Five Irrational Fears That Led To Stupidity
With all of the irrational fear going on about a mosque (really a cultural center) going up at Ground Zero (really a couple of blocks away), I thought it was time to look at the other times in American history that we allowed for our fears to get the best of us. Knee jerk reactions, proposed law changes, and mass hysteria only lead to stupid mistakes that add shame to our nation. Our Constitution protects all of the citizens from unjust treatment. By running on fear, we only hurt ourselves. To illustrate this point, here are five times it has happened before. Read more...
Categories: History Tags: 14th Amendment, abraham lincoln, Deep South, FDR, fear mongering, Fourteenth Amendment, franklin d. roosevelt, General Order Number 11, Ground Zero, harry truman, Japanese Internment Camps, joe mccarthy, Lynchings, McCarthyism, salem witch trials, Spreading Fear, Ullyses S. Grant
Five Other U.S. Presidents Who Fired Generals
The news is busy today with the firing of General Stanley McChrystal, the administration’s leading General in the war in Afghanistan and replacing him with General David Petraeus, the former lead General for the Bush administration during the war in Iraq. I have already seen reports criticizing Obama for his response, yet, even if he kept McChrystal on as the General, there would have been commentary from the media. This got me to thinking, "What other Generals have been fired through American History?" The founding fathers were deeply concerned about the presence of a standing army, having witnessed how European armies had been used against civilians to collect taxes and to brutally keep the population under control. Having the President as Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces helps prevent a coup from happening. Here are five other times the President had to act like Donald Trump and say, "You're Fired!" Read more...
