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Element 99

Which do you think was America's darkest moment?

1.  Assassination of JFK.
2.  Assassination of Abe Lincoln.
3.  The combined assassinations of RFK and MLK.
4.  Destruction of the Twin Towers.
5.  Oklahoma City bombing.
6.  Explosions of Challenger space shuttle.
7.  Election of Donald Trump.
8.  Other__________________

Posted - February 11, 2020
Tags : None

Responses


  • 19942
    Destruction of the Twin Towers.
      February 11, 2020 11:01 AM MST
    3

  • 6023
    #8 - The Northeast Blackout of 2003.  lol
      February 11, 2020 11:57 AM MST
    4

  • 19942
    The Blackout in 1965 was darker. :)
      February 11, 2020 12:39 PM MST
    2

  • 6023

    By number of people affected and square miles ... 2003 was darker.

    1965 = 30 million people, 13 hours.
    2003 = 55 million people, up to 14 days.

    Not to mention all the electronics that we didn't have in 1965.

     

    Of course, it was darker prior to the existence of the national power grid.  LOL

      February 11, 2020 1:14 PM MST
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  • #4 followed by #1.  Trump is pulling ahead each day!
      February 11, 2020 2:13 PM MST
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  • 1893
    8 other, None of the ones you listed I believe was our darkest moment.  My choices would be the:

    A. McCarthy Era
    B, Pearl Harbor
    C.  FDR appointing Hoover to head the FBI.  That dark hour lasted for 30 plus years
      February 11, 2020 2:39 PM MST
    3

  • 5391

    The Civil War. 

    Any number of single moments we might pick out. Gettysburg, Antietam, Andersonville.  

    This post was edited by Don Barzini at February 12, 2020 11:40 AM MST
      February 11, 2020 2:54 PM MST
    4

  • 10469
    The civil war.
      February 11, 2020 4:47 PM MST
    3

  • 22908


    Maybe slavery

    Maybe the treatment of the people who were already here when the Europeans arrived, the Native Americans

    Maybe the internment in camps of American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II


    and then there was when they canceled the excellent 1995 TV series "American Gothic" before the first season was even finished
     
      February 11, 2020 6:34 PM MST
    5

  • 14795
    What the English Royality and other Europeans did to the native people of America was far far worse than what both Germany and Japan ever did....Both in America,Canada and Alaska they slaughtered 80% plus or the harmless people who had lived there in harmony with their lands , Europeans introduced them to the plague and smallpox to kill them off efficiently and quickly.
    How we all complain when others try to tread on our toes now over the most trivial things...
      February 11, 2020 7:37 PM MST
    3

  • 22908
    Yup, agreed.
    :)




    This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at February 12, 2020 4:51 PM MST
      February 12, 2020 5:38 AM MST
    3

  • 5391

    It had occurred to me to include the cultural destruction and genocide of Native American peoples, but since the horror wasn’t limited solely to the tribes within North America, was perpetuated by not only white Americans but also in great measure by the Spanish conquistadors and French colonialists, and has gone on for over 400 years, it didn’t seem to fit the narrow scope of the question. 

    The sad fate of the Western Indigenous peoples is a much larger motif than can be fairly encapsulated as just a dark American moment, IMO; but is among the longest and most grievous human tragedies in all of the historical record.

      February 11, 2020 8:56 PM MST
    3

  • 22908
    Yes, I agree with you. After posting my answer, I thought the same thing you've shared -- yeah, that entire series seems more expansive than just a moment. Thanks, Don Barzini.

    (and obviously, my including my enjoyment of the TV show "American Gothic" was just my late night thinking after a long day; indeed, though, it is a great show for me)

    :)
      February 12, 2020 5:37 AM MST
    2

  • 44231
    It may not be a moment in response to the question, but all of the answers pertaining to longer periods of time are quite relevant to it. I was hoping for such answers, as my list is quite limited.
      February 12, 2020 11:19 AM MST
    2

  • 5391
    Yours is a good list, nonetheless, 99. As was the question. 
      February 12, 2020 3:08 PM MST
    2

  • 44231
    Thank you.
      February 12, 2020 7:34 PM MST
    1

  • 14795
    Your civil war ,where brother ,families ,friends were forced to fight against each other in many cases against their will to just appease those on each side then in power..
    How the prisoners of war were treated was as inhumane as Hitlers concentration camps ,half were starved to death....They drank water and used the same river to wash in and take away the human waste  that was created daily...Bodies were disposed of in mass graves and any inturn that crossed a kill line around a huge wooden stockade was shot on sight ...Such camps held in excess of 30,000 prisoners  ,they were forced to live in the open under blankets in all types of weather and most were staved to death....
    Gangs formed inside the stockades that stole food and what ever else they wanted from from other prisoners of war or whoever else was interned in these prison camps......
      February 11, 2020 7:25 PM MST
    3

  • 14795
    The Twin Towers was dreadful...Any tall building that hold thousands of working or living accomadation are just a nightmare waiting to happen ,no matter what safety precautions are in place....
    The Grenfell Tower fire in west London 24 storey high where 72 people or most likely more people burnt to death ...
    Its just not normal to want to live in such ugly death trap structures....
      February 11, 2020 7:48 PM MST
    2

  • 5808
    The election of Trump
    Taking us back into the dark ages
    and all those listed things, of course as well.
    All very sad.
      February 12, 2020 2:19 PM MST
    4


  • It was a dark day in 2012 when Hostess announced that it would cease production of the ever popular "Twinkie".  For a while it seemed that evil had won but thankfully ten months later after some company restructuring the "Twinkie" was resurrected from the dead and placed once more on the shelves of Junk food aisles everywhere and once again there was hope.  Those were dark and scary times indeed somehow though we made it through.  Long Live the "Twinkie". 
      February 12, 2020 3:03 PM MST
    4

  • 16256
    The CIA's overthrow of Prince Sihanouk, installing the despotic Lon Nol - which in turn led to Pol Pot's revolution (no revolution ever succeeded without the support of the local population), and the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge. Lon Nol was so odious that it seemed any change could only be for the better - and discovered their mistake too late.
      February 12, 2020 4:42 PM MST
    2

  • 17401
    The Obama years were the darkest era.  The darkest moment....All of those listed are dark moments other than the Trump election.  The way the liberals behaved was a total embarrassment.  Trump getting elected was a real surprise.  
      February 12, 2020 8:49 PM MST
    2

  • 4631
    The theft of land that belonged to the First Nations peoples -
    along with all the other atrocities committed against them -
    and that moment continues in various guises such as the forcing of oil pipelines through reservations.

    There are plenty of others, no better or worse than those committed by other colonial countries, including Australia.

    But the fact that we exist at all is dependent on these first crimes.

    This post was edited by inky at January 14, 2022 4:48 AM MST
      February 13, 2020 9:35 PM MST
    2

  • 52951

     

      The moment the Mayflower departed England.
    —-

      January 13, 2022 9:56 PM MST
    1