(Note: I wrote this before the election. I decided to offer it anyway. It may have more relevance in the future. It may also show that I was wrong.)
OLIVER Cromwell was an interesting guy. He was an English military and political leader of the 17th Century who fought in at least three civil wars. He took a different approach to warfare and won most of his battles. Essentially he was against the monarchy; he forced the execution of King Charles I. He favored Parliament, as a quasi representative body of the will of the people. That is, he did until he found it disagreeable in that the body did not do exactly what he wanted. So he ended Parliament, took over the former kingdom and ruled as a tyrant.
It seems that his coup was not popular. Some fellow leader said something like, “Only one man in ten will follow you in this action.” Oliver dismissed the objection. He replied, “If I give that one man a sword it will not matter.” Oliver did not need to add that these swordsmen were paid by the government.
Oliver, although a thoroughly bad man, understood the nature of power. He understood that simply having a general majority might not be enough. However, the right kind of men (e.g. armed and obedient), in the right place, even if a minority, could be. I raise this because I believe that the current president may have imitated Oliver.
In the beginning of his presidency he appointed a large number of “czars.” I think that the number was 16. He expanded the federal government. This means that he increased the number of federal employees. Although some of Washington DC is nice, a good deal of it is not, and is not safe. So these new employees, who moved in order to work in government offices, did not seek homes in the capital. Instead they moved to neighboring states.
One of those states was the formerly Republican Virginia. These new residents, dependent upon the federal government for their livelihood, were unlikely to favor big government. This means that they would become, if not already, Democrats. And thus this previously generally Republican state would now be more likely to vote Democratic. That is, in presidential elections its electoral votes have a tendency to move from one column to the other, thus having a double negative effect. These are similar to the Cromwell supporters.
This is also is similar to what happened to the Roman Empire. Germanic tribes, e.g. Goths, moved into the empire. At first, after some variation, they were welcomed as laborers and soldiers. Then, realizing that they were more powerful than the Romans, they sacked Rome. Later another Goth tribe conquered all of Italy. The Goths did not number ten percent of the general population. However they were armed, united and dedicated.
The recent movement, unfortunately, seems to be repeating history. One consolation is that America deserves what the future will inflict on it.
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