Historical Hyperbole

Recently, two issues have been used by the Biden administration and the progressive movement in comparison to significant historic events. The first issue is the January 6th protest at the capital, and the second is the number of states enacting voter integrity laws, after the 2020 election. They are using the Jim Crow era and the Civil War for these comparisons. These two sad chapters in American history are so important that I think that a historical review of them is necessary to see if they are accurate comparisons or if they fall into the category of hyperbole. Biden said that the voter integrity acts being enacted by the various state legislatures are the most serious threat to American democracy since the Civil War, and compared them to the infamous Jim Crow laws enacted after the Civil War. “…makes Jim Crow, look like Jim Eagle” was his nonsensical claim. Various U.S. senators and congress-critters like Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have said that the January 6th protest at the Capital, was also the most serious threat against American democracy since the Civil War and most recently, Republican in name only, Liz Cheney said the January 6th protest was the worst assault on the Capital since 1814. While all of this seem to me like obvious hyperbole, they were stated as though they were entirely factual.

I’ll start with a brief history of the Civil War. There is a common belief that the Civil War was started because of slavery, but that is only partly true. The seeds of the Civil War can be traced to a few events that happened in the years prior to Lincoln’s initial election in 1860. One very important one was Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1794. This radically transformed the economy of the south, “King Cotton” became the backbone of the southern economy, replacing tobacco. This necessitated, at least in the minds of southern plantation owners, a large increase in the slave labor force, to make cotton economically feasible. Another seed was the demise of the Whig Party, and its reformation in 1854 in response to the Kansas-Nebraska act. That act put the issue of slavery in the new territories up to a popular vote in those territories. The Republican party was formed from a coalition of anti-slavery parties, encompassing both moderate anti-slavery former Whigs and the more radical, mostly Quaker, abolitionists. The Republicans took control of the Federal government in 1860 with the election of Lincoln, even though he only received about 40% of the popular vote. The main cause for the start of the Civil War actually was actually more of a state’s rights issue than a slavery issue. It wasn’t that the northern states wanted to ban slavery in the south, at least not at that time, the northern states wanted to prohibit slavery in the new territories that were going to become states, and the south saw that as a threat to growing their political power. The Democrat party at the time had split into two factions, north and south, and because of this split Stephan Douglas, the eventual Democrat nominee was defeated by Lincoln. The Republican position on slavery made many in the south feel like their whole way of life was under attack. Thus began the secession of southern states, the formation of the Confederacy, and the start of the Civil War. It wasn’t until The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln in 1863, two years after the start of the war, that freeing the slaves was brought into the picture. Still, even that was more of a strategic move than an earnest desire to free all slaves, since it only applied to slaves in the south. Lincoln famously said “If I could save the Union, without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that”. It did however change the focus for the people in the north from just trying to save the Union, to also bringing an end to slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation did however create the United States Colored Troops (USCT), enabling over 200,000 freemen and former slaves to serve for the Union. At that point slavery became the primary focus of the war. It wasn’t until the passage of the 13th amendment enacted in 1865, that slavery was finally abolished in America near the end of the war. (A very good movie about the passage of the Amendment is “Lincoln” starring Daniel Day Lewis, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it). The four years of the Civil War, 1861 to 1865 