Economics could well be the ground on which a new American revolution will stand……..the gap widens every year between the “haves and the have nots”…..and that has been the battlefield for centuries…….could it be?
Fomenting a Revolution: Extreme Acts of Greed Against the American People | Common Dreams.
As a life long student of political history I was intrigued by the idea of a 2nd American Revolution…..and yesterday, 19 November 2013, was the day set by a right winger named Klayman. He called for a demonstration and the beginnings of the revolution to commence in Lafayette Park, across from the White House……his words…….
Beginning at 10 a.m., Nov. 19, in the park just across from the White House, Lafayette Park (it is befitting of this French general who helped us whip Britain to gain our independence) that We the People, armed with courage and moral rectitude, as well as the divine grace of our Creator, will begin to fight back against government tyranny. We will not only serve notice that we will no longer endure tyranny from the corrupt leaders who have driven the nation to near destruction, by reading our renewed declaration of independence, but we will speak the truth about what needs to be done to right the ship of state for ourselves, our loved ones and to preserve the freedoms our Founding Fathers and their patriotic hordes fought and died for.
Like I said…I was interested to see just how this would go……
As of 1430 hrs on 19 Nov there is nothing in the news about the revolution…I even checked with WND.com……if there was ever going to be something that would embarrass the prez it would be there….know what I found? NOTHING!
And so far on this day there is NOTHING on FOX News about the inevitable 2nd American Revolution……..
Now the day after the start of the 2nd American Revolution……….finally on 20 November there is word of the 2nd Revolution…..WDN.com had a passing report……(sorry, they will not let me post a short synopsis..)…go to their website and read it for yourself……looks like about 200 people showed up…my guess would be that they were from the numerous whack-a-doodles and the organizations they represent……lots of tough talk but not one person with guts…as usual! And another thought….if you have ever been to DC and the Park in question you will know that during daylight hours on any given day there are 100-200 people in the area…..posing for pics, vids, etc….so my next question will be….were the nearly 200 people at the rally…really at the rally or were they the tourist that would normally be in the area?
Klayman organized a rally Tuesday at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, by the “The Reclaim America Now” coalition.
That coalition is composed of about three-dozen conservative groups, including 2 Million Bikers to D.C., Jihad Watch, Freedom Watch, Gun Owners of America, Accuracy in Media, Tea Party Patriots and the Western Center for Journalism.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/crowd-declares-2nd-revolution-outside-white-house/#dzsFVyjTsF8U1Eg7.99
Apparently, the American people are not interested in another revolution….they would prefer just a little sanity by our elected dingbats…….
Personally, I believe that we desperately need a 2nd American Revolution….unfortunately not for the same reasons that these groups want one…….there is much that needs repair in our government……I would begin with the election process…there will NEVER be a true revolution as long as money decides the outcome of our elections….the process of gerrymandering has got to go…that is basically the politicians choosing their voters…..it should be vice versa!
Just my take!
Feel free to interject your thoughts…they are always welcome…….chuq
College of Political Knowledge
Subject: Early American History
This is the week that we stop and celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and as usual I post some American history that I feel has been overshadowed by the doings of the DoI issue….we spend all our energy patting people like Jefferson on the back (my readers know that I am not enamored with Jefferson at all)…….I feel we spend too much time on the action and not enough on what lead up to the situation that the Founders felt that they needed to declare our independence from mother England………
We all know the story of Concord and Bunker Hill and Valley Forge…..we are, for the most part, acquainted with the Stamp Act, the Taxes on tea and eventually Bunker Hill….first let me say, the action was not fought on Bunker Hill but rather the smaller hill next to it, Breed’s Hill, I believe…..one of the many revisionists views of what happened…….
Our Founding Fathers were rebel, in the loosest sense of the word and not radicals…..most were hoping for an eventual reconciliation with England…..in the beginning many were not even thinking about independence……so where did the idea of an independent America come from, is a question that is seldom asked.
It was Samuel Adams who took the first step toward its construction, though the idea had been first suggested in 1705 by the great preacher Jonathan Mayhew. In order to provoke the colonies to assemble in a continental congress, it was only necessary that the British government should take the aggressive upon some issue in which all the colonies were equally interested. The sending of the tea-ships in 1773 was such an act of aggression, and forced the issue upon the colonists. The management of this delicate and difficult affair, down to the day when Massachusetts virtually declared war by throwing the tea into the harbor, was entirely in the hands of the committees of correspondence of Boston and five neighboring towns, with the expressed consent of the other Massachusetts committees and the general approval of the country. In this bold act of defiance Samuel Adams was from first to last the leading spirit.
