Woodrow Wilson, Republic-Wrecker
J.K. Baltzersen of Wilson Revolution Unplugged reminds us that one of the Republic's most odious pieces of legislation was signed into law four score and a dozen years ago yesterday — Selective Service Act. Mr. Baltzersen posts this contemporary anti-family propaganda poster:
("America, here's my boy" was never the sentiment of my mother, and neither was it of her mother, my beloved Mississippian Yellow Dog Democrat granny, who wore a P.O.W. bracelet, and when I was at a very young age, advised me, rather commanded me, never, ever, to join the United States military. Nope, she didn't want her grandson ending up owned by the State and dead in some imperial war. Bill Kauffman, author of Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Anti-War Conservatism, would recognize her.)
I find it hard to believe how Americans were ever convinced that being involuntarily sent to Europe to die in what amounted to a personal crusade against Blessed Charles of Austria was a good idea. (If the Republic actually had been threatened, by enemies foreign rather than domestic, that would have been a different story.) As John Zmirak has noted, "Woodrow Wilson set as one of the primary war aims of the U.S. as she entered (thanks to his careful maneuvering) World War I the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy" — An Inconvenient Miracle. "As a multi-ethnic state based not on 19th century nationalism but ancient dynastic loyalty cemented by a majority Catholic faith, it offended his modern notions of what should constitute a country—and as a good Princeton academic, who was in addition convinced that he personally embodied the Will of God, Wilson knew that he could do better."
Of course, the bête noire of Mr. Baltzersen's blog only succeeded by disappearing peace-loving folk like Eugene V. Debs with the very un-American midnight-knock-on-the-door. And how interesting it is to note that he also signed these un-American travesties into law — the Federal Reserve Act and the Revenue Act of 1913, and the Sedition Act of 1918. Contemplating the legacy of the 28th president, the words of G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) come to mind: "It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged."
("America, here's my boy" was never the sentiment of my mother, and neither was it of her mother, my beloved Mississippian Yellow Dog Democrat granny, who wore a P.O.W. bracelet, and when I was at a very young age, advised me, rather commanded me, never, ever, to join the United States military. Nope, she didn't want her grandson ending up owned by the State and dead in some imperial war. Bill Kauffman, author of Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Anti-War Conservatism, would recognize her.)
I find it hard to believe how Americans were ever convinced that being involuntarily sent to Europe to die in what amounted to a personal crusade against Blessed Charles of Austria was a good idea. (If the Republic actually had been threatened, by enemies foreign rather than domestic, that would have been a different story.) As John Zmirak has noted, "Woodrow Wilson set as one of the primary war aims of the U.S. as she entered (thanks to his careful maneuvering) World War I the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy" — An Inconvenient Miracle. "As a multi-ethnic state based not on 19th century nationalism but ancient dynastic loyalty cemented by a majority Catholic faith, it offended his modern notions of what should constitute a country—and as a good Princeton academic, who was in addition convinced that he personally embodied the Will of God, Wilson knew that he could do better."
Of course, the bête noire of Mr. Baltzersen's blog only succeeded by disappearing peace-loving folk like Eugene V. Debs with the very un-American midnight-knock-on-the-door. And how interesting it is to note that he also signed these un-American travesties into law — the Federal Reserve Act and the Revenue Act of 1913, and the Sedition Act of 1918. Contemplating the legacy of the 28th president, the words of G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) come to mind: "It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged."
Labels: America the Beautiful, Dixie, Europe is the Faith, Family, Militarism, Monarchism, Peace, Republic Not Empire, Tyranny, War and Rumors of War
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