cost the lives of over 618,000 men, although recent estimates show it actually may have reached an incredible 750,000 soldiers from both sides. Over 7,000 soldiers died at the battle of Gettysburg. Compare that to D-Day which claimed 1,465 American lives and you get an idea of the terrible price that was paid. The tales of death and destruction are unimaginable. In contrast the Capital protest claimed the lives of 5 people, 4 of whom, according to coroner reports, died of natural causes, that includes Capital Police officer Brian Sicknick. The one person who died by violence was Ashli Babbit, who was shot by Capital police. You could argue that the storming of the Capital could be viewed as a threat, but an investigation by the F.B.I. found no guns, yes some protestors had some implements that could cause bodily harm, but to call the protest an “insurrection” is ludicrous, and interestingly enough none of the protesters has actually been charged with insurrection. There are video’s showing the Capital police letting protestors inside the building, and then once inside you can see them talking to the Capital police and urging everyone to be peaceful. If you want an insurrection, that sure seems like on odd way to go about it. There might be a case to argue if it was an actual armed insurrection, with bullets flying and out of control protestors trying to burn down a federal building, you know kind of like what happened in Portland last year. Or if Chief of Staff, General Milley was right in his opinion that the Trump “Nazis” were going to try a coup against America, but nothing like that happened. There were skirmishes with the police , which is unsurprisingly the only video that has been released by the DOJ. However, there are also accusations that these skirmishes were instigated by the F.B.I. and Antifa agitators dressed up like Trump supporters. (I’ve seen some pretty convincing footage of that claim, taken by some of the protesters). Since none of these things took place, I think the claim that the protest on January 6th, was the “worst attack on American democracy since the Civil War” is patently absurd. House speaker Nancy Pelosi wants an investigation into the protest, but banned two Republicans from her committee because she was afraid that they might ask serious questions, like why won’t the DOJ release the 14,000 hours of surveillance video, or tell us what role the F.B.I. played and were there in fact Antifa agitators instigating the violence. Perhaps the most crucial question is why Nancy Pelosi herself ignored the memos from both the F.B.I and the Capital police, which were forwarded to her by the SGT At Arms of the Capital police. He reports directly to Speaker Pelosi, so you know she received them. These memos warned of possible violence during the protest, and advocated using the Nation Guard to protect the Capital, days before it happened. In addition, why were pleas for help from the Capital police during the protest also ignored. Instead, her investigation, much like the two impeachments she presided over, will be nothing more than political grandstanding. To me the protest shows a sort of Jeffersonian approach to try and tell the government that we the people are not happy with how things are going. To quote Thomas Jefferson “I hold that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical”. Now I’m not saying that January 6th was a rebellion, far from it. In my opinion, I think the Democrats hoped it would actually turn into a violent insurrection and that’s why I think it’s very possible that the Capital police were ordered to let the protesters inside, so then they could be labeled as domestic terrorists, in the hope of turning public opinion against Trump supporters. The Biden justice department has vowed to arrest and prosecute anyone involved in the protest, so far over 500 people have been arrested. There are now reports of torture and beatings from the prison guards at the D.C. jail. Meanwhile the rioters from the summer of 2020 have been released, and remain, for the most part, free from prosecution. So, while they can’t really make the argument that this was a true insurrection, they are showing the people that they will punish anyone who disagrees with the Biden administration. I truly believe that they are trying to enflame Trump supporters into a violent rebellion, so that they can justify drastic action against them, by demonizing the protestors and legitimizing reprisals against them.

