The Christmas Bombings of Vietnam 1972

I was 17 years old in 1972 and I was pissed off.  It was getting near Christmas and every day that I turned the news on the radio I would hear about another flurry of bombing raids on northern Vietnamese cities by hundreds of US bombers.  Hospitals were being bombed.  Civilian neighborhoods were being destroyed and Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and the rest of the war pigs were getting ready for their particular holidays.  I recall going to a protest in downtown Frankfurt against the bombings.  Particularly galling was the targeting of the hospitals.  Indeed, Bach Mai hospital was attacked more than once, killing more than 25 doctors and an unknown number of patients.  Here is a recollection from Vietnam Veteran Against the War Barry Romo, who was in Hanoi during the bombings.
http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=2204

Elvis Costello on SNL in 1977

Elvis Costello played Saturday Night Live in place of the Sex Pistols, who were having trouble getting visas.  He was allowed to play on the condition he not play the song "Radio, Radio," which criticizes the industry.  So, he played "Radio Radio."

Altamont Rock Concert--December 6, 1969

I'll let Rolling Stone tell the story in one of their first (and best) pieces of reportage not written by Hunter S. Thompson...

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-rolling-stones-disaster-at-altamont-let-it-bleed-19700121

Let it Bleed

Let it Bleed was released in the US on December 5, 1969.  As I wrote in a piece that first appeared in the now-defunct Vermont Times (and later appeared in Counterpunch and other zines: "Musically, the Rolling Stones were touring the country promoting their new album Let It Bleed , another of their adventures in reworking North American blues and folk idioms into hard-driving rock and roll. The song of the summer had been Honky Tonk Women, which appeared on the album as a boozy country funk. Perhaps the most important song on the platter, however, was Gimme Shelter, a blistering indictment of the world of war and greed."

November 17, 1973--Richard Nixon is not a crook

As the Watergate and associated criminal acts were slowly being revealed, Richard Nixon held a press conference....click below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M

November 1973--The Athens Polytechnic Revolt

The Polytechnic uprising (Politechneio, Πολυτεχνείο in greek) symbolises not only the heroic struggle but also the unity of all democrats.

The November struggles are the highest expression of the seven-year fight against the dictatorship, and one of the most important moments in the fight for freedom of the Greek people and especially Greek youth.

The Events of the Polytechnic Uprising
Despite the harsh repressive measures of the military Junta during the seven-year dictatorship of 1967-1973 in Greece – the imprisonments, displacements, mass trials in emergency courts-martial, torture, mock executions and murders – popular demonstrations against the regime continued throughout the dictatorship, with young people always playing a leading part.

https://athenianvoice.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/the-greek-uprising-on-17-november-1973-against-the-junta-militar-2/

Remembering Another Shitty Election Night--November 7, 1972

After Trump won the election, I was asked if the 2016 results were the most distressing I had ever seen.  I told them that it was actually the 1972 election that held that honor.....with the 1980 Reagan victory over Carter the next.  I may have to rearrange those rankings, with the 2016 results somewhere in that top three....
Here's a remembrance of George McGovern and that horrible night...

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/mcgovern-anti-war-candidacy-us-cultural-landmark