THE COLUMN: Winter and the Fourth of July

Michael Walsh04 Jul, 2022 7 Min Read
Cemetery Ridge, here we come.

Here in rural New England, at the eastern base of the Taconics and the Berkshires, with New York State just over the hills and Boston a long 150 miles away, we have a saying about the seasons. There are basically two of them: winter and the Fourth of July, which is today. (Some also subdivide them into snow, mud, bugs, and leaf.) Independence Day used to be a day of fireworks, family, flags, and fun, but in Joe Biden's America it might just as well be a time of war and pestilence, of sackcloth and ashes.

These days, the Fourth is the holiday that dare not speak its name, thanks in part to the wholly inimical and widely debunked "1619 project," brought to you by Pravda and edited by the victim brigade of Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman and Jake Silverstein. It's a "reframing" of the American story in mockery of our political origins, in defiance of actual history, and with the expressed purpose of sabotaging (via its introduction into government-school curriculums) our sense of national identity. As historian Tom Macaman, a noted critic of the project, wrote at the link just above:

Silverstein has staked his reputation on the 1619 Project. This has gone badly for him. His name will forever be associated with the secretive manner through which the project invented its false and error-ridden historical interpretation, as well as the orchestration of the cover-up that has followed.

Specifically, Silverstein bears responsibility for the exclusion of leading scholars of American history—who would have objected to the 1619 Project’s central historical claims—and the intentional disregarding of objections made by the project’s own handpicked “fact-checkers.” Silverstein penned the devious reply to leading historians who pointed to the project’s errors. He then organized surreptitious changes to the already published 1619 Project, and, when exposed, claimed that it had all been a matter of word choice.

Silverstein’s 8,250-word essay is just the latest in this long line of underhanded journalism and bogus history.

Run your boats under the guns, not in front of them.

Well, when the World Socialist Web Site is right, it's right. Never mind that slavery in the country known as the United States of America was legal only from 1776 to 1865, a total of 89 years. That's it.

As it happens, the last state to give up slavery was Biden's dead-end, dead-beat Delaware, a slave state that remained in the Union and to which the Emancipation Proclamation did not apply and "Juneteenth" was unknown and irrelevant. The bastard sliver of New Sweden finally abolished slavery, essentially at federal gunpoint, on Dec. 6, 1865, the day the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. Has Biden—who never met a Southern racist Democrat (George Wallace, Robert Byrd) he didn't want to buddy up with—ever acknowledged and apologized for his useless state's rancid history? Fat chance; instead, throughout his hacktastic political career, and in earlier delusions of running for president, he explicitly identified his state with the South during the Civil War as he pandered for support:

The same story went to quote a presidential primary campaign speech Biden had given in Alabama in which he said “we (Delawareans) were on the South’s side in the Civil War.”

Leave it to the Democrats, the party of slavery, segregation, secularism, and sedition, which started the Civil War, to nominate and elect a senile dinosaur from the last human-bondage state in the Union. Their appetite for totalitarianism is boundless, as Biden, railing in his dotage, hurling executive orders and attacking the Supreme Court in seditious terms (overseas, no less), proves every day.

Before 1776 what eventually became the U.S.A. was a collection of British colonies; in 1619, when black Africans aboard a Portuguese slave ship, taken as bounty by English privateers (aka "pirates"), came ashore in the New World, they did so near Hampton in the British colony of Virginia. At that point, there was nothing "American" about it, other than its location. (The Portuguese, by the way, were among history's worst black-African slavers, directing the  bulk of the transatlantic slave trade to their colony, Brazil. Yet somehow slavery is "America's original sin.")

Instead, slavery was a cause for which hundreds of thousands of Americans died. On these first few days in July 1863, in the midst of the Civil War that may have started as a rebellion but turned into a war to free the slaves, Union generals Ulysses S. Grant and George Meade electrified the nation with the news of their twin victories at Vicksburg, the last of the southern citadels on the Mississippi River, and at Gettysburg, a small town in southern Pennsylvania where Robert E. Lee's defective generalship finally caught up to his inflated reputation, and killed the Confederacy's hopes at point-blank range during Pickett's Charge. It was a blunder that made Grant's worst military decision, Cold Harbor, look almost sensible.

This is the same Grant who called the "cause" of the Confederacy "one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse.” In a forgotten bit of history, the capture of Vicksburg also vindicated General Winfield Scott's "Anaconda Plan," which advocated choking the South to death by blockading its ports and seizing its principal waterways. Which is exactly what Grant—who served under "Old Fuss and Feathers" in the Mexican War—did.

Old Fuss and Feathers was right.

From that date, July 4, 1863, the Civil War, which had widely been thought near-lost on the Northern side -- was won. And yet it still took Sherman's capture of Atlanta the following summer to ensure Lincoln's 1864 re-election. Indeed, just 15 months before Vicksburg, Grant had nearly lost the battle, his command, and maybe even the war, at Shiloh. The defeatist Northern newspapers howled for his head and he was briefly demoted by the crown martinet and leading REMF of the U.S. military, Gen. Henry Halleck. Sometimes it's darkest before the dawn.

