Argue With My Dad

The weekend is over.  The lawn is mowed and I have finished my weekend errands so it must be time for another edition of Monday Musings.  A couple of stories really caught my eye this past week.  The first one that I want to discuss concerns the op-ed in today’s Washington Post by the former terrorism czar, Richard Clarke.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/29/AR2009052901560.html.  In Clarke’s editorial he lets the reader know that he is upset with the excuses that Dick Cheney and Condoleeza Rice have been using in their defense of the torture and wiretapping tactics that they ordered after 9/11. “Yet listening to Cheney and Rice, it seems that they want to be excused for the measures they authorized after the attacks on the grounds that 9/11 was traumatic.”  I am so glad that someone with the credentials like Clarke has finally come out to hammer the Bushites that are whining that they can’t be held responsible for the bad things that they did because it was so scary after the attacks. 

The truth of the matter is that Dick Cheney claims that everything that they did was “legal” and that it saved thousands of lives while also whining that anyone in their shoes would have done the same thing after 9/11.  Of course, the facts do not get in Cheney’s and Rice’s way.  Their is no proof that any of their torture techniques saved any lives.  Most experts will tell you that torture produces bad intelligence and actually gives your enemy a rallying cry for recruitment of more terrorists.  “They became symbols of American overreach, held up as proof that al-Qaeda’s anti-American propaganda was right. ” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/29/AR2009052901560.html.

Clarke also discusses the illegal and warrantless wiretapping that the Bush regime utilized when FISA provided a proper mechanism.  “Finally, on wiretapping, rather than beef up the procedures available under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the administration again moved to the extreme, listening in on communications here at home without legal process. FISA did need some modification, but it also allowed for the quick issuance of court orders, as when President Clinton took stepped-up defensive measures in late 1999 under the heightened threat of the new millennium.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/05/29/AR2009052901560.html.  What does this Clarke op-ed tell us?  It confirmed for me the fact that Cheney et al had Iraq on their mind even before 9/11 and since they sat on their hands when the summer intelligence was trying to tell them that an attack was coming, they were more scared about losing the election in 2004.  Since they had actually lost the 2000 election, I can understand why they were worried.

My final story that I want to discuss involves a couple of stories about General David Petraeus and his agreement that Gitmo should be closed and that Torture is not only unproductive, it is against our American values and violates the Geneva Conventions.  http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/26/petraeus-close-gitmo/ & http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/petraeus-values/.  These stories just blew the top of my head off when I read them.  The darling of the neocons, General David Petraeus, actually agrees with Obama that Gitmo should be closed and that torture only helps the enemy.  Who would have guessed that the left has had it “right” all along?  These articles should be mandatory reading for Liberals and Republicans alike.  Our arguewithmydad.com readers should take a look at them as well.  General Petraeus confirms that the important issue that we should never forget is that we should never stoop to the level of our enemies when he said, “And so as we move forward, I think it is important to again live our values to live the agreements that we have made in the international justice arena and to practice those.” http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/29/petraeus-values/.  It feels good when one of our top military men agrees with what we have been arguing for many months here, on arguewithmydad.com.  Very good.

I sure do love those short work weeks.  It is so nice that we have made it to another Friday.  And if it is Friday, it must be time for another Friday Free For All.  As our regular readers know, the Friday Free For All is the one time of the week where the reader decides what topics we discuss.  All you  have to do is get one other reader to want to discuss your topic and the floor is yours.  I will make a couple of suggestions for possible topics, but they are just suggestions.  You, the reader, are in control. 

My first suggested topic is a local one.  Recently, a Chicago off-duty policeman was involved in a deadly hit and run accident that killed a 13 year old. http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1591938,hit-run-daley-cop-breathalyzer-delay-052609.article .  The interesting part of this tragic story is that his fellow officers after apprehending him going the wrong way down the street, waited 4 hours to give him a sobriety test.  As you might expect, the test came in at 0.079 which is just below the .08 legal limit for blood alcohol in Illinois.  I first noticed this situation after I read this Jonathan Turley blog posting, http://jonathanturley.org/2009/05/27/chicago-police-officer-involved-in-hit-and-run-given-four-hours-before-taking-breathalyzer/.  Take a look at the Sun Times article and Professor Turley’s posting and let me know if you think something doesn’t smell right.  In my opinion, the Chicago Police probably gave the defendant several breathalyzer tests until they got one below the legal limit.  I don’t have any evidence to back up that opinion, but nothing else makes sense to me.  Now, what do you think?  Should this officer, and the officers who delayed the test for 4 hours, be fired?  Even Mayor Daley is on the record that there should be an investigation.  Do you think the Chicago Police can investigate themselves honestly?  I don’t, but what do you think?

