RE: National Amnesia and Other Mistakes of the Media
(RLn, At Length, Dec. 22, 2022) James, really nice thoughtprovoking, historical critique in your comparison of the treatment of Jefferson Davis to Trump. However, Grant’s “prescient quote” is not completely analogous to today’s polarized mentalities. This is because Trump and the “stolen election” rhetoric is grounded upon the theme of patriotism rather than sectional secession.
Dear Pete,
The prescient part of Ulysses S. Grant’s quote is this, “I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s (meaning between the North and the South) but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.”
The current problem is some people’s confusion over the meaning of “patriotism,” not understanding that it ishas something fundamental to defending the U.S. Constitution.
James Preston Allen, publisher
A Personal Journey from Red to Blue
I grew up as a supporter of my father’s party. I remember Ike, supported Michigan Governor William Milliken, loved Lowell Weiker, and generally felt good about being a Republican.
If you had been in the Detroit area in 1972, you might have seen me as I was collecting signatures for Milliken’s property tax relief bill. These were much different Republicans than the ones I see today.
Yes, back in the day Republicans did stand for smaller government, and personal freedom, as well as personal responsibility. Republicans back then also supported the wealthy paying their fair share of taxes.
And, as much as I despised Richard Nixon, I still liked him when he went to Russia and China, and when he helped to create the EPA. I supported Ronald Reagan’s dealing with Russia, which helped the Berlin wall to come down, but at the same time I began to feel uneasy about Reagan’s and GOP attacks on unions.
I was pretty upset when Reagan disbanded the flight controller’s union, but I still voted Republican. The change in my politics has taken a long time coming, but it has finally come. Yes, Bill Clinton did something impeachable when he lied about Monica, but I saw the trap the GOP had laid for him, and that got me questioning myself.
Still, I voted for Bush in 2000, and supported him until he lied us into Iraq. In 2004, I couldn’t vote Democrat yet, but I had had enough of Bush, who I lost trust that he would tell the truth. I voted Libertarian that year. In 2008, I voted for John McCain, who I saw as a hero (He eventually earned that with his thumbs down on dismantling Obamacare, which I actually supported).
In 2012, I voted Libertarian again, as I did in 2016. And that was the year my break with reality ended. Although I didn’t vote for Hillary, I could not vote for Trump, as I saw him as a con man and authoritarian who wanted to be King.
In 2018, I held my nose and voted for Democrats for the first time in my life, and began following Daily KoS more regularly than I had before (I was an occasional reader of Daily Kos beginning in 2016). In 2020, I wanted to vote Libertarian again, but held my nose and voted for Joe Biden, as I was afraid of Trump and the damage he would do to the country that I love.
After Jan 6, and the election denying, along with the violence and threats that happened afterwards, I realized that I was no longer a Republican, and this year I voted for Democrats up and down the ballot.