Two More Good Books on Lincoln’s War by Clyde Wilson

Recently by Clyde Wilson: Why Save the Republican Party?

 

obampoint (Photo credit: GunnyG1345)

 

 

 

Not too long ago, historians were required to carry out extensive primary research and pay at least a token attention to objectivity and balance. Now one becomes celebrated as a worthy historian by cherry-picking out of the record whatever enhances the current PC view of human experience. That means that the best history is now being written outside the academy and will continue to be so.

 

Atlanta, Georgia shortly after the end of the American Civil War showing the city’s railroad roundhouse in ruins. Albumen print. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Witness two good recent works by “amateurs” on the great conflict of 1861-1865, its causes and consequences. No period of American history is more pervasively under the reign of PC, but these authors have penetrated the veil to reveal some of the real story.

 

Ron Paul’s Farewell Address: An Anomaly in American History by Gary North

Recently by Gary North: Ron Paul‘s Age-Gap Politics of ‘No’

On Wednesday, November 14, Ron Paul delivered his final speech at the podium of the United States House of Representatives. It was covered by C-SPAN live, and was later posted on C-SPAN’s site. It was soon posted on YouTube, and from there was posted on numerous sites.

Congressman Ron Paul at an event hosted in his honor at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Within hours, various media outlets began to comment on it, both from the Right and from the Left. From the ones that I saw, all of them were generally favorable. This was remarkable. In thinking about it over the weekend, I began to perceive just how remarkable it was.

I searched Google for “Ron Paul” and “farewell address.” I got almost 200,000 hits.

In the history of American politics, I can think of only four farewell addresses that ever got into the textbooks, and one of them was a fake. The most famous one was George Washington’s 1796 farewell address, and it was not an address. It was a newspaper article. The second came in 1961, which was Dwight Eisenhower‘s famous military-industrial complex speech. The third one was Richard Nixon’s announcement after his defeat in 1962 when he ran for governor of California against Edmund G. “Pat” Brown. I’m not sure that it should be regarded an address; it was more of a press conference, but it counted as a farewell address . . . for six years. In it, he uttered the immortal words, “You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.” It was aimed at the media. Then, a dozen years later, he gave a real farewell address, the day before he resigned in disgrace from the presidency.

Ron Paul’s farewell address was the fifth. This is extraordinary. The media did not ridicule him as arrogant for having delivered such an address. On the whole, the media seemed interested in what he had to say. Yet his speech began with a statement of the fact, namely, that he had never had any measurable political influence in the House in his entire 22 years. He had never had one of his bills passed into law.

The Forgotten Men You Should Know About (“Forgotten Conservatives You Should Remember Versus the neocons you should forget”) by Thomas DiLorenzo

Recently by Thomas DiLorenzo: Time’s Rx: More Politics, More Politicians, More Lincoln Worship

English: Author at CPAC in . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In their new book, Forgotten Conservatives in American History, Brion McClanahan and the great Clyde Wilson discuss how the Machiavellian-minded connivers and plotters known as “neoconservatives” weaseled their way into the Reagan administration and hence “became the accepted, respectable Right in American discourse . . .” Genuine conservatives, which during the ‘60s and ‘70s included traditionalists, libertarians, anti-communists, and other opponents of leftism, “became an irrelevant and possibly dangerous fringe, disdained by all decent people. . . ” This latter category would include most readers of LewRockwell.com and certainly all the writers.

Mark Steyn: 2012 Election Is The Last Exit Ramp Before The Death Spiral

 

The other day, I passed a Republican Party county office here in my home state, its window attractively emblazoned with placards declaring “Believe in America. Romney 2012″ and “New HampshireBelieves. Romney 2012.” There’s not a lot of evidence for the latter proposition,

 

romino (Photo credit: GunnyG1345)

 

but I’m certainly willing to believe that Romney believes that New Hampshire believes.

 

Conservatism Without Alexander, Abraham, and Irving by Clyde Wilson

 

Recently by Clyde Wilson: The Founding Fathers’ Guide to the Constitution

Brion McClanahan, one of the best young historians of the day, and I have collaborated on a book

Clyde N. Wilson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

that ought to be of interest to readers of this site. In fact, you were one of the audiences we had in mind as we wrote.

Gullible Americans by Walter E. Williams

The fact of the matter is that the founders of our nation so feared the imposition of direct taxes, such as an income tax, that Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution says, “No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.” It was not until the Abraham Lincoln administration that an income tax was imposed on Americans. Its stated purpose was to finance the war, but it took until 1872 for it to be repealed. During the Grover Cleveland administration, Congress enacted the Income Tax Act of 1894. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1895. It took the 16th Amendment (1913) to make permanent what the founders feared.

Another camel’s nose in the tent lie that’s threatening the economic collapse of our country is the Medicare lie. At its beginning, in 1966, Medicare cost $3 billion. The House Ways and Means Committee, along with President Lyndon Johnson, estimated that Medicare would cost an inflation-adjusted $12 billion by 1990. In 1990, Medicare topped $107 billion. That’s nine times Congress’ prediction. Today’s Medicare tab comes to $523 billion and shows no signs of leveling off. The 2009 Medicare trustees report put the unfunded Medicare liability at $89 trillion. The 1966 Medicare cost estimate was simply a congressional and White House lie to get the American people to buy into their agenda. But not to worry; the real Medicare crisis won’t hit the nation until today’s beneficiaries and political supporters are dead. It’s today’s children who’ll bear the burden of our profligacy.

Why Ron Paul is winning the GOP primary

Just 15 seconds into a question-and-answer session with reporters Wednesday morning, Ron Paul found a way to work in a mention of the Austrian School of economics.

From there, he moved inexorably through the Paul oeuvre: the need for the gold standard, the problem with energy-efficient light bulbs, why Greece should declare bankruptcy, why Grover Cleveland was his favorite president, and how our economy is collapsing “just like the Soviet system.”

……..Ron Paul is winning the 2012 Republican presidential primary.

Paul won’t be the president, or even the party nominee, but that was never his goal. He aimed to shift the debate toward his exotic economic theories, and by that standard he has prevailed.

Republican leaders in Congress have joined Paul’s crusade against the Federal Reserve. And his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination are stealing his ideas.

“We’re in a big mess,” he began. “Personal liberty is under attack. Our financial system is under attack.” Matter-of-fact observations continued: “Our foreign policy is a shambles. … We’ve consumed our wealth. … We are destroying our currency…. Total failure.”

……… Paul cares more about theory than power. “I have one goal in life politically,” he explained, “and the goal is to make this a better country, change economic policy, change foreign policy, change the monetary policy and explain to people why we have booms and busts.” Actually, that’s five goals, but Paul says his ambition is being realized. “The issues have come our way,” he said. “The attitude of the whole country is shifting in our direction.”

Exhibit A: A letter sent Monday by Republican leaders to Bernanke urging the independent body not to stimulate the economy. “It should’ve been said about 30 years ago or 40 years ago,” Paul said.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com …

via Why Ron Paul is winning the GOP primary.