Subscribe to the IHARE Blog

1824 Presidential Election

The 1824 Bicentennial: The Four Party System

May 21, 2024
by Peter Feinman
1824 Elections (Wikipedia)

I first raised the issue of the 1824 bicentennial in a blog from 2016:

The Presidential Election of 1824: Lessons for Today September 9, 2016

I was writing about the annual SHEAR conference (Society for the Historians of the Early American Republic), July 21-24, 2016, in New Haven. The specific reason was a session on the book 1824 RECONSIDERED: A ROUNDTABLE ON DONALD RATCLIFFE, THE ONE-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST: ADAMS, JACKSON AND 1824’S FIVE-HORSE RACE. Depending on how you count the candidates this time around, we have exceeded that number although of the candidates may be considered minor.

In the Q&A period, I asked what SHEAR’s plans were to commemorate the bi-centennial of the election of 1824 given the disarray/collapse of the current two-party system. I ended the blog with:

Maybe for the bicentennial of 1824 we should have a presidential election where candidates are entitled to their own facts and a public that doesn’t know better or how to think. Come to think of it, why wait?

At that time, I had not anticipated COVID, the COVID vaccine, or the stolen election. Nor did I realize that the 2024 election would be part of our Third Civil War and battle to determine whether we continued our journey/experiment to the 250th anniversary of the birth of the country. Still, all in all, I correctly anticipated that now defines the House of Representatives and the declaration by one candidate that if he loses again there will be another insurrection….and if he wins there will be divine retribution.

THREE-PARTY SYSTEM (Is America Ready for a Three Party System?)
December 5, 2022

The unsung 1824 Bicentennial is fast upon us. Soon it will be only a year away. The year has been a personal favorite of mine. It has been the subject of blogs since 2016.

The year marks the transition from the First Party System to the Second Party System. It was the end of the Virginian-dominated American Revolution era and start of the Jacksonian dominated one. The Federalists and the Republicans were out and the Whigs and Democrats would be in. The new system would last until the demise of the Whigs and the emergence of the Republicans under Lincoln. It also was a time of Senate giants like Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster.

Putting aside all the talk about the Civil War today, the squabbling over the Speaker position in the House of Representatives suggests we may be in for a de facto three party system in the next session of Congress.

America is not designed for a three-party system. In Europe and Israel, multiple parties are par for the course. After every election, the jockeying for power begins by the various parties. Which one can form majority? That is not the American way where the two-party system is sacred.

Until now. Right now the House of Representatives beginning in January is divided into three groups:

213 Democrats
182 Republicans
40 Freedom Party.

No one of the groups has the magic 218 votes needed to form a majority and elect a speaker. There has been talk of multiple ballots in an unprecedented situation. Perhaps Kevin McCarthy will deal for the position he has coveted. Perhaps he will drop out when he realizes he cannot win and a host of new candidates will emerge. Perhaps cross-party deals will be made. We are in uncharted waters.

Voters are concerned about jobs, inflation, the economy and the threat to democracy. By contrast the Freedom Party agenda consists of:

Relitigating the 2020 election
Investigating Hunter Biden
Investigating the House Select Committee
Impeaching Joe Biden.

None of these issues are on the radar of the Real Republicans.

In other words, even if McCarthy wins the battle to become Speaker, his problems are only just beginning.

All in all, this blog from 2022 has proved to be quite accurate. McCarthy did win the battle but his problems were just beginning. Soon he would be out not only as Speaker in the House of Representatives but out of the House all together.

The MAGAs would vigorously pursue their investigation agenda. So far they have nothing to show for it except looking like idiots. But never say never, they keep trying and will continue to do so since they have no sense of shame.

Now the governing of the House has become one where Democrats and Real Republicans have joined together to get things done. Through various mechanisms and procedural tricks of the trade, they have banded together to pass legislation. They even saved the position of the current House speaker to the chagrin of Marjorie Taylor Greene. Her attempt to chastise the wayward Republicans and remove Mike Johnson only revealed the limitation of power of the crazy wing of the Republican Party. Each time Real Republicans and Democrats band together it becomes easier for the next time.

