Every morning I check the weather on my phone and scroll down the headlines they have picked for me. Usually all I do is scroll because I realize that many of the “headlines” are really paid ads from different websites. I also ignore Trump Derangement Syndrome pieces that appear regularly in the NY Times, Washington Post, Politico and so forth. I got sucked in this morning by National Review and George Will.
Do we really need George Will jumping on the anti-Trump bandwagon? I realize he didn’t want him elected. I was not excited about the prospect either but I am not putting on a snowflake costume and marching in the streets chanting “not my president”. That is essentially what George will did in his piece.
This is one reason I moved George Will from the conservative column to the moderate column years ago. He still has the label but doesn’t have the conviction. To be honest I didn’t read much past the first paragraph or two. It doesn’t take long to get the drift. He quotes Trump in the first paragraph as saying,
“Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.”
Then he mocks the grammar and diction.
The statement is essentially correct. I have been teaching history for years. 30 years ago I took a test on historical knowledge and scored in the 90th percentile. That means I knew more than 90% of the people taking the test, people who wanted to be history teachers. In spite of that I had never heard of Frederick Douglass. I have since read his autobiography and find him an impressive American. I recommend his Narrative of the Life of a Slave.
I still had not heard of him and yet you find him in every book today. So yes, he is being recognized more and more. Maybe George Will is one of those who knew about Douglass. Maybe his arrogance is better than his memory. Either way we need to find genuine reasons to criticize the president, not take cheap pot shots that put us on board with the Democrat Talking Points Media. I wonder if Will wrote a similar article about Obama claiming to have visited all 57 states.
He is my president. He became my choice when Cruz bowed out. He will not be perfect and will make mistakes. At the same time I ask you who would have been nominated for the Supreme Court if Hillary had won.
I hope that puts it in perspective.
homo unius libri
Gee, you must be a YOUNG whipper-snapper; they still mentioned Frederick Douglas in the history books when I was in school.
ReplyDeleteI guess I must not have been paying attention. Of course, I went to school in California.
DeleteGrace and peace.