"The Reign of Witches Is Coming To An End"

By Mimikatz

One of my favorite bloggers is human rights lawyer Scott Horton, whose erudite and incisive essays inspire as well as inform.  Today he writes of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, of the Federalsits and their successors, the ebb and flow of political power, of freedom and authoritarianism.  His title, which I have borrowed, is taken from one of Jefferson's letters, written during the presidency of John Adams.  The time was much like ours.

Jefferson believed that the Federalists had overplayed their hand—that they had manipulated threats from abroad to seize for themselves vastly greater powers than the Constitution permitted them. He also believed that their demonization and mistreatment of the political opposition was an abuse of the powers of office and an assault upon the body politick. Adams had used the power of criminal prosecution to destroy the reputations of dozens of opposition political leaders, and to throw many of them behind bars. (snip)

Jefferson was severely critical of Adams’s conduct of the presidency, and most historical judgment has been with him. He termed Adams’s tactics as “divide and conquer.” “This is not new,” he wrote to John Taylor, “it is the old practice of despots; to use a part of the people to keep the rest in order. And those who have once got an ascendancy and possessed themselves of all the resources of the nation, their revenues and offices, have immense means for retaining their advantage.

Jefferson had a different vision of America.  He believed that America must be a land that tolerates different views, even differing views of external (and internal) threats.  And it was the responsibility of the different parties to watch the proceedings of the other party and make them known to the people. 

Jefferson believed in the democratic process, and rightly foresaw that this "reign of witches" he so despised would pass.  Indeed, within two years of writing the letter (full quote below the fold), Jefferson himself became President.  But it did not happen by magic.  It took the concerted efforts of many people, as Horton reminds us, and it will take that same kind of effort and courage to end the current "reign of witches:"

We have been through a six year reign of witches. They have used the same sort of hysterical rhetoric and fear that Adams used. And as each successive public opinion poll tells us, the spell is wearing off, and a time for accounting is coming.

Jefferson had the right formula to counter their misdeeds. In involved civil courage, standing for the principles that the Constitution enshrined and returning the Federalists’ verbal assaults in kind. Silence and inaction are not acceptable answers. Patriots stand their ground and raise their voices.

Indeed.  We are fortunate to have one such truth-teller (Marcy) as the chief blogger here.  And, if you missed it last night, here is another.  Perhaps it is Olbermann's best yet.

As quoted by Horton:

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt… And if we feel their power just sufficiently to hoop us together, it will be the happiest situation in which we can exist. If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."

–Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Taylor, June 4, 1798 in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson p. 1050.

Comments

[AM3]

Yes, except I'd rather call it a reign of warlocks.

[sombrerofallout]

I recall George Bush spent some time in front of the cameras telling everyone he was reading the Adams' biography.

Bush's habit is to tell everyone exactly what he means. And then--against every expectation, against every plausible belief, he goes ahead and does it.

[LS]

Wonderful post!!

[semiot]

Another piece of wisdom and source of hope from Mr. Jefferson - and a touchstone principle for folks like Marcy:

"Reason and free inquiry are the natural enemies of error and of error only."

[John Lopresti]

Horton is a writer with considerable vision. He wrote a remarkable review of the reslicing of the military pie last month, depicting a clear shift from what people picture as an all volunteer war machine to what has become a 50/50 split hiring half mercenaries to complement the regular volunteers. I have always thought of his writing as knowledgeable, but definitely it borders on the haunting, as the referenced article shows, there.

Taking this bewitching theme further, predictably, here is a strategy professor coaching congress on how to make Gitmo into hyperSecret, writing at a site where both liberal and military law experts gather to assess our democratic way of life in the context of the current trends impinging on it.

[Dismayed]

Crooks and Liars has Keith Oberman's latest (and greatest) denouncemnent of Bush posted. Oberman calls for Bush's resignation in perhaps the most elegant narrative heard from a broadcaster since Edward Murrow retired. Raw Story has a link up to the post on Crooks and Liars as well. Highly reccommend taking a look.

[TCinLA]

For a different view of the over-hyped hypocrite, Thomas Jefferson, and the needlessly-downgraded John Adams, I would suggest reading David McCullough's biography "John Adams."

While the Federalist Party did commit some of the crimes that have been popularized in the national mythology, Jefferson's Republicans, who were pretty much completely in thrall to such types as Citizen Genet and to a rosy view of the French Revolution and The Terror that makes the attitude of many "progressives" during the 1930s to Stalin's Purges seem almost like hardheaded realism. And most particularly, the rosy (and completely inaccurate) view of Jefferson toward the French Revolution, led to the United States very nearly getting into a war with Britain that would have undone the Revolution, had not Adams - who worked against the opposition of Jerferson and also against the desires of Hamilton that we join in with the British - managed to keep us out of a war that would have been a disaster.

But then, the "progressive" view of Jefferson, a man who always "talked the talk" and seldom "walked the walk" is right up there with the deification of that narrow-minded Southern racist and bigot, Woodrow Wilson - whose main political accomplishment (which he consciously set out to do) was to make the Jim Crow politics of the South the policy of the National Government.

Most of what Jefferson wrote in this letter is historically demonstrable as complete bullshit, unfortunately. But never let anything like reality get in the way of ideologues out to work their own sort of faith-based politics on the world.

Happy July 4th.

Tom Cleaver

[DemFromCT]

Don't know about Jefferson and Adams, but Wilson was responsible for killing thousands in the country with his mishandling of the 1918 pandemic.

[margaret]

Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Horton was talking about people like you when he referenced the power-mongering by Adams, favoritism shown to his cronies and the concentration of power in one party.

[larue]

I'm tired of the rhetoric, the cliche's, the over intellectualism of every . . single . . little . . thing.

We are getting our ASSES kicked, and THEY own the planet.

Will someone PLEASE fire the first shot and be COUNTED for?

Marcy, and SO many others, continue DAY AFTER DAY, to wade thru the mess, and give us info, details and ACTION ITEMS.

But I see NO action . . . and THEY continue to sweep the streets with our butts.

What Republic?

Not till masses march in the streets will this change.

It was simple enuff 30+ years ago . . we HIT the streets.

Were the fuck ARE we? We sure as shat ain't in the streets.

The words are spoken, the action is lacking, in Congress, and among the masses.

Harumph. We have only OURSELVES to blame.

Want it? Own it!!!! Die for it. Happy 231st.