The next result, the remainder of this Congressional term should be smooth sailing except perhaps in some committees/subcommittees.

THE FOUR PARTY SYSTEM

The current three party system obscures the existence of a four party system. I live in the 16th Congressional District of New York, ground zero for the war between Regular Democrats and Woke or Progressive Democrats.

Full Disclosure: I have known George Latimer for many years. He has helped arranged funding for the education programs in IHARE. Most recently he declared August 18, 2024, Lafayette Day in Westchester County at my request for the bicentennial of Lafayette’s return visit to the United States in 1824-1825 which included one day in Westchester.

The primary battle between the incumbent Representative and the incumbent County Executive who seeks the position of the former has been hot and heavy. I am not going to cite chapter and verse of the positions of the two candidates on October 7 and the war against Hamas. I do, however, note, its importance to the primary confrontation. It is expressed in the language of political discourse, the funding for the two candidates, and the switch of voters from independent and Republican status to Democrat to vote in the Democratic primary.

Latimer is a traditional Democrat who rose up through the ranks in local, county, and state positions before assuming an executive position instead of a legislative one. During these times he has been practically everywhere at events and meetings and touts his personal experience as an Irish-Italian kid in a Black neighborhood in Mount Vernon where he grew up.

Bowman, by contrast, was a middle school principal from the Bronx who had no previous political experience before defeating a Democratic incumbent himself. He is a frequent guest on MSNBC which also differentiates him from his opponent.

This battle between the Regular Democrat and the Woke Democrat should not be viewed as the one and only battle between the Progressives and the Real Democrats. Given the time and money being spent to defeat Bowman in the primary, a victory by him would signify that the times they are a changing in this reliable Democratic district. And even if Bowman loses, one may anticipate more and more fissures in the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives if the Democrats prevail in the November elections.

In November, it will not only matter which party wins, but which wing wins: Regular Democrats, Regular Republicans, Woke, or MAGA. Even if there is no formal separation, the days of the two-party system in the House may be over.

Lafayette, You Are Here! August 15, 1824: The Bicentennial Countdown

August 20, 2023
by Peter Feinman
1824 Elections (Wikipedia)

In 1824, President James Monroe invited the Marquis de Lafayette to tour the original 13 states. The year was a presidential election year. The era of good feelings was over. It had been replaced by bitter sectionalism. No one American was popular throughout the country to complete such a tour. Individual presidential candidates had regional strongholds.

Lafayette represented a living link to the American Revolution. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson did too. Both had had their shot at unity as Presidents and both were in the waning years of their lives. Plus Lafayette was a “defacto” son of George Washington who had not yet become just another dead white man or name people mentioned without having any direct connection to him.

His tour was widely successful (imagine Taylor Swift making stops at localities throughout the country). It was so successful that the new 11 states since the Revolution asked that he visit them as well. Lafayette ended touring all 24 states.

As a living testament to his appeal, all manner of places were named after him. For example, there is a Lafayette Drive where I live. Besides streets there were villages, towns, and cities named after him or his home, La Grange, in France. Statutes were erected to him. However the now-closed Lafayette High School in Brooklyn may be better known for being the school of Sandy Koufax than for its namesake.

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF LAFAYETTE (AFL)  

The American Friends of Lafayette is dedicated to celebrating the bicentennial of Lafayette’s visit. It has issued the following:

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour saw the French 67-year-old last surviving major general of the American Revolution triumphantly return to the country he loved. He was invited with the hope that he might bring a renewed unity and patriotic fervor back to American citizens being torn apart by the divisive Presidential campaign of 1824. Lafayette accepted this invitation desiring to both revisit old friends and to bring the story of the fruits of democracy back to a France, then being ruled by an undemocratic monarchy. From August 15, 1824, to September 9, 1825, Lafayette covered over 6000 miles by carriage, stagecoach, canal boat, and steamboat, traveling to all 24 then-existing states and “Washington City.” As a youth, Lafayette was instrumental in securing American independence both through his direct military leadership in the Revolutionary War, as well as his constant petitioning of King Louis XVI and France for their alliance and support. Therefore, it was with heartfelt gratitude and joy that Americans welcomed him as “The Nation’s Guest” during his Farewell Tour in 1824-1825.

