TodayzHistory

  The quote, “Those that cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it,” attributed the most to Spanish philosopher George Sentayana, has never rang quite true to me.  I’ve always been more of a fan of Mark Twain’s, “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.”  As a history teacher, I always try to find the present day equivalents for the historical events we teach.  But more recently, in an attempt to make some sense of what seems like an increasingly unstable time period, I’ve been using the process in reverse, trying to find a time period that rhymes with the one we are living in.  In my humble opinion, a good (but far from perfect) case can be made for the 1950’s-1970’s.      The most glaring comparison, to me, is the involvement in Vietnam and the involvement in Afghanistan.  Similarity #1, US involvement in each was based on a legitimate fear.  For Vietnam, it was the spread of communism (which had alre...

        How often have you wanted to tell someone to just shut the hell up?  These days, probably plenty.  And you have every right to do so according to the First Amendment.  The question is, can you make that person stop talking or expressing themselves in some other manner?  As usual, when it comes to the Constitution, the answer depends on a number of conditions, especially where you are and how you are expressing yourself.       The First Amendment covers five main areas of expression; religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly, and petition.  Regarding speech, the amendment says, “Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech”, which this post will focus on.  Speech does not necessarily mean the spoken word.  Symbols are a form of speech, such as wearing armbands in protest of a war or burning the American flag, and thus protected under the First Amendment.  But, if you ha...