August 23: Sacco and Vanzetti Are Executed in Massachusetts (1927); AND the Hitler-Stalin Pact Is Signed (1939) August 23: Sacco and Vanzetti Are Executed in Massachusetts (1927); AND the Hitler-Stalin Pact Is Signed (1939)
Is this the single darkest day on the calendar for the international left?
Aug 23, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 22, 1996: Bill Clinton Ends Welfare As We Know It August 22, 1996: Bill Clinton Ends Welfare As We Know It
“The death knell of any government-supported vision of an equitable, egalitarian America.”
Aug 22, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 21, 1940: Leon Trotsky Dies August 21, 1940: Leon Trotsky Dies
“The blood feud between the two revolutionaries went on to the end.”
Aug 21, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 20, 1998: The US Bombs a Suspected Qaeda-Run Chemical Plant in Sudan August 20, 1998: The US Bombs a Suspected Qaeda-Run Chemical Plant in Sudan
“It’s not the cigar, stupid. It’s the cruise missiles launched to cover the shame.”
Aug 20, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 19, 1909: The First Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway August 19, 1909: The First Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
“Almost no one sees the entire race. Some get drunk and wind up in the improvised jail under the stands. Some get drunk and lie on the grass in the sun.”
Aug 19, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 18, 1958: Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ Is Published in the US August 18, 1958: Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ Is Published in the US
“Lolita by high art transmutes persons, motives and actions which in ordinary life are considered indecent, into objects of delight, compassion and contemplation.”
Aug 18, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 17, 1998: President Bill Clinton Acknowledges an Affair With a White House Intern August 17, 1998: President Bill Clinton Acknowledges an Affair With a White House Intern
“Clinton’s behavior in the Lewinsky matter has been consistent with the conduct of his presidency.”
Aug 17, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley Dies August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley Dies
The myth of the King “allows us to cling to the notion that art is pure and society is corrupt and corrupting.”
Aug 16, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 15, 1979: Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ is Released in Theaters August 15, 1979: Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ is Released in Theaters
“The Vietnam War as one bloody huge circus, with clowns, acrobats, fire-eaters and a big brass band.”
Aug 15, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 14, 1935: President Franklin Roosevelt Signs the Social Security Act August 14, 1935: President Franklin Roosevelt Signs the Social Security Act
“Unfortunately the present law seems doomed from the start by its complex, slovenly, and mangled character.”
Aug 14, 2015 / Richard Kreitner