During our celebration of the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour, the AFL will hold events in cities and towns in all of the 24 states Lafayette visited, and we will follow Lafayette’s 1824-1825 itinerary. With over 400 “boots-on-the-ground” volunteers, the planned activities will be unique to their individual locations.

The goal of this commemorative odyssey is to “Celebrate, Commemorate, and Educate!” Our three-fold emphasis will be:

Human Rights: Lafayette was an abolitionist, supported the rights of women and Native Americans, and championed religious freedom.

The Franco-American Alliance: This friendship of two nations which began during the American Revolution, in a large part through the efforts of Lafayette, has weathered multiple adversities and remains strong to today…nearly 250 years later!

The importance of linking the past to the present: President James Monroe invited Lafayette to America hoping that he could bring unity and revive patriotism in America. Lafayette’s presence had an ameliorative effect on a country torn apart by the contentious Presidential election of 1824, which was decided by the House of Representatives. The AFL will explore what we can learn from Lafayette that is relevant to today’s fraught political environment.

 Please visit www.lafayette200.org for more information.

Lafayette arrived at Staten Island on August 15, 1824, 199 years ago. He crossed the harbor the next day to Castle Garden which would become the arrival point so many Irish in the 19th century. Depending on the status of the post-Sandy Resiliency project, a Lafayette re-enactor will follow that route with a parade up Broadway to City Hall. I am working with the AFL on this portion of his visit.

After a few days in lower Manhattan, he then headed north eventually on the Boston Post Road to Cambridge. He intended to visit John Adams there. I am responsible for the Westchester portion of the trip which at that time included potions of the Bronx. All told, Lafayette made nine stops on August 20, 1824, before arriving in Connecticut and making a few more stops. Quite a lengthy day for someone traveling by horse and carriage. It’s a little like taking the Stamford local from Grand Central and making every single stop. At each stop, he would be greeted by some combination of music, muskets, and people on horseback including veterans from the American Revolution.

Since August 20, 2024, is a Tuesday, County Executive George Latimer has exercised his powers in history to shift the celebration to Sunday, August 18, 2024.

Last week I spoke to the trustees of the Town of Rye who passed a proclamation recognizing the day to be set aside as the day honoring Lafayette. All the people from Lafayette Drive will be invited to the ceremony. According to newspaper accounts, he had a glass of wine there.

LAFAYETTE 1824 AND 2024

Future historians will have the opportunity to compare and contrast the two visits by Lafayette – the one by the real Lafayette and the other by the re-enactor. You can see the latter on this short video which has been produced by the American Friends of Lafayette. Click here.

This time around, he will be arriving approximately one month after the Republic presidential convention and he will be in New York when the Democratic presidential convention begins. Since he stayed at the home of the Vice President on Staten Island on August 15, 2024, there will just be sufficient time for the current Vice President to welcome him there before departing for the convention. The larger question is will the visit of Lafayette be weaponized as a prelude to the American Revolution 250th.

Lafayette, the re-enactor, will have the opportunity to touch upon issues that continue to this very day. While he would applaud the end of slavery, that does not mean he would support how slavery is taught especially in the Confederate states. Lafayette was very closely associated with Oneida from Valley Forge. Already in 1824, he was extremely disappointed as to how America’s allies had been treated in the time since the war. In other words, there will be topics to discuss through Lafayette that are still relevant.

Lafayette in 2024 is not likely to be the unifying figure in 2024 that he was in 1824. However his visit has the potential to spark conversations about he thought then and what it means now. The challenge for the American Friends of Lafayette is to provide venues for discussion for topics that will carryover through the presidential election and into the 250th. If he can be the spark for such discussions then the bicentennial of visit may have even more impact than his actual visit two centuries ago.

Historic 2024 Presidential Rematch

August 18, 2022
by Peter Feinman
Look How Much We Have Progressed!

