You know, people are always talking about how the Republicans and Democrats are going at each other.
Well, guess what? Political rivals always have gone at each other. And it goes way back. Way, way back. I mean this going at each other business was happening long before there was ever such a thing as Republicans and Democrats.
Look back in history.
Around 400 BC, when the political climate changed in Ancient Greece, Socrates was forced to drink hemlock.
In 44 BC, when Julius Caesar decided that Rome would be better off with himself as dictator, you know what happened. The Ides of March. “Et tu Brute?” And then, civil war and the loss of the Roman Republic.
In history, that type of thing has happened over and over again.
Look at U.S. History.
It’s happened in the United States except the deaths were political deaths and not life itself.
As an aside, what I just said about not life itself wasn’t completely true because there was one significant death between political opponents. But this was a personal and not a government-prompted action. On July 11, 1804, Alexander Hamilton, our first Treasury Secretary, was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr, the sitting Vice President.
The Presidential elections of 1796 and 1800 were hotly and bitterly contested between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, as much or more than any recent Presidential elections.
BUT there was one big difference between the Presidential contests of earlier days and today.
Look at the media.
In 1796 and 1800, in just about every town of any size, there were two newspapers, a Jefferson-leaning newspaper and an Adams-leaning newspaper. In both, the political reporting was biased but a citizen could read both newspapers. Along those lines, I am not convinced that actual news was biased, only political views.
There is a vast difference between editorial views and either omitting or slanting actual news coverage.
Think about it.