The other story that you may want to discuss is the recent nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Souter.  What do you think of Obama’s first nomination for the Court?  A lot of the radical right media have gone over the edge calling her a racist and one former Republican congressman, Tom Tancredo, called her and the Latino group she is a member of, La Raza, a latino KKK.  Here is the quote from CNN on Thursday, “If you belong to an organization called La Raza, in this case, which is, from my point of view anyway, nothing more than a Latino — it’s a counterpart — a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.”   http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/28/tancredo-latino-kkk/.  I realize this is one wild eyed neocon who is being quoted here, but Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove and others have been making very similar unsubstantianted claims.  Let’s hear what your thoughts are on Judge Sotomayor and on the vicious, and false claims being made about her. 

I have made my two suggestions for our possible topics for this Friday Free For All and now it is your turn to decide what we are going to talk about.  Don’t be shy and don’t hesitate.  This is the one time of the week when you can control the discussion so do not delay.  Get to work and let’s see what you want to discuss.  It should be interesting.  Especially if we get everyone who reads this blog to join in the discussion.  I am anxious to see what the topics will be this week.  It is time to get busy!

Instead of our usual Monday Musings feature, I would like to wish all of our AWMD readers a happy and peaceful Memorial Day.  This is a day to honor all who have fought, fallen and been wounded in our nation’s conflicts and wars.  Memorial Day is a solemn celebration of the bravery of all of our country’s best and brightest who fought in order that we may remain free.  If you have any thoughts or memories of friends and/or relatives who have served in any war or conflict, feel free to post your remembrance here on arguewithmydad.com.   Our purpose on this day is to offer the opportunity to express your thoughts about your friend or loved one and to honor their service.  We should never forget those who have served.  By writing about them, we will insure that they will not be forgotten.  After we have read some of your memories, I will also let you know my memories of the people in my life who have answered our Country’s call. 

Once again, Happy Memorial Day to all of you.

This week just shot right by me.  I can’t believe that we are already at another Friday.  And you know what that means?  It means it is time for another chapter of the arguewithmydad.com Friday Free For All.  This is the one time of the week that the AWMD reader has the opportunity to control what we discuss here.  All you have to do is get someone else to join you in discussing your topic and then the floor is yours.  I will give a couple of suggestions for topics, but as always, they are only suggestions.  You are in control.  Don’t hesitate to bring up the issue that has been driving you batty this week or the issue that may have been festering even longer.  You are the boss for a day.

My first suggested topic is related to the Right’s abuse of Speaker Pelosi over her allegations that the CIA was not briefing Congress about the Bush Torture program in the manner that that the CIA was claiming.  Of course, when she stated this and then clarified her comments, the Neocons went crazy. They claimed that she was lying and that she knew about the program and did nothing to stop it.  What they don’t tell you is that if any member of Congress went public about anything that they learned in a classified CIA briefing, they would be subject to prosecution for violating secrecy laws.  One of the Right Wing’s biggest attack came from former Congressman, Peter Goss who claimed that there was total bi-partisan support for the torture program when the leaders were briefed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042403339.html.  Take a look at his op-ed in the Washington Post article that is linked above and compare it to this Think Progress article that takes a hard look at the careful language that Goss used in his Op-Ed.  http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/21/goss-wont-confirm-cia/.  If you want to discuss the fact that Goss won’t even confirm that the CIA told them about waterboarding in their briefings, then let me know what you think and why.