He had been the first of American statesmen to come to the conclusion that independence was the only remedy for the troubles of the time; and since 1768 he had acted upon this conviction without publicly avowing it. The “Boston tea party” made war inevitable. In April, 1774, parliament retorted with the acts for closing the port of Boston and annulling the charter of Massachusetts. This alarmed all the colonies, and led to the first meeting of the continental congress. In this matter the other colonies invited Massachusetts to take the lead, and the work was managed by Mr. Adams with his accustomed shrewdness and daring. When the legislature met at Salem, 17 June, 1774, in conformity to the new acts of parliament, he locked the door, put the key into his pocket, and carried through the measures for assembling a congress at Philadelphia in September. A Tory member, feigning sudden illness, was allowed to go out, and ran straight to the governor with the news. The governor lost no time in drawing up the writ dissolving the legislature, but when his clerk reached the hall he found the door locked and could not serve the writ. When the business was accomplished the legislature adjourned sine die. It was the last Massachusetts legislature assembled in obedience to the sovereign authority of Great Britain. The acts of April were henceforth entirely disregarded in Massachusetts.
Adams served Continental Congress until his return to Boston in 1781. He initially opposed the new Constitution of the United States, but finally supported its ratification in Massachusetts. Adams served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1793 to 1797.
In my mind Samuel Adams holds a special place as a radical who always wanted a separate and independent America……he along with Thomas Paine made the independence we so cherish more than just a pipe dream….they made it a possibility.
Subject: Women’s History
“Listen my children
And you shall hear
The midnight ride
Of Paul Revere……..”
We all know that poem from our youth and our studies of American history……
Paul Revere’s ride lasted about an hour and was captured by the British and held for questioning……the person that did a Hell of a lot more as a messenger was Sybil Ludington………I know……who?
Sybil Ludington was the eldest of twelve children. Her father, Col. Ludington, had served in the French and Indian war. As a mill owner in Patterson, New York, he was a community leader, and he volunteered to serve as the local militia commander as war with the British loomed.
When he received word late on April 26, 1777, that the British were attacking Danbury, Connecticut, Colonel Ludington knew that they would move from there into further attacks in New York. As head of the local militia, he needed to muster his troops from their farmhouses around the distict, and to warn the people of the countryside of possible British attack.
Sybil Ludington, 16 years old, volunteered to warn the countryside of the attack and to alert the militia troops to muster at Ludington’s. The glow of the flames would have been visible for miles.
She traveled some 40 miles through the towns of Carmel, Mahopac, and Stormville, in the middle of the night, in a rainstorm, on muddy roads, shouting that the British were burning Danbury and calling out the militia to assemble at Ludington’s. When Sybil Ludington returned home, most of the militia troops were ready to march to confront the British.The 400-some troops were not able to save the supplies and the town at Danbury — the British seized or destroyed food and munitions and burned the town — but they were able to stop the British advance and push them back to their boats, in the Battle of Ridgefield.
Sybil Ludington’s contribution to the war was to help stop the advance of the British, and thus give the American militia more time to organize and resist. She was recognized for her midnight ride by those in the neighborhood, and was also recognized by General George Washington.
Sybil Ludington continued to help as she could with the Revolutionary War effort, in one of the typical roles that women were able to play in that war: as a messenger.
Women played a pivotal part in the War for independence and they are only now getting the credit they truly deserve……I hope I have help in some small way…….
College of Political Knowledge
Subject: Black History
February and time for African-Americans to be praised for their contributions to mankind…..personally, I think it should be all the time and not just a month a year…..but who am I to change things up?
Ever hear of the Boston Massacre?
Crispus Attucks became the first casualty of the American Revolution when he was shot and killed. Although Attucks was credited as the leader and instigator of the event, debate raged for over a century as to whether he was a hero and a patriot, or a rabble-rousing villain. The debate notwithstanding, Attucks, immortalized as “the first to defy, the first to die,” has been lauded as a true martyr, “the first to pour out his blood as a precious libation on the altar of a people’s rights.”
Attucks’ occupation made him particularly vulnerable to the presence of the British. As a seaman, he felt the ever-present danger of impressment into the British navy. As a laborer, he felt the competition from British troops, who often took part-time jobs during their off-duty hours and worked for lower wages. Historians definitely place Attucks in Boston in March of 1770. Assuming that the Boston Gazette advertisement did refer to him, he would have been about 47-years old.
