History Continues to Repeat Itself
By Ron Signore
Those of us on the left should be terrified. Complacency is not an option if we want to have our country going in the right direction progressing with the rest of the world, where in many areas, we are behind. In the real world, be it professionally or personally, the mistakes that do not kill you should be lessons in life. Not losses that lead one to give up.
In these United States, we do not seem to learn these lessons. If we examine the daily political climate that spirals into our personal lives and affiliations, we are finding ourselves in a position to be doomed to repeat unfortunate history.
History is a passion of mine, about the same level as law and politics. One can imagine my excitement when on Friday night I learned of a new series to stream on Apple+ created around the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The show, ‘Manhunt,’ goes inside the dark time for America where someone was able to assassinate our President as the Civil War concluded. Unlike most elementary chronicles of the events that led up to and after the assassination, this series goes more into the web of conspiracy. The surrounding environments and political climates, political players, and financial components are explored deeper.
Spoiler alert: John Wilkes Booth assassinates President Lincoln. Though the series hasn’t concluded, I can safely say Booth will be caught. The truth is that’s the typical level of knowledge most have of the event, along with the idea that Booth was just an angry Southern rebel who disliked the outcome of the Civil War. In a simple way, that is accurate, however, there is a lot more of the onion to peel.
In so many ways, the Civil War never ended. Official battles may have ceased, and the Union (North) declared victory over a defeated Confederate Army of the south. However, the ongoing battles between whites and blacks continued, as well as the ongoing determination to live and die by the idea that the “South will rise again.” Unfortunately, the former is less of a battle and more of a domestic terrorization in the fight for equality. The stench of racism is still strong in some misguided tradition that our neighbors in this land that are not white are somehow invaders. It is also a little oversimplified generally in the topic of government overreach versus states rights to self-govern.
The scary part is that we are seeing amplified similarities from then to now. Despite the fact that Lincoln was part of the Republican Party, he would clearly be identified as ‘woke,’ and even possibly a democrat in today’s world. Fighting for freedom and driving a governing body that supports all citizens seems like the right thing to be steering towards in an a continuing to evolve nation. Once we dive into some of the specific details during this era, it becomes so eerie the similarities.
The simple notion that it was just the North versus the South leaves so many things to uncover to those interested. The starting point for me is in a faction of those anti-North/anti-Lincoln martyrs called the Know Nothings. This was a political group that began forming as tensions over potential succession began. The group was composed of nativists, ironically not being true natives to the land, similar to those nationalist roots we currently see Cheeto Boy preying on today. Eventually known as just the American Party, these were southern loyalists with extreme right-wing views that included anti-immigration, anti-Catholicism, and other cultural assimilations. If you were not white, not aligned with their core ideology, you were not welcome, and in fact, potentially in danger.
We tend to look back and compare Bunker Boy and his MAGAt followers to those of a Hitler led Nazi party in the WWII era of the world. Casting blame for what they do not like through controlling propaganda targeting minority groups in the German nation. However, this movement from Hitler was far proceeded by our own country. Nationalist loyalty continued to grow through false promises of a better world without counterparts or political opposition.
John Wilkes Booth was an extremist in the public eye. In the Civil War era, he was known as a promising actor, known for his stunts. Coming from a family known in the theater world, and having been a family of wealthy roots, Booth would leverage that wealth to align with other significant wealthy southern sympathizers. Like in today’s world, money drives power and control to pull the strings to avoid getting one’s own fingers dirty. The funneling of money and ongoing conspiracy to form a movement in efforts to overthrow progress ran far deeper than Booth. One can argue the same for Oswald and the Kennedy assassination. But today, this is exactly what we are seeing.
A system that plays to the wealthy, where circles form based around financial strength, draws unity and an odd sense of loyalty. Like “The Godfather part 2,” illustrates, loyalty is formed by the bond of the highest bidder. We see all these disgruntled nationalists driving a movement out of fear from being overtaken by outsiders. Conspiracies filled with misinformation driving blind loyalty allowed for the events of January 6th. While not an assassination of a political foe, the target was our democracy. There has been irreparable damage to our country in many ways because of the events of January 6th.
Eventually the dissolution of that party happened in 1860, but the ideology carried on, ultimately leading to Lincoln’s death at the hand of Booth. Today we have this right-wing extreme faction that identifies as MAGA. Composed of many who fear anything but white nationalism, the upper echelon is comprised of money. We have gradually seen a decline in the population that are dead loyal to the MAGA faction of Republicanism, and it is reflected by the obvious wedge in the GOP that is leading to vacant seats in critical House and Senate positions. Republicans towards the ideological center and far right are grinding for open seats causing more turmoil. The Orange Turd may or may not get re-elected come November, but make no mistake, the Maga ideology will live on. When I think of some of the nut jobs that align with this loser, like James Woods and Ted Nugent to name a few, their influence reaches others predisposed to the paranoia MAGA drives. This calls for another unfortunate correlation to the “The Godfather Saga,” in that our true enemy has potentially yet to reveal themselves.
It happened with Lincoln. It happened with Kennedy. To an extent, it happened to Biden. I hope I am wrong, but the reality is that we’re being primed for something to happen again. Do not be complacent and be diligent for the progression of our country by realizing the real enemies to our democracy.
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