The Charlotte News
Tuesday, November 8, 1949
FOUR EDITORIALS
Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that Republic Steel had settled with the United Steelworkers to end the dispute at that company, leaving only U.S. Steel among the nation's largest four steel manufacturers without a settlement. Bethlehem had already settled, and Jones & Laughlin settled the previous night, all under the same formula regarding welfare and pension benefits.
Voters went to the polls in New York for the special election for Senator between appointed incumbent John Foster Dulles and former Governor Herbert Lehman. Turnout was heavy. The latter would win.
In Washington, Captain John Crommelin, whose release of confidential Navy correspondence sparked the investigation into Navy morale regarding unification, was reprimanded by new chief of Naval operations Admiral Forrest Sherman and then restored to active duty.
In Manila in the presidential election, President Elpidio Quirino held a slight lead over his opponent, former puppet President under the Japanese, Dr. Jose Laurel. Gunfire occurred in several areas, with 22 killed and 17 wounded.
The Czech Government freed a U.S. Embassy employee in Prague after he had been arrested for spying on October 21.
In Portsmouth, England, the U.S. cruiser Columbus put on a show for King George VI as he was the honored guest aboard.
In Los Angeles, a woman in a divorce suit testified that her husband gave her a gun and that his sweetheart gave her sleeping pills, both for the purpose of committing suicide. The husband denied everything.
Also in Los Angeles, a man was detained by police for questioning in the 1946 kidnaping and murder of a little girl, age 6.
A Duke University law student argued a case before the North Carolina Supreme Court, ultimately seeking $50 under a stipulated judgment for having his coat catch on fire in a merchant's small store. The merchant failed to pay because he claimed he did not understand what he was signing and the lower court had refused to allow the agreement into evidence. The law student argued that it was a valid written contract.
In Charlotte, the ordinance took effect requiring cabs to have meters. Tom Fesperman of The News tells of his first ride in a cab so equipped.
In Memphis, a gunman took $250 from a liquor store and in departing said that he hoped they were insured.
In Oberammergau, Germany, a former Nazi was rejected for the role of Christ in the annual presentation of the Passion Play.
Maybe, the new “President” of the United States can get the part. But then they probably would not want him as he presently is a Nazi.
On the editorial page, "Double Trouble" tells of John L. Lewis's problems multiplying, as the Supreme Court had affirmed his lower court fine for contempt from 1948 and Senator Styles Bridges had stated his disagreement with Mr. Lewis regarding continued payments from the welfare fund for its depletion, that it would have to stop forthwith or be exhausted unless the coal strike, started pretextually by supposed non-contributions of some operators after the old contract had expired July 1, ended. The strike had caused all contributions to it to end.
The piece finds that if Senator Bridges and the other trustee of the fund decided to override Mr. Lewis, the third trustee, and discontinue payments from the fund, it would place enormous added pressure on him to end the strike.
"National Education Week" tells of good schools and good teachers becoming more widely available in the country. The rural, one-room schoolhouse was disappearing, replaced by modern, well-equipped facilities. Trained specialists were replacing the "jack-of-all-trades" teacher.
"Code for Editorial Writers" tells of the National Conference of Editorial Writers adopting a code of ethics, that editorial pages should be designed "to help the average citizen to better understanding and to truth, in conformity with the clear responsibility of a free press."
The piece wants to know whether News readers agree with the notion and so reprints the adopted code in its entirety, seeking letters to the editor on the subject.
Well, on November 9, 2016, we wholly concur and hereby provide below our entry on yesterday's events, in furtherance of that very notion.
Would that it were that Fox News and other partisan, lying advocates of today, masquerading as "press", could follow those precepts. But then many of them never even went to college and so would not know journalism from high school tattle-taling, rely on pretty little grins and winks to get their ignorant viewers on their side, their multi-million dollar salaried side.
"Vaughan the Artist" remarks on Presidential military aide Major General Harry Vaughan having suddenly turned "artist" by having contributed to a charity auction his impressionistic painting of two pumpkin heads looking down a road with a question mark at the end, titled by someone involved with the charity auction, "Path of Investigation"—regarding the recent "five percenter" inquiry by the Senate Investigating subcommittee chaired by Senator Clyde Hoey, of which General Vaughan had been a focus for various roles in assisting five-percenters to obtain Government contracts for their clients, including his procurement of several freezers for Bess Truman, then-Secretary of Treasury Fred Vinson, and others at the Pentagon and in the Administration in early 1946, obtained through the perfume king David Bennett by General Vaughan's friend, "five percenter" John Maragon, who had attempted to smuggle a large amount of French perfume through U.S. customs.
