Benefits Of The American Revolution

These days we Americans seem to have forgotten the benefits that we all got because of the revolution….today we have taken the concept of political camps and turned into something that was never intended by our Founding Fathers.

This is a good topic….every side of the political spectrum will grasp some part of the war and why it was fought as an example of why they believe the way they do.

A good question and this post is from the view s of Libertarians……

It has become de rigueur, even among libertarians and classical liberals, to denigrate the benefits of the American Revolution. Thus, libertarian Bryan Caplan writes: “Can anyone tell me why American independence was worth fighting for?… [W]hen you ask about specific libertarian policy changes that came about because of the Revolution, it’s hard to get a decent answer. In fact, with 20/20 hindsight, independence had two massive anti-libertarian consequences: It removed the last real check on American aggression against the Indians, and allowed American slavery to avoid earlier—and peaceful—abolition.” One can also find such challenges reflected in recent mainstream writing, both popular and scholarly.

In fact, the American Revolution, despite all its obvious costs and excesses, brought about enormous net benefits not just for citizens of the newly independent United States but also, over the long run, for people across the globe. Speculations that, without the American Revolution, the treatment of the indigenous population would have been more just or that slavery would have been abolished earlier display extreme historical naivety. Indeed, a far stronger case can be made that without the American Revolution, the condition of Native Americans would have been no better, the emancipation of slaves in the British West Indies would have been significantly delayed, and the condition of European colonists throughout the British empire, not just those in what became the United States, would have been worse than otherwise.

https://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2018/HummelAmericanrevolution.html

Please if you see something that this person missed please feel free to include them in the comments.

21 August 1940–Leon Trotsky

Today is Eclipse Monday….waiting for a total eclipse of the Sun…..I can think of nothing else that I care so little about….

Since I am not that interesting it this how about a little history?

Ever since my days in school I was fascinated with Russian history it was ll so colorful….the period of their history from 1890 to 1920 was the most interesting….this was the years just before, during and after World War One.

Did you know that Germany funded Lenin’s rise to power in 1917? They did so because that if Lenin had gained power he had given his word that Russia would be pulled out of WW1 and then Germany would be fighting on a one front war giving them an advantage (this would make an interesting post later)

Any way the Communists that were fighting for power Lenin, Stalin, the one that I was most interested in was Trotsky.

After the death of Lenin and persecuted by Stalin Trotsky left Russia for New York and then Mexico….on this day, 21 August 1940, Trotsky was assassinated by agents of Stalin in Mexico.

His life is stuff of legend as they say (whoever they are)…….

Leon Davidovich Trotsky (November 7, 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein, was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. An influential politician in the early days of the Soviet Union, Trotsky served as the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs and the People’s Commissar of War and was the founder and commander of the Red Army. He was also a founding member of the Politburo, the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Following a power struggle with Joseph Stalin in the 1920s, Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party and deported from the Soviet Union. Ramon Mercader assassinated Trotsky in Mexico in 1940. Trotsky’s ideas form the basis of the Communist theory of Trotskyism, which remains a major school of Marxist thought theoretically opposed to Stalinism and Maoism.

Source: Leon Trotsky

Okay that was a history lesson…..

Beginnings Of The American Empire

Yes I am a history geek! When studying political history one gets some insights into the world of history and the world of politics.

In the very beginning of American history the country held a more isolationists position…..yes we conducted trade with other countries but for the most part we kept to ourselves and did not tamper with others foreign policy.

We fought our wars here and there…but is was not until the late 19th century that the US became an empire with its war with Spain which it won and by winning we gained territory from the loser Spain.

Make NO mistake from that time on the United States of America became an empire….like it or not.

Let the history lesson begin!

On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire — Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines Islands, Guam, and other islands.

Source: Introduction – The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War (Hispanic Division, Library of Congress)

The war with Spain in 1898 began the US ventures into interventionism…..something that once we started we could never stop.

U.S. Secretary of State John Hay called the Spanish-American War of 1898 a “splendid little war.” Superficially, the description seemed apt. After the battleship Maine mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor — an incident then blamed on Spain — America went to war, our citizens urged to free Cuba from Spanish rule as well as avenge the Maine. Largely a naval war, an American squadron under Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish squadron at Manila; likewise, the U.S. Navy crushed Spain’s Caribbean squadron off Cuba’s port of Santiago. In each engagement, the United States suffered only one fatality. Things went tougher for American troops in Cuba, where malaria and yellow fever proved as daunting as Spanish bullets. But American schoolchildren would thereafter thrill to tales of Teddy Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders,” and of the famed charge up San Juan Hill. Defeated on land and sea, Spain sued for peace. The war lasted less than four months; our fighting forces distinguished themselves with valor; and the United States, acquiring territory from Puerto Rico to the Philippines, emerged as a “world power.”

Source: Spanish-American War: Trial Run for Interventionism

Welcome to the world of today.

Class dismissed!

Is Fraud An Electoral Technique?

There is much been said and written these days about the strategy used to win the last election…..some have even called it….Fraud!

