It seems that I need help, historically speaking, in this case. Leaving aside discouragement or joy at the recent election, I am confused.
My congressman, Dep. Joe Wilson, eagerly and energetically plunged into the clown car that was the Texas process suggesting that four states that were lost by the Republican Party invalidate their elections, certified by officials from both parties in their state, to be overthrown.
Now this is where my history lesson gets confused. Wilson, a legally and justly elected representative of the great state of Palmetto – the same place where the initial shots of the 1861 Civil War were fired – cheerfully chose others to suggest that those states were not entitled to the legal results of their elections.
Although there are different descriptions of the basis of this war, many people will say that it was the state’s right, that it was the right of the state of South Carolina to continue the practice of enslaving its fellow men, women, and children. There were some minor geopolitical issues, the route for expanding the big train, etc., but basically that was the right that was being disputed. The cotton business was dead without it.
Wilson felt that his support for a Texas lawsuit was a good idea.
In 1861, the oppressive federal government must be the subject of a rebellion that resulted in South Carolina sacrificing the third majority of men and boys (17,000+) for the carnage. Does Wison now feel like he is a state, and not the federal government, have the right to cancel the election of another state?
This is to protect your party, not your state. I don’t blame our current president for Wilson’s stupid decision, I blame Wilson. I would reuse Joseph Welch’s words: “Sir, don’t you have decency?”
Wilson was duly elected and I recognize him as such, but I would love to hear your opinion on that.
I recognize that these two events are separated by decades, in fact more than a century, but some things are timeless, such as truth, character and an appreciation of the sacrifices made by others, sometimes despite the cause. I now humbly submit to be educated by some of your most enlightened readers. Please help me understand this error on behalf of Wilson and some of his fellow congressmen.
Harry Lowe
New Ellenton