Strategic Planning Group Fall 2023 Newsletter

most of our large cities today
have abandoned these policies
in favor of what they call
“compassion” and “rights,” and
the results are horrific.
We have watched legitimate
and vital businesses like grocery
stores and other important
retailers looted and destroyed
by marauding groups of usually
young able-bodied people. The
word is out, “you will not be
prosecuted for such crimes.” As
a result, we watch store after
store in city after city close or
relocate, making it even harder
for low-income urban residents
to survive.
We have seen the most divisive
politics in two generations. At
the presidential politics level,
the now toxic and activist media
on both sides, is convincing
people that if their candidate
loses, it will be the “end of the
world.” Today’s extreme “take
no prisoners” media is here to
make you feel even worse about
all world events. This has been
a very deep division and an
extreme societal separation.
It is these extremes that make
the next cyclical stage even
more exciting and optimistic.
Now, Let’s Move On
To The Good News!
We Will Get Better
Because We Have
Been Here Before.
We have done this before, and
not just once. We have seen
periods of extreme division and
protest before. We have seen
what seems like lawlessness and
a failure of our entire system.
Each time we have done this,
protest occurred, the division
deepened, and then we changed.
Society gets better, and common
sense returns. Optimism and
confidence are restored, and
everyone feels better each time.
The last time we, as a country
and society, did this was from
1968 through 1974. The Vietnam
War was incredibly divisive;
we saw countless protests,
both violent and nonviolent. A
domestic terrorist group called
the Weather Underground
was very active in protesting
the Vietnam War. They were a
leftist, heavily Marxist group in
ideology. Sound familiar?
The Weathermen detonated
over 100 bombs on government
and corporate targets. In
their most egregious attacks,
they bombed the US Capitol
building, the Pentagon, and the
State Department headquarters.
They also bombed banks and
corporate facilities of companies
thought to support the war. The
Weather Underground, on May
31st, 1974, bombed the Office of
the California Attorney General.
The Weather Underground
stated this was in response to
the killing of six members of the
Symbionese Liberation Army.
On September 11th, 1974,
they bombed the Anaconda
Corporation (part of the
Rockefeller Corporation). The
Weather Underground stated
this was in retribution for
Anaconda’s alleged involvement
in the Chilean coup in September
1973, where a Marxist leader was
removed from office.
Have you been disgusted by
today’s lack of “rule of law” in our
country? It is not the first time!
Here’s one for you from back in
the last cycle in 1974. Two of
the four founding members of
the The Weather Underground
never spent a day in jail. These
are domestic terrorists who
exploded over 100 bombs on
government and corporate
targets, three people died, and
they never spent a day in jail!
They spent about 10 years on
the FBI ‘s most wanted list, and
then it just kind of faded away,
and they returned to our society
as free citizens. To this day, they
are alive and well. Their names
are Bernadine Dohrn and Bill
Ayers.
The FBI, while investigating
and pursuing the Weather
Underground, was guilty
of using illegal tactics and
unconstitutional methods, such
as break-ins of family members’
homes of suspects without
a warrant. (Sound familiar in
today’s context?) The former FBI
Associate Director and acting
Director were prosecuted and
convicted for these offenses,
and later received a presidential
pardon. (Again, sound familiar?)
Now, the whole reason I tell you
about the Weather Underground
and the Vietnam War protest
era in the late sixties and early
seventies is because this was
very similar to our past three or
four years. We saw presidential
Strategic Planning Group 4