OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES - A Life in War, Law and Ideas

Description

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES - A Life in War, Law and Ideas by Stephen Budiansky

Oliver Wendell Holmes, a Boston Brahmin, a thrice wounded civil war veteran with the military mustache, the image of a hero from central casting, and that is before you consider his incredible accomplishments as a scholar, a judge and a Supreme Court Justice for over three decades. Our core book is OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES - A Life in War, Law and Ideas by Stephen Budiansky.

We will look at his pioneering early legal scholarship in the study and understanding of the common law, evolving and not staid, to meet the changing needs of society.

In his passionate dissents such as the case of Abrams v. United States, we will study Holmes’ groundwork for the modern constitutional protection of freedom of speech. And a year later, writing for the Supreme Court’s majority in Missouri v. Holland, we will consider Holmes introduction of the concept of a living Constitution. He writes that this Constitution should be properly interpreted “in the light of our whole experience, and not merely in that of what was said a hundred years ago.”

Our core book will provide an interesting road-map as it drawing on many previously unpublished letters and records, and offers a full portrait of this pivotal American figure, whose zest for life, wit, and intellect left a profound legacy in law and Constitutional rights.  He was also an inspiring example of how to lead a meaningful life in a world of uncertainty and upheaval.  

Weekly Topics

1    Prologue; the influence on Holmes of his father, physician, poet and polymath.  (Pg 1-47)

2    His New England boyhood; first year of military service in the Harvard Regiment during the Civil War.  (Pg 48-93)

3    The Battle of Antietam; life in "the wilderness;" he leaves the army a changed man after his 3-year enlistment expires.  (Pg 93-138)

4    Graduation with a law degree, tour of Europe; his determination to blaze his own way in law from the start; publication of The Common Law.  (Pg 138-178)

5    Appointment to the Massachusetts Supreme Court and its overwhelming workload; his wife Fanny makes life poetry for him; 1891, first of several cases on economic regulation and the rights of labor.  (Pg 179-228)

6    Behind-the-scenes life on the bench - not always collegial; finding his judicial voice; his flirtations; 1902, appointment to the US Supreme Court; opinions written with speed and brevity, which causes problems; his love of the job.  (Pg 229-282)

7    Cases that challenge labor & antitrust laws stir up a hornet's nest; tensions with Roosevelt; dinner parties in their newly remodeled Washington home.  (Pg 283-322)

8    Taft completely remakes the Court, including Edward White as Chief Justice; Holmes in dissent.  (Pg 322-365)

9    Relationships with Learned Hand and other associates; the issue of free speech; life on the Taft Court. (Pg 366-419)

10  His last years on the Court; life in retirement; epilogue (Pg 420-461)

Bibliography

Budiansky, Stephen; Oliver Wendell Holmes:  A Life of War, Law and Ideas; W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.

HIGH CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS - A History and Analysis of Impeachment for the Age of Trump

Description

The Donald Trump Impeachment is over, or is it?  This SDG is a historical and analytical look at the process of Impeachment from its inception in the monarchies of Europe (Britain in the1300's), debate in the constitutional convention after the Revolutionary War, the Federalist Papers, the final product in the U.S. Constitution thru Donald Trump and beyond.  The SDG will include all facets of Impeachment in the United States, including Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump.  Finally, we will discuss if the process is effective as envisioned by the founding fathers and where it may evolve in today's highly partisan country.

Weekly Topics

Week One:  How to Interpret the Constitutions Impeachment Clauses .  British Impeachments (1376-1787), American Impeachments before 1787. 

Week Two:  The Founders' Impeachment, Impeaching Legislators and Lesser Executive Branch Officials, Impeachment of Judges.

Week Three:  Impeachment of Andrew Johnson.  The south has lost the civil war, Abraham Lincoln has been assigned and Andrew Johnson is now president.  Presidential succession issue in 1865 (U.S. Constitution and Johnson was an accidental president).  Appointment of U.S. Senators, not then elected.  Reconstruction issues.  Lincoln's cabinet remains and issues between Johnson and congress.  Civil Rights Bill of 1866.  Veto of Military Reconstruction Act, Impeachment and trial of Johnson (the trial in the senate of Andrew Johnson set the stage for the trials of Presidents Clinton and Trump).

