Feb 15 2009
Remember The Maine!
“Remember the Maine!” Anyone who got caught up in the emotion of these words when they first rang out is long gone. Given the state of the Democrat run government schools it’s a wonder even a handful of us has an inkling that this battle cry refers to the bombing of the U.S. battleship Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor.
When it happened on this date, in 1899, I wonder how many Americans were convinced that the Spanish were the perpetrators. Newspaper mogul, William Randolph Hearst, had long been agitating for a confrontation, but it was the destruction of the Maine that finally triggered the Spanish-American War.
It seems we always need one dramatic (traumatic?) incident to bring everything to a head and push us into reckless action - even though there are other better reasons to take more effective remedies earlier. A gruesome, heart rending murder can spur paranoia and tighter, new legislation when all that was really needed beforehand were simple crime prevention measures. A financial crisis can be engineered over the years to stampede the public into electing a leader who makes use of false claims and the people’s fear to gain power.
Do any of you see any other problems out there waiting for a decisive incident to ignite impetuous action?
