When history does not support a narrative, we have folks who will get out their paint brush and paint over bad or questionable things. A good example is to white wash the heinous insurrection on January 6, implying insurrectionists were just tourists. Last time I checked, tourists don’t plead guilty for seditious actions. Maybe they missed the memo to act like they are sightseeing when they storm the Capitol.
Today, we have folks who want to defund the FBI and IRS, because they are picking on Donald J. Trump for one of many alleged crimes or mischievous actions. Of course, the CFO for the Trump organization just pled guilty to tax fraud, so maybe he is another tourist. Or, maybe the former president took classified documents to plan for a tourist trip abroad.
Of course, these folks must have a large supply of white paint, especially since so much has been used to paint over the actions and words of the last former president. Yes, he did lose the election, so he could save a lot of paint by admitting that outcome.
White washing has been occurring for ages, but now it seems more prolific or at least more prolifically reported. History tells us the South was very active before, during and after the Civil War to paint a picture the Civil War was more about states’ rights than slavery. How else could they get poor whites to do their dirty work – the rich landowners could not say, go fight the Yankees so we can own more slaves and make money, now could they?
In America, “The Birth of a Nation,” the most racist and vile movie ever made, is still in the Top 100 of influential films and was even shown in the Woodrow Wilson White House. And, 25 Senators and over 100 Congressman were affiliated with the KKK at one point in the early 1930s. This is how Jim Crow easily overwhelmed the rights of African-Americans. It still amazes me that we could have that many members of a hate-group in Congress and it go so unreported in history books. Talk about white washing.
And, Senator Joe McCarthy became popular with his communist witch hunts simply by making things up, sometimes on the fly. He was white washing from the outset. It should not be lost on anyone that a major legal advisor to McCarthy was New York attorney Roy Cohn who later became a mentor to another populist who also has a hard time with the truth – Donald J. Trump. I do not make this up. Per Trump’s biographies, Cohn advised Trump to “never apologize and sue everyone.”
As for Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and other talk show hosts, we must not forget they are entertainers who have opinion shows. They are not news people, as admitted by the management of Fox News in court in a defamation lawsuit, and neither offer well-researched opinions. Per the movie about the rise and fall of Fox News’ Roger Ailes starring Russell Crowe, Hannity was hired because he beat up knowledgeable guests not letting them talk, not because he was astute.
We must focus on facts so people can be informed. We cannot let people with a microphone tell us something did not happen. We must believe our own eyes and see the Wizard behind the curtain pulling levers. Sadly, people are still trying to white wash the Holocaust. The lies about the Holocaust not being real or caused by persecuting Nazis are just total BS and people who say these things need to be highlighted by a spotlight.
If someone lies about one of the most heinous atrocities in world history, they will lie about anything. Full stop. Call them, email them. Let them know we deserve the truth, especially if they are an elected official. I left a message with a Senator yesterday sharing my disappointment about his targeting the IRS. People believe BS like that and he should know better. Some folks will act because he said he used such rhetoric. And, some will get hurt.
musingsofanoldfart 
Too many lies, too much fair talking… history happened and we need to learn from it. Otherwise, it will repeat itself.
Erika, well said. Keith
Note to Readers: Trust is earned. It also works the other way, except in a more accelerated way. In my mind, it takes more trustworthy actions to make up for one untrustworthy action. The folks I mention in this piece have earned the right to be NOT trusted. They have earned the right to not be believed. So, any attempts to white wash by these folks should be taken with a huge dose of skepticism.
Note to Readers: Jill has included a well-written article co-authored by Dan Rather on folks who voted no on a bill addressing an issue they want to see addressed because they were told to vote no. It poses three questions I would like to hear the answer to:
An excellent summation about the efforts being mounted to cover up the truth, to revise the facts of our past (and present), and to ensure that we continue making the same mistakes (racism, misogyny, etc.) that have been, in part, the things that shaped what the nation is today. Thanks for the mention, my friend. I would like to reblog this post this afternoon, for it speaks to an issue that we all need to be aware of and keep in mind.
Many thanks Jill. I loved your post on the Dan Rather article. I asked the local opinion editors in my newspaper to run his piece. Thanks for your consideration of reblogging this post. I left a message with Senator Rick Scott yesterday and Senator Mitch McConnell just now. People are going to get hurt with this sophomoric rhetoric targeting the FBI and IRS. Keith
Thanks, Keith! When I read the Dan Rather piece, I knew I had to share it! I wonder if the editors of your paper will run it? I was happy to reblog your post … as always, you are spot on. I don’t think I could leave a message for Rick Scott without calling him a name, for he annoys me just about every time he opens his mouth. I wonder if he has his eyes on the Oval Office at some point in the future? I saw that Mitch admitted it’s likely the Democrats will hold and maybe even increase their majority in the Senate … and I was really surprised that he would admit that! I saw today where some talk show dude said just in a matter-of-fact voice that Merrick Garland really ought to be executed. Why, if you or I said something like that in a public venue, we’d be in jail within the hour! This call for violence has gone way too far!