Week Four:  The Fall of President Richard M. Nixon Richard.  

Week Five:  The Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton. 

Week Six:  The Trump Era: The Scope of Impeachable Presidential Conduct, Impeachment for Obstruction of Justice, Impeachment for Abuse of pardon Power, Impeachment for Lying, Impeachment for Obstruction of Congress, Impeachment for Corruption (Schemes of Perculation, the Emoluments Clauses and Avaricious President), the Twenty-fifth Amendment as an Alternative to Impeachment.

Week Seven:  Impeaching Donald Trump and an open discussion of where the state of Presidential Impeachment is as a political tool in these times of high charged partisan times. 

Bibliography

Bowman III, Frank O., High Crimes and Misdemeanors, A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump. Cambridge University Press 2019; Jon Meacham on Andrew Johnson, Timothy Naftali on Richard Nixon, Peter Baker on Bill Clinton and Jeffrey A. Engel on the Constitution and Donald Trump, Impeachment, An American History, Modern Library, New York 2018; Selected Sections of the Federalist Papers, U.S. Constitution and various articles to be provided in pdf format.

Waking the Giant, the dynamic world beneath our feet

Description

The ground beneath our feet may seem safe and solid but earthquakes, volcanic blasts and other hazardous natural phenomena leave no doubt that this isn't the case.  The earth is a dynamic planet of shifting tectonic plates that is responsive to change, particularly when there is a dynamic climate transition.  Over the past 20,000 years, the earth has undergone an astonishing transformation from  frigid wasteland to the temperate world upon which our civilization has grown and thrived.  The disturbing fact is that there are clear signs that human-induced climate change is awakening the slumbering giant on which we live.

 The core book is delightful, easy to read and wonderfully informative.

Weekly Topics

1.  The Storm after the Calm.  Formation of the planet, early life, the K-T mass extinction. Chicxulub crater impact

2.  Once and Future Climate.  Cenozoic era, roller-coaster climate, new organisms 

3.  Nice Day for an Eruption. Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Iceland volcanos 2010), 1783 Grimsvotn, Tambora (1815), Pavlof (Alaska), Monsterrat. impact on climate, Is there such a thing as an "earthquake season?"

4.  Bouncing back (de-glaciation).  Relationship between water and earthquakes.  Resounding lithosphere.  Basel, Switzerland (1356), New Madrid (1811), Charleston, SC (1886)

5.  The Earth in Motion.  Volcanos and volcanic collapses: Mt. Etna, Canary Islands, Mt. St. Helens, Hawaii, Krakatoa 

6.  Climate connection.  Sea level and temperature changes.  why are there more collapses when temperature is high?

7.  Triggers :  Slow cracking, collapsing volcanos, tsunamis, rising global temperatures, masses of loose debris.  Landslides caused by water   Italy: Vajont Dam (Mt. Toc). Man-made causes?:  

Bibliography

"Waking the Giant", by Bill McGuire

Genre Films that Extend the Genre

Description

Genre films require suspension of disbelief, and we viewers love them for that.  Westerns: we are riveted as men face each other drawing six guns.  Film noir: bad guys looking great in fedoras are done in by sexy dames.  Musicals:  we enjoy characters interrupting dialog to break into those wonderful song and dance routines.  But, sometimes, the suspension of disbelief we bring to genre films lets us see and feel more than we can in “reality” films.  In this SDG we will watch films that are more than simple genre, they extend the genre in ways that are touching, that are powerful.    

In the western The Oxbow Incident, men in anger have to make moral choices.  In True Confessions are cops and murder and corruption, but none of that is what we care about.  In Seconds we wonder if we can begin a second life, and if we do, then who are we?  Pennies from Heaven is a musical that dares us to accept absurdity, and to accept both death and life when neither should be.  Watching The Last Wave we ask, when is a fantasy profoundly religious, and when is a fantasy too true?  Join this SDG and watch these films—all available on Netflix or youtube--with your disbelief suspended as the more-than-genre films take you away.