The 2024 Presidential elections is shaping up as an historic one in many ways. Of course, in this rapidly changing world, sometimes it is hard to keep up with events. I tend to read the morning papers in the evening. Frequently I learn that what I am seeing on the TV screen and reading in the paper are out of synch.

Let’s start with the easy one.

REMATCH

The upcoming Presidential election will be the first rematch since 1956. In that election Dwight Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson for the second time. Strange as it may seem now, the nomination of a loser was not that strange in the opening decades of the 20th century. William Jennings Bryan and Thomas Dewey had done the same previously in the Democratic and Republican parties. Since that time, individuals have sought their party’s nomination on multiple occasions, but the loser in the general election has never run again.

One difference this time is that the 45th President does not accept that he was the loser nor do his followers. We have seen the tape from the House Select Committee of the Loser not being able to acknowledge on January 6, 2021, that he had lost the election. As a result in the minds of many, 2024 will be a battle between the rightful winner in 2020 and the person who stole the election from him. In fact, based on the media coverage, one might still think 45 was still president. Compared to LBJ in the 1960s, 46 receives scarcely any attention for his legislative achievements. 45 easily can dominate the first 30 minutes of a cable news talk show. Strangely enough, that means in the 2022 midterm elections, voters may be more likely to vote against the daily barrage of criminal actions associated with 45 than in favor of the achievements of 46.

There was never any doubt that 45 was going to run for third time. The timing of the announcement was subject to debate particularly as it relates to the filing of financial reports. The declaration of candidacy was a given since January 20, 2021, even if not spoken out loud. The only issue was whether any of the wannabees would challenge him. Now we know.

The execution of the warrant at Mar-a-Lago ensures that he will not be challenged. All the wannabees did the Kevin-McCarthy-kiss-the-ring a Mar-a-Lago genuflection in response to the actions of the FBI and DOJ. None of them said, “Enough is enough.” None of them said it was time to move on. Instead they all pledged their loyalty to their leader no matter what hare-brained explanation he provided. With the plea deal of Weisselberg and testifying of Giuliani, we can anticipate many such moments of loyalty affirmation in the weeks, months, and years ahead. The wannabees have been jockeying for position in the hope that there will be an opening in 2024. Barring medical reasons and maybe prison, there will be no opening.

The only one who did not get the memo is Mike Pence. He still thinks he is on a divinely-ordained path to the Presidency. Maybe he is positioning himself for 2028!

As long as Donald Trump is the candidate for 2024, then so is Joe Biden. If one of the wannabees successfully challenged the Loser, the results would be different. Biden is not going to let it be said that he backed down and quit rather than face the “real winner” of 2020 in a fair election. Otherwise, given his age and recent legislative victories, Biden would have no qualms about retiring as a one term president. But as long as Trump is the Republican nominee, then Biden will be the Democratic nominee.

1824 BICENTENNIAL

In a few blogs, I have commented on the generally overlooked election of 1824. Its marks the end of the First Party System of Federalists and Republicans (Jefferson) and the emergence of the Second Party System of Whigs and Democrats (Jackson). Now that the primary season is almost over, we can say that the Republican Party of the Third Party System (Lincoln) no longer exists save in name only. When people who consider themselves patriotic Republicans start referring to John McCain as a RINO, we can safely say the Party is over.

It is fitting that Sarah Palin is in the news for her attempt to be elected to Congress. It was John McCain’s selection of her to be his running mate that previewed that eventual collapse of the Republican Party. Little did anyone know at the time that she had broadcast to the longtime faux Democrat and Clinton-supporter, that there was an opportunity for him to be the center of attention and make money be becoming a faux Republican. As a result, when the Tea Party took over the Republican Party, it really was not due to Tea Party issues. It was based on Trump issues or rather personality.

The new Republican Party has only a few main issues:

1. Revenge against people who were not sufficiently loyal – mission accomplished
2. Relitigate 2020 so the results can be decertified
3. Impeach Joe Biden and investigate Hunter Biden.

The purification of the Republican Party of real Republicans is nearly complete. There still may be some local resistance efforts to salvage what is left at the state level. However, at the state level the battle is over.