The piece finds General Vaughan's artistry disingenuous and wonders what impact his "futuristic painting" would have on his "futuristic career".
In its cynicism, the piece does not mention that the art was to raise money for a worthy cause, to provide employment opportunities for black citizens through the Urban League, sponsors of the exhibition and auction.
In any event, we can safely say at this point that yesterday, election day, 2016, saw a myriad of Pumpkin Heads out in force in this country, while a lot of individuals decided they were too good or too complacent to vote.
The polls which, save one or two, had Secretary Clinton leading by between three and six points going into election day were not wrong. Secretary Clinton currently leads the popular vote by 228,000, 59,649,606 to 59,441,968. Those who think the Los Angeles Times/USC poll of a constant sample of 3,000 people was magically correct are wrong. It showed the Boob up by 5.6 points over Secretary Clinton going into election day. Simply because it predicted the Assange-Hole the winner does not mean it was correct, any more than the Rasputin poll which had Orange Assange-Hole down by two points to Secretary Clinton going into election day.
None of the polls got it right. Secretary Clinton won the popular vote by .2 percent—with that, by trend lines, likely to stretch to a full point by the time the votes are fully counted in California and a few other places already leaning heavily Democratic. All of the polls which had her leading by three to six points were, however, correct. The problem was that obviously many people, either too complacent or too arrogant to vote, stayed home.
To all those Idiots who entered the polling booth yesterday and cast their ballot for this Arrogant Liar, thinking that they were somehow casting a vote for rebellion to Washington, you obviously are too stupid to realize that you elected the ultimate Big Money Insider, someone completely unqualified both morally and experientially to be dogcatcher, let alone President. You elected Breitbart and its billionaire backer, Robert Mercer, as your President.
Good luck.
You have committed mayhem at the polls, striking out, Nazi-like, at everything and everyone you have spent your lives hating, projecting your own worst fears about yourselves and the reasons for your personal failure onto others. You have elected Hate. And you will find that what you will get from that is far worse than what you think now is bad about the country. You have elected Russian intervention with our electoral process. You have elected the Wind and that is what you shall inherit. Ignorance is really no excuse for being a traitor to your country, voting on the basis of Russian hacking of private e-mail servers, uncovering exactly nothing of consequence other than lies spun from thin air, from the Wind, by Breitbart and Fox and Drudge and the rest of that gobbledy-gook of so-called "journalism", bad fiction writing of the dime-novel variety, demagogic propaganda of the Josef Goebbels school.
But bear in mind that this Royal Assange-Hole Idiot you have "elected" has no mandate to govern. He "won" only through the antiquated convention of the electoral college—the ultimate prestige tender, the deference not to majority will but to elitist will. That was its original intent, to provide the aristocracy of the country, the state legislatures who determine the manner of selecting electors, the power to select the President, in an age of abundant illiteracy and slow transportation and news dissemination. So, congratulations on your "rebellion", doing exactly what Fox and Breitbart and the rest of the right wing moneyed interests wanted you to do.
He lost the popular vote. He will not govern this country.
As no other nominee in the history of this country, including Richard Nixon, he "won" through lies and hate-mongering throughout his campaign.
He will not govern this country.
As the arrogant, myopic idiots who have elected him, especially in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, have also seen fit to continue a majority-Republican House and Senate, albeit with smaller margins than previously, the status quo is assured.
By your vote, you have assured the sustenance of the Citizens United v. FEC case, big money in politics, as now, the Liar gets to appoint a successor to Justice Antonin Scalia, and, thereby, override the majority will of the American people a second time, once under President Obama and now under President-elect Clinton—losing only by dint of the anachronism of the elitist electoral college.
He will not govern this country.
We recommend strongly to the Democrats in the Senate, if you want the everlasting respect of the majority of the voters of this country and the majority of the citizenry, that every program this Liar proposes be filibustered to death for the entire four years in office. It is time to render unto the Goose the same as that being dealt to the Gander.
We recommend that every attempt to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court be filibustered to death—unless, of course, he appoints either Judge Merrick Garland or some other equally acceptable and qualified jurist, an unlikely prospect.
