverage. By his second term the 37th President had initiated his Enemies List, a list that included prominent television journalists. 

As the Watergate scandal and subsequent hearings consumed the country, Nixon’s illegal behavior, backed by audio tapes, eroded his support. To make matters worse for the President his Vice President, Spiro Agnew, no friend of the free press, had to resign his office following revelations of accepting bribes and evading taxes while governor of Maryland. 

The public saw nothing but rot oozing from the Nixon Administration.

In the twilight of Vietnam, hyperinflation, and the 1970’s Oil Embargo, Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election in a landslide. Unlike Richard Nixon, or Barry Goldwater, Reagan could handle the tv cameras. Still Reagan also recognized the scrutiny of the small screen didn’t favor conservative politicians. Toward the end of his second term Congress dutifully ended the “Fairness Doctrine,” the FCC’s requirement of presenting both sides of an issue. 

Reagan left office in scandal as well, in a sensational episode of secret arms sales to Iran to fund Nicaraguan soldiers in overthrowing a regime in Central America. These Iran-Contra hearings were televised as well.

Conservatives had had enough.

Inside of ten years, in 1996, Fox News began broadcasting under the watchful eye of CEO Roger Ailes. Back when Ailes had been Nixon’s media consultant he experienced first hand the optics problem of the Right. Free to operate with no constraints, Fox News successfully supplied distorted stories that incited viewer outrage presenting “alternative facts” to borrow a phrase from Kellyanne Conway.

So here we are today. The man in the White House presides over lies, misinformation and other lawless abuses while insisting that main stream news is fake. He grifts and riffs nonsense to his devoted, gullible, base. Like Richard Viguerie’s message to wealthy donors, followers want to be validated without the complication of exposure on the small screen. 

Sean Hannity of Fox, when asked, explained his network was not news, but entertainment. Sure.

Thoroughly brainwashed by distorted “news” now including OAN, Newsmax, and other outlets, MAGA faithful tolerate, or worse celebrate a convicted rapist and pedophile in the White House. 

Ultimately, the GOP couldn’t take the heat, so they found a way to avoid the truth. It’s time to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine because an open democracy lives and dies by an informed electorate.

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

An Old Adage

Newsday 2018

An old adage claimed “elect a Democrat you’ll have a war, elect a Republican you’ll have a depression.” Another maintained that “Democrats care about people while Republicans care about money.”

I suppose I could line up administrations to illustrate these truisms: Wilson, World War One, Coolidge/Hoover, the Great Depression, FDR, WWII, etcetera, but that isn’t where this piece is going. Let’s just say that the two parties had identifiers that each have lobbed at the other for more than a century.

The traditional GOP insisted they stood for small government, morality, the rule of law, a balanced budget, strong security, and principled leadership. However that branding from the early 20th Century has all but faded, the veneer stripped away with the presidential elections of 2016, and 2024.

Criticize what you like about the supply-side economic policies of Ronald Reagan and George W Bush’s foray into Iraq, but there was never any doubt of their fidelity to country. Yeah, the Stock Market collapsed in 1987 and nearly went over a cliff again in 2008, yet Republican patriotism was never in question. President Reagan, in particular stood tall as an anti-Communist crusader, ushering in the collapse of Russian hegemony. Later President George W Bush stood at Ground Zero and vowed to punish the Jihadist attackers following September 11th.

The guiding principle of the Grand Old Party was that through merit, hard work, and talent, every American could participate in a free market without artificial impediments. Still strong among rank and file Republicans was the old notion that one could pick oneself up by the bootstraps and succeed in the game of life. That ethos of individualism had shaped the party since the election of Lincoln, (the epitome of a self-made man). And yeah the wealthy have never liked taxes, but overall as good Americans they generally paid along with the rest of us.

As mentioned above the bedrock of the party stressed government must operate on a balanced budget. As the sun rises and sets campaigning Republicans have forever insisted they are fiscally responsible and have promised to cut pork-barrel spending, lower taxes, and balance the budget from the statehouse to the halls of Congress.

All in all the garden variety Republican has been defined as a patriotic, conservative, morally upright, pro business, pro small government, pro national security, and a person who supports lower taxes.

As I write the national debt has bloomed to over $38 trillion dollars, which broken down to each American comes to around $114,000 per person. Most current federal spending is merely managing mega-accruing interest. In the double-dealing hands of this new Republican Caucus the US Government has teetered on default more than once, with the current President cynically commenting that “debt doesn’t bother me.” And why would he? The man has made around $4 billion since returning to office, despite clear violations of the emoluments clause.

The January 6, 2021 premeditated insurrection by para-military groups who were filmed ripping down US flags and wielding the poles for weapons, vandalized the Capitol, assaulting, and even murdering police officers explains all we need to know about the GOP and their rule of law.

