You are herecontent / The American Political Tradition
The American Political Tradition
The American Political Tradition
By Ray McGovern
Text of Ray McGovern’s prepared remarks at rally before John Yoo speaks this afternoon at the University of Virginia:
This morning I was reading the 11th grade AP American History textbook used in my granddaughter here in Charlottesville.
The textbook is titled: "The American Political Tradition and the Men who Made It." The author is Richard Hofstadter; the book has been around since 1948....almost as long as I have been around. It discusses the basics--the assumptions behind American ideals and American politics. It is what I was taught.
What the author is most clear about is the influence of Mr. Jefferson on other distinguished statesmen....including those not privileged to be Virginians — like Abraham Lincoln, who was a real Republican.
Here is some of what Hofstadter says about the inspiration that Lincoln drew from Mr. Jefferson, whom Lincoln described as “the most distinguished politician of our history.”
"The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and the axioms of free society," Lincoln declared in 1859.
In Lincoln’s eyes, the Declaration of Independence was what it had been to Jefferson — not merely a formal theory of Rights, but an instrument of Democracy.
And now we have lived through the dim days of Yoo and other usurpers of those ideals, those rights; smart faux-lawyers who have other “theories” akin to those of the time of King George III.
There is a tendency to be dispirited — to lose the spirit of Mr. Jefferson, of Mr. Lincoln.
I think we can take inspiration from this observation by Hofstadter:
"Through all of Jefferson’s work there runs like a fresh underground stream the deep conviction that all will turn out well, that life will somehow assert itself."
Though widely read, I’m not sure Mr. Jefferson included on his reading Julian of Norwich, the 14th Century English mystic, who had the same positive attitude. She famously said:
"All shall be well. All manner of things shall be well."
To Jefferson no defeat could be more than a temporary interruption in the smooth flow of things toward the good.
As he approached his own end, Jefferson said: "I shall not die with out the hope that light and liberty are on a steady advance."
I mention again the title of Hofstadter’s book: “The American Political Tradition and the Men who Made It.”
Today, Mr. Jefferson’s university hosts one of the men who would UNMAKE it.
It is up to us -- Virginians and non-Virginians alike — but common heirs to Mr. Jefferson’s ideals AND his courage, to confront those who re-impose the tyranny of an all-powerful, so-called "unitary executive," with power even to torture.
It is up to us to KEEP HOPE ALIVE, in the tradition of Mr. Jefferson.
- Login or register to post comments
-
- Email this page
- Printer-friendly version
Stay warm this winter in a black hooded sweatshirt. Order one. Order them by the dozen and donate them to occupations!
is, if what Ray McGovern, in his closing, says needs to be done is achieved.
All shall not be well. Reality shall be that we should live for a long time with heavy regrets and serious reflection upon the extreme crimes committed in our names and to which many Americans gave their blind support to. Thankfully, not all remained blind. People started waking up within a year to two years after the launching of the war on Iraq, while most who supported war on Afghanistan and eventually woke up to this war being one to not support took several more years to wake up. So, yes, we should be thankful that many who first supported the wars eventually work up. It's better than them staying blind and supporters of criminal wars. But this will be part of what's to be [remembered] and it should weigh heavily on our hearts and minds. And that's speaking of the people who thankfully did eventually wake up. Remembering that many other supporters, though not a large majority, if even a majority at all, still refuse to wake up. That's not something I can regret, but it's something that remembering it may keep me [disgusted] for the rest of my life.
It's not well to live with memories like those we shall not be forgetting, for those of us with real consciences.
But it's inarguable that all will be much, far better than it is today and has been for the past nearly ten years, once the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are stopped and foreign forces are withdrawn from these countries; and by foreign forces, I also mean to include contractors, instead of only official military forces.
Yet that's only speaking of those wars, for there's also Haiti, the Congo, and other African countries, where the U.S. and NATO are known to be operating, but while not everything they do is overt. They do things covertly and then blame national leaders of targeted countries, like the President of Sudan, f.e. There's also continuing U.S. militarisation and economic and political hegemony in Latin and Central American countries.
Oh, there's a LOT that should weigh heavily on our minds and hearts, and once corrections are made in all of these cases, then all shall be better than reality has been and continues to be; until the hegemony, etcetera, is fully stopped and reparations are made.
Realistically, all shall then be much better, and it's always good to work for betterment. Even if we can't achieve perfection, betterment is always improvement. And we have a long way to go, so real conscience and perseverance are required; or else we'll die the worst that we could be, say.
Of course we are not all to blame and people who are to blame vary in terms of guilt or culpability. Those of us who opposed the wars on Iraq [and] Afghanistan have nothing to regret in terms of our views and actions. But we can nevertheless use the term "we" to refer to "we" as a people, a population with the same government, a government we all pay taxes to, etcetera.
I opposed the wars on Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, the coup d'etat act of war on Haiti, U.S. covert war or war-like operations in African countries, etcetera. I'll oppose all U.S. criminality, national and international. So I don't have personal guilt. BUT, I'm a U.S. citizen and will also think in terms of being a citizen who stands by necessary and ethical laws; while also standing against bigotted, etcetera, laws, like against marijuana, f.e. After all, when I enlisted in the USN in 1975, I did it for myself, but while also accepting to be in service to my country of birth and youth; a hellishly treasonous culture, I learned over years since. And once I learned, in bootcamp, what the U.S. military members' first oath is, which is to defend the Constitution against rogue, wrongful, and idiot Presidents, etc., I then became a wiser Constitutional citizen. I never ceased to care about defending the Constitution against domestic enemies, as well as the occasional or rare foreign enemies.
So when I use the term "we", it's in the sense of being a Constitutional citizen; instead of it being because I've supported any of the criminal wars and foreign policies of the U.S. elite and the government they hijacked and extremely corrupted.
If in doubt about covert U.S. operations in the U.S., and which is again for Corporate America, then look for articles and videos by Keith Harmon Snow, who also has his own website, www.allthingspass.com. His primary focus is Africa, conflicts and genocides there, and what really is behind these realities. As for U.S. and NATO military expansion into Africa, Rick Rozoff, who often, enough, has articles also posted at AfterDowningStreet.org, is the best or one of the best writers on this topic. And I don't have time to get to know more than a few websites well, so will again recommend www.globalresearch.ca, the relevant index there. It's linked in the homepage and the link is called "sub-Saharan Africa"; although just having checked to make sure of the title of the link, I noticed links further below it that would surely have relevant articles. (Topic indexes or indices are useful.)
Mike Corbeil