Sun, Dec 13

2009—Sen. Joe Lieberman [I-Conn.] nixes a Medicare public option. 2003—U.S. troops drag Saddam Hussein out of a hole in the ground, so final victory in Iraq must be imminent. U.S. death toll so far: 547. 2000—Al Gore decides he’d rather be righteous than be president. 1988—In Texas, Ray Landry’s death is delayed 14 minutes when a tube falls from his arm and lethal chemicals spray across the room. 1978—An eager public finally gets its first Susan B. Anthony dollars. 1974—Defecting oceanographer Slava Kurilov leaps from a Soviet cruise ship, swims for three days, and reaches the Philippines safely. 1954—Because he sold a house in a …

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Sat, Dec 12

2006—The Portsmouth Herald misquotes Sen. Barack Obama [D-Ill.], who, the day before, in Portsmouth, did not say, “The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.” 2005— “I think we are welcomed [in Iraq],” says George W.[MD] Bush, “but it was not a peaceful welcome.” 2000—The Supreme Court selects George W.[MD] Bush as the 43rd President of these disunited states. 1998—For good measure, Congress whups a fourth article of impeachment on Pres. Clinton. 1995—A Flag Protection Amendment fails by three votes in the Senate. 1985—Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes at Gander, killing 248 U.S. paratroopers and eight crew. Islamic Jihad claims credit, …

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Fri, Dec 11

2006—President George W.[MD] Bush, on national TV, denies having ever been “a knee-walking drunk.” 2000—The Supreme Court hears Bush v. Gore. 1998—President Clinton begs forgiveness for his sins. Instead he gets three Articles of Impeachment. 1985—Veep George H.[H.]W. Bush, at a Manchester, N.H., dinner honoring the late William Loeb, reads aloud Loeb’s most scurrilous attacks against him. 1981—Soldiers of the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government murder 900 villagers at El Mozote. 1964—As Ernesto “Che” Guevara speaks at the United Nations, a 3.5 inch rocket launched from Queens falls harmlessly into the East River. 1960—Seeing at the last minute that JFK has his wife and kids with him, …

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Thurs, Dec 10

2011—The gundalow Piscataqua is launched on the eponymous river. 2004—Gary Webb, who exposed the CIA-Contra drug connection, dies from two gunshots in the face. The coroner calls it suicide. 1998—House Judiciary Committee debates impeaching Pres. Clinton for lying about his lewd behavior. 1992—Sen. Bob Packwood (Lecher-Ore.) apologizes for being a serial groper but refuses to resign. 1987—Murderer Stanley Draper and gangster John Kendall are sprung from a British prison by a pal in a hijacked helicopter. 1976—In a memo to President-elect Carter, pollster Pat Caddell makes the case for a “permanent campaign.” 1971—The Senate, buying Wm. Rehnquist’s lie disavowing a letter supporting racial segregation, confirms …

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Wed, Dec 9

2019—Leaked documents reveal that officials lied about the war in Afghanistan. Some profess to be shocked. 2008—The Governor of Illinois, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, is arrested for attempting to sell a Senate seat. 1983—Ed “Meese is a Pig” Meese says people go to soup kitchens because it’s “easier than paying.” 1970—Because he’s talking to General Al Haig, Henry Kissinger keeps it simple: “Kill anything that moves.” 1966—“We are in a much stronger position than two years ago. [Commies] will not be able to succeed [in Vietnam],” says Sec. of State Rusk. 1960—Its pilot asleep, a B-52 rolls into a dive over N.Y state. Fearing a crash, …

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Tues, Dec 8

2006—Congress votes to destroy the U.S. Postal Service by making it pre-fund pensions for 50 years. 2004—Soldiers in Iraq ask Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld why their vehicles aren’t armored. He says, “You go to war with the Army you have…not the Army you might want.” 1993—Bill Clinton signs NAFTA, shipping umpteen jobs elsewhere. 1982—To jumpstart a national dialogue on banning nuclear weapons, Norman D. Mayer, 66, threatens to blow up the Washington Monument with a dynamite-laden van. After ten hours, police shoot him dead. 1980—R.I.P. John Lennon. 1976—As a prop man moves a figure hanging from a gallows on the set of “The Six Million …

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