Not one of your party has stepped up to restrain the White House from deploying many of those same rioters, now heavily armed and masked as ICE agents. These men are threatening citizens in their malicious immunity, and yes again killing Americans. This mockery of law and order isn’t limited to offenses across the country. He returned to office a convicted rapist, and guilty of business fraud. By willful indifference he is stalling out the release the Epstein files in violation of your majority passed law, and pardoning countless criminals.

Law and Order Party?

In 2022 over 300 classified documents were discovered crammed into nooks and crannies around Trump’s Mar A Lago golf club, some in his gold-gilt bathroom around the toilet. Sensitive intelligence. He just took them because he thinks he’s entitled. Jim Risch as chair of the foreign relations committee you have done squat. Shame on you. And it appears that Russian strongman, Vladimir Putin already knows what it in those files anyway. Treason in real time.

Attacking Venezuela? Threatening Greenland? These actions are the craziest efforts since Caligula made his horse Proconsul in Rome.

Where is the party of national security?

Clearly the GOP never meant what they stood for, and have lied for decades when professing before God loyalty to the Constitution. America no longer recognizes you as a patriotic, conservative, law abiding, principled party.

Lust for power and greed, (looking at you Mitch McConnell, you could have stopped this in his first term but the payoff was irresistible). Today’s Grand Old Party is no longer that familiar, reliable organization of Buick owners our fathers knew. Today’s elected officials have become nothing more than hand maidens to an unbalanced, corrupt man.

Maybe it is true. Republicans only care about money, but with DJT we get the war and depression to boot.

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

Mischlinge

When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. DJT, June 15, 2015

Government-sponsored horrors aimed at the vulnerable require planning. The target group is first identified, their deficiencies propagandized, then malignant operations begin to remove that group. This age old pattern is a how-to for witch-hunts from 1692 Salem, to Native American extermination, to slavery, and to Joe McCarthy in the 1950’s Red Scare. Other examples in history abound as well, most notoriously the rise of German National Socialism following World War One.

Embittered by the 1918 Armistice, former Corporal Adolf Hitler founded his National Socialist movement in Bavaria. After organizing two para-military gangs, the Brown Shirts and Black Shirts, he led a failed coup attempt in 1923 Munich. This act of revolt landed him in jail, where he penned his infamous tract “Mein Kampf.” The substance of the book raked over grievances, particularly against Jewish people and other “so-called” betrayers of Germany. Hitler was clear in his writing, only genocide would root out Germany’s traitors.

Granted an early parole by a sympathetic judge Hitler quickly resumed leadership of his growing Nazi movement. By January, 1933 he had attained power as Chancellor under German President Paul von Hindenburg. Hitler efficiently made use of his expanding influence in the Reichstag, (German Parliament) to fulfill his unholy mission. Taking incremental steps the Nazi leader began with boycotts of Jewish businesses, then removal of Jewish and other undesirables from employment as civil servants. Soon Jewish students were forced from public schools, permitting only a small quota each year to enroll. By May of 1933 Hitler ordered book burnings of Jewish authors and others he viewed as subversive.

Events accelerated.

When President von Hindenburg died in 1934, Adolf Hitler seized absolute power over Germany. And he wasted no time in dialing up the violence against people he considered vile.

At a 1935 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg the Fuhrer issued formal classifications of who was Aryan (pure German) and who was Jewish. Known as the Nuremberg Laws, marriages in particular were outlawed between Jewish and Aryan couples. The image above is one document reflecting that Nazi framework, outlining which marriages were permitted by the state and those “verboten” (forbidden).

Hitler insisted these laws were necessary to protect German blood, but the laws also served to isolate not only Jews, but Gypsies, Homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, and others. In truth one man defined which human lives were valuable, and those that were expendable.

The ground was prepared for the genocide that would follow.

Dachau was the first extermination camp built in 1933. From that beginning until 1945 the railcars rumbled nonstop to thousands of ash-strewn death camps, while Hitler’s SS liquidated Jewish ghettos of thousands of men, women, and children. By May of 1945 somewhere around 11 million victims perished in a region historians refer to as the “Bloodlands,” including 6 million Jews.

Euphemistically referred to as Racial Hygiene, the Holocaust unfolded gradually and in relative secrecy. However, by the end of the European war and Germany’s defeat the world wondered how this horror could have happened.

We are watching how at this moment.

In Trump’s America that pattern is repeating. The founding of the United States according to Thomas Jefferson insisted that people are born with natural rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But from the George Floyd murder to Trump publicly announcing brown people traffic drugs and are rapists, that assumption has been ignored. This administration has taken racial profiling to a criminal level, as this tyrant harnesses the might of the federal government to carry out warrantless abductions.

Even if American citizens are caught up in sweeps, many insist that this is different, and that those taken deserve it. The pieces of evil are all there.

