“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Thomas Paine, 1776
Just over 240 years ago, Thomas Paine admonished the new country that they would lose all they were fighting for if they give up when times became tough. We need to revisit those words to understand how they are relevant today. We are faced with a dangerous world filled with anti-western hatred and violent rhetoric, the people must not shrink from service to their country. There is, and in fact has been, a strong movement in the United States to blame our country for all the ills that have befallen mankind. Since the mid 60’s in colleges and courtrooms across the country a growing rift has developed between a majority of the country’s population and academic elites which is driving the current frenzy of protests and counter-protests.
While the protest may indicate activism and dedication, for the most part it is crowd mentality and role playing, on both sides. It is my intention through this post to attempt to provide for anyone interested a return to independent thought. I was raised in a typical middle class family that were strong supporters of the Democratic party. My first exposure to politics was when I was barely 8 years old and found myself, through my family, as a sort of gofer for the local Kennedy campaign. Truth be told I was likely more of a pet or mascot. I have transitioned over the years through several ideologies, until I find myself today as a traditional conservative. Again, truth be told, I am likely a little (very little) to the left of what William F. Buckley would call a conservative. I would be much more left of today’s Neo-Conservative orthodoxy. I am also sure I would be considered a right-wing radical by the Progressive liberal wing of the Democratic party. To start, the two ideologies I found the most dangerous to America today are exemplified by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ted Cruz. So, let us start the discussion.
Warren and Cruz exemplify a no holds barred, take no prisoners form of politics that accepts no dissent. For this type of politics to be successful it requires a compliant audience and the use of selective and isolated data points or ideological jibber jabber.
All eyes stage left for the most recent example. Warren in, what had to be a blatant act of political opportunism , attempted to read a 30-year-old letter on the floor of the United States Senate that was an attack on another Senator, Jeff Session. As we know the letter was written by Coretta Scott King at the time Sessions had been nominated to the federal bench.
Now taking a trip to the right we have Cruz reminding the world that it was the Democrats who founded the KKK and without saying also enforces the historical fact that it was the Democrats who opposed civil rights legislation up until the mid-1960’s.
As I said above, selective and isolated data points. Both calms are true but do not hold up to any type of scrutiny. In the 30 years since the letter, Sessions became the Attorney General of Alabama, prosecuting Klansman and upholding integration. Then he became a U.S. Senator and has a legislative record that belies claims of racism. While it is true that up until his death Martin Luther King Jr. was a registered Republican there is no denying the Klan is closer to a Cruz ideology then the Democrats.
Most Americans do identify with one of the main political parties and this has made life easier on them. Today however most Americans are politically in the middle and are tired of the extremes and have gotten tired of being bombarded with the half-truths and outright lies of the politicians and one sided news reporting.
I will attempt in the coming weeks to look at the news and political posturing and report the weakness. I will not be a fact checker just a reviewer of commonsense.