Dave Does History

One November 1, 1765, the Stamp Act, passed by Parliament and given assent by King George III, took effect in Colonial America. For most Americans of that day, it was an intolerable action that violated the basic principle of “No taxation without representation.” Americans really weren’t as upset by the tax as they were about the the control over it. They were being compelled by Britain to pay for...

At 2:30am on October 25, 1944, USS Tang, one of the highest scoring US Submarines in the war, launched the final torpedo of her patrol. After attacking a convoy all through the previous evening, she was hoping to finish off one last ship before turning for home with a broom lashed to her periscopes. The real horror of war is how many things can go wrong. usually with deadly consequences. As that l...

If you ask one hundred Americans, who is the best American citizen of ALL time? I’ve never done that, but my guess is the overwhelming answer would be George Washington. There is an almost worshipful quality that we take towards him, perhaps with some justification, as we have painted his deification onto the ceiling of our Capitol Dome . We have a corporate memory of him that fits both our need f...

The weirdest thing about the current hatred of Columbus Day is that there shouldn’t even be a “Columbus Day.” What do I mean? He was an absolute boss when it came to being the Admiral of the Sea. He did something that hadn’t been done and he did it over and again. He brought glory and honor to his nation and his Monarch. But… and I cannot stress this enough… he would have no idea what we are talki...

You have often heard Bill Mick complain about GOP Republicans who give fire and brimstone conservatism speeches while running for office, and then turn into “do-nothings” once in office. He is, of course, not alone, nor is he wrong to express such sentiments. But is it anything actually new when it comes to specifically the GOP? Today we fear today the slide into progressive socialism as a result...

Among the founders of the nation stand many from Boston. For all the firebrands, the one who seemed more determined than any other to win American liberty was Sam Adams. No… he was not a brewer. Yes, he did make malt – one of the main ingredients in beer, but he left the brewing to those who would honor his name later as they created their beverage in Boston. Sam Adams was a skilled speaker and pu...

So… what exactly IS history? It’s an important question, perhaps even more so than “Why study history?” Like so many thing, if we do not understand WHAT we are studying, how can we have any realistic idea of HOW to interpret it? Let’s take a look at two recent events, a Supreme Court case, the firing of a high school football coach in Bremerton, WA.  And the biggest “news story” in the countr...

We have – today – an almost scriptural reverence for the founding document of the United States government, the Constitution. To listen to most conservatives speak of the Framers is almost like going to church. They were, it seems, infallible. In fact, at least one painting in our own Capitol building portrays one Framer as being apotheosized. But this week in 1787, the true feelings were more tha...

It has been long established that the President has plenary powers when it comes to the foreign affairs of the nation. Wide latitude and power has been generally understood to be within the purview of the executive, as the Constitution is less than precise as to who exactly does what – other than advising and consenting on treaties. Like many things though, that was not always the case. For much o...

In the summer of 1922, the Republican Party was in deep trouble. Tradition holds that all Presidents see their party lose seats in Congress during the mid-terms, but the Administration was facing the loss of seats to it’s OWN party! While the Republicans had trended to become more conservative, there was a significant segment of the party leaning full on into the progressive movement of the era. T...

The Rabbis tell us that some of the most important parts of the scriptures are the stories that we do not like. The tales of failures and embarrassing happenings that don’t seem to fit the overall narrative of a loving G-d reaching out to his people. The stories of death and murder and assault and war and strife that often leave us wondering, “Why is this here?” At the end of the day, there are –...

By the time the sun rose over Guadalcanal on August 9, 1942, the US Navy was just beginning to come to terms with the tragedy that had occurred in the dark night before. Many Naval Historians consider the action of the night of August 8-9, 1942 to be the worst defeat ever suffered by the US Navy, including Pearl Harbor. Just two days before the Marines had landed on the island and seized the airst...

On August 2, 1776, the members of the Second Continental Congress gathered to finish what they had begun back in July. Now, each of the men was called forward, one at a time, to affix his name to the final version of the document which had already electrified the world. On what should have been a joyous day, the full weight of what was happening was hitting home. Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, jok...

My least favorite phrase is: “Everybody knows…” I have been known to hang up on callers who sprinkle their diatribe with that idiotic phrase. First off, NOT “everybody knows.” If “everybody knew,” then there would no conflicts, no happiness, no conversation, no science, no exploration and no need to learn anything… well… new. Or, in my case, something old. Which might be new to you. Because NOT “e...

It’s a common idea today that “we don’t trust the media.” There’s almost a mantra that this is a relatively new thing, and that no matter what side of the political fence you happen to be ion, the “media” is automatically presumed to be fully serving as a water carrying propaganda arm of the other side. In recent days, we have seen another story that reignites this debate. Just three days after th...

In the early weeks of 1776, Independence fever was fanned by the publication of the most influential and best selling book ever published in America. Thomas Paine had arrived in the Colonies about a year earlier with a letter of introduction from Ben Franklin and immediately and set out to continue his legacy of failure at everything he tried. Until he took the ideas of the enlightenment and put p...

A few months ago we and a caller who was of the opinion that “only a few” guys actually “did anything” at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The idea is one that many people might have, simply because they just don’t know anything about anybody except the few names that bubble to the top of the historical bottle. But if you uncork that bottle, you get a wonderful bouquet of ideas and of people th...

In the late 1930’s, the Iowa Hawkeyes had endured years of being a perennial doormat of a football team. But in 1937, a new student-athlete enrolled at the school, and quickly became the heart and soul of a rapidly improving team. By 1939, the Iowa Hawkeyes were the #3 team in the country, finishing 6-1-1, upsetting Notre Dame. Their starting halfback easily won the Heisman Trophy, and proceeded t...

In November of 2013, the nation was “more divided than we have ever been before!” The issue at hand was healthcare, and specifically the lawsuit that was headed to the District Court over Obamacare. Odd as it seems today, at the time it was NOT at all clear what any Court would rule on the matter. And on the DC Circuit, where the case was headed, there were three seats open. The Senate had been un...

In April of 1917 the US Government had a problem. It had just declared war on Imperial Germany, less than six months after re-electing President Wilson who’s entire campaign theme was “He Kept Us Out of the War…” The problem wasn’t the political flip-flop, but rather the fact that roughly a third of all American Citizens were either immigrants from or descended from immigrants from… you guessed it...

Dave Bowman  joins Bill Mick to close out our Tuesday with our weekly trip through the Wayback Machine as we get his unique perspectives on history. Today…just what makes history and who are the players?

April 19, 1775 was the day that the American Revolution ended. I know that sounds odd, since it was the day that he British tried to seize the Colonial military stores at Concord, and the shot heard ’round the world was fired. But the reality is that was the moment when the American Revolution ended and the war which was its consequence began…

Bill Mick and Dave get together for Dave does History on WMMB to talk about what makes a good President. How did we even decide to have a President in the first place, and what were some of the difficulties to overcome in the process ? *Live Tuesdays 8am (EDT) on WMMB Melbourne, FL

Dave joins BILL MICK to talk about Project Candor, which seems like a great idea… until you scratch the surface of it and discover that what it really did was justify a vast expansion of the not just the military-industrial complex, but another complex that we see almost every day in our news. If Ike saw it coming and tried to warn us, why didn’t we listen to him? Because there is no such thing as...

Bill Mick and Dave continue their discussion of the Presidency of Dwight D Eisenhower…  If there had been no war in Korea, would there have been a President Eisenhower? Are there lessons for today from that sequence of events?