A Short History of the Confederate States of America

 

After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis spent two years in prison without trial. He was released on bail and a year and a half later, the government finally dropped the treason charges against him. In 1877 he retired to Beauvoir, where he wrote, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. This was a two-volume tome of over 1,500 pages. I did not read this book. I tried, but I kept following asleep. Luckily, ten years later, Davis wrote A Short History of the Confederate States of America. Roughly one-third in length, “A Short History” covers the same ground and is more readable.

Davis writing style is clear for modern readers, but I would recommend a good understanding of the war to provide context for his narrative. That said, for a thorough understanding of a major historical event, it always best to get the story from the horse’s mouth. The Davis perspective may be biased, but those perspectives did not change between the war and the writing of his memoir. That consistency makes this book valuable for understanding the motivations for war.

Davis extols victories and offers strained excuses for errors and failures. In Davis’ mind, nothing was his fault, the Confederacy was always honorable, the Union always vile. For those not imbued with The Cause mythology, this heavy-handed prejudice can be off-putting, but I found it helps understand the ethos of the period.

Most history books are written by winners. If you don’t study the losers, then you have an incomplete picture. An example would be the hallowed Federalist Papers. There is a collection of opposition opinion pieces called the Anti-Federalist Papers. I suggest reading both and I highly recommend Jefferson Davis’ A Short History of the Confederate States of America.

(This is a research book for Maelstrom, a sequel to Tempest at Dawn.)

America is Too Good for Democrats

 

Democrats dislike America. In their minds, it needs to radically change, so they’ve been trying to start a domestic war. Civil, Class, or identity group--it doesn’t matter. Until recently, this has been a cold war with a few hot spots. Democrats are disappointed because past campaigns did not go the way they wanted. Occupy Wall Street did not incite class warfare, Black Lives Matter did not start a race war, and Antifa did not expose a vast cadre of neo-Nazis lurking in the background.

What happened? Why hasn’t their ground game worked? Simple. Americans are not ignorant, selfish, and hateful. That would be projection. The left doesn’t understand their own country. America is too good for them. They remain in their bubbles and safe spaces and view the rest of us as caricatures. They see us as bad people. Democrats believe we’re a bunch of illiterate boobs who can be easily herded in any direction they desire. They’ve swallowed their own demonization narrative hook, line, and sinker.

Democrats had hoped to provoke bad behavior on the right.  With near-absolute control of the media, provocations on the left can be downplayed while any reaction from the right can be relentlessly condemned from rooftops, podiums, and studios. This is a mindless battle fought with self-doubt, fear, and loathing. The emotions of destruction. In their view, they must destroy our nation to save it. To make their quixotic vision a reality, the existing selfish system must be burned to the ground so society can be rebuilt based upon the principles of social justice.

Trump Derangement Syndrome infected the Left because he scrubbed the speed from their nefarious doings and executed an abrupt U-turn. Darn. They had been making such good progress. Trump had to be stopped. Even before inauguration, Democrats rejected Donald Trump as a lawfully elected president. They vowed to resist every policy, every action, and every statement that came from the White House. They spied on his campaign and his administration. The FBI Investigated him at least twice, a special prosecutor tried to find indictable offenses, and Congress did their darndest to find dirt.  Nothing. When the Russia hoax failed to oust him from office, they tried impeachment to no avail. So, they took to insurrection in the streets. Antifa and BLM violence increased until chaos engulfed the entire nation. Street thugs maimed and killed law enforcement officers, destroyed property, and beat on passersby. Under the pretense this was peaceful protest, rioters were loudly cheered on by Democrat office holders and their allies in the media and Hollywood.

Still no civil war. Where were those rednecks? The Left had no choice but to escalate. They brought in a pandemic and hammered fear into every waking moment. They used this fear to redefine how we vote so Democrats could send Trump to the showers. But … no questions, no alternative narratives. All opposition must be squashed, or their flimsy cover stories wouldn’t hold. The first steps were easy. They shut down wrong-thinking on social media, marginalized resistors, removed conservative media's ability to boost their content, and coerced power brokers of every ilk to turn a blind eye. Everyone marched in lockstep.

Not enough. Americans had shown that they could awaken in dire situations. They needed an event. Something so abhorrent that normal people would be thrown into confusion, doubt, and mourning. The right had already shown that they wouldn’t rise to mere taunts, so the only recourse was to lure them into a compromising position.

