P.S. I too appreciate the Daily Scroll! Great reporting on the shell game of the protests in DC!
I must correct something here that is probably a piece of the tidal wave of myth-making about the 1980s that has buried the history of that decade. Liberals and the left have been engaged in this myth-making since the 80s themselves, and occasionally someone who was present at the time and remembers it well needs to speak up.
Marcos took over the Philippines as president-for-life in 1966 on his own initiative. There wasn't a lot the US could do about it in terms of internal Filipino politics. The US did continue to maintain important bases there through the end of the Cold War, although they were mostly dismantled in the 1990s.
In the 1980s, the opposition to Marcos was led mainly by the Aquino family, who had a long history in politics. When Benigno Aquino, a senator, was assassinated upon his return from exile in 1982, the US initially looked the other way. However, thanks to Secretary of State George Schultz (one of the greatest to hold that office), US policy began to change in 1983. By 1986, his wife Corazon Aquino had the support of the US and other countries to accept the presidency in a democratic transition. As part of the deal that induced Marcos to step down, he was eased into exile, along with his wife, Imelda, and her infamous shoe collection. It was not an "escape." It was a planned, negotiated transition that the new Philippine government was party to.
The Schultz policy in the Philippines was part of a larger push in the later Reagan years to pressure authoritarian, anti-communist countries long allied to or friendly with the US to reform and open up to democratic transitions. Besides the Philippines, other important examples included South Korea, Chile, and El Salvador; the full list is longer. While not US allies, South Africa underwent a similar transition away from apartheid at the end of the 1980s in a parallel process; while Argentina was encouraged to end its military dictatorship (responsible for the 1982 Falklands war) and transition to elections (including a referendum in the Falkland Islands to determine its future).
This ends today's deprogramming session, an earnest attempt to undo a generation-plus of expensive brainwashing in America's joke system of education.
I hate to lecture about this stuff. Apart from biographies and memoirs, much of recent history is presented not at all or in distinctly distorted forms.
BTW the key US newspaper of the 1980s on the Philippines wasn't any of the obvious national papers, but the San Jose Mercury News, the "Merc." In those days, it had superb coverage of the Spanish-speaking world -- Mexico, Latin America, Central America and the civil wars there, as well as the Philippines. That was a different era, though, when there was journalism, driven mainly by concern for facts and causality, and "narrative" was an obscure word used that way only in certain English departments.
A friend in school in California spent several visits as a Mennonite missionary in the Philippines in the 80s. Able to read both Spanish- and English-language press in the Philippines, he raved about the Merc's coverage as head and shoulders above the big papers, like the NYT or the WaPo. Since then, the Merc has survived but in greatly shrunken form, like so many papers. It was a pioneer in online news and paywalls to replace declining ad revenue.
P.S. I too appreciate the Daily Scroll! Great reporting on the shell game of the protests in DC!
I must correct something here that is probably a piece of the tidal wave of myth-making about the 1980s that has buried the history of that decade. Liberals and the left have been engaged in this myth-making since the 80s themselves, and occasionally someone who was present at the time and remembers it well needs to speak up.
Marcos took over the Philippines as president-for-life in 1966 on his own initiative. There wasn't a lot the US could do about it in terms of internal Filipino politics. The US did continue to maintain important bases there through the end of the Cold War, although they were mostly dismantled in the 1990s.
In the 1980s, the opposition to Marcos was led mainly by the Aquino family, who had a long history in politics. When Benigno Aquino, a senator, was assassinated upon his return from exile in 1982, the US initially looked the other way. However, thanks to Secretary of State George Schultz (one of the greatest to hold that office), US policy began to change in 1983. By 1986, his wife Corazon Aquino had the support of the US and other countries to accept the presidency in a democratic transition. As part of the deal that induced Marcos to step down, he was eased into exile, along with his wife, Imelda, and her infamous shoe collection. It was not an "escape." It was a planned, negotiated transition that the new Philippine government was party to.
The Schultz policy in the Philippines was part of a larger push in the later Reagan years to pressure authoritarian, anti-communist countries long allied to or friendly with the US to reform and open up to democratic transitions. Besides the Philippines, other important examples included South Korea, Chile, and El Salvador; the full list is longer. While not US allies, South Africa underwent a similar transition away from apartheid at the end of the 1980s in a parallel process; while Argentina was encouraged to end its military dictatorship (responsible for the 1982 Falklands war) and transition to elections (including a referendum in the Falkland Islands to determine its future).
This ends today's deprogramming session, an earnest attempt to undo a generation-plus of expensive brainwashing in America's joke system of education.
Interesting. Thanks for the feedback.
I hate to lecture about this stuff. Apart from biographies and memoirs, much of recent history is presented not at all or in distinctly distorted forms.
BTW the key US newspaper of the 1980s on the Philippines wasn't any of the obvious national papers, but the San Jose Mercury News, the "Merc." In those days, it had superb coverage of the Spanish-speaking world -- Mexico, Latin America, Central America and the civil wars there, as well as the Philippines. That was a different era, though, when there was journalism, driven mainly by concern for facts and causality, and "narrative" was an obscure word used that way only in certain English departments.
A friend in school in California spent several visits as a Mennonite missionary in the Philippines in the 80s. Able to read both Spanish- and English-language press in the Philippines, he raved about the Merc's coverage as head and shoulders above the big papers, like the NYT or the WaPo. Since then, the Merc has survived but in greatly shrunken form, like so many papers. It was a pioneer in online news and paywalls to replace declining ad revenue.
I really appreciate your daily scroll! Thanks.
Keep up the good work! Looking forward to the second installment re the$ behind Shut Down DC
While the Biden Administration engages in "equity" games, there is a shortage of baby formula that appears to be ignored.
The most "systemically racist" thing that's happened in this generation is the lockdowns and crippling of urban schools. The rest is mostly hot air.
Take a look at this article. https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/05/whos-paying-protesters-harass-justices-and-daniel-greenfield/Would anyone be shocked if the same entities that funded the riots of 2020 are funding protests outside the Justices' homes which are designed to intimidate them on a pending case and thus are violating Federal law?
Maybe keep the schools closed next time only for non-marginalized kids. For the sake of equity…