Weekly Topics

Except for the film discussions of the first two weeks lead by the coordinator and co-coordinator, all films and their dates of discussions will be picked at the pre-meetings.  The films need not and likely will not be discussed in the order below.

Westerns:   

The Oxbow Incident 1942; Some men make moral choices, some don’t, and some make peace with their inevitable death.

The Hanging Tree 1959; Yes, a western with Gary Cooper and horses and six guns and men shot down, but why is this like a wonderful Douglas Sirk heroine film?

Johnny Guitar 1954; Strong men with revolvers, yes but in this over-the-top lush colored film the final showdown is between whom?

Film noir/who-done-it

True Confessions 1981; A crime is committed, corruption is rampant.  Yet the crime solution and the corruption confronted are not what’s important to the lead characters or to us.

Cutter’s Way 1981; In the guise of a did-he-do-it, this post-Vietnam war film is about who controls power, what can we do about it, and what that means to us.

The Letter 1940; Film noir dramatization of white evil in Malaysia from which there is no escape.

Musicals:

Pennies from Heaven 1981; What is a musical, what is living a dream, and can the audience accept absurdity, can you?

Gospel at Colonus 1983; Is it a tragedy, or a musical, or a modern take on a famous play? Yes. 

The Red Shoes 1948; It is a musical—two beautiful star crossed lovers, music and dancing, but what dancing, what music and what beauty!

Science Fiction/ Fantasy:

Portrait of Jennie 1948; Love over time and space that is impossible and beautiful.

Seconds 1966; Could you live a second life after a first life?  But then how can you live it, and who are you?

The Last Wave, 1977; When is a fantasy religious?  And, what if it is all too true?

Hollywood:

Day of the Locust 1975; Hollywood make believe becomes surreal and all too intense. 

In a Lonely Place 1950; Is this a Hollywood story, a love story, a who-done-it?   Gloria Grahame has to decide, and decide again.

Bibliography

No core book.

What If?: Essays and Discussions On Actual And Counterfactual History

Description

 "The essays collected in "The Collected What If?" are sober extrapolations from historical fact. Even so, they're a lot of fun. They remind us of the slender threads on which our past hangs. One small break -- at Poitiers or on Long Island, at Gettysburg or in Berlin -- might have unraveled the entire tapestry of modern history." --CNN 

Churchill called them ''the terrible ifs.'' He meant those little nudges, those very slight alterations, that might have changed the outcome of a battle, for instance, and in a snowballing process an entire happening of history could have turned out different.  Churchill's chilling “ifs” have become the mind game of a small but cultist book genre called Alternative history, Speculative history, Counterfactual history or Hypothetical history. Some examples:

• If Socrates had died in battle during the Peloponnesian War, Christianity and Western thought as a whole could be radically different. 

• What the incredible Chinese navy could have accomplished in the Atlantic and the New World had the Ming emperors not turned inwards.  Might the Chinese have discovered the New World, and even prevented the horrors of the Atlantic Slave Trade?

• What if Wellington had been leading the British Armies in America, as he had been asked to, rather than worrying about Napoleon? 

• If Teddy Roosevelt had defeated Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 election, would WWI have ended sooner?  Effects on global geopolitics?

• One bureaucrat may have kept Germany from winning WWI by hindering their program of unrestricted submarine warfare.

These questions provide the starting points for interesting discussions of the actual historical events and their alternative outcomes.  Many armchair historians have spent hours daydreaming of what might have been if some turning point in history had gone another way. The appeal of our Core Book (The Collected What If?: The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been) is that editor Robert Cowley hired professional historians to expand on these imaginative questions via an engrossing series of essays on counterfactual history.  Mr. Cowley enticed historians such as David McCullough, Stephen E. Ambrose, John Lukacs, James M. McPherson, James Bradley, Caleb Carr, and John Keegan to consider and develop these speculations. The SD/G will take a look at selected historical events from the Core Book's forty-five essays.  