So Democrats stage-managed an insurrection. Trump demonstrators were invited into the capitol and guided to the inner sanctum. Despite the absence of weapons, little wear on the capitol, and the violence coming from provocateurs and the capitol police, Democrats painted a national picture of an insurrection that came within a hairbreadth of toppling the government. January 6th cemented the departure of Donald Trump. Any questions about the authenticity of the election were dissolved.

All that remained was righting the train and getting it back on track.

Then it all fell apart … again. They forgot President Obama’s warning. “Don't underestimate Joe's ability to (expletive) things up.”

A version of this column was first published on American Thinker

Three cheers for Adam Smith, inventor of the world’s most effective contraceptive.

World Average GDP per Capita

You may remember Adam Smith as the 18th Century inventor of capitalism. You’d be right. But he also solved the problem of over-population. Capitalism is the greatest creator of wealth in history and wealthy families and nations have lower fertility rates. 

Let’s take the wealth side first. Think of Singapore versus Venezuela. Singapore has zero natural resources and Venezuela sits on one of the greatest oil reserves in the world. Or consider North versus South Korea. Or the People's Republic of China versus Taiwan. Or, in its day, East versus West Germany. 

 Capitalism beats a state run economy every single time. No contest.

Now, about those fertility rates. Look at the chart of U.S. birth rates in relation to income. Pretty obvious. The richer the family, the fewer the kids. It doesn’t matter why, the indisputable fact is that higher income, lowers the birth rate.

Does this relationship hold internationally? It does. Our indisputable fact went global: the higher the gross national product, the lower the birth rate.

Put these two observable phenomena together and you solve the Left’s most emotive fixation: global population control. Yet they reliably turn their back on capitalism because they distrust a system that makes some people richer than themselves. If the sustainability of Earth is an existential threat, then why discard obvious solutions? Many Leftists don’t think, others naively follow the catechism, but some purposely craft rationalizations for irrationality. 

Take population control: instead a real answer to their obsession, they promote every form of non-propagational sex, rabid feminism that separates men and women, people bunched up in tiny living quarters unfit for a family, ridicule of female homemakers, family dissolution, government dictates of family size, and when all else fails, they demand contraceptives and abortion for perverts who insist on an archaic relationship.

I sometimes wonder if anthropophobia is why Leftists frequently defend Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro, and other tyrants who impose ruthless forms of population control. (Hitler seems to be the only socialist they refuse to give a pass for murdering his own populous.)

Try Googling “birth rates versus GDP.” You’ll get hits on studies, papers, and programs to reduce population in order to increase wealth. Backward. They’re convoluting cause and effect. Why? Because they loathe capitalism. It’s not allowed in their toolbox. So, without thinking, they flip cause and effect. In the Leftist’s world, there are many cures worse than the disease. For example, they hate carbon dioxide, but lose their stuff if carbon-free nuclear energy is mentioned. If the means are blasphemous, the end remains delusive. 

Leftists cannot accept that the surest path to population control is to promote capitalism in every corner of the world. In fact, capitalism cures pollution, hunger, housing, illness, and even throws a monkey-wrench into totalitarianism. Just ask the Pilgrims. They got all that stuff for the first Thanksgiving after they tossed socialism in the ash heap.

But the Left won’t alter course. They remain bound to an ideology that promises a dreamland … but never delivers. 

Don’t blame them. They can’t help themselves. It’s in their nature.

The Impending Crisis of the South, Hinton Rowan Helper

The Impending Crisis of the South, How to Meet It
Hinton Rowan Helper

This book appealed to me for four reasons. 1) It was written in 1857 by a participant of the era. 2) It was an anti-slavery book written by a Southerner, 3) the book created a movement called Helperism, 4) Lincoln appointed Helper consul to Argentina, which meant he had probably read the book. (Further evidence that Lincoln had read the book is a section of his Cooper Union Address which far more eloquently echoes one of Helper’s commentaries.)

When writing a historical novel, it’s crucial to get inside the heads of the people who actually experienced the period. One technique is to read contemporaneous writings, including books, periodicals, newspapers, and speeches.

Helper’s thesis is that slavery harms economic growth, inventiveness, and the middleclass. He uses extensive census statistics to solidly prove his case.  The overwhelming quantity of data is convincing … but also dull. Luckily, the numbers can be scanned after the reader gets used to his presentation style. If you are interested in the data, I would recommend a print format instead of an e-book.

