As our current President decides to send more troops into Afghanistan, we should look back to a man who few know, but someone who played a vital role in the growth of our country.
Most of this is right of Wikipedia:
He is best remembered as a proponent of progressivism and a vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, World War I, and the League of Nations. In 1957, a Senate committee selected La Follette as one of their five greatest Senate predecessors. A 1982 survey of historians that asked them to rank the “ten greatest Senators in the nation’s history” based on “accomplishments in office” and “long range impact on American history,” placed him first, tied with Henry Clay.
He has been called “arguably the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the Government.”
A few of his more noteworthy quotes, again courtesy of Wikipedia:
“The will of the people shall be the law of the land.”
“In times of peace, the war party insists on making preparation for war. As soon as prepared for, it insists on making war.”
“The underlying reason indeed why both parties have failed to take the people’s side in the present crisis is that neither party can openly attack the real evils which are undermining representative government without convicting themselves of treachery to the voters during their recent tenure in office.”
“Every nation has its war party. It is not the party of democracy. It is the party of autocracy. It seeks to dominate absolutely. It is commercial, imperialistic, ruthless. It tolerates no opposition. It is just as arrogant, just as despotic, in London, or in Washington, as in Berlin. The American Jingo is twin to the German Junker…. If there is no sufficient reason for war, the war party will make war on one pretext, then invent another.”
“The purpose of this ridiculous campaign is to throw the country into a state of sheer terror, to change public opinion, to stifle criticism, and suppress discussion. People are being unlawfully arrested, thrown into jail, held incommunicado for days, only to be eventually discharged without ever having been taken into court, because they have committed no crime. But more than this, if every preparation for war can be made the excuse for destroying free speech and a free press and the right of the people to assemble together for peaceful discussion, then we may well despair of ever again finding ourselves for a long period in a state of peace. The destruction of rights now occurring will be pointed to then as precedents for a still further invasion of the rights of the citizen.”
“America is not made, it is in the making. Mere passive citizenship is not enough. Men must be aggressive for what is right if government is to be saved from those who are aggressive for what is wrong.”
If you want to know more about Robert M. La Follette, Sr
Do we still have politicians like that?
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Ajit
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Harrison
