by HatetheSwamp on March 27, 2024 6:59 am
One of Thomas Jefferson's better known observations, contained in a letter
to James Madison in 1787, the year our Constitution was ratified:
"...weigh this against the oppressions of monarchy, and it becomes nothing. Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem. Even this evil is productive of good. It prevents the degeneracy of government, and nourishes a general attention to the public affairs. I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccesful rebellions indeed generally establish the incroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is a medecine necessary for the sound health of government."
When I was watching the last few minutes of the Jackson documentary, I was asking myself if I'd been around then, if I'd think about Jackson what I think about Trump, i.e.,
I despise Trump. I think that Trump is despicable...
..., but, I love MAGA.
As a human being, I despise Jackson and I do think that he, personally, was despicable.
However,...
...I think that what Jefferson understood about the value of "a little rebellion" happened through Jackson. That, I believe was a good thing. Not just a good thing, an EFFINgood thing.
Less than 50 into the Republic, a Swamp was forming... a political elite, an increasingly corrupt and dysfunctional ruling class.
And, Andrew Jackson was the point guard... the Isiah Thomas... of the little rebellion, though not an armed rebellion.
I think that the people chose Jackson not vice-versa.
What's still known as the Age of Jackson created a United States far more democratic than what the Founders were able to create in their time... and EFFINfar more than it was becoming by the time John Quincy Adams defeated Jackson in 1824 with it's "corrupt bargain."
So, pb despises Jackson but he loves the popular impulse toward democracy that made his presidency possible... EFFINneccessary.
pb often chastises po and Curt and t'other woke, white electric limousine lovin progressive Swampcultists here because pb's all about Lincoln's vision of a nation, "of the people, by the people and for the people..."
...and, you wokesters ain't. You're all about Swamp, and elitism. You're all about the spirit of the corrupt 1824 election and the enabling of an elite ruling class.
So, I despise Jackson but love the yearning for democracy in his movement...
...just as I despise Trump and love MAGA...
...and, hate today's SS SwampLovers' cult.
monticello.org
thoughtco.com