Each historian examined a pivotal event, then presents the intriguing ramifications had the event come out differently. Authors develop their specific conjectures, their biases and assumptions about the forces of history—the great man theory, randomness, uncertainty effects, statistical probabilities, economic, religious and sociological forces, et al.  

During our sessions, these historically-oriented discussion topics will include the:            

• Actual history of the event(s) considered in the essay(s)            

• Persons, politics, societies, biases, religions, economics, technology, special circumstances, etc from the original history            

• Historical ramifications and impacts of the original historical event           

• “What-if” circumstances or incidents that could perturb the original history           

• “Downstream” impacts, implications, changes, etc. of the “What-ifs”

Tired of historical events turning out the same old way?  Use your imagination and creativity to explore and build on the alternatives provide by our historians.

Weekly Topics

Our Core Book contains 45 candidate "What-If" scenarios for our 14 session discussions.

Here is the set of "curated" Weekly Topics from which SDG participants would select.

1. Infectious Alternatives:  What if a plague had not forced the Assyrians to withdraw from their siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC?

2. Not by a Nose: The triumph of Anthony and Cleopatra at Actium. 31 BC.

3. Furor Teutonicus: The Teutoburg Forest, A.D. 9: What if Varus had defeated Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest?

4. The Dark Ages Made Lighter: What if the battles of Adrianople in 378 and Poitiers in 732 had been won by the Romans and the Muslims, respectively?

5. The Chinese Discovery of the New World, 15th Century: What the expeditions of a eunuch admiral might have led to.

6. What if Pizarro Had Not Found Potatoes in Peru? 1532: History’s humble roots

7. Martin Luther Burns at the Stake, 1521: O God, is Luther dead!

8. The Repulse of the English Fireships and Unlikely Victory: What if the 1588 Spanish Armada had landed in England?

9. What if the Americans lost the Revolutionary War?: Thirteen ways are presented, and What the Fog Wrought: What if George Washington and his forces had not escaped after losing the Battle of Long Island?

10. The What-Ifs of 1914: What if Great Britain had remained neutral in World War

11. Our Midway Disaster: What if the Japanese had won the Battle of Midway?

12. Enigma Uncracked: The Allies fail to break the German ciphers

13. No Bomb, No End: The Operation Olympic disaster, Japan 1945

14. A Tale of Three Congressmen, 1948: America without Nixon, Johnson or Kennedy

With coordinator concurrence, SDG participants may substitute other essays from the Core Book. 

Some alternate "meaty" topics for consideration

• If Socrates had died in battle during the Peloponnesian War, Christianity and Western thought as a whole could be radically different.

• What if Wellington had been leading the British Armies in America, as he had been asked to, rather than worrying about Napoleon?

• If Teddy Roosevelt had defeated Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 election, would WWI have ended sooner?  Global geopolitics effects?

• A ragtag group of WWII Australian soldiers held back thousands of well-trained Japanese forces on the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea; and prevented the enemy from taking Port Moresby and, thus, Australia.

• What would have happened had Pius XII protested the Holocaust, which he twice had a chance to do?

Bibliography

Core Book:  Robert Cowley (Editor), The Collected What-If?:  Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Been, G.P. Putnam/Penguin, New York, 2006

Supplementary/Background Books for Cowley's what-if scenarios:

On World War II:  Dennis E. Showalter, If the Allies Had Fallen: Sixty Alternate Scenarios of World War II, Skyhorse Publishing, new York, January 2012, (From the Munich crisis to the dropping of the first atomic bomb, and from Hitler's declaration of war on the United States to the D-Day landings, historians suggest what would have been if key events in the war had gone differently.)

On 20th Century History:  Harry Turtledove, The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, Del Rey, 2001 (Harry Turtledove is the award-winning author of many alternate-history works.)

Note: There are numerous relevant books and websites (esp. on Wikipedia or via Google searches) to be found and enjoyed that describe the selected historical events.

Elections 2020

Description

Every four years our nation goes through a political paroxysm of (pick one):  furious activity, anxiety, fear, or loathing.  The Presidential election -- this year may be the worst ever.  The nation has gone through a grueling time since the 2016 election.   Now, not only must we choose our president & vice-president, 1/3 of all Senators, all members of the House of Representatives, countless governors and state legislators – we are faced with two very different philosophies of governance. 

