Another “constitutional conservative” is caught misquoting the Founders. Jody Hice, a pastor and candidate running for the House of Representatives in Georgia, makes a habit of misquoting the Founding Fathers on his Facebook page.
The Constitutional Convention 1787
“Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed–and no republic can survive.” JFK Presidential Library and Museum
This quote is from a speech Kennedy gave to the American Newspaper Publishers Association in response to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. This is wisdom that is sorely needed today. In some circles it has become popular to disparage anyone who criticizes certain actions undertaken by the US as un-American and un-patriotic. This idea is absurd and only serves to further divide our already divided nation. (see article: “The American Left: Friends of Our Country’s Enemies,” by Ron Radosh)
When Thomas Piketty’s book Capital hit U.S. markets this year the response was both surprising and predictable. Surprising because a 700 page tome on economics became a bestseller! On the other hand the responses were predictable. The book received adulation from the Left and disgust from the Right. The polarizing effect of this book is immediately evident if one glances at the ratings of the book on Amazon.com. Out of 718 reviews 406 are 5 star reviews and 175 are 1 star reviews (viewed on June 26, 2014). Interestingly, the mean-spirted nature of the reviews was just as newsworthy as the book itself.
So I decided to take a look for myself. Like many comments on the internet, they were “nasty, brutish, and short,” to borrow Hobbes’ famous phrase. I only managed to make it about half way through the reviews, wishing that I had stopped sooner. The repetitive and spiteful nature of the reviews were making me nauseous. Here is just a sampling of some of the titles:
“Das Kapital Re-do”
“It’s Still Socialism/Communism/Facism[sic]”
“Don’t let this Marxist fool you.”
“Serious marx bull &&&&.”
“This book is nothing but re-hashed socialist BS”
“Das Kapital , by Karl Marx – has already been written , this is the same ideology !”
“Marxist propaganda”
“Piketty’s book would be better titled “The Communist Manifesto Lite”’
“Communist Propaganda at it finest”
“MARX Reincarnated”
“Karl Marx would love this book”
“Save your time and read Karl Marx’s Das Kapital instead”
“Communist Manifesto of the 20th century”
“Say Hello to the new Karl Marx”
“Karl Marx redux”
The content of these reviews didn’t add much to these titles (other than to flaunt the failures of socialism and demonize Piketty and liberals). The basic theme of these reviews was that Piketty’s book deserves a 1 star because it is pure Marxism.[1]
Tea Party Rally
Clifton Truman Daniel: “Truman’s Grandson & Japan’s A-Bomb Survivors: A Story of Reconciliation”
The History News Network (HNN) posted a list of online articles on the bombing of Hiroshima in honor of the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). This list is a great resource for anyone interested in this topic. It includes a variety of articles on both sides of debate, including the one I responded to in a previous post (see “The Bombing of Hiroshima”). I contemplated whether or not I should link to this list on my blog because I knew that most people would be tempted to only read the articles that support whatever position they already hold. But in the end, I decided it was worth posting anyway. However, I challenge anyone who decides to use this resource to read the articles that you disagree with. If the exercise is to be valuable you should also read them with an open mind. I believe that an honest assessment of the situation is much more valuable than the comfort you would receive from the satisfaction of confirming currently held beliefs that may be grounded in myth. And no matter what position you currently hold, I hope a review of these articles will at least show that the popular belief about the bombing (“The bomb was dropped to end the war quickly and save American lives”) is an oversimplification of the issue that obscures the complexities and leads to unjustified certainties.
They are doing exactly they opposite of what they should be doing if they actually want to protect their citizens. Don’t they remember their own history?
I’m so glad to see a Jewish leader who survived the Holocaust speak out on this issue. Thank you Henry Siegman for speaking out!!
The History News Network (HNN) posted a letter sent to Newsday from a retired historian after he attended a local Parade Celebrating Independence Day. The parade included a float with a large cross with the words “In God We Trust” displayed alongside Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. The historian, Bill Bernstein, complained that “[t]he float implied that there is a state religion.” You can imagine the responses!
I love the way one of the responders (Leslie Dimmling) explains that the Declaration of Independence included the “word ‘God’ in the first sentence, and ‘Creator’ in the second” [these words are not actually found in the first and second sentence but the first and second paragraph] but she forgot to mention the word “Nature’s” that appears before “God.” As she probably knows (or on second thought she may not know) “Nature’s God” is not the god of Christianity. For more read the post at the HNN.
Donald Prothero explains the nature of science deniers. His assessment is also useful for understanding history deniers (most infamously Holocaust deniers).
I was shocked to read an article at the History News Network (HNN) reminiscing over the controversy of the Enola Gay Exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum in the 1990s. For the fiftieth anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima the museum had planned to do an exhibit of the recently restored Enola Gay. But when a draft of the proposed exhibit was leaked by the Air Force Association (AFA) a firestorm of controversy erupted pitting the museum and historians against veterans, the Air Force Association (AFA), and the right-wing media.
The Enola Gay and its Crew
When Thomas Piketty’s book Capital hit U.S. markets this year the response was both surprising and predictable. Surprising because a 700 page tome on economics became a bestseller! On the other hand the responses were predictable. The book received adulation from the Left and disgust from the Right. The polarizing effect of this book is immediately evident if one glances at the ratings of the book on Amazon.com. Out of 718 reviews 406 are 5 star reviews and 175 are 1 star reviews (viewed on June 26, 2014). Interestingly, the mean-spirted nature of the reviews was just as newsworthy as the book itself.
So I decided to take a look for myself. Like many comments on the internet, they were “nasty, brutish, and short,” to borrow Hobbes’ famous phrase. I only managed to make it about half way through the reviews, wishing that I had stopped sooner. The repetitive and spiteful nature of the reviews were making me nauseous. Here is just a sampling of some of the titles:
“Das Kapital Re-do”
“It’s Still Socialism/Communism/Facism[sic]”
“Don’t let this Marxist fool you.”
“Serious marx bull &&&&.”
“This book is nothing but re-hashed socialist BS”
“Das Kapital , by Karl Marx – has already been written , this is the same ideology !”
“Marxist propaganda”
“Piketty’s book would be better titled “The Communist Manifesto Lite”’
“Communist Propaganda at it finest”
“MARX Reincarnated”
“Karl Marx would love this book”
“Save your time and read Karl Marx’s Das Kapital instead”
“Communist Manifesto of the 20th century”
“Say Hello to the new Karl Marx”
“Karl Marx redux”
The content of these reviews didn’t add much to these titles (other than to flaunt the failures of socialism and demonize Piketty and liberals). The basic theme of these reviews was that Piketty’s book deserves a 1 star because it is pure Marxism.[1]
Tea Party Rally
History Chick in AZ 