Tuesday morning links

Spain's new government to remove Franco's remains from mausoleum.

That must confirm the rumor that Franco is STILL dead.

This is one more example of rewriting history. I recommend Stanley G. Payne's The Collapse of the Spanish Republic, 1933-1936: Origins of the Civil War, though I do not recommend the agency pricing. It is ridiculous to charge $40 for an e-book.

There were plenty of bad actors on both sides in the Spanish Civil War, as Orwell's Homage to Catalonia pointed out. My take on the Spanish Civil War is that there was no turning back after the government made no arrest in the assassination of José Calvo Sotelo, the Right's leading speaker in Parliament, even though it was known that security officials employed by the Second Republic had kidnapped and killed him.

QUOTE:

After the victory of the leftist Popular Front in the February 1936 election, José Calvo Sotelo became the leading speaker of the anti-republican right in the Parliament, preparing the mood of the right wing masses for a coup d'état.[22]
Assassination

After the Guardia de Asalto leader José Castillo was killed by falangists at 10p.m. on 12th July, a group of Guardia de Asalto and other leftist militiamen led by Civil Guard Fernando Condés went to Calvo Sotelo's house in the early hours of 13th July on a revenge mission. Sotelo was arrested and later shot dead in a police truck.[23] His body was dropped at the entrance of one of the city's cemeteries. According to all later investigations, the perpetrator of the murder was a socialist gunman, Luis Cuenca, who was known as the bodyguard of PSOE leader Indalecio Prieto.

In the days following the assassination, the Spanish government undertook a routine investigation that never reached a conclusion. The cabal of anti-republican conspirators led by General Emilio Mola seized the moment, accelerating the military coup that had been plotted since the February election.[24] The uprising of part of the Army, starting with the Army of Africa in Melilla on 17 July 1936, under the assumed command of Generals Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco, Gonzalo Queipo de Llano and José Sanjurjo, marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

When the government makes no arrests in the killing of a leading opposition legislator- when policemen of that same government were known to have kidnapped and killed him- that is a rather blunt statement that the government doesn't provide equal protection under the law. From Payne's book (page 328):

QUOTE:

Prieto’s response was very weak, emphasizing that Calvo Sotelo [a legislator] had been slain in revenge for the killing of Castillo [a policeman]. This merely repeated the feeble logic of the government’s original statement two days earlier, which made the same point. Neither the government nor Prieto seemed to grasp that their argument placed the Republican state security forces on the same level as political assassins, thus virtually conceding the charges by the right.

I close with a statement from Gil Robles, from Payne's book.

QUOTE:

Gil Robles presented another statistical résumé of disorders, which he said included sixty-one deaths from politically related acts between 16 June and 13 July. He observed that every day he read in leftist newspapers phrases such as “the enemy must be smashed” or one must “practice a policy of extermination.” “I know that you are carrying out a policy of persecution, violence, and extermination against anything that is rightist. But you are profoundly mistaken: however great may be the violence, the reaction will be greater still. For everyone killed another combatant will rise up. . . . You who are today fostering violence will become the first victims of it. The phrase that revolutions, like Saturn, devour their own children is commonplace, but no less true for being so. Today you are complacent, because you see an adversary fall. But the day will come when the same violence that you have unleashed will be turned against you.

Which is what happened. Contrary to what the left in Spain believed, there were consequences for killing priests and parliamentarians. The consequences were not pleasant.

More than once I have read comments from supporters of the Second Republic that rancor was so high on both sides that the country needed the long cooling off period of Franco's rule.

#2 Gringo on 2018-06-19 10:55 (Reply)

From the link at "Spain's new government to remove Franco's remains from mausoleum:"

QUOTE:

Spain's new Socialist government is determined to remove the remains of Francisco Franco from a vast mausoleum near Madrid and turn it into a place of "reconciliation" for a country still coming to terms with the dictator's legacy.

As one consequence of the Civil War was decades of rancor on both sides, we can well understand the desire for "reconciliation." However, it appears that "reconciliation" is not the real motive.

QUOTE:

"Spain can't allow symbols that divide Spaniards. Something that is unimaginable in Germany or Italy, countries that also suffered fascist dictatorships, should also not be imaginable in our country," Sanchez added.

Earlier on Monday Socialist party spokesman Oscar Puente said the mausoleum should be transformed into a "place of reconciliation, of memory, for all Spaniards, and not of apology for the dictatorship."

My suggestion is that if there should not be "apologies" for Franco, the Spanish left should also acknowledge bad acts from the left such as assassinations of priests and of Jose Calvo Sotelo or the killing of Anarchists in Barcelona that Orwell pointed out in Homage to Catalonia.

As I see it, while the Spanish left views itself as Franco's victim- a view that can be justified by considering those that Franco's forces killed in atrocities against the unarmed- the Spanish left is unwilling to acknowledge the left's role in also committing atrocities, such as killing the Anarchists in Barcelona that Orwell discusses, or examples of Second Republic misgovernment that helped precipitate the Civil War. For both misgovernment and atrocity, consider the refusal of the Second Republic government to prosecute the kidnapping and killing of Jose Calvo Sotelo- clearly done by security forces of the Second Republic.

The Spanish Civil War had many adherents on both sides. It was not a case of a small minority imposing its view, but rather a Civil War that reflected a deeply divided country. Until both sides acknowledge that both sides had their own justifications and both sides committed misdeeds, there will be no reconciliation.

#2.1 Gringo on 2018-06-19 11:39 (Reply)

Dodd-Frank: The Dems Did It!

