Short ‘n’ Stubby: Ms. Manx visits Kent State

Full disclosure: Ms. Manx was still litter-training when Kent State went down. She was also living in Northern Ontario at the time, and hadn’t heard of it till much, much later. But she thinks it’s still relevant in light of the times we live in (Free Speech Zones of Muskoka, the Stumpy Cat is glaring at YOU.) So it’s with how little has really changed in mind that she would like to bring to your attention the following:

Lots of people still haz a bit of Teh Stoopid about Kent State. To wit, USA Today:

…a campus that unwillingly became synonymous with protest…

Uh, try “synonymous with VIOLENT CRACKDOWNS AGAINST protest”, lame writer. Every US university campus, other than the most hardcore conservative, was at that time synonymous with protest against the Vietnam war, and universities in general have been so for as long as there have been foolish old farts who make bad policies for younger, wiser souls to protest against. To single out Kent State as a lone anti-war protest hotspot like this is ludicrous. And if you want to know what the biggest institution in the US to protest the war was, get this: It was the military itself.

More stoopid: Robert C. Cheeks, a hard-right-wing Catholic who praised the Kent State murders in the name of “order”. The coward has since deleted his crap, but Beliefnet’s pagan blogger, Gus diZerega, sets the record straight and delivers a fab-tabulous spanking.

And speaking of fab-tabulous spankings for craven historical revisionists (and all others touting the discredited line about how the National Guard fired on unarmed protesters and bystanders for the sake of “order”), how about this? Scientific analysis confirms that they were ordered by superiors to prepare to fire, regardless of any lack of aggression on the part of the victims. Nixon was not only escalating the war in Southeast Asia, but also on freedom of speech back home. Alan Canfora, one of the wounded survivors of the massacre, is now using this evidence as basis for a new investigation of the crime. Let’s hope he succeeds!

And while you’re at it, the Truth Tribunal website is a good place to visit and learn about the ongoing search for facts about Kent State. What’s truly appalling is that even now, 40 years after the fact, all the facts are still not a matter of public record. Let’s hope that changes, too.

Finally, if your blood is easily boiled, don’t click this link. But if you can convert that energy to righteous action, DO CLICK IT.