Thomas R. Whitney and William Poole were living in New York City prior to the Civil War. Whitney was the son of a successful silversmith and was himself an accomplished engraver and businessman. He studied philosophy and was particularly interested in politics. If you saw the movie Gangs of New York, you are familiar with William “Bill the Butcher” Poole. The character played by Daniel Day-Lewis was based on William Poole. He was a gang leader and like Whitney was interested in politics.
Despite being from opposite ends of the social and economic strata of New York, their shared hatred of the Irish and their Catholic religion brought these two men together in common cause in the early 1850’s. Whitney and Poole were concerned that Catholic Priests and Bishops would hold too much influence over their followers and would infiltrate the American political landscape, and thus, the traditional American way of life with policies that would weaken or destroy the Protestant traditions upon which the country was rightly founded.
As far as Whitney and Poole were concerned history was rife with examples of the Roman Popery imposing its values and subverting the traditions and cultures of peoples the world over. America was different and the Catholic takeover must be stopped at all costs and it started with the low-life Irish. Whitney and Poole formed a secret society to combat immigration and to reject all things Catholic. They called their club the Order of the Star Spangled Banner (OSSBB). They developed modes of recognition, secret hand signs and used unwritten passwords that could only be learned by passing through the initiation ritual, which was called “Seeing Sam”. Members were instructed, when asked about the OSSB, to reply; “I know nothing”.
With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 and the subsequent collapse of the Whig Party, there existed an opportunity for another national political party to emerge. The OSSB transformed itself into the Native American Party. Tangent: Native American in this context does not mean what we use the term for today; it means folks born on American soil. Is it just me or do you see the irony here. This party was developed to protect the interests of those born here, I wonder if they and their immediate forebears held the same concern for the rights of those born here (Native Americans) before they arrived. History would suggest not. Always remember: Guns beat arrows!
By 1855 the name had changed to American Party but to the public they were still known as the Know Nothings. Their platform embraced a pure blood Protestant citizenry, the deportation of immigrant beggars and criminals, a prohibition against Catholics holding public office, a 21 year period of naturalization for the few immigrants allowed in and formalizing the Protestant work ethic as America’s highest principle.
Bill the Butcher was shot to death after a barroom fight later in 1855 and despite having some success in electing members to Congress and a few Governorships the party never really caught on. Whitney himself did manage to get elected to Congress but became ill in office and passed away in 1858. By the 1860 Presidential election the American Party was eclipsed by the recently born Republican Party. The American Party ended up exactly where it belonged, on the trash heap of history.
But enough of the fun-filled 19th century. Humans in general and Americans in particular can and do evolve over time in their thinking. We have learned that no race is inherently superior to another and that painting a group of people with a broad brush is just plain wrong. I offer these two examples of modern-day elevated thinking:
From Steve King, Representative from the great state of Iowa:
“We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”
When asked if he wanted to clarify his remarks or perhaps rephrase them with a less stupid word choice his reply was:
“Well, of course, I meant exactly what I said, as always is the case, You cannot rebuild your civilization with someone else’s babies, you’ve got to keep your birthrate up, and that you need to teach your children your values.”
Evolution in action! That’s all I got say about Mr. King
From Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton:
“It’s not a “nativist view” to say immigration policy should be crafted to benefit American citizens, not foreigners. Slandering “white working-class Americans” with that term is an example of the closed thinking that helped Trump win.”
Mr. Cotton on the other hand gives us a great deal to ponder. To craft immigration policy to benefit “white working class Americans” is precisely the “nativist view”. Nobody wants to craft an immigration policy that would harm “white working-class Americans” but we should be able to craft a policy that benefits both “white working-class Americans” and “foreigners”. What Cotton is trying to do here is say that “foreigners” are a direct, real and immediate threat to “white working-class Americans” and unless we very soon take drastic measures we can kiss our culture goodbye.
Cotton gives us an attractive and yet simple-minded choice. Its one or the other, we can’t have both. We are either a “white working-class American” country (which, by the way we have never been) or we will be overrun by the unwashed horde of “foreigners” eager to eat our babies and burn all our books, wiping out our culture and all memory of our once great civilization. Cotton’s extreme thinking is an example of precisely why the American art of compromise is in dreadful peril. This type of extreme thinking pollutes both sides of our political spectrum and if we don’t find a way to make our way back to the middle, our immigration policy (or lack thereof) won’t be what brings us down.
The characters may change but the script remains the same! And this brings me to the second point of Cotton’s remark.
…“that term is an example of the closed thinking that helped Trump win.”
He is exactly right! It is time for those of us that do not understand this President or his doins’ to take a cold hard look at the reality. With the Party of Lincoln in control of the government, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have quickly come to realize that 45 is not going to be very deeply involved in crafting sophisticated legislation. But he will sign just about anything that they come up with.
They just passed a huge tax system overhaul. For most people that will be a good thing, you are not going to convince people lower taxes are bad. To Republicans any tax cut is a good tax cut and they got her done!
After the two day government shutdown, the blame was pretty evenly split between all involved so 45 and the right did not suffer politically any more than the left.
The Monday after the shutdown the stock market went up almost 150 points and continues its meteoric rise apparently unabated. You cannot deny the record setting pace of the market in the one year since 45 took office. If you have a 401K you are invested in the stock market and its steady rise in least year is good thing for you. Republicans love a good market and they got her done.
They also love smaller government and they are getting that too. 45 has appointed an anti-environmentalist to head the EPA, an anti-energy regulation guy to head the Energy Department, a free public education opponent to head the Education Department and a drug company ally to head the FDA. Get her done!
Paul Ryan is making noises about retiring. But rest assured, he will not go gently into that good night. Look for Medicare and Medicaid reform to be on his agenda soon. He has long licked his lips over either eliminating them or greatly reducing their size and with the recent tax cuts he now sees his opportunity. Privatization of these two programs will be on the table and since it has worked so well with prisons there will be a strong push to turn this money over to Wall Street. Another small government goal. Get her done!
Time to realize that despite this President’s really weird personality, his racism, misogyny, his compulsive lying and know nothingism, he is, with his puppet masters Ryan and McConnell, getting stuff done, real stuff with long lasting consequences for all of us including “white working-class Americans”. Those of us that aren’t exactly comfortable with this direction need to stop bitching about 45 and focus on the November elections. The only real way to slow 45 down is to take control of the House or the Senate or both away from the Republicans. We need to encourage like-minded Americans to not only register to vote but to actually get out and do it.
Get Her Done!