Other than rigging the electoral process so Joe Biden cannot win and ensuring that Democrats cannot win at the state level, the Trumpican Party has no agenda. It has slogans but no actual platform. Some Trumpican state legislatures have become bogged down in what to do post Roe v. Wade reversal. They are floundering around because they did not think things through and now are confronted with an ever increasing number of real-world situations they would rather avoid. Notice the absolute silence from 45 about what to do. So much for leadership!

Speaking of the absence of leadership, DO NOT ask a Trumpican candidate about what do about the declining water levels in the Colorado either. Trumpicans have no suggestions about what to do in the real world, only slogans about what to yell in the culture wars. At some point, people will pay the price for putting unqualified people in positions of power. As long as times were good, the United States could get away with having an immature child with the emotional maturity of a three-year old as its leader. Unfortunately, his shortcomings left him no match for the coronavirus leaving hundreds of thousands of American dead. The same disastrous results await if Trumpicans are put in power at the national and/or state level.

So what should Lincoln Republicans do? Retirement is one path elected Republicans have taken. Then instead of having cowed elected officials they will be replaced be true believers. They have no interest in governing or ability to do so. In the Senate, at least, where candidates need to be elected on statewide basis and not in gerrymandered districts, there still are traditional Republicans who can cross the aisle for the good of the country. However, their numbers are dwindling. By contrast, the House is hopeless. Republicans have been routed by Trumpicans there.

What then should a traditional Republican do? Another possibility is the Georgia maneuver. In 2020, 28,000 Republicans voted in the election but left the presidential line blank. That made 45 the loser. The same possibility exists in 2022: vote for Republican candidates on the ballot and leave the Trumpican candidate line(s) blank. In Arizona, that might mean not voting at all!

The political realignment of the two party system is underway. With the Republican Party, the transformation is almost complete. But there are two caveats:

1. what if the Trumpican candidates do not prevail in the general elections as they did in the primaries? – There is a growing awareness even among Republicans that the Trump-selected Senate candidates are déjà vu 2010/2012 all over again. Democrats could pick up seats in Senate and Governor races.
2. what happens when the leader of the transformation leaves the stage whether it is due to age, medical, prison, or health? –  At that point the knives will come out as people battle for power for control of the Trumpican Party and maybe even give an opening to the real Republicans to take back their party.

In the meantime, we can enjoy the two mysteries

Why did he remove the government documents? Even though he thought they were his, why these particular records both classified and unclassified as souvenir/trophies?

Who was the informant and what will happen once that person is exposed?

Will the Constitutional Republic Survive America’s Third Civil War?

January 26, 2021
by Peter Feinman
For want of wearing a mask, the presidency was lost. (https://nailstip.blogspot.com/2019/08/for-want-of-horseshoe-nail.html)

The fate of the constitutional republic of the United States of America remains unknown. Will it survive to celebrate its 250th anniversary? Will it dissolve into its constituent parts? Will it simply muddle along under constant strain because the alternative is too scary?

No one knows the answer to these questions. Before beginning a series of history blogs on the subject, I would like to note how easy it would have been for the constitutional republic already to have ended. A lot of things had to work out for us to get even this far and anyone one of them could have turned out differently.

THERE COULD HAVE BEEN A BIGGER TURNOUT ON 1/6

Approximately 8000 people showed up on January 6, not all of them armed. When I first wrote Seven Days in January: This Time It Is Not a Movie on January 3, I asked what would happen if different combinations of heavily-armed right wing militias had stormed the Capitol. I wondered if there were sufficient ground forces to stop them. Now we know. Even with the lower number of insurrectionists the defensive forces were inadequate to do the job.

1. Why weren’t there adequate forces to defend the Capitol?
2. Why was the turnout for the insurrection so low?
3. Despite the low numbers, what would the response have been if Mike Pence had been hanged and Nancy Pelosi had been killed?