After all, Chief Justice John Roberts and other Justices said that the Court can get along fine with eight Justices. And, just prior to the election, Senator Ted Cruz and other Republicans were recommending that the Senate filibuster every appointee of a Clinton Administration to the Court for the entire four years, leaving it an eight-Justice Court. Well, that is hunky-dory. What is good for the Gander is good for the Goose—the Lying, Slandering Goose.
We also hope that the Arrogant Assange-Hole will be prosecuted for his myriad crimes, including the giving of bribes to stop investigations into Trump University and otherwise, including his probable collusion, through his former campaign operatives, with the Russian Government to affect the election, encouraging crime, the hacking of private e-mail servers of campaign officials.
You have "elected" Scum.
"Unity"? This unholy Scumbag has the gall to ask the country to unite under him, after he has divided this nation through racism, religious bigotry and misogynist, xenophobic rhetoric for over a year during his campaign of Hate Rallies—even in "victory" last night, chants abounding of "Lock Her Up". They can't even "win" with grace, without insisting on their vengeful message of hate. Because, at base, they are Nazis.
As with Mr. Nixon, Scumbag, you are going to find out that you have won only heartbreak and disgrace. You have won no victory. You will not govern this country.
In two years, we predict, the country will be so fed up with this hypocritical monster that the electorate overwhelmingly will return the House and Senate to the Democrats. And at that point, we hope, impeachment proceedings will begin forthwith, if not for his crimes in office, his crimes before coming to office. He deserves nothing less, having "won" exclusively through lies and slander and chants of "Lock Her Up".
What is good for the Gander is good for the Goose.
There will be no Wall. There will be no rounding up of illegal aliens and mass deportations. There will be no nationwide "stop and frisk", an unconstitutional practice in the first instance. There will no governance by this Lying Scumbag.
So, congratulations, Jackass, and your coterie of mesmerized followers, on your non-victory victory. You "win" nothing through bullying and lies. You are about to find that out. This is not Germany in the Thirties, stupid.
You have won only heartbreak—which you richly deserve.
The polls were not wrong. The problem was that too many people were either too complacent or too arrogant to vote, too inured to the relatively good times which President Obama has brought to the nation, to remember what the bad times were like not that long ago.
So, we shall now have in the White House for the next four years, or as long as he lasts until impeachment, the least qualified person morally and experientially ever to occupy the Executive Mansion—a Rich-Boy, Playboy Liar of Gargantuan proportions.
Congratulations on your rebellion against? Reality? We don't know, and, quite frankly, we don't give a damn.
You will not govern this country.
Drew Pearson tells of John L. Lewis trying desperately to settle the coal strike because the rank-and-file miners were upset at him for having offered to have the UMW contribute to the United Steelworkers during their strike while the miners were already hurting from their own strike declared by Mr. Lewis, and because of bitterness over the diminution of the welfare and pension fund before and during the strike.
The President and Secretary of State Acheson were upset with Britain for sending a diplomatic delegation to confer with Communist Chinese leaders at Peiping regarding potential agreement for diplomatic recognition by Britain of the new Government. It violated an agreement made with the U.S. a month earlier in which both Governments agreed that no deals would be made with the Communist Chinese without mutual consultation.
He finds that with all the negative publicity surrounding race relations, the good things often went unnoticed and so relates of a black Western Union messenger in Florence, S.C., who had spent his spare time collecting money for the March of Dimes, having become ill recently and having to go to the hospital. The white citizens of Florence then had collected a substantial amount of money to help him with his hospital bill.
Bullfighters in Mexico were blaming the U.S. Agriculture Department for taking the fight out of their bulls by insisting that they be vaccinated for hoof and mouth disease.
RNC chairman Guy Gabrielson had taken 26 people off of the payroll of the RNC to reduce expenses because of a shortage of funds.
A Navy cruiser had been fitted out in luxury for the President to cruise to Alaska, but he had decided against the trip and so the cruiser had been sent to the Far East.
Senator Willis Robertson of Virginia had launched a scheme to curb labor unions by subjecting them to antitrust laws.
The President had received unconfirmed information that the Russian atom bomb had detonated prematurely.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover hunted for antiques in his spare time, having developed expertise in old bronzes.
A piece from the Congressional Quarterly summarizes the battle between the President and Congress regarding the President's renewed exhortations to raise taxes to make up for the budget deficit. It has already been adequately covered.
