Saturday, April 4, 2015

Noticing Insurgency

I am not the only one who is noticing the rumblings of insurgency. Apparently Colbert King is seeing the same thing.
It’s a scary thought, but here it is: If some red states were to openly defy the authority of President Obama in the exercise of his constitutional duties, would today’s Republican Congress side with him? Or would they honor the insurrection?

I wish it could be said with confidence that the legislative branch would oppose a rebellion against the executive branch of government. But I’m not so sure...

American history teaches that we are on a dangerous path. And history has a way of repeating itself. A little more than 150 years ago, this country experienced another bombastic phase. Hatred of a president and his government’s policies produced a bloody schism that eventually led to an accord grounded in hope but which papered over a disharmony still lingering today.

Then, as now, there was a president, Abraham Lincoln, accused by those who detested him of misusing presidential power, subverting the Constitution and trampling over states’ rights. Then, as now, that president was characterized as a ruthless tyrant bent upon destroying a superior civilization.

Then, as now, that president was portrayed as a simpleton, a buffoon and a coward.
I'm fairly certain that we can find a less bloody way of ending the insurgency this time around. But it's worth noting the parallels.

4 comments:

  1. Tom Cotton's letter, Mitch McConnell telling states to ignore EPA rules, Boehner inviting Netanyahu to address congress is some of what you describe. There are probably many more things like this to come. The Republican presidential candidates will also stoke the fire. It's going to be ugly.

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  2. Blk folks have had this fear since the TeaParty raised its ugly head..from the meeting of sedition by the GOP in 2009...to the press hounding the President re: his birth certificate...to inviting Netanyahu to speak before Congress...there have been 1000s of slights to undermine the President...however i do not think the powers that be want to throw the baby out with the bathwater...because letting insurrection out of the bottle will unleash something that cannot be contained...

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    Replies
    1. I do agree. Even the most slavering anti-Obama person is largely afraid of insurrection. I think, given President Obama's popularity with our young military officers, that there is NO possibility of a defection by troops. Older VA recipients the same. People did not vote in 2014. That does NOT mean they are stupid. Far from it. This would, once again, turn the forces of our union against the minority that want the South to rise again, even if it's in Iowa. I don't say it can't get ugly, but I don't see it as a major force. These differences are likely to be political and legal, not armed uprisings. I hope not anyway.

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  3. The thing that they don't get, while they attempt to degrade the Institution of the Presidency...

    they are under the delusion that this can be turned around after the Kenyan Usurper is gone.....

    which is totally not true.

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