Social Philosophy: Obamanation: misc. 4

I spent far too many hours yesterday watching the historic inauguration of the One, and one of the refrains that I kept hearing over and over was, "I never thought that I would see it in my lifetime..." (This was in reference to a person of color ascending to the Presidency.)

I for one did expect to see this happen in my lifetime, I just didn't think it would have been a Democrat. I say this because historically, it was the Democrat Party that in the nineteenth century pushed for the continuance of slavery and when they finally could no longer get their way, especially in the South, forced the issue (co-mingling this institution with States' Rights) by seceding from the Union. After the Civil War (or War between the States) the South (mostly Democrat Party members, but others as well) eventually put into place our own system of Apartheid with Jim Crow laws and various other segregationist policies. And earlier in the nineteenth century, Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, whom I admire for his stance against the national bank (and its international banking string pullers), accelerated the genocide against Native Americans. Meanwhile back in the early twentieth century, the Wilson administration (Democrat Party) brought segregation to the National government after the previous administration (Teddy Roosevelt's, a republican) became the first to invite a black man to the White house as a guest rather than a servant. It was another Democrat administration (FDR's) that introduced the concentration camp to America via the internment of Japanese Americans, all while the blacks serving the nation in the military in World War II still had to endure Apartheid in the military. During the Civil Rights movement when the Civil Rights Act came before congress, many Democrats (mostly from the South, mind you) voted against this bill. During the Democrat administration of Johnson we had development of social engineering, the welfare state, brought into being which had the evil effect of undermining the family among the black community (not to mention, from a conspiracy p.o.v., the introduction of many debilitating drugs into the Black communities in America). So I am surprised that our first Black President came out of the Democrat Party.

Now, to be fair, the Republicans have had their black marks also. TR had the Brownsville incident and adventures in the Philippines, etc. The reconstructionism in the South after Lincoln was assassinated, the co-option of the Republican Party starting in the late nineteenth century by big business etc were all additional ways that the Republicans were derailed from their original ideals. And I won't even go into the insane "war on drugs" with all its concomitant civil liberties violations, started by Ronnie Reagan, or the largest growth in the Federal Government since FDR and Johnson brought about by George Bush 43.

One Chinese curse reads, "May you live in interesting times." Change for change's sake is not always desirable. My "hope" is that God so orders the heart of our new emperor that the change is to the good, but I have my doubts. As the Who sang, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," and even though I am willing to give this new regime a chance, I fear this euphoria is misplaced and our government will continue to live up to its symbolization as The Beast (see last entry).