The Impending Crisis of the South provides an interesting and pertinent perspective on the economics of slavery.

(This is a research book for Maelstrom, a sequel to Tempest at Dawn.)

The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution

The Crooked Path to Abolition
James Oakes

Politicians of the time alleged that the Civil War was about something other than slavery. Jefferson Davis claimed it was about states rights, but, as Lincoln pointed out, slavery was the only state right being challenged. Not that Yankee politicians were more forthright. In the early years of the war, Lincoln said he was fighting solely to restore the Union. After the fact, most books by participants and historians have treaded lightly on slavery as the primary cause.

During and after the Constitutional Convention, slaveholding states had threatened to secede if they did not get their way. With a few brief interludes, slaveholders or slave tolerant politicians controlled the national government from its inception. The slave states had grown used to dominance, but a party had emerged who outspokenly threaten their “peculiar institution.” With the election of the first Republican President, the slaveholders made good on their decades-old threat to dismantle the Union.

The Crooked Path to Abolition is a timely book. Historians are always looking for a niche perspective on Abraham Lincoln. James Oats has picked a rare one. He doesn’t come up with a unique thesis and then cobble together evidence to prove his thesis. For the most part, he compiles evidence and then presents it impassively, allowing the reader to make up their mind.

Lincoln certainly took a crooked path to abolition. A purposeful path or the flailing of an uncertain politician? 

Read the book and you decide.

(This is a research book for Maelstrom, a sequel to Tempest at Dawn.)

FDA Approval of Pfizer Vaccine? (Part Deux)

Previously, I explained the charade surrounding the supposed FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine. You might be wondering why the government is so hell bent for leather on inoculating youngsters under twelve. As usual, follow the money.

The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act removed liability for vaccines recommended by the CDC for children. Since 2016, they’ve also removed liability for vaccines given to pregnant women.

The current goal is to build general acceptance for vaccinating young children. Recent FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for children 5-12 was a big step. The next leg of this journey will be CDC recommended use for children. Vaccine manufactures would then be protected against law suits by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Voilà, Pfizer can now start distributing its vaccine under the brand name Comirnaty. It would be officially licensed by the FDA and remain shielded from liability.

I may have made a mistake in the prior paragraph. I wrote "Vaccine manufactures would then be protected against law suits by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act." If my understanding of the EUA legislation is correct, treatments can only be approved for "emergency" use if no licensed treatment exists. Once Pfizer is fully licensed, can Moderna and J&J vaccines still be distributed? I think not, but please comment if you have a different read. Even if I'm wrong and Moderna/J&J do not lose their EUA status, they still would have a difficult time competing against an FDA sanctioned product from Pfizer.

Pfizer, and possibly other drug companies, would then be on the receiving end of a firehose of money. Risk free! Better yet, booster mandates will keep their coffers overflowing forever. Plenty to go around. Politicians will become kings of the roost and everyone else will tout the party line or get booted out of the food line. As an added benefit, mandate enforcement will become legally unchallengeable.

Now you know why they insist youngsters get vaccinated ... and why the pressure will become intense.

Democrats Pretend to Care

 

If you listen to Democrats, they’re caring creatures.  Feigning empathy for the plight of others is a cornerstone of identity politics.  But if they really cared, why would their actions not reflect their espoused concerns?  Why would they be caught so often violating their supposed principles?  Why would the lives of their constituents never improve?  The answer is obvious.  Democrats only pretend to care.

Democrats pretend to care about Blacks.

Democrats were the actual slavers, fought to preserve slavery, formed the Ku Klux Klan to keep freed slaves in line, imposed Jim Crow laws to keep former slaves powerless, systemically dismantled Black families, prioritized the placement of abortion clinics in Black neighborhoods, and ran the education system so that Black children remained disadvantaged.  Riots inflict the most damage on the emerging Black middle class.  Arguably, the image of uncontrollable mobs did not enhance race relations in the United States.

Democrats really care about harvesting Black votes every two years.

Democrats pretend to care about the working class.

Long ago, Democrats abandoned the working class.  Complicit with Republicans, Democrats sent our best jobs offshore and imported mass volumes of immigrants to deflate wages and replace working American here at home.  The Democrat approach to trade agreements skew to the advantage of foreign nations.  When President Trump built a robust economy that put America First, Democrats used the pandemic to crush the economy.  Their purposeful strategy is apparent when Blue and Red State pandemic actions are reviewed, and the results examined.  Democrats defend the Chinese Communist Party despite their weaponization of trade, absorption of our key industries, and the infliction of a pandemic on the world.