My final suggested topic is one that I first saw on George Washington University Law School Professor, Jonathan Turley’s blog, that discussed this Military Times article about a war hero who was recently dismissed from the Air Force for being Gay. http://www.military.com/news/article/af-boots-decorated-pilot-for-being-gay.html?col=1186032310810.  This decorated pilot who had saved American lives in Iraq was no longer welcome in the Air Force because of his sexual orientation.  Let’s talk about the infamous Don’t Ask, Don’t tell policy and let me know if you agree with it.  I, for one, think it is shameful and unconstitutional, but what do you think?  Before I forget, here is the link to Prof. Turley’s blog article that first alerted me to this story.http://jonathanturley.org/2009/05/20/dont-ask-dont-tell-hero-pilot-discharged-for-being-gay/. 

Now that I have made my suggestions, let’s hear what you want to talk about.  I am open to talk about anything as long as you have some facts to support your claims or ideas.  Don’t be shy now.  It is time for you to get to work and to tell us what you want to talk about.  Friday Free For All only works if every AWMD reader puts in his/her two cents.  I am looking forward to hearing from all of our regulars and maybe, even a few rookies.  Time to put up or shut up!

It was about time that we had a sunny and dry weekend here in Northern Illinois.  Now if it could only get a little warmer.  But the end of the weekend means it is time for another installment of Monday Musings.  I have been thinking about some of the big stories and some of the smaller ones this past week.  However, there are a couple that really caught my interest.

The first issue that I want to discuss is all of this uproar about Nancy Pelosi’s statements that she wasn’t briefed by the CIA that they had actually used waterboarding on any of the prisoners.  Of course, her confusing statements over the last several days made it easy to mistrust her claims.  Of course, the CIA and the Republicans are trying to claim that everyone was fully briefed and therefore complicit in the torture program.  Why would they claim that the Democrats were fully briefed?  They want as many Democrats as they can to be “involved” in the torture program to deter the Congress from investigating the program.  The fly in their plan was the news report that Former Senator Bob Graham, whom the CIA claimed was briefed on 3 separate occasions, refuted the allegations and actually stated that the CIA had admitted that they did not brief him and that their information was not correct.  http://www.truthout.org/051509A.  The Truthout story also discloses a CIA official who admits that the CIA lied to Congress on more than one occasion in their briefings!  So it looks like Pelosi was accurate and this nonsense that Pelosi was complicit because of the allegations that she was briefed and didn’t dissent is a bunch of crap.  Any Congressman or woman who was briefed on any CIA secret program is required by law to keep the contents of the briefing secret.  If they disclosed the information or went public with it, they would be subject to a felony prosecution.  The only Democrats that were briefed on portions of the program that tried to do anything were Congresswoman Jane Harman who wrote a dissent and Senator Rockefeller who handwrote a note complaining about the program.  Wouldn’t you know it, the program still proceeded even with the secret dissents.  So what would Pelosi’s complaint have done?  The answer is nothing.  Zero.  The torturing continued and the Bush regime continued to lie to the American people and even kept it and some of the detainees secret from the Red Cross as well.  I have a question that I have been dying to ask.  What did the Republican members of Congress who were briefed do about this illegal program?  Why didn’t any of the Republicans try to stop it as they are alleging that Pelosi didn’t do?  They didn’t write any complaints and went along with the torture.  I wonder why?  The real question that should be asked here is why did the Republicans think that torture was legal?  Or did they even care if it was legal?  They did what they always did during the Bush regime.  They just acted like lemmings and went along for the ride.  It is time for Congress to twist the Obama administration’s arm to do the right thing and investigate and prosecute these war criminals.  It is the right thing to do. 

The next story that I have to discuss is the idea that Vice President Joe Biden disclosed the secret hiding place of our old friend, Dick Cheney and therefore put Cheney at risk or disclosed classified information.  It seems that Biden told a group that the bunker was located under the Naval Observatory which is where the Vice President resides.  http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/05/15/shining-light-on-cheney-s-hideaway.aspx.  I was shocked that the secret is finally out.  The undisclosed location was actually in the basement of his residence.  I am sure that our enemies would never have guessed that the slimeball was hiding under his house!  What a huge non-story this one is.  First of all, Cheney is no longer the Vice President and his hideaway is no longer of any use to him.  It may be a surprise to some, but this “secret” location was not classified information.  Secondly, if anyone should be worried about the location being disclosed it should be Biden, the current Vice President.  He isn’t concerned because he probably has no intention of hiding out if the going gets tough.  Isn’t it poet justice that we finally find out that the Prince of Darkness himself, Dick Cheney, was hiding in a secure bunker far below ground level?  Even though he didn’t need his deferments any longer, he still needed to hide from the action.  It is refreshing to see Biden clear the air and let us know which grass the snake was hiding in.  What a breath of fresh air.