An editorial from the Richmond Times-Dispatch criticizes the 81st Congress in its first session for perpetuating high parity payments to farmers despite high food prices being paid by consumers, the design of the Brannan agricultural program being to maintain supports while lowering consumer food prices.
The piece finds that the Fair Deal "welfare state" was not providing welfare for low income groups but causing those in the low income group to pay more.
Yeah, another depression through non-regulation would have been far superior.
Marquis Childs, in Frankfurt, West Germany, tells of the impossibility of the job ahead for the new High Commissioner of the American zone of Germany, John J. McCloy. His predecessor, military commander General Lucius Clay, had been adroit at handling the American press. But Mr. McCloy arrived as the forces of nationalism began to revive in Germany. Disillusion in America regarding German policy had reached a level of disgust, finding that the net result of American occupation had been to restore to power the very industrialists who had made Hitler's rise possible.
Delbert Clark, New York Times correspondent who had spent the three postwar years in Germany, had written a new book titled Again the Goose Step.
The critics of American policy were convinced that continued dismantling of German industry was the only path to prevent new war potential of Germany. But there were others, including many influential members of Congress, who believed that to strip Germany further was against American interests as America could not go on subsidizing West Germany. American military planners wanted to re-arm West Germany as a bastion against the East.
Then there were the desires of the other two Western occupying powers, France and Britain. In recent weeks, France had been essentially without a government and so it was hard to obtain an answer from it on any long-term issue. Britain, in the wake of devaluation, had threatened to pull back from the costly responsibility of occupation in both the Mediterranean and Western Europe. But both countries had taken an adamant position on dismantling German industry, enhanced by the industries of both Britain and France being in competition with that of Germany.
Mr. McCloy and his staff also faced logistical problems because of the commute from U.S. headquarters in Frankfurt to the new capital in Bonn, with frequent trips to Berlin also required. That and the difficulty of finding housing had made it difficult to recruit capable staff. Mr. McCloy had turned aside from a lucrative private law practice, promising probably $100,000 per year, to undertake the duties.
There was no quick and easy solution for Germany. But Mr. McCloy, he concludes, deserved much credit for being willing to shoulder a heavy and probably thankless responsibility.
Henry C. McFadyen, superintendent of the Albemarle, N.C., schools, in the tenth of his series on childhood education, tells of raising zinnias because they were easy. Children, he had found, were a lot like flowers, as in the beginning they were often hard to distinguish from weeds, but if nurtured and stimulated, could grow into something attractive.
A child could not learn to read effectively until the student understood that about which he or she was reading, and so teachers took their classes on various field trips.
He recommends to parents that they stimulate their children to learn and broaden their understanding of the world around them, that reading a lot to them when they were very young and supplying them with good books to read as they got older were helpful practices. Also, the library was available for free lending of books if the parents could not afford good books.
Taking children to various places was also conducive to learning. But they should not be pushed too early before they could understand and appreciate the experience. He admits having made such a mistake with his eight-year old son on a trip to Washington, taking him to the top of the Washington Monument. In four minutes of peering out the windows, he was ready to come down. But he had taken away some benefits from the trip of seeing a large city, especially the large toy store, where he did not become bored quickly.
Well, cheer up. Now, after January 20, 2017, when you take your eight-year old to the White House for a tour, you can tell them that it is the Mansion where the rich boy lives who loves to grab pussycats at will, trumps up a university which isn't and steals thousands of dollars in the process from unsuspecting "students" looking to get rich like Rich Boy, the rich boy who won by bullying every opponent, by lying about every opponent, in his own party and without, who now is friendless save for some small minority of willful but powerless idiots and rich backers, who "won" by losing the popular vote. That is the state of our democracy, the democracy which for months preceding the election Rich Boy criticized as "rigged", who appears instead to favor the Russian system. Well, maybe, after seeing the results of yesterday, given the age of increasingly accurate pinpointing of demographics and demagoguery juxtaposed to the anachronistic convention of the electoral college, it is, in that sense, rigged. He had around him, after all, many of the same people who helped to rig the 2000 election, Nixon dirty-tricks operative Roger Stone, organizer of the Miami-Dade Registrar raid, on down. And, as he promised, Lying Rich Boy, the Bait-Switch Artist, knows better than anyone how to exploit the system. Because he is the Real Deil.
And don't mind the flashing neon swastika outside his new Mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue. It is just his sarcasm at work. It means, in its original conception, "peace", after all.
Framed Edition
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