Democrats really care about the working class as a voting bloc.

Democrats pretend to care about LGBT.

In opposition to LGBT interests, Democrats see virtue in Islam, push for mass immigration of Muslims, and help establish enclaves where their cultural can be preserved intact.  Incongruently, they simultaneously denounce the supposed bigotry in Jewish and Christian religions.  Democrats viciously attack conservative members of the LGBT community, which proves that adherence to Leftist dogma eclipses LGBT sexuality concerns.

Democrats really care about weaponizing sex for political gain.

Democrats pretend to care about a woman’s right to choose.

Choice means that an individual can decide between options, but Democrats try to silence those who advocate for non-abortion alternatives.  Women who choose to abort are celebrated but women who choose not to abort are scorned. Democrats have taken choice away from the mothers of underage girls. Planned Parenthood has located 79% of its Surgical Abortion Facilities in minority neighborhoods. Democrats fight standard medical practices at abortion clinics.

Democrats really care about population control.

Democrats pretend to care about educating children.

Democrats oppose all school reforms including charter schools, magnet schools, vouchers, tax credits, performance incentives, home schooling, and other corrective measures.  They inhibit teacher dismissals for incompetence and misconduct and encourage bloated administrative structures.  Democrat controlled teachers’ unions and have coopted the Parent Teachers Association.  Curriculum has migrated from the three Rs to political indoctrination.

Democrats really care about employing adults in the academic/political complex for the purpose of indoctrinating children.

Democrats pretend that no one is above the law.

Democrats believe laws, rules, ethics, morality, consistency, and truth are in place to constrain Republicans.  Democrats repeatedly shout that no one is above the law, yet illegal immigrants are above the law, Joe Biden’s son is above the law, Adam Schiff’s felony leaking of classified information is above the law, Antifa criminal assault and wanton destruction of property is above the law, Obama’s illegal weaponization of our nation’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies is above the law, and Hillary Clinton’s myriad illegal activities are all above the law.

Democrats really care about using the law to suppress Republicans.

Democrats pretend to care about science.

Democrats use the word science like the word Nazi.  They don’t really believe every opponent is a Nazi and they don’t believe in science.  These words are used to shut down debate.  Much of the science they tout is based on computer models or unverifiable papers related to the soft sciences like sociology, psychology, economics, and gender studies.  They tout as science computer models for climate change, Covid19 spread, socialist economic policies, tax policies, etc. Computer models are not science.  Until their projections are proven to be better than fifty percent accurate, computer models are merely opinion pieces written in computer code.  Hard sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geoscience remain completely foreign to Democrats.

Democrats really care about scientific claims that further their agenda.

Democrats pretend to care about voter suppression.

Democrats push every change making registration and voting easier, but it has nothing to do with the professed goal of fighting voter suppression.  These actions represent the first step in institutionalizing voter fraud.  The additional steps include fighting all checks against voter fraud, supporting every change that opens a new path to fraud, universal unrequested mail-in ballots, fighting every attempt to cleanse voter rolls, the legalization of vote harvesting, the encouragement of illegal immigration, and the issuance of driver licenses to illegals.

Democrats really care about winning elections by any means necessary.

Democrats have ceased to pretend about some issues.

Democrats ceased pretending to care about bipartisanship, free speech, free enterprise, small businesses, law and order, fair elections, political corruption, and police state tactics.  In addition, Democrats no longer deny that they disdain the Constitution, support gun confiscation, crave a socialist state, revere the UN and WHO, despise the police, endorse open borders, loathe Israel, and are contemptuous of our election process.

President Donald Trump’s greatest accomplishment?  He singlehandedly exposed Democrats for who they really are.

Democrats? The more things change …

In doing research for Maelstrom, the sequel to Tempest at Dawn, I dug into the details behind the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Democrats pushed the bill through with a slim margin and it was signed into law by Millard Fillmore. Reaction in free states was swift and bitter. Protests erupted overnight in almost every northern population center with many openly proclaiming that they would not obey an unconstitutional law. Slaveholders dismissed the protests as “mongrel gatherings.”

Here’s what the law required.

