Historical Political Events for December 20

Year	Event
1686	DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND formed through consolidation of the New England colonies. Sir Edmund Andros was made governor. Andros arrived in Boston (Dec. 20) and assumed the government of Plymouth and Rhode Island. In 1687 he assumed the government of Connecticut and demanded the charter, which Captain William Wadsworth concealed in a hollow tree, the famous Charter Oak. (*The Encyclopedia of World History*. 2001)
1860	South Carolina adopts an Ordinance of Secession, testing the concept of the state's right to secede from the Union. It failed. Our federal government only allows a state to secede if it is in the Soviet Union.
1975	The U.S. Senate passed an amendment to the Department of Defense appropriations bill introduced by John Tunney (D-CA)-- the "Tunney Amendment" -- terminating covert assistance {pdf} to anti-Communist forces in Angola. Later that winter, an amendment to the foreign aid bill, sponsored by Dick Clark (D-IA) -- the "Clark Amendment" -- extended the ban. Repealed in 1985 by Reagan.
1989	President Bush (R) sends American troops and Marines to Panama in an airborne assault. It was called "Operation Just Cause", and a better example of government double-talk does not exist. Noriega is eventually captured at the cost of many civilian deaths (as many as 4000 by the news reports, but only 225 according to Washington). There was concern over the skimpy planning for the follow-up after the destruction of the Panama government. History will repeat, in Iraq, on a far larger scale!
1999	The *Ottawa Citizen* reports that the food police, CSPI, now propose a tax on fatty foods. Just a small tax. Right. More on their actions here.

Year

Event

1686

DOMINION OF NEW ENGLAND formed through consolidation of the New England colonies. Sir Edmund Andros was made governor. Andros arrived in Boston (Dec. 20) and assumed the government of Plymouth and Rhode Island. In 1687 he assumed the government of Connecticut and demanded the charter, which Captain William Wadsworth concealed in a hollow tree, the famous Charter Oak. (The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001)

1860

South Carolina adopts an Ordinance of Secession, testing the concept of the state's right to secede from the Union. It failed. Our federal government only allows a state to secede if it is in the Soviet Union.

1975

The U.S. Senate passed an amendment to the Department of Defense appropriations bill introduced by John Tunney (D-CA)-- the "Tunney Amendment" -- terminating covert assistance {pdf} to anti-Communist forces in Angola. Later that winter, an amendment to the foreign aid bill, sponsored by Dick Clark (D-IA) -- the "Clark Amendment" -- extended the ban. Repealed in 1985 by Reagan.

1989

President Bush (R) sends American troops and Marines to Panama in an airborne assault. It was called "Operation Just Cause", and a better example of government double-talk does not exist. Noriega is eventually captured at the cost of many civilian deaths (as many as 4000 by the news reports, but only 225 according to Washington). There was concern over the skimpy planning for the follow-up after the destruction of the Panama government. History will repeat, in Iraq, on a far larger scale!

1999

The Ottawa Citizen reports that the food police, CSPI, now propose a tax on fatty foods. Just a small tax. Right. More on their actions here.

We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honor and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gamblings, and trading with interest . . .
— Osama bin Laden, in his "Letter to the American People", Nov., 2002

Historical Political Events for December 20

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