SUPPOSE THE TRUMPICANS HAD BEEN AS WELL ORGANIZED AS THE WOKE

The Woke were prepared for the post-election attempt by the Trumpicans to steal the election; the Trumpicans were not. The Woke correctly anticipated the Trumpican attempt to steal the election. They had planning sessions as to what to do. More importantly, they had planning sessions on what not to do: No cries to “Defund the Police.” No toppling of statues. No burning of flags. They conducted training sessions. They planned for contingencies. They coordinated. They vowed not to provide Trumpicans with the slogans and photo-ops that would undermine their cause. They were organized, disciplined, ready and successful.

By contrast, the Trumpican side was true to their leader. He bought a lifetime of incompetence and ineptitude to managing his post-election attempt to steal the election. He was not prepared at all. He had no planning sessions. He developed no strategies. He organized nothing. When your legal effort is being led by Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, you know you have a weak case. Everything was ad hoc, impulsive, on the fly. The DOJ wasn’t ready; in the end a nobody from left field attempted to stage a coup within the department that went nowhere. In the end the corporations that were being accused of criminal activity based on wishful thinking decided to strike back through legal action.

The planning for the insurrection itself consisted of a call to show up, attend a rally, and walk to the Capitol – it will be wild. There was no planning about what the people should do once they got inside the Capitol. As Mary Trump said about her uncle, a child in the body of an adult with the emotional maturity of a three-year old, he “enjoyed every second…He is a physical coward but he’s perfectly happy when other people commit violence on his behalf.” Even the rightwing groups mocked the effort for being unorganized and inadequately planned. Once inside, the insurrectionists were busy taking selfies and souvenirs. Skilled revolutionaries they were not.

1. Suppose next time the insurrection leader is an adult?
2. Suppose next time the insurrectionists turn out in force and do have a plan?
3. Suppose next time the Woke aren’t as well organized and prepared to stop the steal?

WHAT IF THE CORONAVIRUS HAD OCCURRED EARLIER IN HIS TERM?  

On numerous occasions during the pandemic, various people in the administration have made fools of themselves for their ineptitude, incompetence, and ignorance. They did not understand the science nor did they want do. One of the questions historians will ask, if they aren’t already, is why did the eventual loser throw away the opportunity to be a winner.

1. Imagine if he had worn a mask.
2. Imagine if had pretended to be sympathetic.
3. Imagine if he had put Mike Pence in charge.

Of course, he couldn’t change who he was even though it cost him the election. He simply was too simple-minded, narcissistic and lacking in mental necessities to transform the virus into a leadership challenge as a wartime president. Instead all he cared about was the Dow Jones and once that crisis was solved he lost interest.

But if the virus had struck earlier and if the vaccine had been ready earlier and if the vaccine had been distributed earlier and America was looking back on the virus on election day the way China is, he would have been re-elected. He will never understand that.

WHAT IF THE DEMOCRATS HAD NOT NOMINATED JOE BIDEN?

While 7 million votes is a lot numerically, in percentage terms, it is not that great. A small shift of votes in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and one congressional district and there would have been no need to try to steal the election. All things considered, that is not a lot of votes. It also shows how thin the Democratic bench is and how Democrats may need Biden to run again in 2024 to prevent a Trumpican victory.

Our next presidential election is the bicentennial of the election of 1824. That presidential election was one of the ugliest in American history. There were five candidates. American was transitioning from the First Party system of Federalists and Anti-Federalists/Republicans of Adams and Jefferson to the Second Party system of Whigs and Democrats with Clay/Webster and Jackson. I first wrote about it in September 2016 The Presidential Election of 1824: Lessons for Today and tried to resume the discussion in December 2020 Biden and Cuomo: The End of an Era. In that blog I wrote about the Diversity Party and the Democratic Party as two of the parties. The question was how long the two factions could remain united in one party. The answer is still unknown but I think it is safe to say both groups understand the stakes if they don’t.

In that blog, I deferred writing about the corresponding division of the other party between the Republicans and the Trumpicans. In a little more than a month since then, that division has become obvious to everyone. The actions of the state parties such as in Arizona and really-off-the-rails Oregon, the votes in the House on the electors and the impeachment, the vote in the Senate on constitutionality of the impeachment all show that there is no civil war in the Republican Party. The Trumpicans have won. The Republicans are retiring from the battlefield. The Lincoln Project Republicans aren’t welcome anymore and they know it. There is no place for them.