Racial exceptionalism has been the cause of mass suffering from the Armenian genocide in World War One, to Cambodia’s killing fields in the late 1970’s. The signs are all too familiar.

Trump’s makes no pretense of his intentions stating on 60 Minutes that his ICE goons haven’t gone far enough in terrorizing and kidnapping civilians. The sanctioned ongoing violation of civil and human rights has been grinding away as you’ve read this essay.

The United States was meant to be different–a land with freedom from fear, where people are secure in their places and property. This tradition does not rely on one man’s racism and deliberate cruelty. A cautionary tale is replaying, and we cannot escape that past, nor avoid the sinister outcome.

Mischlinge was used by the Nazi’s as a derogatory legal term. Literally mischlinge means mongrel, a person of mixed blood.

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

An Open Letter to the GOP

A great deal of chaos has been unleashed in the last 8 months of Republican rule. The leader of the party, Mr. Trump has harnessed the federal system to pursue interests that are exclusively his own. More concerned for opportunities to line his own pockets, leveraging executive power for revenge, and concealing criminal records that compromise his interests appear to take priority. This behavior is not surprising as creating turmoil is Trump’s signature move, evidenced through his trail of bankruptcies, and fraud, to the tune of 88 indictments and 34 convictions.

He is a rapist. 

That is the net sum of the party’s leader.

Perhaps you find solace in arguing Trump was the choice of the people, and since the electoral tilt leaned Republican, you tell yourselves his crimes are irrelevant. By extension, the destruction of law does not bother his base, so why should it bother GOP legislators? 

Because you know better, that’s why. 

The harm? Willfully ignoring that criminality and sanctioning Trump to whip about like an inflatable tube man, deconstructing America’s blueprint of government as he pleases. Perhaps you actually believed him when he said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it. Your indifference, or fear of being primary-ed seems to say yes, the party would condone even that.

It isn’t possible you are criminal by nature, surely a desire to serve guided your decision to run for public office, but Trump is a criminal by nature. Yet, the GOP remains on the sidelines rather than insist on transparency to the media or your constituents. This reticence to defend the indefensible speaks of a consciousness of guilt. As handmaidens to Trump, the party is nothing more than accomplices in an ongoing crime spree. 

And those offenses are many. Flagrant. Abuse of power, violation of the emoluments clause, retaliation against his perceived enemies leading to groundless lawsuits, not to forget stealing national intelligence. 

America and the world are witnessing a national smash and grab.

The party is in possession of all three branches of government and yet your stewardship has only made the rich richer, the poor more desperate, the middle class squeezed, and now has closed the United States down. THE UNITED STATES. “The City on the Hill, The World’s Last Best Hope,” We the People,” all closed for business because you have submitted utterly to a remorseless predator.

Soon Trump will have no use for Congress. In Trump-world only one counts and it isn’t any of you, or the rest of us for that matter. The Legislative Branch will atrophy, a fate to which the Supreme Court has already succumbed.

But how about this alternative? What if members were to stand up and vow no more free passes for Trump? Get out there in front of the cameras and announce “I was sent to Congress to do the work of the people, not one man.” Instead of letting him seize ultimate power, you instead take a stand and seize history? 

If any Republican member of Congress who, at this moment, demonstrated the courage of a Jeff Flake, or a Liz Cheney you could break this fever, and save America a lot of suffering. Dear Congressmen and Senators, imagine it, you would prove a honest profile in courage. 

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two-part memoir “River of January,” and “River of January: Figure Eight,” co-writer of the screenplay, “Dancing On Air” based on those books. She has penned three stage plays on history topics, “Clay” on the life of Senator Henry Clay, “Wolf By The Ears” examining the beginnings of American slavery, and “Peer Review” where 47 is confronted by specters of four past presidents.

American Expatriates and Celebrities

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility–I welcome it.  John F Kennedy, 1961

To American expatriates abroad and celebrities remaining at home,

Armed with your fame and recognizable voice all of you hold a public leadership role whether you choose to have one or not. Brave, out-spoken spokesmen for Democracy are a bit short on the ground and America needs her sons and daughters to rise up in defense. 

No one runs us out of our home.

This is not a normal time, nothing about this administration is normal and leaving the country or remaining silent sends a message of throwing in the towel. You are abandoning the rest of us to hold the frontlines the best we can, but your face and words are needed. Too many in the press, in politics, and in the sports world are caving to accept this unacceptable lout out of fear or resignation. That behavior must end.

