Guest Essay. The folly of underestimating your rivals. Denton Record Chronicle. 12-12-19

 I just finished reading a book by Doris Kearns Goodwin called Team of Rivals. I don’t normally recommend books, unless asked, but this one is special so I’m making an exception. For those that think our country has changed a lot during the last 160 years, think again. Sure, a lot of things are different, but the people remain the same. And by people I mean everybody. We act the same, fight the same, call each other names and carry on no different than before. Whether folks are in the Cabinet or making cabinets, in the Senate or the House, here, there, anywhere and everywhere, it doesn’t matter. People are people and we haven’t changed that much ‒ with a few exceptions. For example, duels are no longer fashionable, and sometimes I think that’s good, but most times I think it a real shame. All I have to do is watch the news two seconds and I get the urge to go find a glove, slap that idiot with it and walk twenty paces to see who’s right. Anyway, my thinking is that if you teach Abe Lincoln how to use Twitter, he’d be all over it ‒ and he was nothing but a rail splitter, or a country lawyer, or a fourth rate lecturer who couldn’t speak good grammar, take your pick.

 My article this week speaks to the similarities between then and now, especially when it comes to your rivals.

I’m not going to review the book Team of Rivals here, there are lots of places to see about that, including the New York Times. However, if you want to understand American history, starting with the lead-up to the civil war, the war itself, as seen from the White House, the aftermath, reconstruction, and how we got where we are today, this is a must read.

PS. If you thought the war about slavery, you might be surprised . . .

Link to the pages of the Denton Record Chronicle: https://bit.ly/36wjYt2