DEDICATION OF THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM, SEPTEMBER 3, 1971
ANTI WAR GROUPS SPOIL THE PARTY, PART 1.
The deja vu was almost too much for me on Thursday as I, and other anti war/anti-bush activists stood outside the gates to the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB. Riverside police patrolled incessantly up and down Harshman as we stood shivering in a light rain, holding our signs, waiting for the the Decider to show up. Nothing like Sept 3, 1971.
What’s that date got to do with anything? It was the dedication of the Air Force {war} Museum and Tricky Dick, otherwise known as President Richard Nixon [war criminal] was on board and, unlike Thursday, hundreds of protesters showed up to [un]welcome him to Dayton and before the day was done 154 of them had been arrested . Scooped up indiscriminately off the streets, packed into semi trailers & buses without even a nod to formal arrest procedures, some driven off the Air Base and held without charges for hours… the whole scene was one of mass chaos, the kind of action one would expect to occur in some South American dictatorship. But it was happening right here in Fairborn, Ohio.
What, you say you never heard about this?
Not surprising at all. The sanitized version of the dedication enshrined at the Museum bears NO resemblance to what actually occurred that day. It has always really bugged me ever since that this history got re-written and super sanitized. Thirty seven years later events still stands out in my memory.
The rows upon rows of Ohio Highway Patrol and County Sheriff’s cars lined up in a field next to AFLC headquarters. The Base side of Route 444 sealed off with barbed wire fencing and concertina wire, stretching from the old Museum at gate 1-c near Fairborn all the way to AFLC hdqts and beyond. The AF Security trucks stationed all along the way, Cops standing at the ready with their M-16 unslung. The helicopters whirling overhead, and, everywhere you looked there were hundreds [thousands??] of people. Loud slogan chanting people, people with anti-war signs marching down the highway to the new Museum site. Vietnam vets carrying a symbolic coffin and engaging bystanders with guerrilla street theater.
By August of 1971 major events associated with the war had brought anti war fervor in the Miami valley to a new pitch.
Same Museum, different war, very different response.
Aware that dedication of the new AF Museum was going to be a major event, a loose coalition of local anti-war groups had begun planning efforts to stage a demonstration at the Museum’s dedication early in the summer. News that Nixon was going to be the keynote speaker galvanized anti war force and raised the energy to a higher level: we were determined to spoil the party. And we did.
The anti-war demonstration at the dedication of the AF Museum involved not just Daytonian’s, but engaged people from all over the region. There were people from Cincinnati, Columbus and other parts of Ohio. There were, especially, students from Antioch College. The Yellow Springs students were also equipped with a radio station, WYSO-fm. And the campus was already awash with anti-war activities. Confronting Nixon fit right in to what was already in motion on campus.
{As I am writing this it’s impossible not to think about that role vis a vis the current crisis gripping Antioch. Without belaboring a point, it IS relevant, AND critical, to a “free” society that intellectual freedom is a cornerstone principle. Students have historically been at the forefront of social change, and when an atmosphere exist that not only encourages but nurtures intellectual freedom amazing can things happen. And did. That’s what I remember.}
An excerpt from the Yellow Springs News notes
In 1971, when President Richard Nixon appeared at the Air Force Museum’s opening, a number of people from Antioch and Yellow Springs who tried to attend were detained by authorities. A group of Yellow Springs residents and Antioch students and workers also demonstrated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on April 20, 1972. Many local residents subsequently lent money to cover the bail of the 154 who were arrested there.
[The next installment of this post will add more details about the arrests that took place and the controversy that was created as a result. Links to a NY Time article and the YS News are given below. There is also a link to the text of Nixon’s speech. I encourage others who were at the demo to please, send me your commentary, pictures or printed material, your memories of what happened at the base that day to help memorialize a very important event in Miami Valley anti-war history. Perhaps we can even get the AF Museum to acknowledge the REAL history of the dedication!!]
http://www.ysnews.com/stories/2003/october/history.html
ny-times-af-museum-article.pdf
Nixon’s speech: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3135
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This is a stunningly well researched and insightful look at the role of the Dayton Development Coalition {DDC} in the proposed closing of Antioch College. The DDC appears to be acting as a “shadow” government, doing the bidding of the local ruling elites.Much credit goes to the authors of this remarkable document for exposing this dirty political laundry for all to see.
