DEFEAT FASCISM

 It appears that the planned trip to Gettysburg and Antietam stands in jeopardy because our government has ceased to function. It presents a personal loss but a minor one in the great scheme of things.

 Still, I reread this book in anticipation, this time with an eye focused on General George McClellan. There have been some attempts in recent years to defend his timidity and define it as justified caution. We’ll see. He faced obstacles, no doubt. The fact remains that his opponents faced the same obstacles.

To this untrained, uneducated, and unqualified mind, one of the apparent factors in this battle was speed. One army had it. One didn’t. Even though the discovery of the Confederate Special Order 191 gave “Little Napolean” the disposition of the insurrectionist forces, he delayed any major attack for 18 hours and then deployed his forces in piecemeal fashion.

At countless times during the battle, delays by the United States forces gave General Lee time to assemble his smaller army for maximum deployment. A.P. Hill’s Division rushed from Harper’s Ferry in hours. The typical federal unit would have taken days, arriving just in time to form burial details.

 The final result? Some call it a stalemate. Some credit the federal forces with repulsing an invasion into the northern states. Some point out that it was enough of a victory to convince Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which pretty much eliminated the possibility of foreign involvement in our tragic war.

Today’s emphasis is about speed. We see it in the current invasion into all that was ever good and decent about America. One side is unleashing havoc upon the poor, the different, the least of those among us and the ones who believe in the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. The other side says we must wait, in the manner of General McClellan, until we decide what pronouns define us ere we set our defenses.

As in any battle, the side weaker in numbers and moral basis must move faster and with the most force.

Why is that so important now? Anyone who can read knew what might happen. Hell, it was published and available, much like Special Order 191. No one, however, seems to have believed it would happen so quickly.

It must. It gives the forces of darkness time to weaken the American resolve with what we might call their “political artillery.”

At the proper moment, then, with resolve in shamble, “I declare martial law and declare that elections are no longer useful” will sound simply like another day in the park.

DEFEAT FASCISM: READ REBUKE RESIST

 Presidents Day. America has benefited from some great presidents. She has suffered, and now suffers, from some stinkers.

We attribute great events to great individuals such as presidents. Some thinkers, however, like Leo Tolstoy, didn’t subscribe to what was known in his day as, “The Great Man Theory.” Rather than the actions of one person shaping history, he attributed events to the combined action of hundreds of thousands of individuals.

Let’s look at perhaps our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. During his term of involvement, the union was saved and slavery, one of the darkest spots in America, ended. He receives much of the credit. But what else happened that may have influenced, at least to some degree, these admirable things?

-          An obscure woman wrote a book called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

-          Another obscure woman taught us the value of freedom by her work in the Underground Railroad.

-          A group of elderly men sitting on the United States Supreme Court ruled that American people of African descent enjoyed no benefits of citizenship.

-          Thousands of property owners in the American South performed such mendacious deeds on fellow human beings as to arouse the indignation of the righteous.

-          Over two million American men, for that many different reasons, donned the uniform of the United States of America to defeat insurrection and save the Union.

-          Thousands of leaders in Europe and elsewhere declined to support a group of rebels waging war against their mother country in order to preserve the institution of slavery.

And so it goes. Where does greatness lie?

Within each of us, that’s where.

DEFEAT FASCISM: READ REBUKE RESIST

 The point of America’s greatness is a personal one. Some moments that stand out to me may not stir the emotions of others. For example:

I think America was headed toward greatness when the troops of Generals George Meade and Ulysses S. Grant’s army had fought their way through The Wilderness, having suffered great losses, learned, that instead of retreating back to Washington as lesser leaders would have commended, Grant ordered them to head toward the insurrectionist army to restore our Union and end slavery.

I think America was on the verge of greatness when Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address.

I think America saw greatness during the first 100 days of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.

I think America was great the day that, after allied troops that had landed in Normandy during the year before, America’s 79^th Infantry Division troops, my future father-in-law among them, crossed the Rhine River and became among the first Allied troops to enter Nazi Germany.

I think America was great the day that Joseph Welch initiated the end of the hateful and destructive career of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy with the words, “You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?”

I think America turned toward greatness the day that nine of the bravest young Americans who ever blessed this country entered Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, my home state.

And I think America became great the day that Barack Obama took the oath of office as her president.

Sadly, the people who rule my America today would have me arrested and punished for expressing these thoughts. Feel free to share your own.

Morning Thoughts: April 8, 2018

I dreamed I saw John Lennon last night. Alive as you or me. Says I, "But John, you're a long time dead." "I never died," said he. Yes, it was a dream and I apologize to both Alfred Hayes and the memory of Joe Hill. It was a dream, after all.

It continued when John Lennon looked at me said, “Quick, tell me my killer’s name.”

I thought, but couldn’t. My mind was as drifty in dreamland as in real life.

“No,” he said. “You can’t. But why?”

I kept staring.

“The press,” he said. “The press made a pact not to print his name. They just called him John Lennon’s killer and such. Now he’s forgotten to history.”

“I don’t understand.” I said.

“You will,” he said. “Remember the ‘Monsters From the Id’ who fed on the very attempts to destroy them?” He winked and continued, as he began to fade, “Now go and give peace a chance.”

On my awakening, it dawned on me. We are our own monsters. It began when we gave maliciousness a name, a brand, and an excuse for irrational statements. Perhaps the press can save us by taking away those aggrandizing supports. Consider how it would sound to hear or read the following.

“The President of the United States of America said today that Mexicans are rapists and murderers.”

“The President of the United States of America today said all ‘negative polls are fake news.’”

“The President of the United States of America said today that ‘the overwhelming amount of violent crime in our major cities is committed by blacks and Hispanics.’”

“The President of the United States of America said today that ‘maybe we should have a rating system for movies.’”

“The President of the United States of America said today that ‘millions of people voted illegally in the last election.’”

“The President of the United States of America said today that, "I learned more about war in military school that veterans do in the service.’”

“The President of the United States of America said today that ‘with [hurricanes] Irma and Harvey devastation, Tax Cuts and Tax Reform is needed more than ever before.’”

“The President of the United States of America said today that ‘James Comey lied and leaked and totally protected Hillary Clinton. He was the best thing that ever happened to her!’”

Wouldn’t that put things in a different light? It would apply Occam's Razor to our president's current bondage with Vince McMahon, and force comparisons to the likes of Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Truman, and Eisenhower.

Wouldn't that make sense? Or is it just me?