To be honest….games and yes even a hint of fraud have been used in the past to win elections.

Let’s take a look at our recent past in presidential politics……

People are wondering out loud about the parallels between today’s Republican Party and organized crime, and whether “Teflon Don” Trump will remain unscathed through his many scandals, ranging from interactions with foreign oligarchs to killing tens of thousands of Americans by denying them healthcare to stepping up the destruction of our environment and public lands.

History suggests – even if treason can be demonstrated – that, as long as he holds onto the Republican Party (and Fox News), he’ll survive it intact. And he won’t be the first Republican president to commit high crimes to get and stay in office.

Source: The Past 5 GOP Presidents Have Used Fraud and Treason to Steer Themselves to Electoral Victory | Alternet

As you can see there is very little that is good or innocent about American presidential politics….and it only gets worse with each passing election…..where will this cycle end?

Russia….Russia…..Russia!

There has been a wealth of ink wasted on this Russia thing….did Russia meet with any candidates to decide the future? Or did it not?

If you really do not know about all this wasted time and energy then get up and use the Google machine….you can learn it all….and from whatever side you want……

I am not here to join in that debate….I will do what I always do….give my readers a history lesson….or if you like a historical perspective….

You see if Trump and/or his minions met with someone from the Russia oligarchy then it is NOTHING new. That is right…it is nothing new!

Whatever are you talking about professor?

First let’s talk about the Nixon years….and the Vietnam Peace talks….

Journalist Robert Parry, editor of Consortiumnews.com, may be the most knowledgeable journalist about the GOP use of foreign policy subterfuge (some might call it treason) to successfully win the 1968 and 1980 elections. He has compiled the evidence in his latest book, “America’s Stolen Narrative.”

It is a persuasive account of the beginning of de facto stolen presidential elections by the GOP, which in turn has led to a lack of accountability for executive branch actions by the DC code of silence among the powerful. These elections (with the exception of Watergate) taught the Republicans, Parry contends, that there would be no consequences for law-breaking behavior in elections and foreign policy.

Source: How Richard Nixon Sabotaged 1968 Vietnam Peace Talks to Get Elected President

Next up is the Reagan campaign of 1980….and the Iranian hostage thing……

“A conspiracy between a presidential candidate and a hostile foreign power against an incumbent president would seem to be without precedent in American history. But if Reagan struck a successful deal with Iran and captured the presidency in 1980, it would explain why he agreed to the bizarre alliance with Iran in 1985 and 1986: He had gotten away with it before.”—B. Honegger and J. Naureckas, In These Times, July 7, 1987.

The charge has been raised, first in the Middle Eastern and European press and now in the US, that in 1980 while Jimmy Carter was frantically negotiating for an early release of American hostages in Iran, members of the Ronald Reagan campaign staff made the Ayatollah Khomeini an offer he couldn’t refuse—badly needed US arms and spare parts for his war with Iraq if he kept the US Embassy hostages in Tehran until after election day.

Source: Did Iran Delay Hostages Release To Ensure Reagan’s Election? | WRMEA

Now we come to all the hoopla about the Trump people and their alleged meetings/deals with the Russians.

Is it just me or all these incidents involving GOP candidates? I am sure there are others and maybe even a Dem in there somewhere but these examples are the ones that readily came to mind.

Did I mention that all these examples are those of GOP candidates? Is that a pattern or what?

In Search Of A ‘Reichstag Fire’ Moment

Recent situations have shown that Trump’s presidency is not as popular as some bloggers and writers would have you believe…..

Trump has had purges, would be scandals, bad press and a meltdown over Twitter, massive protests…….he needs an occurrence to get his presidency on track……

He, Trump, needs something that can change the road that his presidency is traveling…..a little of my now famous historical perspective would fit nicely…….

Given his serious unpopularity, an incident for illegal power grab is increasingly a dangerous possibility.

Donald Trump and his top Islamophobe nomenklatura gathered at the White House, now led by the militant crusader Stephen Bannon, are on a desperate lookout for their “Reichstag Fire” and their favourite propaganda outlet, Fox News, is franticly searching for it – even in Canada.

“Reichstag Fire” was an arson attack on the Reichstag, the German parliament, in Berlin on February 27, 1933. The incident was soon abused by Adolf Hitler and his gang to demand a suspension of civil liberties in systematic preparation for his putsch for total fascist power.

Source: Trump’s desperate search for a ‘Reichstag Fire’ | USA | Al Jazeera

Please if any of the Right wing bloggers read this…I am NOT calling Trump a fascist….only that he needs something like the “fire” to sway the people to his visions.

Anti-Globalists Used to Be Left Wingers

During this past election there was a term bounced around and it has caught on for the Right wing when they are searching for an insult to anyone that disagrees with them….”globalist”.

I tried to cover this situation in an op-ed for my friend at Ace News Room…….

For a decade those people that do not agree with the bean brains on the Right have been labelled…..”apologists“……”elitists“……”socialists“…..”bleeding hearts” and now we are “globalists“…..which is fine but I am not sure that the nose pickers actually knows what the term means….other than a convenient insult.

