Dec. 7 and the conspiracy theorists work over times

Before the Kennedy assassination; before the death of Diana, Princess of Wales; before 9/11, we have Pearl Harbor. Unwilling or unable to accept that those little yellow people across the sea bested the mighty United States, conspiracy theorists continue the drumbeat: Franklin D. Roosevelt, anxious to enter the war in Europe, knew about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and allowed it to happen. To accept this theory, we have to ignore that the United States did not go to war with Germany until Dec. 11, when Hitler declared war on the United States. But, we should not allow common sense, and historic fact, to cloud our vision. And it's helpful if we also ignore the mountains of evidence that have since become public knowledge that shows no such conspiracy exists.

Let's start with the carriers: Why were the carriers Enterprise and Yorktown not docked in Hawaii? Conspiracy theorists use this as proof that the United States knew an attack was imminent. The battleship was the dominant feature in all the world’s navies. And even if a small, vocal cadre of aircraft enthusiasts believed that aircraft would dominate naval warfare, the Army and Navy disagreed. Carriers supported the battleline of battleships and heavy cruisers, which was why the Enterprise and the Yorktown were in Midway and Wake Island in the first place. They were returning after having delivered supplies needed for their defense if and when the Japanese attacked. Yes, the United States suspected that an attack in the South Pacific was possible. But take a look at a map of the South Pacific and at our bases at the time. With no idea where the Japanese might attack, which island or group of islands would you choose for an attack? Those closest to Japan or those farthest from Japan? Remember, before Pearl Harbor, no attack had ever been launched from an aircraft carrier. On Dec. 6, 1941, the battleship was the most important element in our naval defense.

We also need to consider the inability or refusal of the Navy to talk to the Army, and vice-versa. What happened is that although the United States had the ability to read Japanese code, messages often went uncoded and even when coded, the information was not always shared. But even if the information was shared, there is no mention of a day, time or place in any of the coded and uncoded messages. The South Pacific is a mighty big place.

Although I agree that Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Frank Short were shabbily treated in the wake of Pearl Harbor, they did nothing worse than work with the information they had. Kimmel and Short were rightly concerned with spies on the ground. And we know now that there were Japanese spies in Hawaii, posing as tourists and taking pictures of military installations months before the attack. No one was prepared or trained for an air attack. Actually it would have been worse if Kimmel had moved the battleships out of Pearl because rescue and salvage would have been impossible had the ships sunk in deep water (and within weeks of Pearl Harbor, three of the mangled battleships were back in operation). Within days of the attack, General Douglas MacArthur also lost the bulk of his command, not to mention the Philippines, but unlike Kimmel and Short, MacArthur escaped being held personally responsible.

Few people understand today how much Franklin D. Roosevelt and his policies were hated (and still are, the Republicans are still trying to dismantle the Social Security system). Conspiracy theorists variously claim that Roosevelt wanted a war with Europe to hide the failures of the New Deal or to help his friends the Communists. Roosevelt did want to curb military aggression, which is why he brought sanctions to bear on Japan when that country invaded China. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the US military was smaller than that of Yugoslavia. If Roosevelt was preparing for war, wouldn't he have created a stronger, larger, better armed military than that which existed in December 1941? The Roosevelt Administration through lend-lease helped England, China and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union. But he was thwarted by the American First movement, those vocal isolationists who had Charles A Lindbergh as their spokesperson.

The United States doesn't like to lose and it especially doesn't want to lose to what they consider an inferior race. Pearl Harbor was the result of inadequate intelligence, miserable communication, poor planning and a racist view of the world. These are the same failures that led to 9/11.

Huh?

Mitt Romney is falling behind in the polls, so he announced today, from the presidential library of former President George H.W. Bush in College Station, TX, that if elected the Mormon Church would not run the White House. I had no idea this was an issue. Well, I mean I understood that it was probably a problem in Iowa, were the professed religious beliefs of various candidates might be question. But for the rest of us, Romney's religious affiliation is less important than the economy, the growing police state in the US, or even global warming.

The problem, of course, is that vocal, but minority, Christian evangelicals, who profess to believe in the separation of church and state, want to make sure that no non-Christian sits in the White House. Romeny has spent millions building up a lead in Iowa, only to see it evaporate to Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee. And nobody is asking Huckabee if his religious affiliations will somehow overlap with my civil liberties on the slim chance that he wins the White House next year. As governor of Arkansas, Huckabee personally supported the release of a convicted rapist, which just shows you how far we have come when George Dukakus was crucified for the release of a convicted murdered (and he had no part in the release). To bolster his claim of innocence, Huckabee claims that all four parole board members have lied about his role in putting a convicted racist back out on the streets. But at least Huckabee is a good Christian.

