“The infant periods of most nations are buried in silence, or veiled in fable, and perhaps the world has lost little it should regret. But the origins of the American Republic contain lessons of which posterity ought not to be deprived.” —James Madison
Monday, February 7, 2022
Can you find the difference in the photographs?
Friday, February 4, 2022
Democrats are not as good as their word.
| A version of this article was originally published at American Spectator |
Democrats sure know how to talk.
They espouse lofty goals, heartfelt sympathy, and strident vows to instill fairness for all Americans. They promise to fulfill every aspiration and repair all grievances. Democrats unselfconsciously paint themselves as the good guys … and Republicans as rapacious villains.
However, when Democrats act, it’s counter to their good words. Here’s a few examples.
They profess support for the working class but act to harm their livelihood.
When outsourcing became the rage, the working class needed a powerful advocate. Democrats abandoned them. Instead of championing industrial union members, they dropped them like hot potatoes to advocate for unionized government employees. Secondly, the livelihoods of the middleclass fell when Democrats encouraged illegal immigration. The one-two punch devastated the American working class.
They say they’re fighting voter suppression but rig the system to steal elections.
Democrats push every change making registration and voting easier, fight every check against voter fraud, support every change that opens a new path to fraud, push to legalize vote harvesting, and fight the cleansing of voter rolls. Democrat controlled states and cities provides sanctuary, benefits, and driver licenses to illegals. They talk a good game, but in truth, Democrats act against the principle of fair elections.
They profess support for the downtrodden but act to harm their future.
Democrats have controlled many major cities and a few states for decades. These bastions of progressivism are stark examples of how they govern. Most Americans who are deprived of hope reside inside these districts. Words don’t put food on the table, keep children safe, or provide the tools for a better future. But words are all they get.
They preach social justice but act inconsistent with the goal.
Equal opportunity for all? Not really. Democrats deny or rip away support if anyone speaks contrary to the Democrat Party Line. Political obedience determines social justice. They talk big in support of LBQ and women’s issues but import intolerant cultures who do them harm. Democrats ruthlessly pursue Republicans accused of sexual crimes but stubbornly cover for accused Democrats. They promise affordable higher education but direct government money to college administrations who keep raising tuition. Social justice is not really about people. It’s a misanthropic tool to gather up political power.
They claim concern for pandemic deaths but act to increase death count.
Democrats say they want fewer virus deaths, but New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, and Michigan (all Democrat run states) made it illegal to turn away or test nursing home returnees, knowing full well that over a third of virus deaths occur in nursing homes. They say they’re horrified at the death count but provide financial incentives for doctors to attribute every death to the virus. Additionally, lockdowns and vaccination mandates have increased the risk for every other terminal ailment through non-diagnosis, non-treatment, and delayed surgeries.
They say nobody is above the law but constructed a duel justice system.
Democrats holler incessantly that no one is above the law, but shield elected Democrats, illegal aliens, and convicted criminals from the law. They release prisoners back into society while arresting Americans for overzealously protesting government officials. They coddle illegals and give them rights and benefits American citizens don’t enjoy. Elected Democrat officials are seldom indicted despite endless exposed crimes, government corruption everyone can see, and grievous violations of our national security laws. Democrats clamor for equal justice, but their actions built a two-tiered justice system. One for them … and another for the rest of us.
They tout democracy but act totalitarian
Democrats invoke the Framers, the Bible, and altruistic intentions to prove their democratic bona fides. Not only do they portray themselves as the true champions of democracy, but Republican opponents are Nazis, fascists, murders, racists, and haters of every imaginable hue. Yet their actions speak otherwise. They cheer the police state tactics of the FBI, see nothing amiss in federal agencies working on their behalf, and ignore the wishes of the populous that go against their doctrines. Nothing exposes leadership style more than a crisis. Republican governors impose sensible restraints for the shortest time possible. Democrat governors impose draconian measures beyond CDC guidelines and extend them indefinitely.
Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. Put your money where your mouth is. Your word is your bond. All these axioms are foreign to Democrats. Instead they believe perception is reality. A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Principles are malleable to the moment. And a sucker’s born every minute.
Fortunately for the United States of America, the public is catching on. Perhaps the greatest gift of President Trump has bestowed upon this great nation is to expose Democrat Party leaders for who they really are. It’s not pretty a pretty sight.
Saturday, January 29, 2022
Is the word "all" the most important word in the Declaration of Independence?
Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were interesting
characters. Exactly the type of characters a novelist needs to carry a story. In
writing Maelstrom, I had a scene where Lincoln addresses Congress after
a recess. (As customary at the time, his address was read by a clerk.) Not much
has happened during the recess. Eleven states had seceded from the Union, Fort
Sumter had been bombarded and surrendered, a piece of Virginia had been
occupied, and Lincoln had exceeded his executive powers to spend unauthorized
money, build an army, and suspend habeas corpus among other things.
He desperately needed Congress to backfill behind him.
This was a crucial address. Important for Lincoln and the
country. The address was not one of his well-known speeches, but I was struck
by the clarity and simplicity of the explanation of why he took these actions.
Lincoln said it was a struggle for maintaining a form of
government “whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men—to lift
artificial weights from all shoulders—to clear the paths of laudable pursuit
for all—to afford all an unfettered start, and a fair chance in the race of
life.”
On the cusp of war, Lincoln repeatedly used the word “all.”
He had previously stated that this was the most important word in the preamble to the
Declaration of Independence and had reputedly written that word over and over
again on pieces of paper.
I cannot think of a loftier goal for government. Perhaps in
this age of divisiveness, we should all write the word “all” over and over
again.
Monday, January 24, 2022
Lincoln on the Verge, Ted Widmer
![]() |
| Lincoln on the Verge, Thirteen Days to Washington |
Over 15,000 books have been written about Abraham Lincoln, supposedly more than any other person except Jesus. This tower of books at the Ford's Theatre Center for Education and Leadership is a tribute to the man and the authors who have written about him. (This is actually a metal sculpture using replicas of about half the books.) The Center is across the street from Ford’s Theater where the president was assassinated.
Because I intend to add to the pile, I own about forty of these books. Every Lincoln author looks for a unique perspective. Some see
themselves as myth busters. Others delve into a niche of his supposed psyche to
unearth a differently tempered person. Responsible historians frequently zero in
on a single event or unusual theme to add fresh insights. Entire books are
dedicated to a single speech, battle, or political issue.
Ted Widmer made a great choice of subject matter. Lincoln on the Verge concentrates on the thirteen days it took Lincoln to journey by train
from Springfield to Washington. It’s a fascinating story and it illustrates the
political savvy of this supposed country bumpkin. Widmer introduces us to the
president-elect as he travels across a great land he knows will soon be thrown
into turmoil. What could Lincoln accomplish on this tedious trip? You’ll
discover he could do quite a bit. He engineered the journey of the Presidential
Special so he could more easily save the nation after inauguration.
If you’re a Lincoln enthusiast, or merely curious, you’ll enjoy this book.
(This is a research book for Maelstrom, a sequel to Tempest at Dawn.)
Thursday, January 13, 2022
War on the Waters, James M. McPherson
With the
exception of the Monitor vs. Merrimack (CSS Virginia), naval battles get short
shrift in Civil War books. McPherson certainly fills that gap with War on the Waters, The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865. Land battles were certainly decisive, but the Union
may have lost the war without Gideon Welles and the Navy Department. McPherson
even makes a strong argument that Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut deserves
to be ranked with generals Grant and Sherman when giving credit for the Union
victory.
Inventions
and innovations by both the Confederate States and the United States
revolutionized naval warfare. Steam-powered ships, screw propeller driven ships,
ironclads, submarines, weaponry, and naval tactics all made major advancement
during those four years. By Appomattox, the United States owned the largest
navy in the world, and arguably the most technologically advanced.
War on the
Waters does an
admirable job of describing blue water and brown water (river) battles and in explaining
the significance of each clash. I found the battles that required cooperation
between the Army and Navy of particular interest. As an added bonus, International
law on blockades is more fully described than in other history books.
McPherson’s
no nonsense writing style can sometimes verge on dull, but he always pulls
the reader back to the narrative in the nick of time.
I recommend
this book to all those who have an interest in the Civil War, naval battles,
technology advancement, or military politics. War on the Waters is
informative and a good read.
(This is a research book for Maelstrom, a sequel to Tempest at Dawn.)
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
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.)
Thursday, December 16, 2021
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
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Three cheers for Adam Smith, inventor of the world’s most effective contraceptive.
![]() |
| World Average GDP per Capita |
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.
Friday, December 3, 2021
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.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
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.)
Monday, November 8, 2021
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.Thursday, November 4, 2021
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.










