History repeats itself
(Excerpts are taken from “Hijacking the Electoral College: The plot to deny JFK the presidency,” Washington Post, December 13, 2020)
This country is experiencing something that I never thought I could see in the United States. Many rumors are going around and many of us do not understand what we see on television because it could be a legal issue or tinged with an opinion instead of news.
Usually, I don’t discuss national politics because I won’t solve anything and I will create discord whichever way people interpret what I say, but this week I plan to explain a historical event because it is bound to happen and you will be able to understand it a little better.
When the forefathers drafted the U.S. Constitution, they had such a vision that it has remained relevant through the years. There are reasons for creating the Electoral College but I won’t get into why they did it. I want to explain the power they hold and how it has been used in the past – compared to today. One thing to remember is that they are not obligated to vote according to what they pledged; they can change their vote at this time.
In 1960, the presidential election caused similar chaos in the United States. We only know that John F. Kennedy was elected president that many feared his being a Catholic he was going to change this country into something worse and he had to go public saying that he would not be taking orders from the Pope.
That year there were the same accusations of fraud and people voting from the cemeteries. Lawsuits were filed and were thrown out by the judges. The country was in turmoil just like today.
That excuse about John Kennedy’s religion was just window dressing for the real reason to reject his presidency: he supported the civil rights for Black Americans. The Electoral College considered reversing the positions to appoint Lyndon B. Johnson as president and Kennedy his vice president. They were mostly White, conservative electors from the south who were segregationists and Kennedy was too liberal.
The Kennedy/Johnson ticket was opposed on the ballot by Republican Richard Nixon who chose not to vote the challenges and said to the media that, “our country cannot afford the agony of a constitutional crisis.”
They also had other scenarios to consider. Unbeknownst to them, one suggestion was electing segregationist Democratic Sen. Harry Byrd of Virginia with Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona.
Republican Henry Irwin of Oklahoma, said Kennedy had “socialist-labor” views and sent telegrams to 218 Republican electors asking them to change their votes from Nixon to Byrd with no success
This had happened twice before in U.S. history. In 1800, the House picked Thomas Jefferson as president over Aaron Burr when the Electoral College vote ended in a tie. In 1825, the House chose John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson, who had won the popular vote.
The separation between Church and State
I enjoy reading about the Constitution because it guides our lives in this country and allows me to understand things better and other times confused me. I took a government course in college where the professor said that the US Constitution, depending on the interpretation of the reader, allows abortion in one section while another one prohibits it. He proved his point that night and we learned why the Supreme Court doesn’t always agree unanimously because it’s a matter of their interpretation.
One provision made very clear in the Constitution is the separation of Church and State as part of granting freedom of religion. It was under that guise that atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair brought the school prayer issue to the Supreme Court I 1962 and it was approved forbidding it and later allowing a minute of silence or meditation.
Meanwhile, Fr. Robert Drinan was a member of the House of Representatives serving Massachusetts from 1971 – 1981. I never understood why he supported abortion but, in the end, the Archdioceses forced him to resign from that post. He was in clear violation of the separation between church and state of the Constitution – according to my interpretation.
Most recently, The Archdiocese of Boston asked the Rev. Daniel Patrick Moloney, who had been MIT’s chaplain since 2015, to resign after he sent a message to the university’s Catholic community suggesting that George Floyd’s killing by a white Minneapolis police officer may have had nothing to do with racism and questioning Floyd’s character.
People’s opinions and feelings are taking over the Constitution. That document also allows for Freedom of Expression and his were trampled on. In recent times, and particularly this year, no one is thinking of the Constitution, civil rights or anything of that sort.
With the pandemic, this year it’s been like a tug of war by governors changing rules for the sake of prevention without taking into consideration what should be allowed or not. The most flagrant violation has been committed against churches of all denominations with no explanation.
While casinos could accommodate thousands, churches of any size could have no more than 50 visitors. In Kentucky, a church was having a service on the radio and the congregation could listen in the parking lot inside their cars but the sheriffs listed all the plate numbers and send them a $500 fine. In other cases, pastors went to jail for violating the capacity rule.
I asked some pastors and ministers in Lawrence to write something for publication about their reaction to this crazy mandate but I never heard back from anyone. Typical of how things go in Lawrence; Nobody has the guts to stand up not even with a question.
Maria is a pusher
District A Councilor María de la Cruz must be getting a commission because this is the second time she proposes to the city council to buy Councilor Estela Reyes’ properties next to the Oliver School. Each time she does it, Council President Vasquez explains to her that it is not an agenda item and it’s a conflict of interest.
Let’s see if she remembers the third time before she opens her mouth.
LCAT’s Annual Meeting
On December 15th, Lawrence Community Access Television conducted virtually what they called an annual meeting. It lasted 10 long minutes because they had nothing to brag about. I watched it on their website in a tiny, tiny screen and never to be seen again. Of course, they must be ashamed of how little or nothing they offer the residents for their money.
The first shock was discovering that board Vice President Nicolas Gonzalez has been pushed out (apparently). He wrote a very strong letter to the board reminding them that as vice president, he was designated to take over the presidency, according to the by-laws. Instead, Tom Spitatere is the new LCAT board president. He lives in Methuen and works in Haverhill. Joe Bella also lives in Methuen and Mike Garrihy in Andover. Lawrencians have lost control of the television station that was created with their money for them.
If you didn’t read this column on December 8th, I recommend you go back and find it because it describes how the Haverhill Community Television functions. I knew they were not up to par but never expected Lawrence to be such a waste of our money – more so than I ever knew!
LCAT collects $328,424 every year from Comcast and Verizon’s subscribers and since they don’t produce much, they accumulated over $528,000 in the money market while always telling everyone there was none for what they needed.
They did spend $9,000 for mold remediation in the basement where they will be setting up an additional studio.
We did find out the problem with Comcast causing channel 8 to be so dark and has no sound: “The modulator is dying. Comcast will give us a replacement,” said Daniel Rajczyk, current executive director. That modulator has been like that for many years; we finally got an answer.
Among the scheduled programs are Rocky Morrison, the Senior Center, a Spanish show, All About Lawrence (remember when I used to do Up With Lawrence?), and the Paranormal (Tom Spitalere’s show).
Daniel mentioned some of the shows that will be upcoming: More with the city government, non-profits, other public stations, and stations out of Lawrence.
Wait a minute! I don’t see anything involving Lawrence residents producing local programs! Here we go again. If no one complains, they can be ignored.
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