A fight between Boston rope makers and three British soldiers on Friday, March 2, 1770 set the stage for a later confrontation. After dusk on Monday, March 5, 1770, a crowd of colonists confronted a sentry who had struck a boy for complaining that an officer was late in paying a barber bill. As anger escalated, a church bell rang, which drew people out of their homes. The British soldiers of the 29th Regiment of Foot were called to duty. In turn, townspeople responded by hurling snowballs and debris at the soldiers. A group of men led by Attucks approached the vicinity of the government building with clubs in hand. Violence soon erupted, and a soldier was struck with a thrown piece of wood. Some accounts named Attucks as the person responsible. Other witnesses stated that Attucks was “leaning upon a stick” when the soldiers opened fire.
Five Americans were killed and six were wounded in what came to be called the Boston Massacre. Attucks was the first one killed; he took two bullets in the chest. Rope maker Samuel Gray and sailor James Caldwell also died in the incident. Samuel Maverick, a 17-year-old joiner’s apprentice, died the next day. Irish leather worker Patrick Carr died nine days later. Attucks’ body was carried to Faneuil Hall, where it lay in state until Thursday, March 8, when he and the other victims were buried together.
He should be held up as a martyr and a leader of the revolution……his name should be the first name remembered about the Boston Massacre…..and not some footnote in obscurity…..
College of Political Knowledge
There are times when I just sit and think…..and suddenly the bright flash of inspiration crawls out my butt and into my head……both locations are seldom in the same place…….contrary to popular belief……after endless debates and politicians rattling on and on about the joys of capitalism…….. I feel I need to set the record straight…….
I was recently having a conversation with a friend….we were talking about federalism and how it had caught on across the world and how cool it was that it had its simple beginnings here in the good old US of A……and then my friend said that it was also cool that capitalism had its beginnings in the US as well….I had to set him right……
This is the silly season and there is a wealth of promises and historical re-writes going on……we hear all about the benefits of capitalism or the free markets or a wealth of other such things……but you realize the politicians have NO idea what they are talking about….and that is most of the time since a majority of them have a very limited knowledge of economics in the first place…….
Let us begin with the birth of capitalism…….believe it or not capitalism was NOT born when the US came into being and NO it was not born with the publishing of Smith’s, The Wealth Of Nations……..sorry to burst your bubble but the birth of capitalism had NOTHING to do with the Constitution or the DoI……or the publishing of a book considered the bible of capitalism….even though they were done in the same year….1776.
If not then….when?
The year is 1648 and after 80 years of fighting Spain finally gives the Netherlands their independence…..this small country had no aristocracy and no discernible class system….but what it did have was a fairly large middle class that had been developed over the years with city dwellers, merchants and small manufacturers and through the massive trade structure like the Dutch East India Company.
The capital Amsterdam was a great city in Europe up to the Industrial Revolution…..if was the first stock exchange and the first insurance company…..all these developments labeled the Netherlands as the first truly capitalist country.
The economic system of the day was mercantilism……..Theory of the responsibility of the state to protect and promote national wealth by encouraging exports and limiting imports. Its central figure was the authoritarian monarch because only the monarch embodied the state’s general interests and only he could guide economic affairs.
So you see, regardless what you are told….capitalism did NOT originate with the founding of the United States….the concept was in play long before the birth of the US…..
College of Political Knowledge
Subject: American History
Today is the 4th of July or what we like to call Independence Day (the holiday, not the movie)….actually Constitution Day, 17 September, should be celebrated more…why? the DoI was basically a list of grievances against the King and what could happen if not addressed……the Constitution is far more important because it set up a system of government that has been copied the world over……but that is another post for another day……….
Okay my gripe has been addressed……onward……
In these days of rabid patriotism (see my page on patriotism)…….one group or another is beating their chest like oversexed, crazed primates….and of these groups we hear names of our Founders, like Jefferson or Adams or Hamilton or……well the list goes on and on……we are told just how patriotic they were in their defense of the Declaration of Independence and the war of said subject……but what made them these shining beacons of patriotism? I can tell you that some catchy little slogan is NOT patriotism!
Was it their work to found a new independent country…..or maybe it was their rhetoric or how about their contributions, monetarily that is, to the war effort….Just what makes them so patriotic?
Men like Jefferson and Madison and Adams and on and on….were excellent wordsmiths, which by the way were NOT that interested in independence as much as reconciliation…..they wrote about all the things they thought were important….another BTW…..all their writings were NOT that original but rather continuations of other political philosophers of the past like Locke……but beyond all that….what made these men patriotic…….was it their words? Or maybe it was their deeds……but keep in mind these were, for the most part, wealthy land owners and businessmen….so what made them these shining beacons of patriotism?