But as with anything thing its meaning is subjective……subject to the whims and mental farts of idiots.

The “Globalist Agenda“….as defined by a conspiracy site(I would give a link but screw it…find the looney tunes for yourself)……

Source: Warning: The “Globalists” Are Coming | Ace News Room

And now for the part that so many dislike….my historic perspective…..(listen for the moans and groans)……

Not so long ago it was the Left that was spouting the anti-globalist rhetoric……

If the current political narrative pits Donald Trump’s “real Americans” against the “global elites,” in the waning days of the 20th century it was just the reverse. Organized opposition to global “free trade” agreements was overwhelmingly a province of the left (though with a diverse sprinkling of various small-scale traditionalists). Anti-globalization protesters suffered intense police repression and were treated as misfits, oddballs or at best an inscrutable coalition of disparate groups — although polls showed they enjoyed public support. If that earlier, pro-democracy anti-globalist movement had been listened to and engaged with by elites, we might not be facing the kind of much darker anti-globalist backlash we’re seeing today.

Source: Historic Switcheroo: Anti-Globalists Used to Be Left Wingers; Now It is Donald Trump | Alternet

“America First”

Sorry but it is time for another history lesson…..(moans and groans all around)……..

One of the slogans employed by PEOTUS Trump…the other was “Make America Great Again”…..as a history nut I kept thinking that “America First” had been used before…I looked back to Reagan….close but no cigar. There were many candidates that used some form of the idea/term….so I kept looking and reading.

My regulars know that I will sneak a historic perspective in my posts whenever I can….some shudder, others smile and even others appreciate my diligence.

Then when I was watching the History Channel and its new shows about Pearl Harbor I heard the magic words….”America First”!

Guess what? It was an antiwar group that wanted to keep the US out of another war……

The America First Committee (AFC) was organized in September 1940 to oppose America`s potential intervention in World War II. Hitler`s invasion of Poland had precipitated war in September 1939. A year later, the only major military force resisting the Nazis was Britain. The smaller nations had been quickly overrun, France had capitulated, and the Soviet Union was using its nonagression pact with Germany to pursue its own interests in Finland and elsewhere. At the time, a majority of Americans felt that while the world would be a better place if Britain prevailed over Germany, they were not inclined to declare war and repeat the earlier experience of American soldiers fighting on European soil.

This reluctance had inspired Congress to pass neutrality acts in the late 1930`s which restricted the American government`s ability to support either party in the conflict, which in practice meant the Allies since the Axis powers were widely regarded with distaste. Roosevelt, who had been corresponding with Churchill for years before Churchill was even part of the Tory government, clearly identified American interests with the hope for British victory. Using tactics like the “bases for destroyers” deal, he attempted to maximize his support for the British while skirting if not actually violating the principle of neutrality.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor the attempt to avoid another war was pretty much dead in the water (NO pun intended)……

Your history lesson is done…..now you know something you did not know yesterday….that is call education.

Could “Political Lightening” Strike Again?

We are entering into the stretch run for the presidency of the United States of America…..the rhetoric, the lies, the pure BS will intensify and then we must chose which liar will lead the country down this path we have chosen…..I pray for the country…..

What political party did the great Lincoln join first? Republican is the wrong answer. First he was a Whig then moved on to the Republicans.

What happened to the Whigs anyway?

The Whig party ran, for some years, mostly in strong second place to the Democrats. They elected William Henry Harrison, in the famous “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” campaign of nonsense, copied from the Jackson Democrats, but Harrison (the hero of Tippecanoe) died just days into his presidency, and was succeded by Tyler, one of the anti-Jackson democrats, who showed himself to be basically a firm Democrat, and was “read out of the Whig party”. They also elected Zachary Taylor (another war hero and no politician) who was died fairly early in the term, making Millard Filmore president.

After the Jackson era, the Whig party drifted towards its strongest elements, the national improvements men. That tendency was strongest by far in the North; the South being in those days almost purely agrarian.

In the 1850s when the nation became increasingly divided over slavery, a new Republican party formed, primarily to keep slavery quarantined off in the South, while Southern sentiment was for their right to move, with their way of life, into any new territory. Their methods of agriculture and their best cash crops tended to deplete the soil, so that Southerners were among the most aggressive Western expansionists.

The Republican Party, while it also attracted many anti-slavery Democrats, drew off so many Whigs that they effectively killed the Whig party. The Whigs were also badly hurt by the short-lived Native American or Know-Nothing party, which was primarily anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic. This party was strong in urban areas, which had also been a Whig stronghold. The last year the Whigs had a presidential candidate was in 1856.

One of the main reason for the demise of the Whigs was their demonizing immigrants…..more specific….Catholics.

Although they received the votes of many small farmers, shopkeepers, clerks, and artisans, they appear to have appealed particularly to what some modern historians call distinctive ethnocultural groups: evangelical as opposed to liturgical Protestants; moralists and abstainers; persons unhappy with brutal treatment of blacks and Native Americans. (starting to see a trend yet?)

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Tag: Political History