There’s not much I can write or say about Pearl Harbor that hasn’t been explored already, except that it all should be said, every December 7, as long as Old Glory waves. What I wrote last year is still apt:

At 7:55 a.m Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber emerged out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. 360 Japanese warplanes followed in a devastating attack on the unsuspecting U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. The U.S. Pacific fleet was nearly obliterated: Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged; more than 200 aircraft were destroyed; 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded. Japan lost just 30 planes and fewer than 100 men. By the sheerest luck, all three Pacific fleet aircraft carriers were out of the harbor and at sea on training maneuvers, allowing the U.S. to use them to turn the tide of the Pacific war against Japan at the Battle of Midway six months later.

I always felt connected to the tragedy at Pearl Harbor through my father. At the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., Dad introduced me to a veteran who had survived the attack, and just shaking his hand was a moving experience I shall never forget.

I should have added that the sneak attack finally drew us into a war that had to be fought, one that cost 400,000 American lives. ( In this post from 10 years ago, I lamented the mainstream media’s neglect of the date’s significance, though because this anniversary ends with a zero, it is getting more attention than usual.  Sigh. With the exception of Michael West, none of the commenters who weighed in on that post drop by any more.)

Other housekeeping notes:

• I am still planning on holding a Zoom discussion of “Clickbait,” the Netflix series about social media and cyber activity gone horribly wrong. If you want to participate and haven’t watched the show, get cracking. I also welcome ideas about topics raised by the series.
• Yesterday, for no discernible reason, was a banner day for the blog, with four new followers and 30% more traffic than Mondays this year. Ethics Alarms sometimes goes weeks without any new sign-ups.
• This morning I had my first radio interview since NPR blackballed me for explaining why sexual harassment accusations for many years-old conduct were not always what they seemed. The host was Maine’s Mike Violette of The Mike Violette Show, and we mostly discussed the Hilda and Jesse eatery’s anti-cop and gun stunt. Mike is that rarity, a fair interviewer who gives his guest a chance to talk. (EA commenter Arthur in Maine was another in his radio days.)

1. I’d like to see this challenged in court. It is being called a “victory for conservatives” that the routine drafting of women is being stripped from the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, even though both the House and Senate versions of the bill would have expanded the Selective Service System beyond men. No, it’s a victory for double standards and incoherence. Either we discriminate on the basis of gender or we don’t, and institutionalizing one form of gender bias allows others to flourish. If women can meet the requirements for combat, then let ’em fight. Otherwise, there are plenty of ways they can serve. Conservatives look like Victorians in aspic when they object to obviously just advances like this. Exemptions should take care of any concerns about mothers and related issues.

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