• Federal government took away state authority to find, return, and try escaped slaves
• Established body of commissioners to hear cases with no right of appeal to legal system
• Commissioners paid $5 when they found for the accused and $10 when they ordered the accused runaway returned to slavery
• U.S. Marshals could conscript citizens against their will to run down fugitive slaves
• Accused fugitive slaves were denied due process and habeas corpus, which overrode many state laws
• Those assisting a fleeing slave faced stiff penalties
• No statute of limitations

Democrats admitted that the law was probably unconstitutional, but they had the Supreme Court in their pocket with Chief Justice Taney and a majority of the remaining justices from slaveholding states. Seven years later, Taney would rule in Dred Scott v. John Sanford that African Americans were not and could not be citizens.

The repercussions of the Democratic Party shoving the Compromise of 1850 down the throat of the nation? The nation saw that Whigs were in cahoots with Democrats and formed the Republican Party. A man with a lucrative law practice decided to get back into politics. Ten years after the Act, the Republican Party nominated that man as their candidate for the presidency, and Abraham Lincoln became the sixteenth president of the United States. At his Cooper Union Address, Lincoln accused Democrats of promising “to destroy the government, unless you are allowed to construe and enforce the constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and us. You will rule or ruin.”

The Democratic Party made good on it’s promise.

Conspiracy Theories Galore

They dismissed us as conspiracy theorists, but then ...

• Russia Collusion was proved a series of crimes by the Clinton campaign.
• Hunter Biden's laptop disappears and Democrats, the Intelligence Community, Corporate Media, and Big Tech collude to protect the criminal Biden family with a false narrative about Russia disinformation.
• Pfizer vaccine FDA approval exposed as a lie. The president, government agencies, media, Big Tech, and Pfizer all propagated this "misinformation.". In truth, FDA approval was for a Pfizer vaccine not in production and not available anywhere on the planet.
• Covid19 vaccine narratives unravel by the day as vaccine mandates become more tyrannical. 
• FDA refused (16-2) emergency use of boosters for heathy people under 60 but the media and president purposely muddled the results to claim unanimous approval of boosters.
• Capital Police release video tapes which dismantled narratives around January 6 "armed insurrection."
• Arizona election audit proves massive cheating by Democrats and their friends.

And they call us nut cases while they fabricate one falsehood after another.

What we are really fighting ...

 

We’re not fighting to stop masks.

 We’re not fighting to stop lockdowns.

 We’re not fighting to stop vaccine mandates.

 We’re not fighting to stop vaccine passports.

We’re fighting to stop the march toward Communist China style Social Credit Scores.

Social Credit Scores are total control of our daily lives. A tiny misstep and you are punished. Follow the party line and you are rewarded. If this is the New World Order, count me out. 

Covid19 has wiped out all five freedoms defined in the First Amendment

 

In celebration of Constitution Day, an Excerpt from Tempest at Dawn

 Chapter 40                                                      Monday, September 17, 1787

  

Madison sat in his customary place with folded hands resting on the table. He didn’t intend to take notes today. In fact, he didn’t intend to take any more notes on any day. This signing ceremony would be the final act of the convention.

Madison noticed that his ink-stained hands looked prayerful. He thought this fitting because a reverential spirit suffused the assembly. The chamber remained hushed as the secretary read the engrossed Constitution in its entirety. At the conclusion, Franklin rose with a speech in his hand.

“Mr. President, I confess there are several parts of this Constitution I don’t like, but I’m not sure I won’t later approve of them. Most men believe they possess all truth and that whoever differs from them is in error. The older I grow, the more I doubt my own judgment and the more I pay attention to the judgment of others.

“When you assemble a group of men to take advantage of their collective wisdom, you inevitably bring together all their prejudices, passions, and selfish views. From such an assembly, can one expect perfection? It astonishes me that this system approaches so near perfection.

“Thus, I consent to this Constitution because I’m not sure that it’s not the best. My reservations were born within these walls and here they’ll die. I’ll never whisper a syllable about my uncertainties. I hope we all heartily recommend this Constitution. My wish is that any member who still harbors objections will, with me, doubt his own infallibility and put his name to this document.”

Franklin dropped his papers to his side and spoke in a commanding voice. “I move the Constitution be signed.”

The old man had made a fine last attempt to pull the three dissenters along, but Madison doubted that it would work. They would have to settle for artifice; by the unanimous consent of the states present ignored the two missing states and the seven delegates—counting those who had left—who dissented.

