Beware The Double Helix Of History

History has a funny way of bending back on itself. Contemporary events uncannily echo past events and past events suddenly present themselves not as hoary old newsreel images but as preludes to today.

It is easy to dismiss this double helix of history as merely a series of coincidences. Were it only that simple. It is not, as several of today’s posts at my blog make abundantly clear:

* The invocation of the gravity of the post-World War II Nuremberg trials by both prosecution and defense in the first and just completed U.S. war crimes trial since then.

* Another anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how those profoundly awful acts are being debated anew through a contemporary lens.

* The 17th of 25 excerpts from Jane Mayer’s The Dark Side, this one focusing on the folly of forgetting the past and how it has a way of biting the ignorant, high and mighty in the ass.

If your aim today is to make it to the pool or beach, you’ll probably want to skip these posts, slather on the sunscreen and head out the door.

Otherwise, beware the double helix of history.