Last week my wife and I went to the Hermitage in Tennessee.  That was the home of President Andrew Jackson.  While going through it I realized that there are some similarities between Old Hickory and President Trump.

I am not saying that they agreed on policy.  They were very different men living in very different eras of American history.  The issues that concerned President Jackson were of a different nature that those that concern us today.

But there are some interesting similarities.

They were both condemned by the intellectual class of their day.  Andrew Jackson was the first man to be elected president who had not gone to college.  He literally was a self made man.  He and his followers were considered to be low class by the elites.

They both appealed to the “forgotten man”. 

We have to remember that at the time, US politics were controlled by the elites.  Jackson’s opponent in 1824 and 1828 was none other than John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams.  He was erudite, could speak about six or seven languages.  Intellectually, he was one of the smartest people ever to occupy the White House.  To the elites he was the chosen one.  They could not understand why any intelligent person would vote for a country boob like Jackson.

Sound familiar?

They also had nasty things to say about Jackson’s supporters.  While they did not use the word “deplorable” to describe them they used similar terms.  After all Jackson was supported by the “westerners”, farmers and such.  Many of them had little or no formal education.

What they did not understand was that Jackson had captured their imagination.  He clearly understood their problems in a way that Adams did not.  He also kept as many of his campaign promises as possible.

At the time many of these people felt that the Bank of the United States, the official bank of the country, was corrupt and in league with the wealthy.  That it seemed to forget that there were people who were not politically connected.

Slavery was also a major issue at the time.  While Jackson was a slave owner, he placed the country first, (America First?).  When South Carolina threatened to succeed over the tariff of 1832 he threatened to go to that state and personally hang all white men over the age of 21.  Needless to say that South Carolina backed down. The reason that South Carolina was against the tariff was due to the ill effects on slavery in that state.

He was known to be quick tempered.  He actually fought a number of duels, mostly on the honor of his beloved wife, Rachel.  He actually had a bullet lodged near his heart from one of these.  Due to the state of medicine of the time it was never removed.

 There was the Eaton affair.  It seems that the wives of his cabinet did not like Peggy Eaton, the wife of Jackson’s Secretary of War.  The situation in the cabinet became so bad that Jackson basically fired his entire cabinet in one day.  Peggy’s husband, John, was a close friend and confident of Jackson.

Does all this sound a little familiar?

Trump is said to be low class.  He speaks with a Queens accent.  While not self made, he made his way as a businessman.  Unlike many of his detractors, he did not leave college and go into politics.  He actually ran a business.

Unlike the intellectual elites he understands that average person in the country.  When he speaks about the southern border it resonates with the average person.  

His foreign policy has provided results, something that the intellectuals could not do.  Iran is now begging the US to relent.  They are angry that Trump is holding their feet to the fire.  He is not giving in.

When the leader of North Korea threatened to press his button that would set off a nuclear weapon Trump reminded this that he had a bigger button and that his (Trump’s) works.

Then there was the issue of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.  All the intellectuals freaked out.  This will lead to a major Mideast conflagration!  I seem to have missed this.

One person at the time wanted to know why Trump moved the Israeli capital.  He did not realize that Jerusalem has been the capital of the state of Israel since 1950.  Trump was merely recognizing reality, something the intellectuals could not do.

The summation of this is simple.  While there are numerous differences between them, the reactions the those who consider themselves our betters seem to be the same.

Just some random thoughts on the passing scene.

Why is it that the mainstream media cannot bring itself to admit that there is a problem with extremist Muslems.  Whenever there is a terror incident the last thing that they focus on is that the perpetrator is a Jihadi.  They come up with all sorts of excuses but never admit to the fact that there are people who want to kill us for being us.

On that note, with the Black Lives Matter movement, it seems that almost every time a police killing of a black man is investigated that it turns out that the police had a good reason to suspect the “victim”.  This is not to say that the police are justified in every case, but that in the majority of cases they are.

Just a thought.  A successful business creates more jobs than any government program.

Have you noticed that when non Jews are murdered by terrorists it makes headlines.  When Jews are murdered it is old news.  I wonder why?

How many crimes have been prevented by the use of gun violence, or the threat of gun violence?

Just some random thoughts

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“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.” Benjamin Franklin.

I have always like this quote. It shows that a pure democracy is not always the best way to protect the rights of all the people.

Last week we were treated to another example of this when the senate voted to do away with the filibuster.

The filibuster was the creation of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Hardly men who would oppose democratic rule. They devised it so that congress cannot run roughshod over a sizable minority.

They realized that without this protection minority views will be trampled on. Just to remember that the Oslo accords were approved by a bare majority in the Knesset, (the Israeli parliment), and when asked about this Shimon Peres famously said that a majority is a majority. We have seen how that has played out.

I understand the president’s frustration in that he cannot pack the courts with political flunkies. Yes, that is problematic for him from a partisan point of view. Just as it would be for all presidents, regardless of party.

When there was talk of Republicans doing the same, the Republican leadership denounced the idea on the grounds that they will not always be in the majority. I wonder if Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer have thought about that? I don’t think they have.

In fact, I don’t think they thought at all except about the political expedience of the moment.

And that could be dangerous for liberals and conservatives alike.

A number of years ago I was watching the news with a Liberal family member.

I’ve been away for a short while and life got in the way of writing.