As you can see, we have changed the theme of arguewithmydad.com to the original theme that we started with when we began this endeavor.  It is not just the same old look because we have added some features that were not available earlier.  Each person who posts on AWMD can now add their own “avatar” or picture to correspond to their posts.  I am still looking for a picture that suits my distinguished and mature good lucks.  It may be a long search!

Have fun with the new look and if you have any problems, let us know and we will do our best to correct them.  We will be adding our Google adds shortly again, but they should not impair your ability to speak your mind.  Have fun and keeping checking in at arguewithmydad.com.

The work week is just about done and the weekend is upon us so that means that it is time for another edition of Friday Free For All.  This is the one time of the week that you, the reader, can control the topic(s) of discussion on arguewithmydad.com.   So now is the time for you to let all of us know what has been buggin you this week.  As long as you can get someone else to discuss the topic that is frosting your cake, then the floor is yours.  I will suggest a couple of possible topics, but they are only suggestions.  It is you who are in control on Friday Free For All’s.

The first suggestion that I have for a topic is the news that I saw today that our old friend Alberto Gonzalez is opening his old pie hole again. It seems that Gonzo doesn’t like the fact that our President wants to pick a judge with empathy. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/14/gonzales-empathy/.  Check out his NPR interview and let me know what you think.  I for one, can’t understand why anyone would want to interview Gonzo, but he tries to claim that if a judge has empathy, he won’t follow the law.  A normal neocon talking point, but you can listen for yourself and let all of us know what you think.

My second suggested topic is the story that reports that Colin Powell’s former aide, Lawrence Wilkerson, has gone on the record that Cheney and Rumsfield backed torture merely to try to prove an actionable connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq and not to prevent any alleged terrorist plots. http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/14/ex-bush-official-says-torture-approved-in-effort-to-tie-iraq-to-al-qaeda/.  That would be an amazing, but not surprising story.  I wouldn’t put anything past our old Veep, including the torture of people to try to prove something that was known to be false.  Take a look at Wilkerson’s details and you tell me what should be done to Cheney. 

I have made my suggestions for possible topics, but it is really up to you.  You can choose one of the suggested topics or one of your own.  The important thing is that you have to get off your backside and let us know what you want to talk about.  This weekly feature will not work without all of our readers cooperating and joining in the discussion. I am looking forward to your thoughts and ideas.  Let’s get to work!

After a beautiful Mother’s Day weekend, it is time for another edition of Monday Musings.  There have been some interesting news stories that have come out in the last few days, but the one item that caught my eye was the story about former Vice President Dick Cheney’s appearance on Sunday’s CBS Face the Nation program. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/10/cheney-testify-2/.  It seems that the former Veep has been hitting the talk shows lately in order to spread his lies about the Bush/Cheney torture program and its effectiveness at saving American lives.  Of course, this is the one of the same guys that was on the job when we were attacked on 9/11.  So tell me why we should believe him?