Visit theBlaze @Closing Antioch College: Cui Bono?
How Antioch University is cozying-up with developers amidst regional military base realignmentBy Laura Fathauer
While the country talks of recession, the Dayton region is preparing for a growth of high-paying, high-tech jobs. Along with this is a growth of construction and infrastructure development, some of which can already be seen around Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the Mall at Fairfield Commons.
Many of the jobs gained will need to be filled locally, and area organizations and educational institutions are already creating cooperative educational efforts to address these workforce needs. Almost all of this growth is related to the missions and contractors that will be moving on or near the base. It seems that nothing in the region is untouched by the results of the US Military’s 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process.
Including, quite possibly, a small liberal arts institution in Yellow Springs Ohio, called Antioch College. (more…)
The Antioch University Board of Trustees announced that a decision had been made to keep the Antioch College campus in Yellow Springs open.
Key elements of the agreement include:
Returning to the Ohio Board of Regents to certify remaining open
A change in the role of the Chancellor, making it a collaborative position with the Alumni Board and with no veto powers.
A new president will be selected jointly by University and Alumni Boards.
A commitment by the Alumni Board to raise and disburse directly to the College for use as it and the Board saw fit, the sum of $62.6 million dollars over the next 3 fiscal years. Those monies to arrive as follows:
Expect some celebrating to be taking place today and tonight in the village of Yellow Springs and on the Antioch campus.
11/04 update//A friend sent me a link to an article about Antioch that appears in the notorious Wingnut journal, the Weakly Standard [helmed by the grand puba of Wingnuts himself, William Kristol]. Granting its Wingnut bias as a given, this chronicling of one version of the schools long downward slide is fascinating in its detail. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/306jqecg.asp?pg=1
Last week’s announcement that Antioch University’s board was open to considering a plan to avoid suspending the operations of Antioch College brought uncharacteristic peace to a campus where many students, professors and alumni distrust the central university administration and board. The distrust is back
On Friday, Sept 1, the university’s chancellor, Toni Murdock, announced that Steven W. Lawry was stepping down immediately as president of Antioch College. Lawry had earlier announced plans to leave at the end of year. No reason was given for his immediate departure, nor did the announcement indicate who made the decision that he would leave immediately.
While several press accounts and statements from Antioch officials over the weekend implied that the decision was Lawry’s, multiple knowledgeable sources said that Murdock forced Lawry to leave because she was angry over his public calls for reform of the college’s governance. Relations have so deteriorated that Lawry — the Antioch official who has the trust of alumni, student and faculty leaders — has been barred from campus or from contacting alumni. (The latter ban will apparently be discussed at meetings this week because it conflicts with statements from university leaders that Lawry would be working with alumni leaders to come up with a plan to keep the college operating.)
Antioch University’s board announced in June that it would suspend operations of Antioch College, the liberal arts institution based in Yellow Springs, Ohio, that was founded by Horace Mann, at the end of the coming academic year. Since then, supporters of keeping the college operating have been deeply critical of the university’s board and administration. That anger subsided a bit with last week’s news about the board being willing to consider plans for keeping the college open, but the anger appears to be returning in force.
Many again doubt the commitment of the board to keeping the college open. Rumors also were flying around the campus and alumni networks over the weekend that the central administration was taking over the college’s fund raising operations. Locks were reportedly changed on some offices and e-mail access changed. One of the major points of dispute between alumni and the university administration is who will control fund raising. Many fear that the college will not be able to raise money if potential donors feel the funds could end up helping other parts of the university.
Mary Lou LaPierre, vice chancellor and chief spokeswoman for the university administration, is usually quick to rebut various rumors about the university. But on Lawry’s reported dismissal, she said she didn’t know. She added, though, that “given our current situation and the need to provide our new and continuing students with a rich academic residential year, the chancellor has put in place a team to achieve that goal.” On fund raising, she said that the board and administration “intend to collaborate in an unprecedented way” with alumni leaders.
Lawry declined to comment on his departure, except to say: “I’ve had a wonderful experience at Antioch. We’ve strengthened the college’s academic offerings. Our intellectual and social environment better embraces a diversity of perspectives. I leave feeling very supported by the Antioch College communty.”
Rick Daily, treasurer of the Antioch College Alumni Board of Directors, said in an interview Monday that Lawry’s dismissal was “unnecessary” and “counterproductive.” At a time that the university needs to build the confidence of college supporters, he said “this didn’t help build confidence.”
