Posted on 12/19/2011 8:57:36 AM PST by varialectio
Today is the anniversary of the first election in history in which a nation's leader was selected by universal male suffrage. On December 10, 1848, Frenchmen went to the polls for the first time in fifty-six years. For a third time, a revolution had overthrown the king, and for the second time, a republic was proclaimed.
But the French voters blew it. The surprise winner was a seedy forty-year-old adventurer who had lived in exile in Switzerland and England, except for two ignominious coup attempts. He ran on a vaguely socialistic platform of hope and change -- his first book was called Rêveries politiques, another, L'extinction du paupérisme. He'd been a carbonari in Italy, a constable in London. He had a taste for archeology, architecture, and teenage girls. De Tocqueville called him "an enigmatic, somber, insignificant numskull." Incredibly, he won in a landslide, getting 5.4 million votes, almost 75%; the favorite, a conservative general, finished second with 1.4 million.
The numbskull's name was a help. He was Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of the emperor.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Yeah, if could have forgotten his name, he’d be a lot more respected today. The free-trade treaty w/ Britain and rebuilding Paris were great accomplishments. But he couldn’t resist Bismarck’s bait.
But democracies can restore lost rights, and the most hopeful sign that the alienable rights proclaimed by the Declaration and enumerated in the Bill of Rights might one day be resurrected is the Tea Party movement of the last two years. The way in which the movement has been vilified is a tribute to the threat it poses to the governing class. It is truly radical -- that is, seeking to return to the roots of the republic -- and even revolutionary -- which originally meant restoring laws and practices that had been corrupted and perverted. Unfortunately, there will be no Tea Party candidate in 2012. We will elect a politician.The reason there's no Tea Party candidate winning the Republican nomination is probably the same reason that Ronald Reagan himself couldn't run now, if he were resurrected and given a pass on the two-term limit. Namely, McCain-Feingold. For which we can thank not only John McCain, but also GWB - and Sandra Day O'Connor's deciding anti constitutional vote.
All the more reason to press the campaign on all fronts, particularly in the courts, to recover and protect the liberties that statist elites have overturned in the name of egalitarianism.With Kennedy as the deciding vote on SCOTUS, presumably McConnell vs. FEC would go the other way if a new case could be brought.
|
|
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
Thanks varialectio.He was Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of the emperor.Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
|
|
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.