The next thing I want to deal with are the claims that the voter integrity acts being enacted by various states, are “Jim Crow on steroids” and, you guessed it, the worst thing to happen since the Civil War.

The term “Jim Crow” comes from a black minstrel show from the post-Civil War era. It lasted from 1865 to the 1960’s when the civil rights movement effectively ended them, bringing to a close, another sad chapter in American history. These laws were enacted by southern Democrats after the Civil War to try and keep the status quo. They restricted where blacks could work, how much they could be paid, their education, and took away their voting rights by implementing laws like poll taxes. These insidious laws enforced segregation, and even stripped children from their families for forced labor. They basically legislated blacks back into slavery. In addition to the Jim Crow laws, the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was formed by southern Democrats and former soldiers of the Confederacy, to intimidate the black community by any means necessary, (using actual voter intimidation), actions that included cross burnings and lynching.

The Biden administration is making the claim that these voter integrity laws will either intimidate minority voters into not voting, or stop them from voting because they have a hard time getting ID’s. Or even if they have ID’s, they wouldn’t be able to Xerox or photocopy them at Kinkos, to paraphrase Kamala Harris. (that statement alone shows how disconnected from reality she is). They claim that these new laws will lead to a resumption of the Jim Crow era, by somehow disenfranchising minorities. So lets take a look at the first claim. The provisions in these laws simply make it harder to commit election fraud, by requiring signature verification on mail in, or absentee ballots. Or by having to show a valid ID on voting day. Some, actually expand early voting, as in the case of Texas and Georgia. What I find really interesting is that Biden’s home state, Delaware, actually has existing laws that are more restrictive than the ones being enacted after the 2020 election. These laws are coming about because of all the irregularities that have been uncovered during the 2020 election, such as changes in voting procedures and standards that violate the U.S. constitution, because they were not approved by the legislatures in those states. Under the constitution, only state legislatures have the power to change voting procedures and standards, yet this happened, a lot, and the courts did nothing about it! I believe the courts made their rulings out of fear, scared of the return of the mob violence that occurred in the summer of 2020. These new laws do actually disenfranchise one segment of voters, however, dead people. They mandate a cleansing of the voter rolls. Requiring ID and ensuring that our elections are fair and free from fraud are overwhelmingly popular with Americas of all ethnicities, so the claim that it intimidates anyone is once again ludicrous. The other claim that minorities, or people living in rural areas have difficulty getting an ID, is the one that really gets me. What they are really saying is that minorities and people living in rural America are too stupid or backward to figure it out. That is sooooooooooooo condescending, and as it applies to minorities, absolutely racist. Then again, the Democrat party has a long history of racism. Sure, they may have changed their public image over the years, but you can’t deny the history of Democrat party racism since its founding. Remember Senator Robert Byrd, one of the icons of the Democrat party? He was a full-fledged member of the KKK. Bill Clinton’s mentor, William Fulbright was a known bigot. Democrat President Woodrow Wilson called blacks “an inferior and ignorant race”. Presidential candidate and Former Alabama Governor, George Wallace was an avowed segregationist. I find it quite ironic that southern Democrats filibustered the civil rights act of 1964, when you take into account their recent efforts to end the filibuster. Look at all the condescending racist remarks Biden has made throughout his political career, time and space prohibit me from listing them, but all you have to do is look them up on the internet, something I think the vast majority of Americans of all persuasions would have no problem doing, even minorities and Americans living in rural areas, despite the condescension coming from the progressives. What I find truly appalling is the number of African Americans, like Stacy Abrams and Cory Bush, to name but a couple, or minority politicians, like those in the “squad” that agree with this racist pandering. They have shown themselves to be true “useful idiots” to the progressive movement, which cares nothing about civil rights, only transforming America into a one-party socialist state.

Despite, what I feel is the undeniable hyperbole of these comparisons, they do serve two very real purposes for the left however. One is to enflame the “true believers”, in the progressive movement, those who have become so indoctrinated, (mainly by our failing universities) or who have such a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), that they couldn’t see the truth if it slapped them in the face. The second is to try and sway the average American, the ones that don’t pay close attention to current events, in an attempt to scare them about those evil right wingers. The problem is at least 75,000,000 or more Americans voted for Trump. The progressives attempt to label them as racists, extremists, domestic terrorists or white supremacists is only dividing the country even further than they already have, (which is, I believe, exactly what they want to do, divide and conquer). My hope and prayer is that as the people see these shenanigans for what they really are, they will turn on the progressives, and reject their racist, socialist agenda. In reality, we Americans are not as stupid and ignorant as the progressives think we are. What we Americans actually are, for the most part, is a tolerant and patience people. We’ll give you your chance to implement your ideas, but when those ideas cross the line and become dangerous and unbearable, then the “sleeping giant” will wake up, and the giant will not be happy. Recent polls indicate a “bloodbath” for the Democrats in the midterm elections in 2022. In my mind, they are confirmation that the American people are fed up with “the cancel culture”. Fed up with the hatred of America being spewed forth from so-called academia, by athletes and entertainers, tired of the race baiting that epitomizes the progressive movement, and a news media that is so blatantly complicit with them. We are getting increasingly angry over the cessation of our basic rights as Americans, things like freedom of speech, the right to gather and assemble peacefully, and equal justice under the law.

For politicians like Biden, Schumer, Pelosi and the rest of the progressives to compare January 6th and voter integrity laws to Jim Crow and the Civil war, is at best, incredibly irresponsible, and at worst, bordering on treason, because of their intention of changing our form of government from a constitutional republic, to a socialist, one-party state. Their agenda to fundamentally change America, by doing anything and everything to ensure that they remain in power in perpetuity is nothing less than treasonous. When Americans wake up and realize what they’re up to, which I guarantee we already are, I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes. There will come a day of reckoning, and woe to those politicians, media goons, and anyone else who are trying to enslave the people. I’ve said this numerous times, I DO NOT want to see a full-fledged rebellion, or another Civil War, the thought of Americans fighting Americans is absolutely repugnant to me. We need to remember our past history, the Jim Crow era and the Civil War, the old saying that “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it” is so relevant today. The progressives are trying to change the past, to denigrate our heroes and teach our children that America is a horrible, racist country, by tearing down the things that have made this country great. Rewriting history to fit their agenda. We can’t forget our history, the good and the bad, it’s the only way to learn and grow. If we do this than we can avoid repeating the same mistakes that claimed the lives of so many brave Americans. We can continue to make America the “shining light on the hill”, The best and freest country in human history!

PEACE AND LOVE! ROCK ON Y’ALL!