Charlie Chaplin, Adolph Zukor, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr  sold war bonds during the First World War, Gable and Stewart enlisted in the service to fight Nazi tyranny. Carole Lombard lost her life in a plane crash after raising $2 million dollars for the war effort. You owe it to Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner and those of The Hollywood Ten who stood fast for freedom when caught in the fear of America’s Red Scare. Lena Horne, Pete Seeger and Zero Mostel, among others, faced blacklisting through the perilous period of McCarthyism. This is exactly the same ‘once in a generation’ moment testing our commitment to our democratic principles.

Leaving the country or remaining silent sends the terrible message of surrender. And leaving is selfish. Giving up on resistance essentially says to hell with the United States. This is the time when we need you most to stand tall. Liz Cheney hasn’t cut and run, nor has Adam Kinzinger. And he hates them the most because they know he’s an absurd phony. They also know they will never give up on America and neither should you. 

Now that is a valiant example of patriotism. We can do no less.

Those of the future are depending on all of us to make this perilous moment right and to pass on an unsoiled America for generations to come. Moreover, our posterity will learn who stood fast in this momentary struggle for liberty and those who abandoned America in its time of need.

This is merely one chapter in the story of America and we are still a young nation. The United States is founded upon the will of the people and this administration is not your will or mine. Today’s corrupt collaborators who have prostituted our republic for momentary gain will fall by the wayside. These sycophants will share this wannabe dictator’s fate.

And that petty bag of stupid will fail, it is in his DNA. That’s what he’s always done. And there will be a lot of rebuilding ahead of us and your encouraging presence will be critical. No one runs us out of our country, nor do we forsake our duty in time of America’s need. We are not a servile people and do not bow down to anyone. Our rights according to Mr. Jefferson are derived by our Creator, and no one man can take them away. 

America has come so far in realizing A More Perfect Union. The expansion of the vote, black males, women, white and black, Native Americans, and for 18-year-olds. Other gains include people with disabilities, women in the military, reproductive rights, marriage equality, and the election of America’s first black President. And all of us at home have witnessed much of this affirming progress.

So come home, we really need you in our time of peril. We need your voice, your humor, music and the public demonstration of your persistence. That goes for the rest of you with a public profile. You are still here, and we need you to step up. Do not be afraid. Stand fast and speak truth to power.

Be loud. 

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two part memoir River of January, and River of January: Figure Eight. She has also authored three stage plays, Clay, Wolf By The Ears, and Peer Review. Chumbley is the co-writer of Dancing On Air a screenplay based on her River books.

A Useful Myth

Arguing for the goodness of his vast wealth, Andrew Carnegie, in 1889 proffered society is all the better for the existence of the rich. He stated that God had given him the talent to make money, and he would use his God-given talent to it’s full extent. This steel baron continued that the prosperity of the few, like himself, lifts the standard of living for all citizens. Shorthand for his philosophy, let the rich get richer because it’s good for everybody.

Economist and social critic Henry George took issue with Carnegie’s premise. In rebuttal George insisted that in no way did concentrated wealth help anyone except the rich. Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth was in fact a myth, and useful one for oppressing the lower classes. Where Carnegie argued the betterment of people, George countered a wedge had been forced through society, crushing the poor into oblivion. 

In our time Carnegie’s argument has permeated American culture, and has matastasized so deeply in our belief system, that the super rich are nearly worshipped. Today’s robber barons, Bezsos, Zuckerberg, Musk, Gates, and others are perceived as superior, breathing the rare air of the most blessed.

These characters are untouchable.

In the tradition of Henry George the reality is something quite different. According to psychologists the super wealthy share strikingly similar characteristics. Obsession with money drives these individuals. Making money, keeping money, and making more money is an obsession. Appearances are everything and must be maintained at all times. The exhaustive race for money and rank distorts moral judgement, compassion, and empathy. Screwing others over is part of the game.

Another characteristic shared by the ultra rich is confidence and a capacity for risk, however I would argue that also describes gang leaders and con men. Most compelling is that these individuals are no happier for their efforts.

Like Henry George our culture needs to dispense with the notion that wealth implies moral superiority. God did not make these men rich no more than God make drunks drunks, and druggies, druggies. This is obsessive-compulsive behavior and should be seen as such.

As to charitable work among this crowd, remember the Sacklers made OxyContin, a ton of money, that lead to thousands of American deaths, all the while donating millions to museums and universities. Clearly vast wealth does not require a moral compass, nor does it help the most vulnerable among us.

The Presbyterian in Scotland-born Carnegie knew his justification ran counter to his childhood faith. From the First Commandment’s “Thou shall have no other gods before me,” to Jesus’ “Verily I say unto you it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. This steel baron betrayed and countered the tenets of his youth, creating the false god of money.

And Americans have been devout followers ever since.

Gail Chumbley is the author of the two part memoir River of January, and River of January: Figure Eight. She has also authored three stage plays, Clay, Wolf By The Ears, and Peer Review. Chumbley is the co-writer of Dancing On Air a screenplay based on her River books.