Like today, rabid patriotism is in the mind of the beholder…..but true patriotism is doing what is best for the country with all your resources…..so, I ask again….what makes these people patriotic? Did these men offer up their wealth? Maybe if the insurrection had failed they might have been paupers in the end…..but did they offer up their wealth in support of the country and the cause? To my knowledge, as limited as it may be, the answer is NO………they wrote opinions and the met and the argued, but none threw their cash at the cause……NONE, with the exception of one…..Thomas Paine.
I will bet that all read this are just a bit miffed at my accusation……I shall explain why I say this…..
Common Sense which is known as the start of the demand for independence, was written by Thomas Paine after his arrival in the Colonies from England…the publishing house of Robert Bell…..the agreement was that they would split the profits…Paine did not want to profit from his work and instructed the publishers to donate the money to the used to buy mittens for the troops…….and he was not finished…..in 1779, when working for the Pennsylvania Assembly, he gave $500 to the relief of the hard pressed troops…..his example helped raise three hundred thousand pounds from private donations…..the welfare of the troops and the success of the cause were everything to Paine…..BY the way, Paine was NOT a wealthy person by any stretch of the imagination….so his patriotism came from the heart.
Now think back through your historical learning….any other Founders so inclined?
To my way of thinking…Paine is the best example of what a patriot is all about….and this is the man that has been all but ignored as a Founder….he deserves much more from a country that he helped to create and supported…….
A true patriot is not someone with flashy words and flying a flag or a wealth of magnets on one’s car….a true patriot is someone who does all he/she can in support of their country….even it the country ignores you…..with that I close with a quote from Paine’s The Crisis…….it is as true today as it was in the 18th century…….
“These are times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country.” and I would like to add….those that shrink from service become the most rabid patriots…….
Now that I have given a short history lesson, enjoy your fun, food and family…..and tomorrow begins it all again….
From time to time I am given a book that someone wants my opinion on….usually it is politically motivated or historically motivated……and for the Xmas we all celebrate I was given a book entitled “Revolutionaries” by Jack Rakove….about the beginning of this great country and the events that lead to its establishment……
The official title is….”Revolutionaries: A New History Of The Invention Of America” by Jack Rakove, a Pulitzer prize winner…..
We all know the general story of the founding of the country….the Tea Party, Paul’s ride, Concorde, Trenton Valley Forge…on and on…..through the Constitutional battles fought…to the swearing in of our first president……this is all generic and easily taught and more easily understood….but Mr, Rakove goes much further….like any political story or history, if you will, there are always back stories that seldom get talked about….this is where “Revolutionaries” begins….
He takes the reader from the Tea Party (the physical protest, not the political movement) to the ratification of the newly penned Constitution…all the battles fought in the political arena to find and then implement the “perfect” republic.
We all know the generic history of the founding of the United States of America, but Mr. Rakove takes the reader to the back stories of the founding from the firebrand Sam Adams to the snooze fest that was Washington (the man not the city), the intelligence of John Adams and Madison and all the in-betweens, the moderates, if you will.
All in all “Revolutionaries” is an excellent look at the early days of the revolution and the country……an excellent characterization of the players in the founding of the country…the inter-actions, the arguments, the radicals, the moderates and the wimpy…..
I recommend this book to anyone that has a deep desire to learn about the founding of the country, beyone the generic…..well done Mr. Rakove…..
Professor’s Classroom
Subject: American History
Today we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America….there is only one person that we should thank for the DoI as well as the name of this country…Thomas Paine.
Why would anyone make such a claim? That is an easy one to answer…Thomas Paine was the FIRST person to envision a United States of America. There were many signers and orators of the time, but only one man can truly be called the Father of the United States of America.
As I have said he was the first person to use the term United States of America, he made the idea more palatable to the average colonialists. And in doing so made the Revolution possible for without his input through his pamphlet , “Common Sense” the revolution would have failed for the only ones that really wanted a break from Mother England was the wealthy and the elites of the time.
His influence was felt on other issues of the day and some of them were not that popular with the elites, especially the ones on slavery, women and the poor.
He proposed the Abolition of Negro Slavery; proposed Arbitration for International Peace; advocated Justice for Women; pointed out the Reality of Human Brotherhood; suggested International Copyright; invented a suspension bridge and smokeless candle; proposed the Education of Children of the Poor at public expense; suggested a Great Republic of All Nations of the world. He urged the Purchase of the great Louisiana Territory. He proposed pension payments or Old Age Pensions. He also suggested protection for dumb animals. We have honored him when we have adopted these sane propositions.