Keith, you remind us that “they are entertainers who have opinion shows.” The problem is that most of your readers don’t need this reminder. It’s those folk who take their word as “gospel” that need to have this pointed out. Although it probably won’t do any good at this point. Unfortunately, the die has been cast.
Nan, I am fortunate to have astute readers like yourself. If between us we can reach a few more folks to convince them that, at least they should verify things that seem odd, I think we will have done a good service. I learn much from others’ comments and blogs, especially when I can garner how to frame a topic differently where it might sink in to more than a few. Thanks for stopping by. Keith
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
I have opined more than once about the whitewashing of this nation’s history, the attempts to say that slavery was merely giving shelter to immigrants, that racism isn’t a part of our past, and more recently that January 6th was just another tourist day. But our friend Keith summarizes these attempts better than I can and warns of the dangers ahead if we continue to hide our history. Thank you, Keith, for this very timely post!
Thanks Jill. Your reblogs are greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Keith
Always my pleasure, dear friend!
People believe what they want to believe, whether it is true or not. Today’s Republican’s want to believe Trump is God. He can tell any lie he wants and his MAGAts will believe him. Yes, it is a dangerous ploy, but he knows most of the gun owners/shooters are Republicans. He will use them to regain power if he can. If they kill all the Democrats in America he will not mind. Democrats stand in his way to becoming royalty. He wants to be king.
What time zone are you in, Keith? It says I posted this comment at 7:26 PM. It’s only 1:30 now, MDT. That puts you in the ocean west of England. Aside from Antarctica, I know of no land mass in this time zone???
Oops. On further inspection the timezone i seem to be commenting to includes Iceland, the eastern tip of Greenland, and the western tip of Africa. I doubt you are in any of those. Has Word Press moved?
I must be on Greenwich time. I must have set something up wrong a long time ago and just left it alone. I guess I am a British wanna-be. Keith
PS – Here in the states, my youngest son had a friend whose parents were born in Great Britain. Each year, they had a Greenwich time New Year’s Eve celebration geared around a 7 pm EST countdown. So, we picked up my son around 9 pm once the festivities wound down. Now that is my kind of New Year’s.
Lol. Britain is not much better than the US right now. But then, nowhere is perfect. But if we continue to strive, to look directly at the problems we have, maybe we can all move forward. The key is honesty, first with oneself, and then with others.
Rawgod, there is no doubt that he wants to be king. As for those who think he is God, I know a few are out there, but they have done a huge disservice to their religion to make him their paragon. To me, it is saying if a sexual assaulting, untruthful, bullying, fraudulent and seditious acting person is the model, then my answer is I think I will go to a different church. Keith
Note to Readers: An interesting example in history is the white washing can start with a better press corps than others might have. At Waterloo, British Commander Arthur Wellesly, the First Duke of Wellington, got the press out first the British had a major hand in the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. Yet, “the victory depended as much if not more on the soldiers of the Prussians, Hanoverians, Saxons, Dutch and Belgians.” By giving the British armies more credit was a little self-serving because it gave more credit to Wellesly than maybe was due. Regardless of credit, the victory did become a huge part of British pride, which is why no one wanted to correct the story. They were there, they did fight and Napoleon did lose.
Keith – good try buddy. I couldn’t agree more that we should not whitewash history. However, it seems to me though this is a not-so-veiled criticism of President Trump and Republicans.
First, I know of no conservative public figures who have tried to whitewash January 6. Many were arrested and have served prison sentences for their roles. We do not excuse these folks who committed crimes that day. Many Republicans criticized J6 immediately. Many conservative media outlets criticized it as well. VP Harris on the other hand sought to bail out those arrested during the riots of 2020. https://nypost.com/2021/09/08/bail-fund-backed-by-kamala-harris-freed-man-charged-with-murder/
The problem with the J6 committee is that it is not about uncovering facts.
The J6 committee was originally slated to have five Republicans and eight Democrats, a one vote advantage not being enough to ensure the “right” outcomes. All five Republicans nominated by Minority Leader McCarthy were rejected by Speaker Pelosi. Tell me again about how much she believes in fair elections, fair processes, justice, and all the rest. Pelosi added two Republicans, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, but only because they were two of the ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January 2021. I suppose she couldn’t cajole the other eight into joining the committee. The final makeup was seven Dems and two Republicans. That’s how we get to the truth about January 6?
The only thing I object to with the J6 conclusions is characterizing it as an “insurrection”. An insurrection with no firearms, no institutional support, and nobody killed by the insurrectionists was a piss poor insurrection.
