Career service

Fiona Hill was the Russian director at the National Security Council. Excepts of the transcript of her testimony were reported by Rachel Maddow on November 8, 2019. For her willingness to testify before Congress, she has been subject to threats, as she reported Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was, who was even threatened during her public testimony (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/why-trump-attacked-marie-yovanovitch/602134/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_term=2019-11-16T14%3A40%3A15&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&fbclid=IwAR1xQ_sdZxgYdqtOj5kcEKEJs5G-j7EGW05SKbx_mU6ZNJ41ZbP_EDGhi68). Similarly, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the Ukraine expert at the NSC has been publicly attacked for his Ukrainian Jewish background. All of these professionals are career public servants. Civil servants, like the military, are usually underpaid for their skills and expertise (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/opinion/taylor-kent-impeachment-hearings.html?fbclid=IwAR1boEXJKEvDfDI43yGEzI4OyQcyyFd2WYY_mYzU_vNnl8Q4_Rg3Q30DjFk). They work for the good of society and their country.

While I don't recall meeting Marie Yovanovitch in Kyrgyzstan, I may well have. She was ambassador there from November, 2004 to February, 2008 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Yovanovitch). I made two trips to Kyrgyzstan in 2006 and 2007. I recall a fund-raising reception for Kyrgyz orphans sponsored jointly by the American and German embassies. Since I was there while in the process of two of these orphans, it made sense to attend the reception and donate to the cause. I recall that all the embassy staff I met both at the reception and the embassy there were very professional. They made the adoption process flow smoothly. This professionalism has been true at all the embassies I have visited over the years.

I can vouch for this, not only from the articles, but also growing up the child of two civil servants. Many other relatives also served, either in civil service or the military. They tend not to be partisan, and cannot express publicly their political opinions. These individuals often can make more outside of government, as was certainly the case for my parents. Yet, they chose public service, and impressed that ideal on me (though I have mostly worked in county hospitals). 

The individuals who are being called to testify are demonstrating their love of country and loyalty despite the threats they must face for doing so. They have sworn loyalty to the Constitution and to defend the nation "against all enemies, foreign and domestic." They are continuing to do so.

Watergate Redux

A few years ago, I wrote the blog, "All Politics is Personal," about Watergate and Nixon's resignation on August 8, 1974. As I listen to the news, I am reminded about the Watergate investigation.

The information being presented begins with a phone call with a quid pro quo offer to a foreign country, namely Ukraine. There is a suggestion that there was an earlier deal with Ukraine in 2017 (https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-may-have-worked-a-previous-ukraine-quid-pro-quo-wapo-72641605878?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR0wpqbJeea3-H0yFJ75kXh0Ij4AXYTACqFxJOMwprp_EbAy5IRsOh2lDyc). The deafening silence about the earlier deal may have led some to think that this was "business as usual." No wonder these individuals are now puzzled by the attention this time.

Another concerning development is the defense of blaming the investigators, again seeking help from abroad (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry-latest-russia-mueller-ukraine-zelensky-a9181641.html). Another defense is the switching of targets, "whataboutism." This was associated with Soviet/Russian propaganda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism). Yet, while I am no lawyer, I doubt that the defense of someone else committing a crime would be adequate. This seems more a technique of distraction, assuming the public will not notice what the magician is actually doing.

Meanwhile, Time describes "abuse of power" in the behavior of the President (https://time.com/5714064/trump-abuse-of-power-women/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=ideas_&linkId=76320528&fbclid=IwAR1S9iJJ7Qe3jI8PwaLb2W03pQ03Gr9Y2i9B0n-eOdDIidRzcgHVOfn5hgg). They use the example of the pattern of abuse beginning in relationships with women, but then extending to others.

As I watch this unfolding, I am reminded of Nixon and Watergate. Nixon was a lawyer, and so had some knowledge of, and presumably respect for the Constitution. Perhaps that is why he chose to resign once it was clear that he would otherwise be impeached. This time, I am not sure how things will unfold. I hope that we are able to hold the country together.

“Who knows only his own generation remains always a child”

The Warsaw Uprising ended October 2, 1944, after starting on August 1 that year. Despite being undersupplied, Poles fought to end the Nazi occupation which had existed for 5 years. The Red Army was approaching and the Poles wanted to evict the Germans from their capital (https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Uprising).

The Germans began evacuating the city, expecting to lose it to the Poles and Soviets. The Poles expected support from the Soviets, who were in the alliance against the Nazis. But, the Soviets stopped across the Vistula River and waited (https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Uprising). The Polish troops in the Soviet army wanted to help their compatriots, but Stalin refused, even recalling the general in charge of the Polish troops under Soviet command, Zygmunt Berling. As the Germans realized that the Soviets would not aid the Poles, they decided to squash the Uprising.

Overall, the Germans killed 16,000 members of the Polish resistance and 150-200,000 civilians during the Uprising. Ten thousand civilians were killed on August 5 alone.