I won't be voting for either Romney or Huckabee and not because of their religious affiliations (or lack thereof). I actually think there's something more important than which flavor of the Christian god these guys worship. But the entire controversy highlights the lengths Republicans will go to rather than speak on issues that are important.

The question of religion was a hot issue in 1959, when John F. Kennedy ran for office. I'm not at all sure that the question is so important today for the rest of us. On the other hand, Mitt seems really dedicated to portraying himself as a latterday JFK, so maybe this is just more of the same. Personally, I think whatever people do in the privacy of their own church, prayer tent, synagogue or mosque is their own business--and should stay that way.

Fresh wounds from old cuts

Yesterday, Dec. 3, 2007, a day that will live in infamy, Walter O’Malley, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth you hear are the remains of die-hard Brooklyn Dodger fans who consider this honor as rubbing salt in their still fresh wounds.

Popular joke of the 1950s: A Dodger fan is locked in a room with Stalin, Hitler and O'Malley but with only two bullets. Who does he shoot? O'Malley, twice.

The issue was pretty simple. Ebbets Field was small, decrepit and had no parking (many of the team's fans had moved out of Brooklyn). O'Malley wanted a big, modern, privately owned domed stadium in Brooklyn (where land was available because a market was being torn down). New York City Building Commissioner Robert Moses wanted a city-owned stadium located in Flushing Meadows, NY, on land he had cleared for the World's Fair, which is more convenient to more people (this providing more revenue for the city).

Neither side would compromise and in the end they got what they wanted. O'Malley moved to a larger, modern venue in Los Angeles and Moses got Shea Stadium. What the fans wanted was lost in the equation. No one much cared what the fans wanted because in the end, fans will always want baseball and "if you build, it they will come," even if it was in Los Angeles. The Giants moved to San Francisco in the same year, but with a lot less rancor.

On the other hand, one could consider O'Malley a visionary because he expanded baseball beyond Missouri. Dodger Stadium remains a popular venue for baseball, with it's clean and still modern design and excellent sight lines. Of course, when the team was placed for sale, O'Malley refused any offer than would move the team out of Los Angeles. He seemed to need or want or enjoy (I don't know which), the myth that the Dodgers were thrown out of Brooklyn. Anyway the moment is passed, the team remains in Los Angeles and the land on which Ebbets Filed once stood is a housing development. If nothing else, the move from east to west ushered in an era of naked corporate greed. Both sides saw an opportunity to make more money and both sides jumped at the chance, without caring what the public thought.

O'Malley was first and foremost a real estate man. He designed, built, privately financed and maintained Dodger Stadium. It was and remains his park, his vision. Although old Brooklyn Dodger fans will forever hate the man, someone would have inevitably moved baseball west. Because O'Malley made that move, he is being honored by Cooperstown. And the move was about ticket sales because the more people you can seat, the more money you can make. Whether you enjoy baseball in the "friendly confines" or a small field or while sitting in comfort in a large stadium has always been less important to owners that how many butts are in the seats. The Chicago Cubs, for example, never have to change because no matter how miserable their season, the park is frequently sold out. And that, my friends, is what really counts to owners. Attendance is the reason we have night games, it's the reason teams move and the reason baseball exists.

However, in the pantheon of most loathed team owners, I submit that O'Malley is third behind Charley Comiskey and Robert Irsay, who moved the Baltimore Colts out of the city that loved them in the dead of night.

O'Malley is being honored as a visionary, who expanded baseball west to Los Angeles. In 1957, O'Malley took his team west in search of better real estate, leaving in his wake inconsolable Brooklyn Dodger fans who have never forgiven O'Malley for taking their team west. In these days of TV coverage and the Internet, it might seem like a small thing, but in those days when a baseball game could be followed on radios blaring from open windows and backyards as one walked down a city street, when one lived and died by their teams, well, it was the worst kind of back stabbing an owner could do to fans. On that day in 1957, I gave up baseball forever--maybe not forever, but I never felt the same about the game. It was a day on which the United States began a precipitous decline from a great nation of opportunity to the shuddering corporate wreck it has become, and from which it will never recover, unless the Dodgers return to Brooklyn and since that will never happen, we are doomed as a society. I was a kid in 1957, and I am old now, but the wound remains fresh.