tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post3773914210067912486..comments2023-08-20T11:07:28.396+01:00Comments on Freeborn John: The Liberal TestPeter Risdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17792275403997179926noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-31085771243570008982009-03-03T19:48:00.000+00:002009-03-03T19:48:00.000+00:00Dearieme,what on earth are you talking about? You ...Dearieme,<BR/><BR/>what on earth are you talking about? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, representing the American Revolution as some kind of nazi holocaust.<BR/><BR/>Twit.Trooper Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01505221473081871071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-7712325517999415312009-02-23T07:32:00.000+00:002009-02-23T07:32:00.000+00:00Neither, to be honest; I try to avoid Nazi compari...Neither, to be honest; I try to avoid Nazi comparisons, in fact was critical in this post of such. But I take the point that the latter was worse than the former. Of course, the bombing of Dresden was worse than that of Liverpool. The victors in a conflict do the most damage. The French Revolution showed the excesses that are possible, and the USA never descended to the depth of the Terror. Dare I suggest that was to the credit of the Patriots?<BR/><BR/>But this is slightly off-topic, isn't it? I called the revolution liberal, not unblemished.Peter Risdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792275403997179926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-74638953017423742292009-02-23T00:00:00.000+00:002009-02-23T00:00:00.000+00:00I draw a distinction between the "Boston Massacre"...I draw a distinction between the "Boston Massacre", described by Wikipedia - A tense situation... eventually led to troops discharging their muskets after being attacked by a rioting crowd" - and Patriot troops storming a village, slaughtering the men, women and children civilians, piling the bodies in the church and setting it on fire. Which would you class as Nazi-like?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-7823088868032102162009-02-22T20:48:00.000+00:002009-02-22T20:48:00.000+00:00I don't know about Nazi-style, but a series of mas...I don't know about Nazi-style, but a series of massacres by British troops, sometimes acting with the help of Indians, helped to trigger the revolution, starting with the Boston Massacre of 1770. The etymology of the word "lynching" is uncertain, Charles Lynch is one possibility but there are others. I certainly didn't say the revolution was about liberty, I said it was a liberal revolution and clarified that by pointing to republicanism and constitutionalism (limited government) as liberal values.<BR/><BR/>Some of the Founding Fathers opposed slavery and Franklin founded the Pennsylvania Abolition Society in 1789. Paine probably pamphleteered against it (hard to be certain with an anonymous pamphlet). But slavery was not a glory of the Republic.<BR/><BR/>I don't disagree that the popular account is distorted, but it was a liberal revolution.Peter Risdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792275403997179926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-51788693881639399382009-02-22T20:13:00.000+00:002009-02-22T20:13:00.000+00:00Give me an example of a Nazi-like massacre by Loya...Give me an example of a Nazi-like massacre by Loyalists. "Lynching" was quite specifically a term introduced for the action of Patriots. And it won't do to say that there were slave-masters on both sides AND that the revolution was about liberty, will it? I stand by my argument that the popular account of the "Revolution" is bunkum.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-4372717518195348632009-02-22T13:55:00.000+00:002009-02-22T13:55:00.000+00:00I can picture the scene over the politically minde...I can picture the scene over the politically minded breakfast table, Snoopy.Peter Risdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792275403997179926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-11850645844303058522009-02-22T13:53:00.000+00:002009-02-22T13:53:00.000+00:00Oh well, terms like commie, nazi, etc. are a norma...Oh well, terms like commie, nazi, etc. are a normal part of the modern political discourse. Probably to become terms of endearment in more politically-minded families too.SnoopyTheGoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00920565522498918323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-58778861702661288212009-02-22T13:51:00.000+00:002009-02-22T13:51:00.000+00:00That would be fair enough, Andrew. The Lib Dems ar...That would be fair enough, Andrew. The Lib Dems are not liberal either. Nor are the progressives who misuse the word.<BR/><BR/>I think the points above still stand, though.Peter Risdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792275403997179926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-12351370036775335362009-02-22T13:48:00.000+00:002009-02-22T13:48:00.000+00:00It was an exercise in reclaiming the word Liberal ...It was an exercise in reclaiming the word Liberal from an avowedly Social Democrat party called the LibDemsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-80216592271123788372009-02-22T13:45:00.000+00:002009-02-22T13:45:00.000+00:00That's the one. Lynchings and massacres went both ...That's the one. Lynchings and massacres went both ways, there were slave masters on both sides. But the republicanism that developed and the constitution that resulted from these events were definitively liberal.Peter Risdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792275403997179926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12471112.post-15147388643771228752009-02-22T12:19:00.000+00:002009-02-22T12:19:00.000+00:00"the great liberal revolution in America": the one..."the great liberal revolution in America": the one that had Patriots lynching Loyalists, that had two Nazi-like slaughters by Patriot forces, that was led by slave-masters, that one? Was any event in history so misrepresented? Apart from the Bolshevik coup, obviously.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com