On March 16, 1995, the state of Mississippi formally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state of the Union to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment had been officially ratified in 1865, one hundred thirty years earlier.
James Madison, fourth President of the United States and “Father of the Constitution,” was born on this date in 1751.
The world cares very little what you or I know, but it does care a great deal about what you or I do.
Booker T. Washington, Address to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Boston, Massachusetts (30 July 1903), printed in “Account of the Boston Riot,” Boston Globe (July 31, 1903).
Some “ifs” for today.
If I were a Republican and if I were voting in Ohio or Florida, both winner-take-all on the Republican side, and if I wanted to stop Donald Trump, I’d vote for Kasich in Ohio — or, were I a Florida resident, for Rubio.
If I were for Cruz, I might prefer that both Governor John Kasich and Senator Marco Rubio drop out. But on reflection, I don’t think so. Trump picking up 165 delegates in two fell swoops probably cannot be made up at this point, even one-on-one.
So Sen. Marco Rubio was probably wise last week to acknowledge what seems the truth: “John Kasich is the only one who can beat Donald Trump in Ohio. If a voter in Ohio is motivated by stopping Donald Trump, I suspect that’s the only choice they can make.”
Of course, Mr. Rubio wants Kasich voters in the Sunshine State to likewise switch to him, because, “I’m the only one who can beat Trump in Florida.”
A spokesman for Gov. Kasich of Ohio was having none of it: “We were going to win in Ohio without his help, just as he’s going to lose in Florida without ours.”
Still, a Kasich super PAC is robo-dialing Ohio voters with the news that Rubio suggests they vote for Kasich.
We can outsmart ourselves sometimes with strategic voting, sure. As a general rule I prefer to vote for the person I think is best. But sometimes there are elections wherein the word “best” just doesn’t seem to apply.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
March 15 was “the Ides of March” in the Roman calendar. On that date in 44 BC, Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by a handful of prominent senators.
On the same date in 1783, General George Washington eloquently entreated his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. His plea was successful and the threatened coup d’état never took place.
There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms.
George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, 1876.
What can we make of the leftist hatred of the Koch brothers, David and his elder brother Charles? For their support of libertarian and Tea Party causes, and a few Republican candidates, the left doesn’t just demonize them, the left singles them out.
I suppose a reasonable person could blanch at rich people giving money to political causes . . . if they objected to all super-rich donors.
But that’s not what’s happening here.
Leftist hatred of the Kochs is especially weird, considering that Koch causes include gay marriage and opposition to war in the mid-East. And yet it’s the Kochs who get called out . . . by Bernie Sanders, who wants to mobilize “millions of people to say ‘enough is enough — Koch brothers and millionaires can’t have it all.’”
Sanders didn’t say, “Soros and millionaires cannot have it all.” Leftist billionaire George Soros gives millions to organizations working to turn the U. S. into a European-style “social democracy.”
Sanders didn’t say, “Bloomberg and millionaires cannot have it all.” Super-rich statist Michael Bloomberg has spent fortunes to undermine the Second Amendment and make America more of a Nanny State.
Sanders didn’t say, “Steyer and millionaires cannot have it all.” California billionaire Tom Steyer sure spent a lot of money to raise taxes and elect Democrats.
Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, is blinkered: others are greedy; his side is pure.
Enough is enough — what’s important to Sanders is that his opponents be silenced by government order. There’s nothing democratic about that.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
* This “BEST OF COMMON SENSE” column is reprinted from April 30, 2015. It has a strange relevance now that left-of-center pressure groups, a few of them funded in the past by billionaires not named Koch, have gotten themselves in the news for “protests” designed to take away the free speech rights (and made a mockery of “peaceably assemble”) of people they do not like. Please also see Paul Jacob’s Townhall column this weekend.
Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.
Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Chapter XI: “Making Their Beds Before They Could Lie On Them” (1901).
On March 14, 1900, the Gold Standard Act was ratified, placing United States currency on the gold standard.
Friday’s events may cast a shadow upon the rest of the race — or serve as a spark to ignite a fiery finish of this campaign year. Click on over to Townhall, for Paul Jacob’s Common Sense perspective. Other links? Well, there are stories everywhere. But for the GOP also-rans complaining about the front runner, click over to the Washington Post.
And scroll on back to yesterday’s video.
The image, above, is of one of the protestors getting his flag up onto CNN’s cameras. The CNN commentariat did not see fit to mention it. I guess it would have broken the rhythm of most of the talking heads excoriating Trump for all the violence. I am sure they think Trump was responsible for protestors blocking ambulances, too.
Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution.
George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life, 1858.