Both Sides Now

Yesterday, as on every December 13th for many decades now, I reflected on the disappearance and death of Betty Van Patter. 

The 45-year-old Black Panther Party bookkeeper was an idealistic Berkeley mother who admired the party and its programs to help the poor.

But somebody killed her — perhaps for her ideals or her naiveté, or both — and the mystery of her murder has remained unsolved for 47 years.

Meanwhile, over the course of my half century in journalism, I worked on a lot of big stories. We got some, we didn’t get others, but I have very few regrets.

The Betty Van Patter case is one of my biggest regrets. The Alameda District Attorney, the Berkeley Police Department, several private investigators, a number of journalists other than me are among those who have looked into the case and come up empty-handed.

Some of the best work on the case has been done by investigative reporter Kate Coleman, who published one plausible scenario for Betty’s murder in the now defunct magazine Heterodoxy in 1994. Coleman revealed that the well-known private investigator David Fechheimer, who was working for the Panthers at the time of Betty’s murder, told his mentor, the legendary private eye Hal Lipset, who ordered Betty’s murder and who carried it out.

But neither of those individuals have ever been charged by authorities and they’ve denied knowledge of the matter.

I’ve appealed to the various media organizations I was affiliated with during my active years to look into the case but so far as I can determine, none of them have done so.

The problem with the story is obvious. Historians, academics, young activists and old activists alike want to be able to celebrate the positive legacy of the Black Panthers, which includes exposing the systematic racism that leads to the George Floyd killing, the assassination of Fred Hampton, the harassment and arrest of countless others, as well as the poverty and oppressive living conditions endured by millions of African Americans.

To fully tell the story of what happened to Betty Van Patter may seem to run counter to that narrative, because it brings up the Panthers’ internal corruption, violence, sexism, prostitution, drugs, shakedowns, weaponry and justification of gratuitous violence.

But an honest appraisal of the group’s place in history would be capable of holding both sides of the truth in one hand, both the good and the bad, unflinchingly.

I await the day that someone accomplishes that goal. If any younger journalist or group of journalists wanted to pick up the reins of the Van Patter investigation and finish the job, that would go a long way of closing the book on the good and the bad of the Panthers, told unflinchingly.

It may be worth noting that I have received a warning from a credible source that I should stop trying to get to the bottom of the Van Patter case and stop encouraging those who know the truth to step forward. 

I interpret that as a threat.

These essays are my response.

TUESDAY’S NEWS:

• As U.S. Nears 800,000 Virus Deaths, 1 of Every 100 Older Americans Has Perished — They are among the most vaccinated groups, but people 65 and older make up about three-quarters of the nation’s coronavirus death toll. (NYT)

• To Fight the Global Covid-19 Pandemic, We Need a Global Game Plan — The U.S. makes a huge mistake if it thinks its fate can be walled off from the rest of the world (WSJ)

• Omicron in D.C. and 30 U.S. states; variant poised to dominate in Europe (WP)

• Gen Z Is Done With the Pandemic — Though the specter of a new variant hangs over the holidays, young people have no plans to lock themselves down again. (Atlantic)

• Britain said that the Omicron coronavirus variant was spreading at a "phenomenal rate" and now accounted for about 40% of infections in London, so people should get a booster shot because the double-vaccinated are still vulnerable. (Reuters)

• WHO: Omicron likely to spread faster than Delta (NHK)

• Authoritarians are using migrants as weapons. The White House frets it's on the rise — The White House is concerned migrants will be increasingly used as a geopolitical tool as migration increases because of instability and climate change. (NPR)

• “We were one vice president away from a coup." — Democratic governors worry about threat to democracy but don't see it as a winning message for 2022. (CNN)

• Meadows Was Deeply Involved in Fighting Election Outcome, Jan. 6 Panel Says(NYT)

• As Dems sprint against the clock, child tax credit might slip away (Politico)

• Requiring workers to return to the office is a ‘doomed approach,’ Slack co-founder says (WP)