The Poles had the largest underground in occupied Europe, plus troops fighting under British and Soviet command, many of whom had been imprisoned by the Soviets at the start of the war under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In all, Poles were the fourth largest “nation” fighting against the Axis in Europe. I have nation in quotes here since Poland ceased to exist after the invasions by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939.

This October, we are seeing another “nation” being slaughtered. This time, again, they are being sacrificed by an ally. They have fought with this ally for many years, and soldiers on came to trust each other. Turkey invaded northern Syria where many Kurds live, an outcome expected by most after the US withdrawal (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/unswayed-by-top-advisers-trump-doubles-down-on-decision-to-withdraw-troops/2019/10/13/3305b884-edfc-11e9-b2da-606ba1ef30e3_story.html).

American military officers and special forces troops report being saddened by the decision to abandon Kurdish allies, with whom they had fought for years against ISIS. In another example of the brutality of this invasion, Kurds are being executed by Turkish troops after being abandoned by the US, while Turkish troops film themselves (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkish-led-forces-film-themselves-executing-a-kurdish-captive-in-syria/2019/10/13/22e11198-ed9c-11e9-89eb-ec56cd414732_story.html). This behavior is reminiscent of the executions filmed by ISIS, whom the American-Kurdish alliance had previously fought. The Turks seem to be trying to push Americans further from the border, so there will be fewer witnesses to their actions against the Kurds (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/10/12/us-forces-say-turkey-was-deliberately-bracketing-american-forces-with-artillery-fire-syria/?fbclid=IwAR28p0rpfRbz0ZYnuC0XhHvdLhV6EFr3dfkCZgt9VsXDpJy7vCIoqn6QQMQ).

As an American, I am ashamed of this abandonment of the Kurds, just as my parents were ashamed of the abandonment of the Poles during and after WWII. Such abandonment can turn people against us, as others have in the past. Actions such as this abandonment will result in blow-back, maybe from the Kurds, more likely from the rebuilding of ISIS from those who escaped from the Kurds. T he idea of the “Ugly American” is not without cause.

The Norlin Library at the University of Colorado is named for Dr. George Norlin (https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/about/history/george-norlin). He gave speeches rebuffing the Scopes “monkey” trial and refused to fire Catholic and Jewish faculty on the request of the governor of Colorado. After spending time in Berlin in 1933, he wrote and spoke about the dangers of Nazism and anti-Semitism. An inscription for over the west entrance of the library reads “Who knows only his own generation remains always a child.”

1619

1619 was a momentous year in the Jamestown colony. It marks both the first labor strike in English North America and the introduction of African slaves to the colony.

Polish craftsmen first came to Jamestown in 1608, brought by John Smith who had earlier become aware of their skills. In 1619, the colony held its first election, but denied suffrage to the Poles because they were not Englishmen, even though they were hired workers (Pula). The Poles refused to work and called a strike unless they were given the right to vote, and the decision was reversed, and the Polish workers were considered free and enfranchised (Pula). The date of the strike is uncertain, but the representative assembly convened on June 30, 1619 (Crews), so the election was likely in the Spring.

On August 20, 1619, a Dutch ship, the White Lion, arrived in Jamestown carrying "20 and odd" Africans (NYT). While it is not clear what the initial status of the Africans was, unlike European indentured servants, logs did not list an end date for their indenture (Encyclopedia.com).  By 1640, an African was ordered to "serve his said master...for the time of his natural life" (Encyclopedia.com) for running away, while 2 white servants who ran away with him had their indenture extended by one year (NYT). Race based slavery then became the norm across the American colonies by the mid-17th century (Wood).

While the connection between the strike and the start of race based slavery is unclear, it seems likely that the first labor strike might have caused landowners to look for options so they wouldn't be at risk of future work stoppages from indentured servants or even hired workers such as the Poles of Jamestown. The court decision of 1640 served to separate workers' status on the basis of race, hence making it unlikely that Black and white workers would work together to improve their status after that point, even though the escape involved workers of both races who might have seen their fates as similar before that point.

We must learn from the past. Workers have more in common with each other than with the wealthy, or as we now call them the 1%. The wealthy want to control the rest of us. Yet, working together, we can be powerful, and improve our lives.


References

Crews, Ed, "Voting in Early America." CW JOURNAL SPRING 2007. https://www.history.org/foundation/journal/spring07/elections.cfmenclyclopedia.com, "AFRICANS ARRIVE IN VIRGINIA, 1619." https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/africans-arrive-virginia-1619

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, "THE 1619 PROJECT." NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, 2019. https://timesevents.nytimes.com/1619NYC

PULA, JAMES S. "FACT VS. FICTION: WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE POLISH PRESENCE IN EARLY JAMESTOWN?" The Polish Review 53, no. 4 (2008): 477-93. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25779776.

WOOD, PETER H. "THE BIRTH OF RACE BASED SLAVERY: BY THE 17TH CENTURY, AMERICA'S SLAVE ECONOMY HAD ELIMINATED THE OBSTACLE OF MORALITY." SLATE May 19, 2015. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_slavery/2015/05/why_america_adopted_race_based_slavery.html