Parapolitical Calendar for October 11

[Mark Thibodeau]

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On this day in the year *1991*, law professor *Anita Hill* testifies that
quota-hating quota-beneficiary Supreme Court nominee *Clarence Thomas* sexually
harassed her, making repeated unwanted sexual advances throughout her
tenure as his assistant. Conservatives accuse Hill of harboring a secret,
political hidden agenda.


Flash forward a few years, and these same conservatives have no problem
buying into the similarly unsubstantiated - and similarly impossible to
disprove - stories told (and sold) by *Paula "Penthouse" Jones*, *Kathleen
"4 different stories" Willey* and *Juanita "what year was I raped in?"
Broderick*. They hounded, pilloried and even went so far as to *impeach*
 president *Clinton* for lying about a consensual sexual dalliance
initiated by another.


Flash forward another four years, and when more than twenty women come
forward to accuse gubernatorial candidate *Arnold Schwarzenegger* of
groping, harassing and intimidating them, the nation's conservatives
undergo yet another ethical flip-flop.


So for those of you keeping score at home, here's the deal: Anita Hill was
(all evidence to the contrary) a politically motivated liar. The antebellum
damsels who claimed Clinton wagged his pecker at'em? They were telling the
TRUTH, obviously, and how dare you question their constantly-changing
stories?! And what about Schwarzenegger's dozens of accusers? Conservatives
were so outraged by these women's allegations that they canceled their
subscriptions to the Los Angeles Times for daring to report on them!


Hypocrisy, thy name is conservatism.


***


On this day in *1890*, in Washington, DC, the *Daughters of the American
Revolution* is founded.


***


On this day in *1899*, the Second Boer War begins: In South Africa, a war
between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free
State erupts.


***


On this day in *1910*, Former President *Theodore Roosevelt* becomes the
first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with *Arch
Hoxsey* in a plane built by the *Wright Brothers* at Kinloch Field
(Lambert-St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.


***


On this day in *1929*, *JC Penney* opens store #1252 in Milford, Delaware,
making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 U.S. states.


***


On this day in *1950*, the *FCC* issues *CBS* the first license to
broadcast *color television programming*. In those early days, however,
color TV was quite primitive. Technical limitations were such that only a
single color could be broadcast at any one time, creating a rather
disorienting viewing experience. And making matters worse was the fact that
color TV sets were prohibitively expensive, weighed as much as an
8-cylinder engine, and emitted enough radiation to hard-boil an egg. No
wonder it wasn't until 1968 that color sets first outsold black and white.


***


On this day in *1968*, *NASA* launches *Apollo 7*, the first successful
manned Apollo mission, with astronauts *Wally Schirra*, *Donn F. Eisele*
 and *Walter Cunningham* aboard.


***


On this day in *1972*, a *race riot
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Kitty_Hawk_riot>* occurs on the United
States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off the coast of Vietnam during
Operation Linebacker.


***


On this day in *1975*, *Saturday Night Live* debuts on NBC with *George
Carlin* as the host and *Andy Kaufman*, *Janis Ian* and *Billy Preston* as
guests.


***


On this day in *2001*, the *Polaroid* Corporation files for federal
bankruptcy protection.
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