The Shot Heard Round—and Round and Round—the World

Thoughts on gratitude for the founding of America.

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481

Howdy,

Like most Americans, I spent a lot of Fourth of July weekend taking pictures of my mom’s cats. But I did find the time to tweet. 

One tweet in particular got a lot of attention:

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  1. Avatar photo
    Rome, 410 A.D.

    oh jonah.... will you marry me?

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  2. Avatar photo
    Campshrop

    You write that the FFs had to make a choice between having a Constitution or not. OK. totally agree. Colonial slavers faced the same choice, however: support the Constitution (that ended slavery) or not. The slavers could have conceded by bowing to the principles off liberty laid out in the Constitution, but they didn't. There was too much money involved and the racial dogma was imbedded too deeply. Their obstinance forced all Americans to accept slavery as well as the disproportionate empowerment in Congress of slavers over those against it (the absurdity of the 3/5 Compromise). Southern landowners forced us all to go along with it. The FFs who truly supported "all men are created equal" lost the showdown when they made their choice.

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    Richard Cheverton

    The mobs, at this point, are clearly winning; they are silencing dissent ruthlessly. Get out of line, lose your job. Face denunciations. Risk physical harm.

    Here's how it works: A friend and I recently discussed whether or not I should fly the "Blue Lives Matter" flag on my front porch here in Progressive Portland. She was concerned that I would be "a target." Would some subset of the mob march on my house? Bricks through my double-panes? Worse?

    And I haven't made the decision, although the flag is in my Amazon (!) list, ready for one-click shopping and next-day delivery. The fear is here. Right now. The mob is winning. In a state such as Oregon (and many others) they now rule; there is no opposition. The mayor of a nearby city is being recalled; he said something unallowable; in another city nearby a school board official "resigned" after uttering the wrong words. Even in Portland, the mayor's high-rise condo was attacked by an all-night demonstration with bullhorns, spray-paint and a spotlight on his windows. And he was and is on their side!

    We all know, in our bones, that this cannot go on. The mob isn't in the business of compromise. Nor are the politicians attempting to ride the beast. Nor are the mob's acolytes and self-appointed enforcers of a constantly-mutating orthodoxy. They smell power. Victory is close; this is not about some "policy," or even about the behavior of the police. It is a desire for control over others. Purges. True belief. Lists of those who must be disciplined (one local school district, with no hint of irony, calls its re-education course for whites, "the scaffold.")

    This is how it must have felt in the 1850s. Something terrible this way comes.

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    Anne W (Raw5254)

    Dear Lord! What is it about you, Jonah, that brings out all the agitation? I’m grateful and I enjoyed this G-File. Thanks for trying to be positive in a time when all I’m reading is how horrible life was and still is. I know it must seem fruitless at times, but I still appreciate your take on life. I’m tired of the arguing, and I’m tired of COVID19. I’m tired of hearing about how racist we are as a country, and no matter what we do or say, it isn’t enough. We want everything to change and be the way we want it right now!

    Sometimes I really enjoy the comments section, and I actually learn things. Other times, it’s basically people arguing and lecturing one another. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn anything new here.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Bill Nelson

      Life is good and the future will also be good. I have been retired 3 weeks and even being trapped at home, still good.
      And the solution to these problems remains the same: beer.

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  5. Barry Morrell

    The Democrats have controlled our educational system for generations. It is now in tatters. Teachers' unions. Low standards. Politics in the classroom. Look no further than the current message board for evidence of how the Dems have destroyed education in America.

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    Paul Montagu

    Wait, most Americans spent the 4th taking photos of Jonah's mom's cats? I don't think so!
    Well said on the rest of it.

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  7. Barry Morrell

    Jonah: It would be lovely if those on the Left read your words, understood the words, and said, "Thank you for explaining the significance of the founding. Now that you have pointed out the error of my ways, I pledge to read more about our history and to be more thoughtful in my protests. I don't want a new America, just a better America."

    This will never happen.

    The problems we have will not be settled by strong argument and debate. Debate only works if you have reasonable people on both sides. There was a time when reasonable Democrats existed. No longer.

    Bill Clinton was a reasonable professional politician. Obama was an unreasonable professional troublemaker. The Democrat Party of today is Obama's legacy.

    What needs to happen is a no-holds-barred fight at the ballot box. The Democrats understand this. The Republicans, not so much.

    Anti-Trump conservatives need to re-think their position come November. The Left's agenda on the First Amendment, federalism, the Constitution in general, the Judiciary, capitalism, education, the police, China is far more of a threat to the country's welfare than anything Trump will do over the next four years.

