The historical record

Setting the record straight about historical and current events, based on primary sources.

If you follow my writing regarding German and White Rose resistance, you know how important this is to me. Since 1994, I've battled wannabe historians who perpetrate the legends invented by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Franz Josef Müller, and Jürgen Wittenstein. I've done so based on interviews, primary source documents like Gestapo interrogation transcripts, as well as newspapers from 1933-1945.

It's not just the Shoah that has been subjected to historical revisionism. Our own American history has seen glossing over of more difficult topics. But we're finally talking about lynchings, the Trail of Tears, Delphia Creek, and more. And we no longer believe the cherry tree story, nor do we pretend Thomas Jefferson didn't rape his female slaves. We've made progress.

But we're not there yet. When I run across fictionalized history--whether current events or three-hundred years ago--I'm digging a little deeper. [Note: Real Texas History is a separate topic. This part of OUR COMMON TABLE focuses on non-Texas history.]

The Gettysburg Address. Powerful words. No commentary.

When the G7 met in Texas. “The Berlin Wall has crumbled. Communism is out of style. And Woolworth shops will soon reopen in East Germany.”-- The Canadian Press, July 1990.

We’re all gonna die! On June 9! June 4, 2001. As I write this, I have exactly five days left to live. Five days till the Phoenixville bomber blows up the Limerick nuclear power plant in his protest against man’s misuse of the environment.

Indignation rallies. American indignation rallies of the 1960s were built on lies. The people behind them had one clear, steadfast goal: To make sure that only white Protestant Republican men could succeed.

Tomorrow and tomorrow. What Sen. Lindsey Graham's death has in common with the Oklahoma City bombing.

What is a nation? "However, I do believe that we, as Americans, in the upcoming years must bring this issue of inclusive nationalism to light, and find order in our self-referential chaos."-Walker Griggs.

A somber four-year anniversary: Q-Anon in the rearview mirror. We all deserve peace. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Without fear. And, an honest accounting of the paranoia and chaos spread by 4chan and Q-Anon.

Blast from the past. 2012 and beyond. October 11, 2011: Looking beyond the election in 2012 to the world that will come after. A rational Democrat’s view of what should be.

New York’s king of excess and hype. “On one of the gold-festooned high rises that bears Donald Trump’s last name, maintenance man Carlos Figaro sprays and wipes a sign caked with dust.”-9/17/2001.

AI: The lazy rich brother playing Telephone. With the current interface of social media, AI, and Wikipedia, errors proliferate and propagate. It's ever more difficult to preserve the historical record.

AI as disinformation machine. There’s not only no legislation to limit IP theft. There’s no legislation to prevent defamation, slander, libel. Under the guise of AI, bad actors can do whatever they damn well please.

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Image credit: This is a high-resolution image of the United States Declaration of Independence. This image is a version of the 1823 William Stone facsimile. Stone may have used a wet pressing process (that removed ink from the original document onto a contact sheet for the purpose of making the engraving). This file is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise.

No part of this post may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the copyright holder, except for the “fair use” of quotations that are properly cited and credited, including identification of the translator if applicable. No part of this post may be included in any Large Language Model without proper licensing from the copyright holder, Denise Elaine Heap.