“Steve was a very valuable guy for us,” Daily said. “He’s passionate about the college, about the need for a revised governance structure, where Antioch College will be self-governing within the university. We need that passion.”
Daily, who will be on campus this week negotiating with university officials, said he did not understand why Lawry was barred from campus. Daily said he was still hopeful that the board would agree to keep the college running, but he stressed that he didn’t think the board had moved away from its original take on the issues. “They are committed to shutting the college down. That’s their plan, and all they’ve agreed to do is talk to us.”
Subject: Antioch BoT Meeting in Cincinnati
Attend the Cincinnati Meeting on 25th
Key moment in the campaign to keep the college open
Saturday, August 25, 2007
9:00-11:30 a.m. Open Forum Meeting With the Antioch University Board
of Trustees
This is a crucial moment; it is very important for us to be a visible
presence in Cincinnati.
Together we must express our deep concern about the college and our
commitment to keep it open.
HOLIDAY INN at CINCINNATI AIRPORT is only 90 minutes from Yellow Springs.
1717 Airport Exchange Blvd.
Erlanger, Kentucky 41018
(859) 371-2233 phone
Direction to Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport
http://www.whihotels.com/ebrochures/hicincinnatiairport/contact.shtml
** Do you need a ride?
** Do you have room in your car for carpooling?
Let us know by replying to this address. We’ll let you know about the
detail of carpooling by Thursday night.
GLAD to see Karl Rove leaving the White House, though very skeptical that much will actually change…I mean how can Dubya operate without his Brain??
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The Committee for a Democratic Majority, in an email from Sen Ted Kennedy, sent this message:
Two weeks ago, the Bush Administration and their rubber-stamp Republicans forced revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that expand the government’s right to spy on American citizens without outside oversight.
Each of us wants to do everything in our power to protect America from the threat of terrorism. But the Bush Administration refuses to draw a line between fighting terrorism and violating basic civil liberties.
Once again, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez are taking the Bill of Rights into their own hands. Tell the White House to stop scaring the American people into turning over their rights:
Sign the petition at http://www.democraticmajority.com/wiretaps
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For more info on the controversy about Antioch College check out Antiochians.org where you will find much information NOT covered by the MSM, including links to the Dayton Development Coalition which is rumored to be working to bring a unit of the General Dynamics Corp. to be sited next to the new grounds of McGregor University located on the outskirts of the Village proper…. a fascinating journey into the inner machinations surrounding the pending closing of Antioch College.
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Here’s a really audacious move:
RNC Now Seeks Shelter of Executive Privilege
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report
The Republican National Committee said it will not abide by a subpoena and turn over documents to a Congressional committee investigating the firings of at least eight US attorneys last year because the RNC is waiting to see if the White House will assert executive privilege over RNC documents at the center of the controversy, according to an outside law firm retained by the RNC.
Get the whole story at: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081407A.shtml
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President Bush, in another anti-science move, has vetoed Senate Bill 5 regarding stem cell research:
The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 – (Sec. 2) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells, regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo.
Pandering to his ever dwindling support base Bush takes Another step back from the future of medical research. Is it now clear that these guys just don’t get it???
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The Queen of Viscousness, Ann Coulter is due to speak at Xavier University in Cincinnati on September 6. Counter demonstrations of disgust are in the works.
The Human Rights campaign is spearheading a drive to raise funds for Progressive Xavier campus student groups as a positive counterbalance to the the Queen’s visit. Visit https://secure.ga4.org/01/thanksann to make a donation.
In case you need your bllod pressure raised a bit, here a few ugly quotes from Ms Coulter’s Book of Nasties:
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Back on July 30th the NY Times published an op ed piece that sought to claim that the Iraq War was
By MICHAEL E. O’HANLON and KENNETH M. POLLACK…
Sunday August 12, 2007 09:36 EST
Writes::
which can be read in full at http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/08/12/ohanlon/index.htm.
The original article was widely quoted and reproduced by War Supporters seeking cover for the miserable failure[s] in the run -up and conduct of the war. Glenn Greenwald conducted an interview with Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, one of the report’s author’s. For insight into understanding the Bush administrations efforts at cover-up of the past and current situation in Iraq this is must reading.