The 2020 election itself was decided by 40,000 votes in three states. Stacy Abrams lost the state of Georgia by 50,000 votes and every Democrat of note has declared her the true governor of Georgia for four years. Ballot harvesting, restrictions of observers during voting, changing of rules prior to the election (including an unconstitutional change in Pa), loosening of ballot signature restrictions, failure to purge voter rolls, allowing voters with new addresses to vote using their old address, unequal application of rules within different regions of states, drop boxes strategically placed in certain areas, stopping the voting in Atlanta (and then resuming when observers were sent home) were all problematic. A very small percentage of votes could have shifted the balance in three states. Trump has some legitimate beefs.
Mark Zuckerburg’s supposed non-profit infused much money into several states, mainly swing states. Ostensibly, money went to both parties, but disproportionately Zuckerburg supported Democratic voting areas. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, unprecedented amounts to influence the election. Zuckerburg’s representatives were allowed unprecedented access to actually controlling the vote in Wisconsin. I challenge you to read Molly Hemmingway’s Rigged; she discusses these problems in detail.
Watch also “The Plot Against the President” outlining the problems in the 2016 election. I challenge you to get a more complete view of both sides of the argument.
I think whitewashing of the Democrat party’s history and slavery and racism is a good topic to explore. You mention Wilson, a Democrat and one of the progenitors of the progressive movement in the US. He was one of our worst presidents. The KKK, lynching, Jim Crowe, and exclusion of blacks was done by Southern Democrats for nearly 100 years. The Civil Rights legislation of the 1960’s was supported by a larger percentage of Republicans than Democrats. The only Congressional leader in history who was in KKK leadership was Senator Byrd who was the Democrat majority leader in the 1970s and a mentor to Hillary Clinton (her words). He was eulogized by a who’s who of Democrat leadership. Is Byrd’s past one of the hate-filled group’s coverup? Hillary Clinton also speaks highly of the inspiration provided by Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood), another racist. Her husband and former president, Bill Clinton, credited Orval Fabus as an inspiration and mentor; Fabus was the Arkansas governor who prevented the Little Rock nine from attending high school which led to a showdown with President Eisenhower and the national guard. We don’t hear much about this history because it is embarrassing for today’s Democrat party.
I also can’t think of a bigger whitewashing of history than the NY Times 1619 project, as an ahistorical account of history that has ever been so feted. The history of Al Sharpton, MSNBC commentator, with regard to Tawanna Brawley and riots at Freddie’s Fashion Mart, has been whitewashed as much as anyone’s. Why he is still allowed on TV after all he has done is a complete mystery to me.
I am not sure who is trying to whitewash the holocaust unless perhaps you are referring to the comments of Whoopi Goldberg on the view: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60209527. Still, I agree with you that we should never forget and never allow anyone to diminish what happened during this awful event. Never again.
I am not a fan of Sean Hannity, but why mention only him and Carlson and exclude Maddow, Lemon, Oberman, Colbert, KImmel, and all the other progressive hosts who also are entertainers?
I have worked thirty years for one of those three letter organizations you discuss in the intro. The criticism of the IRS is never-ending and has nothing to do with Trump. The IRS has always been hated and always will be. The IRS workforce is being more than doubled. That’s quite an increase; a discussion of rapid growth seems reasonable. The FBI has politicized by its leadership. This is a problem, and should not be tolerated by either side. Peter Strozk, Andrew McCabe, and others were fired from the FBI but are now trotted out by progressive media to comment on the latest doings. This is a problem as well. We need these organizations to be insulated from politics, not used by the current administration to further political goals. That’s a topic worthy of debate, not one to be shoved under the carpet.
Thanks for comment. I find a lot to disagree with, so I will leave it for public viewing. Quite a few Republicans have tried to white wash the January 6 insurrection beginning with the former president. As for McCarthy’s recommendations for the committee, at least two were persons of interest, so they should have never been offered up.
As for Wilson, it was very disappointing to learn he hosted a showing a “Birth of a Nation.” And, to learn through John Meacham’s “Soul of America,” about the prevalence of the KKK in the halls of Congress is very disturbing.
If this appears as a veiled criticism of Trump, he truly has earned that right with his untruthful bent and backing away from things he did blaming others. We are a more divided country because of his unwillingness to accept defeat and we would not have had an insurrection without him being president. Unfortunately, people have gone to jail for believing his Big Lie. Full stop.
We need both McCarthy and Mitch McConnell to step up and be the leaders the GOP and our country need them to be. We need a viable Conservative party, but right now it is adrift, untethered to the truth (conservative pundit Michael Gerson said it is in “decay). A party cannot vilify its truth tellers and aggrandize its liars and have veracity. Folks like Larry Hogan, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are exhibiting political courage, but we need more like them.
Of course, no one likes the IRS. But, they were cut back during the last presidency and need more staffing. A viable IRS is necessary. We must always monitor the effectiveness of all government agencies to guard against bureaucracy.
Thanks for your comment, although brevity would be more appreciated. Keith