Dissention Quotes
In the vernacular of the times, "printing" meant newspaper and pamphlet publishing.
Friedman was commenting in particular about Egypt and other Arab societies.
Martin wanted William Howard Taft to answer questions about his religious beliefs. Taft was TR’s selection to be his successor. Ironically, a starting with John F. Kennedy, many presidential candidates have been asked about their religious belief’s and have answered whereas Roosevelt would have them not reply to such inquiries.
He was contrasting this with the Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, where by 5 to 4, the Supreme Court made George W. Bush President. Bryer wrote a dissent and the majority of Americans wanted Gore. Yet, the people of America accepted the unpopular decision with which the majority disagreed. The alternative is settling such disputes in the streets with violence. So Bryer strongly advocates the upholding of Supreme Court decisions, even if unpopular and even if wrong as he felt Bush v. Gore was.
The President was referring to the lasting divisions in the country over the Vietnam war. “Sundered” means separated into parts.
In addition to the Attorney General, Washington’s cabinet consisted only of Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury. Both were brilliant, passionate men dedicated to the new nation. However, they held opposite points of view on many major fundamental issues of political approach to the new nation. Washington greatly valued their advice and they each were magnificent administrators of their departments. However, they each distrusted each other intensely and believed that the other was advocating policies and practices that would destroy the new nation. Their squabbling was often public and Washington could never understand why they could not be civil about their disagreements. Ironically, Hamilton turned out to have been right about the assumption of state debt and the importance of business, finance and manufacturing. Jefferson whose vision had all Americans being farmers was wrong on this but was right on the limits of the executive and the rights of the individual vis a vis the government. Jefferson’s views turned out to be the ones most Americans wanted and his Democratic Republican party not only beat the Federalists but ended the Federalist Party. Hamilton died in a duel, Modern America is an amalgam of both of their views with modernity tending more and more towards Hamilton.
This historical quote is important because it shows that there was great dissention about the celebrating of Christmas even among different Christian sects. Traditionally, the celebration of Christmas in a government building or school would have offended half the Christian population. In early America, Christmas celebration was legally prohibited in some states and required in others. This was one of the reasons that the Founding Fathers wrote the First Amendment into the Constitution. In modern times, some critics accuse the requirements that Christmas celebration in public facilities as being anti-Christian. But the problem has been with America since before the Constitution.
He delivered this speech towards the end of the 1st year of President Donals Trump's Administration. Althought he never mentioned Trump by name, this speech was a rare major criticism of a sitting president by a former president. This was also one of the few speeches Bush gave after leaving office. On the same day, former President Barak Obama also gave a major speech and also castigated President Trump although neither of the ex-presidents knew that the other was about to deliver their criticism of Trump. It was one of the very unusal occurances in American history.