Gorham, looking nervous, asked for the floor. “Gentlemen, I wish that the clause declaring, ‘the number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every forty thousand,’ be changed to ‘thirty thousand.’” Hamilton immediately seconded the motion.

Washington rose to put the question to a vote, hesitated, and then expressed his opinion for the first time. “Although I have hitherto restrained myself, my wish is that the proposal be approved. Many consider the small proportion of representatives insufficient to secure the rights and interests of the people. Late as the present moment is, it will give me great satisfaction to see this amendment adopted.”

Madison turned to see Sherman’s reaction. Ellsworth tapped his forearm, but Sherman just smiled and made a flick of his hand. Sherman couldn’t countermand the sole wish expressed by the great hero of the Revolution, but Madison wished he had been rewarded with a flash of anger or at least surprise.

Without debate, the amendment was approved—in the manner so dear to Gen. Washington’s heart—unanimously.

Madison expected this to be the end, but Randolph urgently asked for the floor. Bristling with indignation, he stared at the Pennsylvania table. “I resent the allusions to myself by Dr. Franklin.” Randolph turned toward Washington. “I apologize for refusing to sign the Constitution. I don’t mean by this refusal to oppose the Constitution beyond these doors. I only mean to keep myself free to be governed by future judgments.”

Gerry felt obliged to explain his refusal. “This is painful, and I won’t offer any further observations. The outcome has been decided. While the plan was in debate, I offered my opinions freely, but I’m now bound to treat it with the respect due an act of the convention. I hope that I’m not violating that respect by declaring I fear a civil war might erupt from these proceedings.”

Gerry gave a disrespectful glance toward the Pennsylvania table. “As for Dr. Franklin’s remarks, I cannot but view them as leveled at myself and the other gentlemen who mean not to sign.”

Pinckney had lost his normal composure, but none of his arrogance. “We’re not going to gain any more converts. Let’s sign the document.”

King interrupted the initiation of the signing ceremony. “I suggest that the journals of the convention be destroyed or deposited in the custody of the president. If it becomes public, those who wish to prevent the adoption of the Constitution will put it to bad use.”

“I prefer the second expedient.” Wilson looked directly at Gerry. “Some may make false representations of our proceedings, and we’ll need evidence to contradict them.

The last hour confirmed Madison’s suspicion that the fight for ratification would be divisive and mean-spirited.

The motion passed to deposit the journals into the hands of Washington.

Finally, all other business completed, Washington formally called on the delegates to sign the Constitution. The secretary had arranged the Syng inkstand that had been used to sign the Declaration of Independence on a green baize-covered table. Washington walked around the table and signed first. He then called the states from north to south. The delegates remained silent and reverential as they approached the low dais to apply their signatures.

When Virginia was called, Madison felt a tightening in his stomach. This Constitution would permanently bind his beloved country. When he picked up the pen, he looked at Washington, who stood respectfully to the side, instead of behind the table. The precedents set by this man would seal these words. Madison grabbed the pen, dipped it in the inkwell, and signed with confidence. When he looked up, Washington gave him a nod that made Madison think he had read his mind.

Despite his illness, Franklin had remained standing after he signed, shaking hands with delegates and whispering an occasional aside. While the last members were signing, tears glistened in Franklin’s eyes. With an obvious struggle to control his emotions, he began to speak in a stronger than normal voice.

“Gentlemen, have you observed the half sun painted on the back the president’s chair? Artists find it difficult to distinguish a rising from a setting sun. In these many months, I have been unable to tell which it was. Now, I’m happy to exclaim that it is a rising, not a setting sun.”

Once the last signature was in place, no one wanted to spend another moment in this room that had dominated their lives for so many months. Besides, John Dickinson had left a banknote with George Read to pay for a celebratory dinner at the City Tavern.

Because of the momentous day, Franklin had abandoned his rented prisoners and intended to walk out of the State House. Madison grabbed one elbow, and Wilson took the opposite side to help the old man out of the chamber. Madison hoped he could protect Franklin from being jostled by the bubbling delegates, but Washington took a point position in front of their little group, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea.

“I want to thank you gentlemen for helping an enfeebled and diminished old man,” Franklin said.

“I witnessed your diminished capacity these many months,” Madison said. He became puzzled when this somehow evoked a hearty chuckle from Franklin.