Mitch McConnell is four years too late to battle to save the Republican Party from the Trumpicans. He got his tax cut to help rich people get richer and he got his judges. If the price is the destruction of the Republican Party for the Trumpican Party, then he will have to decide if it was worth it. The people who need to set up a third party are the Republicans and not the Trumpicans. There is no Republican Party left to take back.

That is why the fate of the constitutional republic remains unknown and precarious. The United States of America now has one national party that is dedicated not to the rule of law under the Constitution but to the wishes of one immature individual with no conscience, no ethics, and no morals. For now at least, he is in complete control of his party. The vaunted Biden working relationships with members across the aisle means nothing. Those are the Republicans on their way out. He has no Senate experience with Trumpicans. He has no House experience with Trumpicans. They do not consider him legitimate.

The Democrats still control the House…by a little and the in-power Party tends to lose seats in the non-Presidential election. The Democrats barely control the Senate but there still are some Republicans left there so some legislation may be possible. The Democrats have no margin for error. The continued existence of the United States of America as a constitutional republic depends on them not making one.

Biden and Cuomo: The End of an Era

December 20, 2020
by Peter Feinman
1824: The Ugly Election That Birthed Modern American Politics (nationalgeographic.com)

Our next presidential election will be the bicentennial of the election of 1824. That year might not ring a bell with people but it marked an important transition in American history. In that election, America transformed from what is called the First Party system to the Second Party system. The First Parties were the Federalists (Hamilton, Adams) and the Anti-Federalists/Republicans (Jefferson). The Second Parties were the Whigs (Clay, Webster) and the Democrats (Jackson). The “Stop the Steal” election of 1824 was the transition point. It occurred two years before the 50th anniversary of the birth of the nation just as 2024 will be two years before the 250th anniversary, a number that would have been outstanding to them.

Today we take for granted not only the two-party system but the existence of the two parties we have at present. The election of 1824 involved 4 major presidential candidates. While 2024 is likely to have fewer, there are four factions which will be competing for the top spot. In this blog, I wish to address two of them: the Democratic Party and the Diversity Party.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY VERSUS THE DIVERSITY PARTY

The modern Democratic Party as we know it emerged in the 1930’s under Franklin Roosevelt. Three of its components were the Irish (Joe Biden), the Italian (Andy Cuomo), and the Jewish (Chuck Schumer). It included white Southerners who especially since the 1960s, have migrated to the Republican/Confederate Party. It did not include Negroes who later became African Americans and who migrated from the Republican/Lincoln Party to the Democratic Party.

That era is over. Non-transgendered white male heterosexuals like Biden, Cuomo, and Schumer have no future in the Diversity Party. Candidates and appointees need to be diverse. I am not suggesting that this will be an instantaneous transformation at the federal, state, and local level. It will happen gradually through direct frontal challenges (the AOC election) and through attrition. For example, in my own congressional district a traditional Democrat was replaced by a Diverse person. Now all the Hudson Valley congressional representations are diverse. Cuomo already was challenged by a Diverse candidate. When he finally leaves office, the odds are a Diverse person will replace him. Similarly for Schumer.

This situation is playing out in California now. There is one Senate opening due to the incumbent being elected Vice President. Soon there will be a second one. The current Democrat is 87 years old and past her prime. Whether Feinstein steps down or hangs on until the end of her term, the Democrat will be succeeded by a Diverse representative. The different hyphen-groups already are jousting for the Harris seat. Perhaps there will be a compromise where one hyphen group gets the Harris seat and a second one gets the Feinstein seat. Welcome to the world of New York City Council elections.

Biden also faces the obligation to appoint people from the Diverse Party. He seems to be trying to do so with people who have diverse characteristics but Democratic Party values. Since he has many positions to fill, he has a lot of options as he juggles his responsibilities. He still can appoint non-transgendered white male heterosexuals instead of a diverse person as long as he explains why.

