Repug History

Last night (3/9/07) on The Newshour, while discussing possible (we should say given) abuses by the FBI, Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) gave the public yet another insight into the delusional world of Repuglican thought processes with the following observation:

"REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER: Well, you know, first of all, we do give law enforcement in
this country a lot of discretion. And that's been the way since the beginning of the republic. The
FBI has very clearly abused its discretion, and in its abuse of the discretion, is going to end up
bringing about a reaction by the Congress."

Apparently, to Sensenbrenner's "sensen" of history, the American colonists were never suspicious of law enforcement encroaching on their rights. They never ousted governors nor railed against military presences. They never passed a Bill of Rights that forbade law enforcement (you know, the occasional sheriff or reeve or magistrate) from illegal searches and seizures, etc. In fact, according to Sensenbrenner's comment, he must believe the Founders would have applauded the creation of the FBI, CIA, NSA etal. since they are so like the large paramilitary organizations the Founders themselves organized. Right? It's a little like talking about how the original colonists loved their AK-47s, telephones and Model-Ts.

Moreover, how does a man convince himself that the Founders would have applauded the PATRIOT Act which in essence undoes most of the protections the Bill of Rights solidified? Beyond that, how does he believe that the FBI can overstep its legal obligations when its very existence is counter to Constitution?

Unfortunately, Repugs have difficulty comprehending history as is epitomized, not only by Sensenbrenner's statement, but by idiotic ramblings by people such as John Yoo and all the Right-wingers who miscontextualize history for ideological expediency. Take, for instance, the debate over the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment cannot be taken apart from the whole Constitution, since it was meant to redress deficiencies in the Constitution proper, specifically those in Article I. However, Repugs (most recently the Repug court that has gone after gun laws) insist on taking it out of context and then ignoring those pesky little references to militias and regulation. The 2nd Amendment is not a guaranteed right to own a gun or to shoot at other Americans and was never meant to be. It simply says you have the right to defend your country and that the government has to let you do so by providing you with an "arm" and training. So what's this business about turning people away from the armed services? Oh yeah, they aren't allowed to exist either.

In short, Sensenbrenner's statement, while seemingly benign, is indicative of Republican penchants for chronically and intentionally attempting to undermine Constitutional protections. Whether its the creation of clandestine paramilitary organizations, unitary executives, perpetual, illegally engaged in wars, denying checks and balances, stealing elections, spying on the public, privatizing the military or purposefully misinterpreting history, the Right-wing in this country is out to recreate Stalinism in red, white and blue paint.