Mr. Cheney actually claims that the illegal torture program saved lives when he said ’ “”I’m convinced, absolutely convinced, that we saved thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of lives,” ‘. http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Cheney_Interrogations_saved_hundred_05102009.html.  So Cheney is not only claiming that the torture program worked, he is now claiming up to hundreds of thousands of lives being saved by that illegal program.  Of course, Cheney never has any evidence of those claims.  We are just supposed to believe him.  Not only does Cheney’s hubris amaze me, the fact that both he and CBS just never get around to the seminal issue of the torture program is very curious.  What is that seminal issue you ask?  The big item that neither Cheney nor CBS ever wants to discuss is what the law states about torture.  Under United States and international law, torture is a crime.  Period.  As George Washington University Law Professor, Jonathan Turley recently stated, “Torture is a crime under domestic and international law. Various federal laws address torture, not the least of which is the Torture Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2340.” http://jonathanturley.org/2009/05/08/three-legal-truths-the-case-for-the-prosecution-of-war-crimes-by-the-bush-administration/.  There are no exceptions in that law for an alleged successful torture program.  There are no exceptions that exempt a Vice President or a President for that matter to torture because they are afraid that their country is going to be attacked again.  Why doesn’t the media ask former Vice President Cheney to point out the exception in the torture laws that exempt him and the rest of the Bush regime? 

Of course someone may state that Cheney has not been charged or convicted of a violation of the torture laws so he doesn’t have to explain himself.  That would be correct, but both Cheney and Bush have admitted that they have waterboarded 3 detainees in public and on more than one occasion.  The OLC torture memos that were recently released admitted to over 260 separate instances of waterboarding of just two detainees and waterboarding has been an illegal interrogation technique for decades.  As we have discussed on prior AWMD posts, The United States prosecuted Japanese soldiers after World War II for waterboarding Allied prisoners.  The United States prosecuted U.S. personnel after the Vietnam War for waterboarding prisoners.  More recently, even the Reagan Administraton’s Justice Department convicted a Texas sheriff for waterboarding prisoners during the 1980’s.  I ownder if it is just a coincidence that the torture Sheriff was from Bush’s home state?

I realize that neither Cheney nor Bush are attorneys, but it doesn’t take an attorney to know that you shouldn’t break a law if you can’t do the time.

Wow!  Did that week go by quickly.  It is hard to believe that we have already made it to another Friday.  If it is Friday, then it is time for our weekly Friday Free For All.  This is the one time during the week when the AWMD reader can decide which topic we discuss.  All you have to do is get someone else to want to discuss your topic and then the floor is yours.  I will make a couple of suggestions for possible discussion topics, but they are only suggestions.  You are in control. 

My first suggested topic is the recent news that Federal Judge Jay Bybee has been trying to talk with Nevada’s congressional delegation in an attempt to reduce the calls for his impeachment due to his infamous torture memos. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/07/bybee-nevada-delegation/ & http://jonathanturley.org/2009/05/07/bybee-reportedly-seeking-forum-to-explain-his-role-in-the-torture-memos/.  What do you think?  Do you think Bybee should be impeached?  If you are for or against it, let us know and let us know why.

My second suggested topic is that recently the State of Maine became the 5th state to legalize gay marriages.  http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Gov+News&id=72146&v=Article-2006 .  Of course the right wing is crying that it is the end of the world and our old friend, Pat Robertson, says it will lead to child molestation among other ugly claims. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/07/robertson-child-molestation/.  Of course, we have to remember that this is Pat Robertson making this prediction.  I am not a fan of civil unions and I believe that gay marriage is a civil rights issue.  You are either equal in all things or you are not.  What do you think?

You have my two suggested topics, but I want to hear what you want to talk about.  Let us know what is on your mind or what you are dying to talk about.  This is not a time to be shy.  This is the one time during the week that you can control arguewithmydad.com.  I want to hear from every member of the AWMD nation.  Let’s get to work!

I can’t believe that 39 years have elapsed since that fateful day in May, 1970.   On May 4th, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired upon unarmed student protesters, killing four of them and wounding and maiming several others.  I will never forget that day because I was a Freshmen at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and when the news of the student killings broke, I thought a bomb had gone off in my head.  I wasn’t overly political at that point in time, but that somber event changed all of my prior thinking.

I was just short of my 19th birthday and I remember that day as my personal coming of age experience.  I was no longer just a young college student.  I was now a member of a class that was shot down by soldiers on a campus not too far away from mine, and in many respects, very similar to mine.  The fact that agents of the government could fire upon peaceful protesters was so extraordinary that it felt like a kick in the groin to myself and many other students on my campus and on campuses throughout the country.  Along with the killing of two students at Jackson State University(f/k/a Jackson State College) around May 14th, it looked and felt like it was open season on college students.   Indeed, I was “watching” a protest that turned ugly on May 11th, 1970 when elements of the Illinois State Police and the Illinois National Guard attacked the crowd of onlookers that I and friend were in the middle of and chased down and beat some of us and arrested a large group of innocent students.  I was one of the unlucky ones who were arrested that night.  That event which started as a protest against the killings at Kent State turned into a night in Jackson County Jail in Murphysboro, Illinois.