This SDG proposes to study Election 2020 in each of the three terms in 2020.  While we will focus on the Presidential race, we’ll also discuss important local and national trends & issues as they emerge.

During the course of the year, we'll cover:  election funding; PACs and SUPER PACs; how to win friends & votes:  advertising/PR/events; endorsements & what they mean; analyses of all debates; media coverage – fair and balanced, or…; geographical differences; polls & pollsters; real issues and phony issues; friends and foes; is honesty the best policy?; how do politicians approach/avoid talking about issues, and any and all relevant news.

Election 2020 #2 – Spring/Summer

By this point, the Presidential field is pretty narrow.  Competition for the Vice-Presidential slot is increasing.  Primaries are over, and platform discussions begin.  And then… conventions.

 Election 2020 #3 – Fall 

We will discuss how the campaigns are faring… and then, after the results are in, we’ll analyze them.

Note:  Since committing to a year-long course may be difficult or impractical, persons will initially sign up for Winter Term.  Those who wish to stay in the course will have priority for the nest term(s).  Open spaces will be filled at registration.

Toni Morrison

Description

Toni Morrison’s imaginative, vivid writing will captivate you." She is the winner of the Noble Prize, National Book Circle Award, the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the PEN/ Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. We will delve into this treasure trove of beautiful writing.

Weekly Topics

1. Bluest Eyes

2. Bluest Eyes pt 2

3. Sula

4. Sula pt 2

5. Song of Solomon

6. Song of Solomon pt 2

7. Beloved

8. Beloved pt 2 

9. Source of Self Reliance

10. Source of Self Reliance pt 2

Bibliography

Books listed above

Crime and Punishment--Fyodor Dostoevsky

Description

A desperate young man plots the perfect crime-the murder of a pawnbroker-an unpleasant old woman no one loves and no one will mourn.  Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to transgress moral law if it will ultimately benefit humanity?  So begins one of the greatest novels ever written, a psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, a  fascinating detective thriller infused with philosophical, religious and social commentary.  Experience the themes of mid-19th Century Russia--poverty, religion, mysticism, political ferment and nihilism.  From dirty backrooms and dingy bars, journey into the darkest recesses of the depraved mind and witness sin, guilt and redemption.  Dostoevsky is the acknowledged master of psychological drama and this is his masterpiece.  Originally serialized more than 150 years ago, it is peopled with remarkable characters and remains as fresh and current as today's news.

Weekly Topics

1.  Pages 1-50

2.  Pages 50-106

3.  Pages 109-142; 142-172

4.  Pages 172-232

5.  Pages 235-282

6.  Pages 282-334

7.  Pages 337-367; 367-396

8.  Pages 399-453

9.  Pages 454-487; 487-507

10.  Pages 507-555

11.  Pages 555-580; 580-513

12.  Pages 614-658

Bibliography

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Oliver Ready, Penguin Books

Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century

Description

Richard Holbrooke may have been the last in a line of free-wheeling, larger-than-life United States diplomats.  He was a central figure in most of this country's foreign entanglements, from Vietnam to Afghanistan.  His greatest success was the Dayton Accord, resolving the wars in the former Yugoslavia.  But his two dreams, winning a Nobel Peace Prize and being named as Secretary of State, eluded him.  George Packer's deeply researched book offers a balanced appraisal of a massively ambitious man as well as a lens through which to view fifty momentous years of United States foreign policy.

Weekly Topics

1.  Prologue, Dreams so Far Away, and Vietnam (part 1)

2.  Vietnam (part 2)

3.  How Does He Do It?

4.  Swallow Hard

5.  Since I Am Now Hopeless

6.  Bosnia (part 1)

7.  Bosnia (part 2)

8.  We Are Close to Our Dreams

9.  You're Either Going to Win or Fall

10.  Afghanistan (part 1)

11.  Afghanistan (part 2) and Epilogue

Bibliography

George Packer, Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (Knopf)