The doctor glanced between Madison and Wilson. “I’m usually assisted by the inmates of Walnut Street Prison. It occurs to me that you men have been prisoners in this chamber.” Franklin chuckled again. “With the power vested in me by the State of Pennsylvania, I pardon and set you free.”

At that precise moment, with theatrics that seemed natural to Washington, the sentries threw open the doors to the State House, and Madison was assaulted by bright sunlight and a deafening roar. Hundreds of people cheered, clapped, and whistled at the sight of Gen. George Washington framed by the great double doors of the State House.

The threesome stopped a respectful distance behind Washington. This crowd was not going to part so easily. In fact, the sentries had skipped down the three steps and joined arms to hold back the surge of people.

“Our rambunctious session on Saturday told our fair citizens that we had concluded our business,” Franklin observed.

“Are you riding with the general?” Madison asked.

“Relax, boys. The general will know the exact moment to step off the stoop.”

True to Franklin’s prediction, Washington gauged the crowd’s mood perfectly, and when he stepped down, they gave the men a narrow path to Washington’s beautiful new carriage.

As they followed in the general’s footsteps, the people continued to cheer and applaud. A woman leaned her head past Madison to yell, “Dr. Franklin, what is it to be? A republic or a monarchy?”

The doctor hesitated in his step and looked over the throng of anxious people. His answer came in a firm, loud voice.

“A republic—if you can keep it.”

Abuse of Power, Inside the Three-Year Campaign to Impeach Donald Trump, by by Fred V. Lucas

 

Abuse of Power

In bygone days, I got my news from weekly magazines. Newspapers and the nightly news were too nerve-wracking. If I was still kicking and my assets remained intact, week-old news didn’t scare me. Flash forward a couple decades and we’re awash in an unrelenting stream of news that comes pockmarked with commentary from every Tom, Dick, and Harry.

Nowadays, understanding the implications of news is daunting, thoughtful analysis impossible. Something happens, and in near-light speed, it’s replaced by something new. Memories are garbled, strains of connectivity lost, and narratives spun so fast that they look like a host of dust devils.

With Abuse of Power, Lucas has provided us a service by neatly depicting President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. A careful follower of the news may not discover much they hadn’t already known, but reading these political clashes without the chaff helps connect the dots. Lucas takes a mostly non-judgmental view of the players; however, we get to see their words and deeds in sequence without the noise. Motives held close to the vest suddenly become noticeable. I suspect that politicians who prefer obfuscation will dislike this book.

Abuse of Power might disappoint those who prefer their politics presented in polemic rants. This book is a straightforward presentation of events told in sequence without the distraction of spin or unassociated news. Speculation and gossip seldom make an appearance. If it couldn’t be attributed, Lucas left it out.

Abuse of Power allows the reader to form their own opinion. How refreshing is that?

The Declaration of Independence and Mask Mandates

 

Americans believe they have been “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Mask mandates violate all three of these rights.

Life

Breathing is a life-critical human function. If you stop breathing, you die. If breathing is hampered, bodily functions are compromised. As untold studies have shown, prolonged mask wearing is harmful to human health. You cannot live a full life when breathing is impaired. Ask anyone with COPD.

Liberty

Masking everyone—without choice—denies individual liberty. The state is ordering you to do something against your will. A counter argument might be, “Your rights end where my rights begin." Except, despite emotion-laden narratives, the simple act of breathing by a well person does not threaten anyone’s rights.

Pursuit of happiness

Pursuit of happiness is often defined as the freedom to make what you want of life. Masks take the joy out of learning. They sucked the energy out of the classroom. Masks make teachers, administrators, and students grumpy and reluctant participants. Schools with mask mandates are sad places.

Autocrats would like to erase this quote from the Declaration of Independence. They can’t. Our Founding Principles are too deeply ingrained in Americans psyches. After all, they’re endowed by our Creator.

That same document also warns authoritarians that when people are subjugated, “it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government.”

Did the FDA Actually Fully Approve the Pfizer Vaccine?

People have pointed out that the Pfizer vaccine has not been FDA approved; only it’s emergency use extended. I personally read the published letters multiple time. Understanding these mind-numbing missives requires a bureaucratic mind. Here's my read. An essentially identical vaccine with a different name has been fully approved. However ... the only data point that matters is that this renamed vaccine is not being manufactured. It doesn’t exist.

Many now claim that the approval hoopla is fake news.

