We know that history tends to repeat itself.
Today is the 51st anniversary of the March on Washington, which brought us Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
It’s the 46th anniversary of the infamous police riot that broke out during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, when police brutalized thousands of anti-war protesters on nationwide television as the demonstrators chanted, “The whole world is watching.”
57 years ago today, North Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond began an (unsuccessful) attempt to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1957. He spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes, setting a record for the longest filibuster by a single senator.
Today, though, it seems that not much has changed. Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Ferguson, MO is ground zero in the summer of 2014 civil rights struggle. Police are regarded as the oppressors rather than the protectors. And Mitt Romney, while denying he’ll run again, told a radio host that “circumstances can change.” The reason people are even asking him the question are more puzzling than the idea that he’d even consider it: recent polls show Romney as the front runner, by huge margins, in both Iowa and New Hampshire, should he decide to throw his hat in the presidential ring again!
Not only does history repeat, but Americans have very short memories. I thought I’d do a public service and refresh those memories about Menacious Mitt. Feel free to share it liberally…
After hearing that, all I can hope for is that Mitt Romney will, indeed, run again!
Today on the Show
I first had Steven Thrasher on my show a few years back when he was writing for the Village Voice, and we spoke about the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Today, he’s embarking on a few new journeys – including attending NYU as a Henry M. MacCracken Doctoral Fellow in American Studies, and writing a new weekly column for The Guardian.
It was in the latter capacity that he went to Ferguson to cover the aftermath of the shooting death of Mike Brown. One piece in particular stood out to me in its sad truth, “Wisdom from Ferguson’s kids: ‘They shouldn’t shoot people for protesting’.”
BradBlog’s Brad Friedman agreed to wake up early to join in the show today, so I took advantage of his presence! We spoke about the latest scandal to hit the McConnell campaign, the police falsifying and cover-up of the Michael Brown shooting incident report, the latest twist – and the twist on the twist – to the Don Siegelman political persecution, and a whole lot more.
I’ll be back again tomorrow to wrap up the week, the month and the summer with Vice News‘ Jason Leopold. And for Flashback Friday and in honor of the ALS challenge that’s taken the world by storm, Dan Navarro will join me live before we reach into my music radio archives for a session with Lowen & Navarro … radio or not!
