HORTON: "I am thankful that the Reign of Witches ... is coming to an end."

[L. Coyote]

Let Us Be Thankful
By Scott Horton - Nov 28, 2008 · http://harpers.org/archive/2008/11/hbc-90003921


Like millions of Americans, I took a break yesterday to give thanks. For most of the past eight years starting with Thanksgiving 2001, I’ve had trouble identifying things to be thankful for. It’s never been a case of material shortcoming, of course. Americans for the most part know a sort of material wealth and comfort that was unknown to the species in prior millennia and was unknown to the Pilgrim fathers who instituted the practice of Thanksgiving. My great concern was over the nation’s stewardship, which had been entrusted to incompetent and malicious hands of a sort the nation had rarely witnessed.

So now I am thankful that the Reign of Witches, as Thomas Jefferson called the only historical period that bears serious comparison, is coming to an end. In less than two months the nation will have new leadership. I am sure I will have differences with the new administration on many points, but I doubt I’ll ever have cause to question its commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law.

Thomas Jefferson called the heavy-handed, fear-mongering rule of the Federalists from 1798 through 1800 a “tyranny,” and when friends protested, he explained why this term was correct notwithstanding the fact that the Federalists had taken power through the ballot box. They were, he said, tyrannical in their dismissive attitudes towards the liberties of the people, in their use of crass fear to retain and strengthen their grip on power and in their contempt for the dignity of the ordinary human being, something that a genuine democrat recognizes even in the least and most frail members of our species. He was right to use the term “tyranny” with respect to what the Federalists did.

And I am thankful to Richard Sanders, a long-time member of the Federalist Society and a justice of the Washington Supreme Court. As Michael Mukasey stood at the lectern of the society’s annual meeting and delivered a speech saluting the role played by latter-day Federalists in crafting a legal doctrine for the war on terror—a doctrine that included the use of torture as a presidential prerogative, and granting the president the right at his unreviewable whim to hold people in permanent confinement without ever bringing charges against them—Sanders rose and filled the hall with his voice. “Tyrant! You are a tyrant!” he shouted. Mukasey paused, stunned ........

............

[Captain Hilts]

1. Great! Blame it ALL on women!

[Joanne98]

3. There are male witches too. K&R

[Captain Hilts]

4. Yes, they're called 'warlocks' or are specifically noted to be men.

Women are the default here.

[foxfeet]

6. Umm, no. Male witches are called witches.

"Warlock" is considered inaccurate and somewhat insulting. Trust me, I know whereof I speak.

[Dervill Crow]

8. Maybe if everything you've learned about Paganism is from "Bewitched."

"Warlock" means oathbreaker. A male witch is called a Witch.

[Joe Chi Minh]

15. The meaning of a word is only as good as its currency. Ask the "Academie Francaise".

They've been trying to get the French to call things by French names, instead of using anglicisms and americanisms for ages, but to little avail. But in any case, according to Chambers dictionary, as far as males are concerned, "witch", wizard" and "warlock" can be synonymous.

[scarletwoman]

5. I hope you're being tongue in cheek. "Reign of Witches" is a well-known historical quote that

specifically refers to the Federalist Party which was totally comprised of MEN.

There is absolutely nothing implied about women in that quote at all, especially since women did not even have the right to vote in Jefferson's day, much less hold political office.

sw

[Doctor_J]

10. No, that would be Reign Of The Bitches

:eyes:

[pacalo]

2. Oh, this is good -- well worth the read. K&R.

[L. Coyote]

13. The last line is the best, so one has to go to the article

to read it. Be sure to bookmark the blog!

[pacalo]

14. Looking at the responses, I get where you're coming from.

I have read & bookmarked it because t's the type of article I enjoy reading at DU most: learning something new.

It took 8 years of a tyrannical presidency to get me so interested in American history.

[qwlauren35]

17. Yes - Good Teaser!

[Celebration]

7. why give witches a bad name? n/t

[Dervill Crow]

9. I can forgive Jefferson his misuse of the word Witch as he was a product of his times..

Speaking as a Witch, I'm insulted that tyrants are likened to Witches. On the other hand, the fanatic branch of the Christian Right who put the B*shies in power are probably more insulted. :rofl:

[trthnd4jstc]

11. Being a believer in the Old Religion, I do not like the use of Witches.

I do agree that thank goodness that this tyranny will be ending. I hope that 20 or more of the Top of the Bush administration would be indicted and imprisoned for the crimes that they had committed.

[starroute]

12. The Federalists were stirring up fears of the Bavarian Illuminati

Yeah, those Bavarian Illuminati. They're not just a device of latter-day right-wing conspiracy theorists. They were the bin Laden-like bogeyman of the day, and the Federalists ginned up a panic over them to push through the Alien and Sedition Acts and accuse anyone with sympathy for the French Revolution of being un-American.

Like all such panics, the bare facts become laughable once the spell is broken -- but as long as people are in their thrall, they remain extremely dangerous. Hopefully, Horton is right and the spell is breaking now.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. Grreat article

[DeepModem Mom]

18. K&R

[canichelouis]

19. T J's words

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt. If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."

Thomas Jefferson