But let us be honest, before the arrival of Thomas Paine, reconciliation with England was the rule of the day. There was little thought of independence in those days, but rather to gain some sort of recognition from the English crown. Even the hero of every American, Thomas Jefferson, was hesitant to call for separation from England.
He even wrote it in a letter to John Randolph in 1775:
“Believe me , dear sir, there is not in the British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain more than I…..It is neither our wish or our interest to separate from her (England). ……Let them name their terms and let them be just….”
This was written to the person a mere two months before the publishing of Common Sense. Jefferson became a convert to the independence thing after seeing and hearing the impact of the writings of Thomas Paine. Independence in Jefferson’s mind was the worst possible solution to the problems the colonies were having with Mother England.
And everybody’s first American hero, George Washington was not an independence minded person….in a letter to his friend, Jonathan Boucher on the possibility of conflict with England:
If you ever hear of my joining any such measures, you have my leave to set me down for everything wicked.
Almost nowhere in the Colonies was there a call for independence from England until Paine published “Common Sense” and after the “Founding Fathers” saw the impact it had on the population, did they become a convert to the thought of independence.
Then when the Continental Army was in retreat and dangerously close to collapse Washington asked Paine to use his skills as a writer to help raise support and moral….once again Paine came to the rescue and wrote a series of pamphlets which would later be known as “The Crisis”. (BTW, United States of America was used for the first time in “The Crisis, essay 2”) With the publication of the series, new life was pumped into the movement and the army.
And yes, I will always trumpet the issues in Thomas Paine’s honor……why?….for one I think that he was the person that originated the Declaration of Independence (DoI). Jefferson may have wrote it but the ideas were Paine’s and not Jefferson and the bunch. Think I am wrong? Read Common Sense and then read the DoI…the original version, for the final version was only about 75% of the original….the DoI is a condensed version of Common Sense. Jefferson was a pragmatist not an idealist….Jefferson lacked the passion of an idealist, as a matter of fact, during the time when the people we lathering up for independence Jefferson did NOT write a thing either in favor of independence or in opposition…the pragmatic thing to do would have tried to force England into conciliation with the colonies. That idea NEVER entered Paine’s mind, he was for independence first and foremost.
If anyone deserves the title father of this country, then it should be Thomas Paine. Unfortunately, Washington had been saddled with that title because he was the general that lead American rag tag forces to victory. History tries to avoid the fact that it was Paine that urged the Continental Congress to appoint Washington as the commanding general of the army, when others were in the running. So the “historical” father of the country owes his station and his legacy to Paine and in no small way.
Thomas Paine is the father of the United States of America, because it was his IDEA that lead to the independence from the British Empire….who knows where the US would be today if it had not been for that idea. The best we have ever done for this man was a stamp with his likeness….he deserves more recognition than that….more truth needs to be taught to our children about the REAL history of the beginning of this country. When a short history of the “Founding Fathers” is taught, the Big 6 are usually taught, Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, John not Samuel, Madison and Franklin..others are left out of the lesson…that should be rectified and then maybe Paine would take his rightful place as the original “Founding Father”.
Everyone that knows me knows that I am a political junkie and therefore they think that I am some sort of genius when it comes to political books…..this review is of a book given to me by a friend because he knows of my efforts to disspell some of the hero worship of our Founding Fathers……
Political Incorrect Guide to The Founding Fathers by Brion McClanahan, Ph. D.
First of all this series is published by Regnery Publishing, Inc….a conservative group at best…..
About the author……is a well learned aficionado of American History and of course he was born in Virginia…..he went to school in South Carolina, Maryland and now lives and writes from Alabama(a side note: Phenix City Alabama use to be a huge speed trap town that screwed people with traffic tickets)……at best he is a loyal follower of the guys from Virginia who according to these people the sun rose and set on them and with them there would be NO US of A…..a conservative to say the least……
As a Virginian he made ev ery effort to show the anti-federalists in a bright light, people like Jefferson and Lee and Henry and in doing so took the time to try and paint the New Englanders as the elitists (sounds all too familiar these days)….he attempted to show that the Southern planters as the heroes that only wanted the best for the new country (a position which I do not agree with)…..
I will give him his props…..Dr. McClanahan wrote the book in a style that was easily read….it would give the average American could read and understand…..but with a noticeable conservative lean…if readers would read this book and then a book entitled “American Scripture” then they would have a good base to understand the beginnings of the United States of America……there is always more to the story than the flag waving cheerleading….unfortunately, Dr. McClanahan falls into the same BS that all conservatives fall into…..the Virginians saved the Union….