CDC VAERS Data

It’s worse. Way worse. This is manufactured news. A purposefully false narrative that required the collusion of Big Government, Big Pharma, and a complicit media. A made-up story that could have devastating consequences on your health and wellbeing.

Vaccination mandates are illegal under the emergency use authorization. I know the DOJ declared them legal, but it's there in plain English. Go ahead and check it out for yourself. The illegality was the strongest argument of the “vaccine hesitant.” So the government concocted a “narrative” that the vaccine had full FDA approval. Within hours of the press release, an avalanche of mandates fell on us.

But … the approved vaccine is not available. Only the same ol’ stuff that has been around for months.  Vaccines that have only emergency use authorization. EUA vaccines may not be forced on you by the government or private entities.

But the FDA did approve a vaccine. Surely, it will be available within days ... or weeks. No, it won't. There's a caveat. An FDA vaccine is not exempt from liability. Pfizer will not sell it's vaccine to any country without 100% indemnification. Period. Never. Indemnification is paramount to Pfizer. Do you think they will rush this renamed vaccine to market and forgo their shield against lawsuits?

The Biden Administration is between a rock and a hard place. If the FDA does not fully approve a SARS-Cov-2 vaccine, the unvaccinated have a principled and legal argument to resist. If the FDA approves the vaccines, the suppliers will cease providing the jabs.

So, they tried sleight of hand.

They approved a non-existent vaccine and spun a narrative.

Like many SARS-Cov-2 narratives, this one collapses with the application of common sense. How can the FDA give full approval to a vaccine that does not exist, while at the same time declaring that an identical drug must finish it’s trials prior to approval? (Read the letters. This is what they did.) Only if they had assurances that the new vaccine would not be marketed prior to completion of the trials. Actually they didn't need assurances. All of the conspirators know the loss of indemnification would be a deal breaker. 

This was a narrative stunt, plain and simple. Corporate mandates remain ILLEGAL under the emergency measures that apply to available vaccines.

This is not a conspiracy theory. It’s a conspiracy.

Democrats … Then and Now

My current writing project is Maelstrom, a political novel about the Civil War.  To a great extent, Maelstrom is a sequel to Tempest at Dawn, my novelization about the Constitutional Convention. The Civil War tested the tensile strength of the Framers work. Although both books stand alone, they share style and structure and many of the Framers descendants make brief appearances.

I’m reading stacks of books to get alternative perspectives on the players and events. One is The Impending Crisis in The South written in 1857 by Hinton Rowan Helper. Nothing like getting the skinny from someone who actually lived in the period.

Helper begins his book with startling statistics. He compares the economies of slave and non-slave states at the time of the Framing of the Constitution to just prior to the Civil War. Here are some of his statistics comparing New York and Virginia.

 

                                                                New York                             Virginia

1790 Population                                        340,120                              748,308

1850 population                                     3,097,661                            1,421,661

1791 Exports                                       $2,505,465                           $3,130,865

1852 Exports                                      $87,484456                           $2,724,657

He didn’t have 1790 numbers for some economic indicators but provided contemporaneous comparisons for imports, manufacturing, real and personal property, and farms.

 

                                                                New York                        Virginia

1853 Imports                                     $178,270,999                      $399,004                                             

1850 Manufacturing                          $237,597,249                      $29,705,387

1850 Property (Incl. slaves)           $1,080,309,216                      $391,646,438

1850 Farms                                       $576,631,568                      $223,423,315

Helper then compares Massachusetts versus North Carolina and Pennsylvania versus South Carolina. The results are similar. North and South Carolina in the lead at the time of the Constitutional Convention and the woefully behind by mid-nineteenth century.

For the six states Helper examines, slaveholding states were far stronger in 1787 than their northern counterparts, but after sixty years, the free states explosive growth had left the South far behind. It was like the South was in a footrace wearing concrete boots. Hinton Helper, a southerner, identifies that concrete as slavery.

The political implications are interesting. The South was controlled by a single party, and they retained power by keeping the general populous uneducated, poor, and dependent. Upward mobility? Almost unknown. Income disparity was of feudal dimensions, social norms insisted on conformity, and politicians and the press constantly demonized the North while telling the lower classes that they lived in a morally superior society.

Here’s a thought; that same political party wields ironclad control over our largest cities with income disparity, poor education, and dependency the order of the day. Sure seems like that party is using the same strategy to retain full and absolute power.