#3 Sam L. on 2018-06-19 11:10 (Reply)

For some reason I keep seeing things which have been quickly passed 'because we must do something to solve Problem X' come back to bite us in the yarbles, and cause MORE trouble than the problem they were supposed to fix.

I'm really getting tired of that.

#3.1 JLawson on 2018-06-19 12:42 (Reply)

But do not make the mistake of thinking this was an accident. It was intended to do harm AND reward others generously.

It would be interesting if we had a free press protected by the constitution that would look into Dodd and Frank's finances and income streams are today. I bet there are a few skeletons in their closets.

#3.1.1 OneGuy on 2018-06-19 22:50 (Reply)

Re ageing parents.
My mother died this year at 102 years old. Three of my siblings have passed. My sister and I used to joke that mom was going to outlive all of her children and the grandchildren would have to bury her. She had dementia and required 24 hour care and we had to sell her house to help pay for the nursing home. This may sound heartless but it was almost a relief when mom died.

#4 Ray on 2018-06-19 11:25 (Reply)

My grandmother died at 101. She spent the last years of her life under medical care. She told me in private that she wished she did not live that long (perhaps she knew I'd understand)

#4.1 jay on 2018-06-19 12:04 (Reply)

Those of us that have been through the long drawn out deaths of loved ones understand completely. Those that haven't don't understand. Just like those that think confining a "mindless wanderer" to a wheel chair is cruel but have no idea what can happen if they are left to wander the halls of a nursing home and even escape to die of the elements if not found in time.

#4.2 JC on 2018-06-19 12:06 (Reply)

The Huffington Post article linked claims that "the average care recipient is 60 years old". How many 60 year olds need to be cared for?

It's really the 60 year olds who are caring for their 85/90 year old parents.

The Hufpo article also wails about the dreadfully high cost of time and money that millennial will have to dole out. I just kept thinking, yes, but these are the people who raised you, paid for you and cared for you for a full 18 years, and never asked to be paid back. What happened to family?

It's the same writers who claim it costs $250,000 to raise a child.

#4.2.1 LP on 2018-06-19 15:56 (Reply)

As the "daughter on call" for the last twenty years of my mother's life, I was there. Fortunately, Mum was fiercely independent, but she also had macular degeneration which limited her ability to be independent. Our children were really great with Granny, and they also spent a lot of time with her. Among other things, they took over her Christmas letter which was dictated by their Granny, printed (along with envelopes or labels), and then taken back to Granny for additional hand-written notes and signature. The last letter went out only months before she died.

What would really frost me is when my sister - who lived several hundred miles away - would decide it was inconvenient for her to have her mother for a visit. This morphed into "Mum can't travel alone" which meant no respite for my family. And, given my uncle regularly shipped my granny to visit us (and give my aunt a break), I was not impressed. Some family events did not happen because someone had to stay near.

By the time Mum finally had to go into a home, I was a basket case and our offsprings were openly beginning to wonder if I'd land in hospital first (not to mention how they would handle THAT complication). As the article says, being the "daughter on call" has affected my health and our finances. However, I'd still do it again, and so would the family. It wasn't easy (and we had it better off than a lot of caregivers), but there were many good times and precious memories. And we can take pride in knowing we walked with Granny through those last months to the end.

#4.2.1.1 Frances on 2018-06-19 19:31 (Reply)

My mother in law and father in law died in their early 60's from smokers lung cancer. My wife's ex-mother in law and that mother in law's brother and sister died in the early 60's from smokers lung cancer. They all died in about a 5 year period. All of them except one had extended health care, from chemo to surgeries to more exotic treatment. They all died suffering and dealing with months and years of futile treatment. Terrible way to die in my opinion. The brother never new he had lung cancer until a eek before he died. He was diagnosed, scheduled for further appointments, went home to his normal life and died within the week in his sleep as the cancer had already matastacized to his brain.

I watched them all go through it. My wife stayed with two of them through their hospice care. IMHO the brother who died suddenly without the knowledge of what killed him was the lucky one. The least lucky one was diagnoses almost 5 years because of an unrelated medical problem requiring a CT scan and IMHO he suffered the most because he death with the inevitable death for that entire period.

#4.2.1.1.1 Anon on 2018-06-19 23:03 (Reply)

Common thread, right? Life is unfair because parents have to spend money raising kids. Life is unfair because children have to spend money taking care of elderly parents. Why do we have to have burdens in life? Someone else should be paying for it, but who? Those same people who should guarantee us a basic income, I guess, and a home and medical care and so on.

#4.2.1.2 Texan99 on 2018-06-19 23:53 (Reply)

Let me just add my agreement. My mom wanted to die after my dad was gone. She still had enough mind left to know she had some kind of dementia. And yes, it was a blessing for her and us, her children, that she died. As has been said before, those of us who have been there would never condemn you.

#4.3 mary on 2018-06-19 16:24 (Reply)

re Hillary Calls Trump A Liar, Unchristian Over Family Separation In Immigration Policy

That's rich isn't it?

HRC accusing someone else of not being Christian?

#5 feeblemind on 2018-06-19 11:30 (Reply)

Or a liar.

Bwahaha.

#5.1 drowningpuppies on 2018-06-19 11:38 (Reply)

About family separation.

#5.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-06-19 12:59 (Reply)

I've decided to apply to Harvard Medical School.
I'm picking up a can of dark sunless tanner and going to the salon for a perm. And I'm self-identifying as a woman.

#6 mike m on 2018-06-20 09:41 (Reply)

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Tuesday, June 19. 2018

Tuesday morning links