Want To Take Your Country Back?

(Inspired by an email from the Old Philosopher, D.W.)
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"It's time to take our country back!"  We've been hearing that right-wing slogan for about 8 years now.  (And we broke the code immediately.)

Since a certain element seems to be so enamored of saying "take our country back," one might reasonably ask them, "How far back do you want to go?"

How about September 2008?  Wall Street failures, government bailouts, and a global financial crisis of historic proportions.

March 2003?  The invasion of Iraq under false pretenses.  A war based on lies.  A nation destroyed, a region destabilized, ISIS created, and more unnecessary casualties than stars in the sky.

1983-1988?  The Iran-Contra scandal.  Saint Ronnie trades guns to Iran for Hezbollah hostages.

June 1972?  The Watergate break-in, followed by the Watergate cover-up, followed by the Watergate hearings, followed by the impeachment and resignation of Richard Nixon.

1961-1975?  Viet Nam War.  "And it's one-two-three, what are we fightin' for?"

1947-1954?  House Un-American Activites Committee, the Hollywood blacklist, the Army-McCarthy hearings.  Red menace!

1920-1933?  Prohibition.  The WCTU.  Elliot Ness.  No legal booze, but plenty of organized crime.

Early 1900's?  Bible-beating Evangelical charlatan preachers like Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson.  Praise God and pass the collection plate.

April 12, 1861?  Start of the Civil War.  Rebel forces fire on Fort Sumter, SC.  States rights!  Yee-ha!

1619-1865?  Legal slavery, plus the legal slaughter of Native Americans, buffalo, and anything too slow to get out of the way.  Manifest destiny!  What's not to like?







Again, exactly how far back do you want to take the country?

It is the persistent and unfounded belief of conservative minds through the ages that "today" has always gone straight to hell in a hand-basket, and things were always better in "the good old days."

"The way out for America is not ahead but back.  How far back?  Back as far as the old Gospel." -- Rev. James W. Fifield, Jr., 1937, pastor of the First Congregational Church, Los Angeles, and head of the anti-FDR group, the Spiritual Mobilization.  (From One Nation Under God,  by Kevin M. Kruse, 2015, Basic Books)

Yo Rev, that's pretty far back!