This afternoon I got to thinking about the diary Steven D posted about how Col. Bob Pappas Thinks Liberals Are Cowards. His central thesis is that if “liberals” had been in charge in 1776, the American Revolution would never have happened because “liberals” are too cowardly to stand up to tyranny and injustice.
Ahem.
Well, the entire screed is a crock of dingoes’ kidneys (except for the first sentence, as I point out in a comment in that diary), but it got me to start thinking: What if various figures in the current administration had been in charge 229 years ago?
If George Bush had been Commander in Chief of the American forces in 1776, he would have sent them south to invade Florida instead of fighting the British.
If Donald Rumsfeld had been in charge of the American forces in 1776, he would have downsized them to make them leaner, meaner and more responsive, and they still wouldn’t have had the equipment, uniforms and supplies they desparately needed. Early in the war, or ever.
If Condoleezza Rice had been our chief diplomat in 1776, she would have angered the French so much that they would never have weighed in on the American side.
If Rush Limbaugh had been alive in 1776, he would have been shouting at the top of his massive lungs in the center of Boston, blaming the Sons of Liberty for the abuses being heaped on the colonies by King George.
If Karl Rove had been alive in 1776 he would have had no qualms revealing the identity of Nathan Hale if it had been in his own interest to do so.
If Jonah Goldberg had been alive in 1776 he would have been calling for people to support the war for independence, while at the same time refusing to pledge his own life, or his fortune, or his sacred honor.
And if Col. Bob Pappas, USMC (Ret.) had been alive in 1776, he would have seen that those who fought for independence believed in freedom of thought and freedom of action. He would have seen that their actions were motivated by a desire to free the common man from intellectual slavery. He would have seen that the patriots who created the United States of America were more interested in the common good than they were with making themselves rich off the status quo.
He would have seen that they were, in fact, liberals.
And I suspect he would be using whatever soapbox he had to denounce those who were disloyal to the Crown. In fact be might even call them cowards. But I suspect he would be doing so from somewhere in Canada.
… for the classic Mad Magazine reference.
I’ve thought for a long time that the Bushonians would have been leading the charge for the other side: Wealth, privilege, taxing the daylights out of the ordinary types for the use of the wealthy, etc.
you’re probably right. I made the assumption that the members of the present administration and their supporters would have been on the side of the colonials; but the reality of the situation is, they most likely would have been working in favor of the establishment and the status quo, asking us at the top of their voices why we hate England.
LMAO…great diary, and break down of the powers that be ; )
the French.
with Condi. Stupid early morning bleary eyes!
but honestly, I fired this off late at night and I couldn’t remember whether there was any Polish military involvement in the Revolution beyond guys like Gen. Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Gen. Casimir Pulaski who came over on their own. Now that I look around for the spelling of Kosciuszko’s name it looks rather unlikely since at that time Poland was under Prussian and Austrian occupation.
But still, people like Rice and Bolton would have been busy aggravating the breakaway colonies’ potential allies rather than gaining support. One can only hope they would have been Crown loyalists, since at the time that’s where I think the closest thing to modern-day conservatives would have fallen in the ideological landscape of 1776.
Indeed. There were conservatives in the Revolutionary War. They were called Tories, and they fought for the British.
Conservatives, by definition, do not start revolutions.
If Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rice, Powell, Rumsfeld, Wolfie, Perle,et al had been alive, they’d have ALL been hung for treason.
Well done
PEACE