• For a Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan, and the Rest of the World, a Crisis Looms(WSJ)

• Taliban seek ties with US, other ex-foes (AP)

• As evacuations from Afghanistan slow to a trickle, some ‘at risk’ allies may face long road to the United States (WP)

• Afghan health system ‘close to collapse due to sanctions on Taliban’ (Guardian)

• No U.S. Troops Will Be Punished for Deadly Kabul Strike, Pentagon Chief Decides (NYT)

• The head of FEMA, Deanne Criswell, said Sunday the swath of deadly tornadoes in the Midwest and South will become the “new normal” amid worsening climate change, calling the phenomenon the “crisis of our generation.” Criswell said rescue workers were helping support short- and long-term housing needs, saying the amount of time the tornadoes spent on the ground wreaking havoc was “unprecedented.” [HuffPost]

• At Amazon Site, Tornado Collided With Company’s Peak Delivery Season — Amazon, which has its highest employment during the holiday shopping season, said the tornado formed at the site’s parking lot. (NYT)

• Expert: 'Hook echo' observed during US tornadoes (NHK)

• President Joe Biden declared a major federal disaster in Kentucky after a swarm of deadly tornadoes hit the state on Friday, paving the way for additional federal aid, the White House said. (Reuters)

• Manchin cites a blind trust to justify climate votes. But much income from his family’s coal company isn’t covered. (WP)

• Haiti’s Leader Kept a List of Drug Traffickers. His Assassins Came for It. — In the months before his murder, President Jovenel Moïse took a number of steps to fight drug and arms smugglers. Some officials now fear he was killed for it. (NYT)

• As Turkey’s Currency Collapses, Erdogan’s Support Sinks (WSJ)

• Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” is Elon Musk (AP)

• Democrats are hoping to rein in the runaway costs of insulin, a lifesaving medicine that costs eight times more in the U.S. than it does in peer countries. Lawmakers are hoping to use parts of the Build Back Better legislation to propose a limit on the cost of insulin to $35 per month out-of-pocket for anyone with insurance, a dramatic improvement over current prices. HuffPost’s Jonathan Cohn has more. [HuffPost]

• How hologram tech may soon replace video calls (BBC)

• Robberies. Drought. Tent Camps. Los Angeles’s Next Mayor Faces a Litany of Crises. (NYT)

• Crucial Antarctic ice shelf could fail within five years, scientists say (WP)

• Supply chain squeeze intensifies in run-up to Christmas (Financial Times)

• A multiday storm “that will likely be remembered for years to come” is forecast this week in Northern California. (AP)

• Mountain lions rescued: Two kittens were saved after a litter was discovered underneath a picnic bench. (LAist)

• New Proposed Wealth Tax Would Target Americans With Circular Driveways (The Onion)

  TODAY’s LYRICS:

  “Both Sides Now”

  Joni MItchell

  Rows and flows of angel hair
  And ice cream castles in the air
  And feather canyons everywhere
  Looked at clouds that way

  But now they only block the sun
  They rain and they snow on everyone
  So many things I would have done
  But clouds got in my way

  I've looked at clouds from both sides now
  From up and down and still somehow
  It's cloud illusions I recall
  I really don't know clouds at all

  Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
  The dizzy dancing way that you feel
  As every fairy tale comes real
  I've looked at love that way

  But now it's just another show
  And you leave 'em laughing when you go
  And if you care, don't let them know
  Don't give yourself away

  I've looked at love from both sides now
  From give and take and still somehow
  It's love's illusions that I recall
  I really don't know love 
  Really don't know love at all

  Tears and fears and feeling proud
  To say, "I love you" right out loud
  Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
  I've looked at life that way

  Oh, but now old friends they're acting strange
  And they shake their heads and they tell me that I've changed
  Well something's lost, but something's gained
  In living every day

  I've looked at life from both sides now
  From win and lose and still somehow
  It's life's illusions I recall
  I really don't know life at all

  It's life's illusions that I recall
  I really don't know life
  I really don't know life at all