    When Trump leaves office in 2025, he will leave behind a trail of accomplishments that all conservatives can be proud of. Trump, the man, will be gone, and he will leave the political stage without having groomed a new generation of Trumps. Pence is not Trump; nor are Haley, Cotton, Hawley or other prospective 2024 candidates.

    The Left and their agenda, on the other hand, are here to stay.

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      Bill Nelson

      “Anti-Trump conservatives need to re-think their position come November.”
      It is Trump’s job as a candidate to convince us to do so. He makes no effort to do so.
      Here is what ticks me off: the Dems with the swerve to the left and a very flawed candidate should be easily trounced by 20 points. But Trump, with his behavior, demonstrates even greater flaws. If someone smashed his freakin phone he’d gain 5 points.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Bill Nelson

    “A man’s virtues are his own, his vices are of his time.”
    -Will Durant
    (The version I know)

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  9. N of 1.

    The problem with Jonah's piece is that it implies by skillful omission that gratitude deserves a special pedestal above all other sentiments. In essence, the argument goes, our founders were awesome so just shut up already. They WERE awesome. And I for one am grateful for their sacrifice and contributions which were monumental (pun intended these days). But I want the freedom to put *anger* on an equal footing. Jonah, tell me why, if I'm a black man, I have to prioritize? You rightly quote MLK on his promissory note, but you breeze past the "long overdue" as if it was some afterthought. Make no mistake, when MLK said "we've come to settle a debt" and "the check is marked 'insufficient funds," the primary sentiment was not thankfulness. It was rage. The more interesting question is how to respect both sentiments without doing injustice to either. Otherwise, we really are a bunch of tories with not much to commend us. Onwards?

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      Hiawatha@Gmail.Com

      For what it's worth, I'm a black guy and I feel a great deal of gratitude for the exertions of the Founders. But put anger on an equal footing? Not me. In my experience, anger tends to make people stupid. Just check out your typical Trump rally, or the recent fad of statue-lynchings. I think there's way too much anger in America and the last thing we need is more of it.

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      Stephanie

      If you've read the older comments, you'll see that several other people, both white and black, had the same reaction; and that others responded defensively. I think Jonah was preaching to the choir of his prior fanbase. They want happy talk. I understand--it's a frightening time for our country, and it means a lot of people retreating to their safe space.

      The Republicans and the extreme right, as well as their powerful propaganda organ Fox News, are creating an election campaign based on scare tactics around apocalyptic fantasies that Democrats will destroy the America they know, since Trump has nothing else to run on, and no plan for a second term.

      So I think this kind of pabulum is directed at that audience. And, as my mom would've said, consider the source. Of all the Dispatch writers, I think Jonah is the most hostile to liberal ideas (check out the books he's written). This is him at his least hostile, so I'm thankful for small favors. David French and Sarah Isgur tend to have a better ability to take the traditional liberal viewpoint into account. They are all uncomfortable with progressive ideas, as far as I can tell.

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      Bill Nelson

      “...that gratitude deserves a special pedestal above all other sentiments.”
      Gratitude is a special “sentiment” as it is a result of prior acts with good outcomes. A sentiment (opinion) is less associated with a specific result of an act.
      And gratitude has a very important place within human social arrangements, and carries with it an implication of a response.

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      1. N of 1.

        Thanks for the reply. I agree we need more gratitude and that it calls for a response. If you’re shackled by politics (and commensurate lack of protection and upward mobility) for 400 years, does not rage also rise to the top and call for a response? Good discussion, thanks.

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        1. Avatar photo
          Bill Nelson

          Rage is a destructive and harmful emotion, it is the obligation of a rational human to shed that emotion. And certainly events from 400 years ago should generate no emotions at all.
          Race relations have vastly improved in the US during my lifetime, yet we are inundated with accusations of systemic racism. And these accusations carry no solutions. Mississippi is changing their flag, but is anyone’s life different? No. Does it lessen any rage? No. The rage just changes its focus, there is nothing which can satisfy that rage.
          But rage is the most damaging to those that hold it, it is crippling emotionally.

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  10. Avatar photo
    Mike B

    I like the take on hypocrisy. Never really thought of it that way.

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About Jonah Goldberg

Editor in chief & co-founder of The Dispatch and Remnant podcast host. A scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, an L.A. Times columnist, CNN commentator, and author of three NYT bestsellers. Goldberg worked at National Review for two decades.
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