Is he talking about this guy?:
Posted on 07/04/2012 9:48:27 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
What history we recall on the Fourth of July typically involves stirring words of freedom, and rightly so.
But why stop there? After all, not every colonist in 1776 was a patriot, and at this particularly fractured political moment, we might do well to remember that, according to contemporary accounts, one third of Americans wanted revolution, one third were loyal to the crown and one third could go either way. Loyalists did more than talk; they formed Tory regiments and fought alongside the British, against their fellow Americans.
Even those who did support breaking from Britain could be surprisingly lax about it, at least at first. As late as January 1776, George Washington was still leading his officers in raising a glass to toast King George III every night in his mess in Cambridge.
Common wisdom holds that had Americans known what they were getting themselves into when they declared independence, they would never have done it.
“Had Americans been able to anticipate the length and difficulty of the war,” wrote historian Samuel Eliot Morison, “they probably would have forced the Continental Congress to end it by compromise in 1776.”
It says something of our national character that we celebrate Independence Day, not when independence was achieved on Sept. 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris ended the war, but when the real struggle had just started in 1776. A reminder that we both tend to underestimate the effort needed to accomplish anything, and overlook how fractured our nation invariably is while attempting change.
We wave the flag and dab a tear now. But hundreds of thousands of Americans alive during revolutionary times listened to the words of Jefferson and were unmoved, stayed Loyalists, and some 80,000 celebrated American victory by fleeing to Canada, tipping that nation away from the French.
So how surprising should it be that now, in times that try men’s souls to a far lesser extent, Americans are also broadly divided when it comes to, well, just about everything.
When I look at the Republicans, I am tempted to dismiss them as the Treason Party. Seriously, were a band of traitors to concoct a series of positions deliberately designed to weaken America, they would be hard pressed to beat the current GOP dogma — hobble education, starve the government by slashing taxes to the rich, kneecap attempts to jumpstart the economy by fixating on debt, invite corporations to dominate political discourse, balkanize the population by demonizing minorities and immigrants and let favored religions dictate social policy.
What gave me pause, however, is that they beat me to it — for 15 years the Republicans have been treating Democrats as if believing in a government that addresses our common public problems is a form of sedition. Given how uniformly wrong they are, I’m loathe to use any of their tactics, even one that has been so stunningly effective, convincing millions of Americans their best interests lie in coddling the rich and their champion is a stiff, dressage-riding multi-millionaire.
And I am reminded that, often in American history, from John Adams to Rosa Parks to the anti-war movement, being branded a traitor turns out to be a badge of honor.
To be honest, I have no concern that Republican ideology will prevail. It can’t. The 11 million illegal immigrants will not be expelled. Gays will not go back into the closet. Religion will not trump science. In fact, the only thing that worries me is the triumph of corporate power — then again, wealth always seems near triumph, but government usually has been a dog yipping at its heels, woofing business in a more humane direction, a little bit. We seem in danger of losing even that.
But the American people will correct this misstep — they usually do, eventually. Most Loyalists did not flee after the Revolution, and many who did leave came back with surprisingly few hard feelings. One was elected mayor of New York City. Philip B. Key, whose nephew would write the “Star Spangled Banner,” had fought with a Loyalist regiment. After the war, he served as a federal judge while drawing his British military pension. If when our country was new, citizens who had just fought a war for their freedoms could turn around and embrace those who opposed them, how can we do any less now?
The best way to celebrate the Fourth is fly the flag and raise a toast to this country, all 311 million people. All of us, even those so afraid of the future they try to mandate the past. From the Leftiest, most wild-eyed, Occupying, I-wish-there-would-be-a-revolution-so-I-could-be-king radical to the Rightiest, wild-eyed, Bible-waving, Tea Partying, I-wish-society-would-break-down-so-my-guns-would-make-me king conservative. All join in one United States of America. Like it or not, we’re all here, all free, and though we don’t often listen to or respect each other, we are all bound up in one common enterprise.
It's part of their psychopathy.
Neil needs to talk to his psychiatrist - the meds need adjusting.
No we're not.
You guys are bound up in bondage to government.
We are trying to break those bonds.
Since Independence Day means so little to leftists, this means they’re all at work today, right? And no fireworks later, they’re all going to bed early, right?
Neil has a case of the stupids. Ignore and move on.
Some are more free than others.
like those public sector "employees" who are free to retire at age 50. Their retirement is umm....free. Their health care is free. They are free from market forces that otherwise determine the value of an employee and whether or not they stay employed. Yes its good to be free. Especially when other people are paying for it.
Hobble education? Starve the government?
Sheesh.
Is he talking about this guy?:
hee hee hee
LLS
LLS
The American Revolution was the result of a years of an irresponsive government raising taxes and increasing regulations without concern to what the citizens wanted.
The first battle of the American Revolution was fought when the Brits tried to disarm the colonists.
Now: who’s raising taxes, increasing regulations and trying to force gun control in 2012: Democrats or Republicans?
The founders also hated Mercantilism. They wanted free trade.
Who’s opposed to free trade in 2012: Democrats or Republicans?
And in 2012 who’s shocked by pure idiocy being paraded as the smartest thinking in the room?
I’m not surprised some media idiot wrote this....
Can I punch him now? Please Please? This type of person would get a foot up his arse in a heart beat from me. And he would be the first killed by the commies as a useful idiot.
Republicans the party of treason? Isn’t that how King George viewed
the Americans in 1776?
Is this just my humble opinion, or is Steinberg the biggest, leftist jerk currently scribbling for any rag? What’s the name of that nut who writes for a Frisco rag? Who’s nuttier?
I would say so.
That isn't treason, Neil. It's something else, and that entire document is intended to tell you what it is. Try reading it.
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