A Quote

"It is sickening in the extreme, and makes me feel heavy at heart, when I see the weakness and unfitness of the poor beings who control the destinies of this great country."

I couldn't agree more. That is, I couldn't agree more if this statement were actually in reference to the current leadership of this country. Unfortunately when taken in context I disagree wholeheartedly. You see the problem with this sentiment is that it was expressed in the fall of 1861 by George McClellan, in many ways one of the premier wankers of the nineteenth century. And it was in reference to, of course, the Lincoln administration, a body of men about as far from incompetent as this nation has ever seen. In fact, the Lincoln presidency is one of those events that almost makes one take seriously the idea of Divine Providence. It seems almost beyond the favors of sheer luck that we would be graced with a leader of Lincoln's wisdom and intelligence in such dark times (this could also be said of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and a host of others of their generation).

Once again we do live in dark times, made all the darker by the rank incompetence, ignorance, and hubris of our leaders. Leaders who proudly and hypocritically claim the mantle of Lincoln, though who in reality are the ideological heirs of his fiercest opponents. Take note of the "Solid South" strategy adopted by the Republican party during the 1960's , largely as a response to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Republican party is now strongest in the states of the Old Confederacy, and by fits champions the idea of "states' rights"-- an ironic fate for the party of the Great Emancipator. And, of course there is that other irony: the persistent questioning and deprecation of others' patriotism by men who idolize the greatest perpetrators of treason in American history, traitors who plunged America into a long and bloody Civil War. Of course perhaps Dr. Johnson said it best when he remarked "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?". He was referring to the revolutionary generation, but the sentiment holds even truer for the self-righteous and indignant instigators of the Civil War. Well, the yelping now is all about patriotism and treason, and it ironically comes from a group of men who, on the whole, idolize the traitors of 1861 and the bloody flag of treason they fought under.

Another Samuel Johnson quote might be even more appropriate for our times however. It is oft quoted and, these days, oft corrected to make it fit our interesting times: "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." No Dr. Johnson, in these times, it's the first.