History: The Year is 1922

I've uploaded year 1922 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1922

Here are some one liners...


Welcome to the Roaring 20s -- I talk about flappers, alcohol and the Lost Generation.

Corruption at the Highest Levels! -- This is the Tea Pot Dome scandal.

Your Eugenics Update -- Just giving a sense of where the movement is right now.

Notable Births -- Charles M. Schulz, Betty White and Bea Arthur, Doris Day, Jack Kerouac, Norman Lear, Lyndon LaRouche and George McGovern.

In Other News -- The Lincoln Memorial, the California Grizzly and Eskimo Pies.

Welcome to the Roaring 20s

You are all a lost generation...

-- Gertrud Stein, as quoted by Ernest Hemingway. ^[1]

The "War to End all Wars" has killed off millions of men of marriageable age, leaving young women wondering whether there is a point to life anymore. After all, marriage is the ultimate goal. Isn't it? But this is a brave new world. The only life worth living brings excitement, novelty and escape.... not children. Scantily-clad women are wearing Coco's latest perfume: Chanel No. 5. They are smoking, drinking and engaging in sex simply because they can. Concerned fathers discover condoms and empty beer bottles on the backseat of the family sedan. The unruly teens respond, "Oh Daddy, you are so old-fashioned!" A new generation of writers has appeared such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and his latest book "The Beautiful and Damned," which has struck a nerve with young girls called "flappers". Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda, is considered the first flapper, and she is angry. Somehow her diary has been turned into her husband's best seller! Not to worry. A drink will fix that. Maybe more than one. Definitely more than one. Alcoholism will consume Fitzgerald's career, his marriage and his health. By the age of 44 he will be dead. And yes. The video game "The Legend of Zelda" will be named after Mrs. Fitzgerald. Her name means "Lucky", and by outward appearances she seems so... but no. Zelda's path will lead to insanity and a fiery death. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

My Take by Alex Shrugged
The generation of that time was dark and cynical, so they tended to fall to drink. They had a better life than any previous generation, but their optimistic vision had been crushed by World War 1. All those dead people left a heck of a hole in a lot of people's future. It is easy to blame various authors for misleading the public into immoral and unwise acts, but those authors seemed to reflect their generation rather than lead it. This reminds me of the popular radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh. The Establishment claims that he is programming mind-numbed robots to do his bidding, but people tune in because he puts into words what they are already thinking. So it was with the flappers of the 1920s and the "Lost Generation" authors. They became the model of young social rebellion for generations to come. Some say they broke the mold, but the mold was already broken by World War 1. What emerged was angry, defiant and ungovernable. ^{[7] [8]}

Corruption at the Highest Levels!

Or is it business as usual? Responsibility for maintaining the strategic fuel reserve for the Navy has been transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall. Two of those reserves are named Tea Pot Dome and Elk Hills. They are leased to two oil companies owned by Hall's friends. These leases are secret, no-bid contracts to people so friendly with Secretary Hall that they make regular gifts to him of cattle and satchels filled with money... lots of money... because that is what friends do. Right? (Sure, Wilbur.) These oil companies are supposed to pump out the oil and sell it. They will then use that money to build large tanks to hold oil for the Navy and to build an oil pipeline. For those not familiar with this process... this is called graft, kickbacks, and collusion. When the truth comes out, the stuff really hits the fan. Secretary Fall is one of President Harding's old poker buddies, so Harding is made part of the scandal. Law suits and a Senate investigation will uncover the corruption... mostly. Secretary Fall will become the first cabinet Secretary to go to prison for his actions while in office.

I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends...

--President Warren Harding commenting on Secretary Fall and the Tea Pot Dome scandal. ^[9]

My Take by Alex Shrugged
President Harding died of a cerebral hemorrhage before the official investigation could get rolling. Coolidge took office and appointed two special prosecutors because no one trusted the Justice Department. (Imagine that.) The oil companies lost their leases, but otherwise didn't suffer too much. There was some justification for pumping the oil into large tanks because private oil wells nearby were already pulling the oil out of those so-called reserves. It was all the kickbacks and outright bribes that did in Secretary Fall. Of course, today a lot of Senators and Congressmen go to Washington as paupers and return as millionaires.... not because of bribery, but because they take advantage of real good deals that happen to come their way. They are amazingly lucky. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Your Eugenics Update

Forced sterilization laws in 7 states have been struck down by the Supreme Court because they only apply to institutionalized members of society such as prisoners, and mental patients. The laws also lack a means of appeal. Nevertheless, doctors are sterilizing people on their own authority, believing that criminality, alcoholism and promiscuity are hereditary in nature. In many cases, the patients believe that they are having an appendectomy or whatever vague lie the doctor can think of. Last year, Congress passed a new law limiting the immigration of Italians, Russians, Jews, and Poles. Immigration has dropped to a third of what it was last year. Dr. Harry Laughlin of the Eugenics Record Office has testified to Congress that recent immigrants are of inborn stock of poor quality. Dr. Laughlin will soon be given access to the US Census records, so there is plenty more to come from the Eugenics Record Office. Stay tuned. ^[13]

If America doesn't keep out the queer, alien, mongrelized people of Southern and Eastern Europe, her crop of citizens will eventually be dwarfed and mongrelized in turn.

--The Saturday Evening Post, 1923, in support of Dr. Laughlin. ^[14]

My Take by Alex Shrugged
Regarding surgeons performing operations without the full and knowledgeable consent of the patient, I have no proof, but I strongly suspect that my internist removed my appendix at the same time he was removing my gall bladder. We had a brief discussion about it prior to putting me under. The discussion seemed to have no point except that he wanted to get a sense of what I might think of a double operation. I recall telling him that it made a lot of sense since he would already have me open. Only later did I realize that he might have been fishing for permission to go ahead and do it on the sly. Honestly, I have no idea if he removed my appendix, but I still wonder.

Notable Births

• Charles M. Schulz (Of the comic strip "Peanuts") ^[15]

• Golden Girls: Betty White and Bea Arthur ^{[16] [17]}

• Doris Day (Big Band singer, and romantic comedy actress.) ^[18]

• Jack Kerouac (The "Beat Generation" author) ^{[19] [20]}

• Norman Lear (Producer of "All in the Family" and founder of "People for the American Way".) ^[21]

• Lyndon LaRouche (Political activist.) ^{[22] [23]}

• George McGovern (During McGovern's run for President, Nixon operatives will be caught breaking into the DNC offices at the Watergate.) ^[24]

In Other News

• The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated. ^[25]

• The California Grizzly (the one on the state flag) is now extinct. Shot with a gun... not a camera. ^[26]

• Eskimo Pies are introduced. This year 1 million a day are sold. The song "I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream" refers to the Eskimo Pie. ^[27]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1922, Wikipedia.