There was a time I wanted Newt to be President. He is still better than many of the alternatives…. but…
He clearly doesn’t have his mind around the Revolution that created this country. It’s an all too familiar syndrome of taking the situation after the war is over and projecting it on the history before the war. This was on Rusty Humphries tonight (a “best of” show)
“I mentioned in the very beginning of our program that on this particular evening in 1775, Paul Revere went out and warned the American Patriots that the British Army was on the way. You go back and think about that – here we were – a tiny country on the Eastern Seaboard facing the greatest Empire in history”
Newt then patted himself on the back for the books he’s written about the Revolutionary War.
On April 17th, 1775, there was no “Country” on the Eastern Seaboard. There were 13 colonies of the British crown, some of whom were unhappy with their political relationship with England.
While the Continental Congress had met in 1774, the only action it took was to make demands of the King of England, and agree to meet again in May of 1775 (a month after Paul Revere’s midnight ride) to decide what to do next.
The articles of Confederation which would define the new Government of the new country would not be adopted until 1781. An open rebellion against your existing government does not make you a country.
In Libya, it’s 1775 and France is attempting to topple a government using revolutionary surrogates – again.