“It amazes me that those who are so adamant about the public standing for the national anthem seem to ignore the Constitution and Washington's Farewell Address, the latter just after having it read as a ritual.”
My comment to “A Rebel, a Warrior and a Race Fiend”, Charles M. Blow, New York Times, 2017-09-25, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/columnists/trump-race-nfl-nba.html?comments#permid=24189583.
Showing posts with label Washington’s Farewell Address. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington’s Farewell Address. Show all posts
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Donald Trump has worn me down
When I read the reports of Donald Trump’s address to the United Nations, I could not get over the feeling that it was George Washington’s worst nightmare.
Washington warned against factions. Donald Trump is creating them faster than I can even type “faction”.
In his Farewell Address, which the Senate reads every year and then ignores, George Washington warned against factions:
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
Donald Trump railed against North Korea and Iran. George Washington warned against being too close to other nations and against being too hostile to foreign nations:
“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp
the applause and confidence of the people to surrender
their interests.”
I plan to send this reminder to my Senators: Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar. If you are a U.S. reader, I hope you will send something similar to your Senators, regardless of their party.
But I have no idea how many real, live U.S. readers I have. Every so often I get a big wave of Russian readers. My feed is generally United Kingdom readers. I get a lot of French readers, but I only have three correspondents in France. Are these other readers really French, or are they Russian trolls? I do know that at least one U.S. troll site is really a Russian front.
These trolls and Donald Trump have worn me down. I don’t really know when I will be inspired to post more here.
Washington warned against factions. Donald Trump is creating them faster than I can even type “faction”.
In his Farewell Address, which the Senate reads every year and then ignores, George Washington warned against factions:
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.”
Donald Trump railed against North Korea and Iran. George Washington warned against being too close to other nations and against being too hostile to foreign nations:
“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp
the applause and confidence of the people to surrender
their interests.”
I plan to send this reminder to my Senators: Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar. If you are a U.S. reader, I hope you will send something similar to your Senators, regardless of their party.
But I have no idea how many real, live U.S. readers I have. Every so often I get a big wave of Russian readers. My feed is generally United Kingdom readers. I get a lot of French readers, but I only have three correspondents in France. Are these other readers really French, or are they Russian trolls? I do know that at least one U.S. troll site is really a Russian front.
These trolls and Donald Trump have worn me down. I don’t really know when I will be inspired to post more here.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Does the Senate really believe Washington's Farewell Address?
I posted the following to “Will the Presidency Survive This President”, Eric Posner and Emily Bazelon, New York Times, 2017-05-20
Dear Reader,
Every year on Washington's Birthday, the Senate has one of its members read George Washington's "Farewell Address". You can find a copy at https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/WashFarewell.pdf.
Your homework assignment is to read George Washington's "Farewell Address" and send both your Senators a quote that you feel is appropriate to current events.
You probably can find many quotes that support what the Senate is doing and that chastise them for not following the advice Washington gave.
Two that stand out for me are his warning about factions and the danger of foreign entanglements, both with friend and foe.
Dear Reader,
Every year on Washington's Birthday, the Senate has one of its members read George Washington's "Farewell Address". You can find a copy at https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/WashFarewell.pdf.
Your homework assignment is to read George Washington's "Farewell Address" and send both your Senators a quote that you feel is appropriate to current events.
You probably can find many quotes that support what the Senate is doing and that chastise them for not following the advice Washington gave.
Two that stand out for me are his warning about factions and the danger of foreign entanglements, both with friend and foe.
Friday, February 24, 2017
The world’s greatest deliberative body?
I’ve long thought that calling the U.S. Senate was an American conceit. Now we are seeing it as one of the world’s greatest political games. It is more fixed opinions than it is deliberative.
The polarization seems to grow by the day. Have all these Senators stopped reading the Constitution? Are they even paying attention when they have their ritual reading of “Washington’s Farewell Address”. Among the many admonitions are his warnings about “overgrown military establishments” and the forming of factions.
If Senators have already declared their positions on almost every issue, they are really putting lie to “deliberative body”.
For more on the Senatorial dysfunction, see “On the death of the world’s greatest deliberative body”, Paul Kane, Washington Post, 2017-01-31.
The polarization seems to grow by the day. Have all these Senators stopped reading the Constitution? Are they even paying attention when they have their ritual reading of “Washington’s Farewell Address”. Among the many admonitions are his warnings about “overgrown military establishments” and the forming of factions.
If Senators have already declared their positions on almost every issue, they are really putting lie to “deliberative body”.
For more on the Senatorial dysfunction, see “On the death of the world’s greatest deliberative body”, Paul Kane, Washington Post, 2017-01-31.
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