After getting arrested and fingerprinted and receiving my first full body cavity inspection, I was literally thrown into a cell designed to hold 4 prisoners, which was already holding 8-10 of my fellow students when I was thrust upon them. After spending most of the early morning of my 19th birthday in the lockup, my head was spinning from the tear gas and pepper gas used by the authorities the night before and from the lack of sleep in that overcrowded cell.  I realize that my little experience pales in comparison to what the students at Kent State and Jackson State had to endure, but the whole event opened my eyes to something that I have never forgotten.  My country and my state would not allow me and my college classmates and friends to express ourselves as the U.S. Constitution provided in the First Amendment. I felt like I was a second class citizen in my own country and state.  Shortly after my arrest, Southern Illinois University was closed down for the semester and many students grades were negatively impacted by the decision to close down early.  Many other campuses across the country also closed down early in response to the demonstrations and protests that were being held on a daily basis.  So once again, my grades were impacted negatively because of the closure and I was placed on social probation by the university, all because I was expressing my Constitutional rights.  Did the Government or the Illinois State Police care about my rights?  No, because I was just a student who got in their way. 

After the summer ended and I was cleared of the charge of “unlawful assembly” in a court of law, I was still left on social probation by my university even though I was found not guilty of any wrongdoing.  Once again, I felt helpless in my own university because I was labeled a trouble maker even though I had done nothing wrong or illegal.  It took many months and years for an investigation into the Kent State killings to take place and as you might have guessed, it was pretty much a whitewash job.  The National Guard claimed that they were fired upon even though there was little or no evidence backing their claims.  Even President Nixon lambasted the students in interviews following the sad event.  I saw this as another example of the college students being treated as if they had less rights than the National Guardsmen or any other citizen.  (I highly recommend a book titled, “Kent State, What Happened and Why”, by James Michener, which discussed all of the evidence and facts surrounding the shootings and came down to the conclusion that the Guardsmen illegally and improperly fired upon the unarmed students.)

The events surrounding the Kent State killings still resonate in my head and I became more politically involved and aware because of Kent State and my arrest shortly after.  My big brother was in Vietnam at the time and this weighed heavily upon me, but I had just been slapped in the face by my University, my State and my Country and I now had a duty to expose any and all wrongdoings of our government in prosecuting the war in Vietnam.  After all, the students at Kent State and Jackson State were killed while protesting our country’s immoral actions in Southeast Asia.  I made a pledge to myself that I would not allow any government of this country take advantage of any so-called “lesser” citizens for any reason.  I also promised myself to never trust my government again without verifying the facts.  The phrase heard alot during those “Days of Rage” was “My country, love it or leave it”.  Well, it was my country too and I wasn’t about to leave it just because my rights were being violated.  It became my duty to do whatever I could to right the wrongs and to help the disadvantaged overcome the odds.  It was critical in my decision to become a lawyer. 

Have I been able to help “right the wrongs” by my country since 1970?  I have helped some, but probably not as many as I would have liked, but every day here on arguewithmydad.com I attempt to even the odds against the little guy. It has been 39 years, but it feels as if it was just yesterday.  I often relive the events of May of 1970 and as I pledged to myself 39 years ago, “never again”.  Never again will I sit and let someone else stand up to a government gone astray.  I can still hear the screams of the students in the video of the event and I can still see the picture of the young girl kneeling over a dead student  and I can still hear the words of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song of the day, “Four Dead in Ohio”.  Peace to all of you and I hope that the parents and loved ones of the victims have been able to find some peace in the past 39 years.  I will continue to remind everyone that I can, every year,  that those students did not die in vain.  They did not die in vain because they spurred on an anti-war movement and they altered my life forever.