The Diverse Party is quite outspoken about its expectations from the new administration. Yes, they want a seat at the table in the room where it happens. They even can designate how many seats they want – more than a token. Similarly, they do not want seats in the back of the room by the kitchen door. They want to be seat upfront in seats of power and prestige.

The Diverse Party like the Tea Party a decade earlier is not likely to become a separate political party. It will continue to operate within the Democratic Party gradually building up its strength especially as the older Democratic officials retire or are retired.

DIVERSE PARTY LINGO

The Diverse Party has its own convoluted lingo where words don’t mean what they seem to mean. Here are two recent examples from consecutive days in The New York Times.

“Asian-Americans Have a Lesson for Democrats” by Viet Thanh Nguyen (12/17/20 print)

Consider his second sentence:

For Democrats, Asian-Americans are suddenly crucial: They are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S. electorate…

What makes this comment so extraordinarily absurd? First, Asia is a continent. The word comes from the Greeks. They were referring to what today is Turkey where “Murder on Orient Express” was headed. Second, Asia is not a racial or ethnic group. Later on in the op-ed, the author acknowledges that “The category ‘Asian-Americans’ is not natural, for people in Asia do not typically imagine themselves as Asians, but rather identify with specific nationalities or ethnicities.”

In his bio, Nguyen is listed as covering South East Asia. That makes sense. He is of Vietnamese descent. The United States fought a long war in what was routinely identified as Southeast Asia. The Vice-President elect is routinely identified as being South Asian. The Boston Marathon bombers are of Central Asian descent. The area the Greeks referred to as Asia is now mainly Southwest Asia in academic studies and the Middle East in political discussions. And let’s not forget where Siberia is located.

“ASIANS” IS NOT A RACIAL TERM.
WHAT WORD DOES IDENTIFY THE RACE OF THE PEOPLE IDENTIFIED AS ASIAN-AMERICANS? CAN YOU THINK OF ONE?

Nguyen goes on to note that Asian-Americans support policies consistent with those supported by people of color. That means Asian-Americans are not people of color. What color are they then? Or are they a people of no color?

President of Queens College

Here we see the nonsense of the politically-corrected terminology that twists people into absurd knots. Now we know that Asian-Americans are a people of no color who do not include all Americans of Asian descent and who have no name for their race. How progressive.

Want more?

“Biden makes History by Picking Native American for the Cabinet” by Coral Davenport (12/18/20 print)

In this example of twisted reporting, Deb Haaland, the article mentions:

native as an adjective once
Native as a noun once
Native America six times
Indigenous three times
Indian twice as part of the name of government entities.

Can you imagine an article on Joe Biden where he is identified as Irish, Celtic, European, and white during the course of the writing?

One might think that government entities responsible for Indians means that the people over whom they are responsible are Indians. That is true but politically incorrect. Instead the reader is treated to a plethora of terms. Indians do know that all people born in the United States are native Americans. Indians should also know that no native Americans should be privileged over any other native American. Indians however have what the Southeast Asians and East Asians do not have: a real name for themselves – INDIAN.

According to this article, Elizabeth Kronk Warner, dean and professor of law at the University of Utah, and a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa INDIANS [and presumably of Utah, too] said:

It’s momentous to see an INDIAN promoted out of the shadows of American history to a seat at the table in the White House. Tribes and the federal government have a relationship that goes back to the 18th century ⸺ but despite that relationship we have never had an American INDIAN at this level of government.

Apparently the only ones who can use the term “Indian” are Indians themselves. While that is somewhat of an exaggeration, it isn’t by as much as it should be.

As we head towards the 1824 Presidential Election Bicentennial, it is reasonable to anticipate that the Diversity Party will become more and more insistent that politically-corrected vocabulary be used that no matter how convoluted and distorted it is. It is reasonable to anticipate that the Democratic Party will follow the lead of the Diversity Party. It is reasonable to anticipate that more and more white people will object to the microaggressions of having to toe the Diversity Party line or be subject to the Thought Police. What is not known is whether the opposition will stop being the party of stupid cowering weenies in the face of this politically-corrected assault and will realize the opportunity it presents if it was capable of being the party of Lincoln.

More to come on the 1824 Bicentennial.