And sometimes it isn't. On July 4, we're already two days past the halfway point of the calendar; in the northern hemisphere the days are growing shorter, and even as we're enjoying, or used to enjoy, beer (ruined by hipsters and hops) and baseball (fubared) we're aware that winter is coming. We can't say we weren't warned: in 2020, even before he took office, Biden warned of a "dark winter" ahead. Little did we know he meant that all four years of his term would bristle with defeatism, misery, and death, like Delaware but on a grand scale.

Which brings me to our present circumstances. In these darkening days of the Republic, the Left is both triumphant and morose, dreading its fate when and if the scattered forces of MAGA regroup and oust them beginning this fall with the midterm elections. The Right, meanwhile is riven between the die-hard partisans of Donald Trump and those disinclined to risk a repeat of the unnecessary turmoil of 2016-2020 when younger and better candidates are now making their presence known.

Recently, on my Facebook page, many of my readers misinterpreted the lessons of my most recent book, Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost, regarding Trump's continuing refusal to accept his loss in 2020 (however occasioned) and his disastrous behavior on Jan. 6, which led to the continuing incarceration of many supporters for their involvement in the Capitol Hill demonstration/protest/riot. One of the points of that book was that, in every battle cited, the losing side ultimately won. The Greeks lost at Thermopylae but rallied at Salamis and Plataea. The Romans were crushed at Cannae but chased Hannibal to his end at Zama.

Ultimate winners can suffer a tactical or even strategic defeat and continue to fight. Inspired by Achilles, Alexander crushed the Persians and conquered the world, in part to avenge the sack of Athens in 480 B.C. The Roman Republic rebounded from the Second Punic War and turned into the Roman Empire. After the Hungarian defeat at Szigetvar, the Turks were driven from central Europe. Custer died on Last Stand Hill, but Reno and Benteen mounted a brilliant and valiant defense on a hilltop a couple of miles away, and the Sioux lost the Indian Wars. The Soviets ate hot Wehrmacht lead at Stalingrad but held on to the turn the tide of the war and destroy National Socialist Germany.

Know when to change generals. You can still win the war.

At the start of the Civil War, Winfield Scott was 74 years old. He had fought in the War of 1812, overseen the Trail of Tears in 1838, became commanding general of the U.S. Army in 1841, captured Mexico City in 1847, and had been the Whig candidate for president in 1852, losing to the Democrat, Franklin Pierce. At the outbreak of the Civil War he held the title of Lieutenant General, the first man to hold that rank since George Washington. A native Virginian, he stayed loyal to the Union and, as Lincoln took office, was still on duty as the new president's chief military advisor, retiring in 1861 as George McClellan began to supersede him. He died in 1866, at the age of 79.

Never give up—but never hesitate to change generals when you have to. To equate the fate of our Republic with one man's loss—and, worse, to hold it hostage to his pique—is in absurd and dangerous. Scipio was a better general than Varro. Grant was a better general than McLellan. Ron DeSantis, 43, who has yet to put a foot wrong as governor of the free state of Florida, will be a far better general than Trump, who will be 78 years old in 2024. One geriatric president is enough.

Thanks to the Democrats' Jan 6 hearings, and in particular to the unforced and artless testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, Trump has been irremediably damaged. America doesn't need a King Lear, railing about loyalty among a superannuated rum crew (Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani) while a younger, stronger, better man awaits his turn on the national stage. Let us hope, and pray, that the trial balloons regarding an early announcement of a Trump 2024 candidacy, designed to cut the legs out from underneath any challengers, are just so much Fourth of July hot air, to be borne aloft and away before the last hot dog dies.

Fight on, but fight the next war, not the last one. Winter's on its way, and while the graveyards may be full of indispensable men,  we're not ready for the cemetery yet. Have a happy Independence Day, America, and many more—if you can keep it.

Michael Walsh is a journalist, author, and screenwriter. He was for 16 years the music critic and a foreign correspondent for Time Magazine. His works include the novels As Time Goes By, And All the Saints, and the bestselling “Devlin” series of NSA thrillers; as well as the nonfiction bestseller, The Devil’s Pleasure Palace and its sequel, The Fiery Angel. Last Stands, a study of military history from the Greeks to the present, was published by St. Martin's Press in December 2019. He is also the editor of Against the Great Reset: 18 Theses Contra the New World Order, published on Oct. 18, 2022. Follow him on Twitter: @theAmanuensis

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25 comments on “THE COLUMN: Winter and the Fourth of July”

  1. Hollywood idiot Richard Gere said WAR HAS NEVER SOLVED ANYTHING here is news Hollywood Sawdust for Brains Celebrity knownothing War made America and Independent Nation Pay Attention.

  2. Oh, how easy it is for a Never Trumper (NT), such as Mr. Walsh, to slime patriotic Americans who voted for Trump as "die-hard partisans." So simple for an NT to mischaracterize what Trump did on January 6 as wrong when he actually told his supporters to peacefully protest. No surprise that an NT would turn a blind-eye to how the FBI orchestrated the riots and began the persecution of Trump supporters. An NT has no problem pretending the 2020 election was not stolen in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including evidence presented in the documentary "2000 Mules." How convenient for an NT to give credence to the J6 kangaroo court that's attempting to have Trump indicted as an insurrectionist for "saying" the 2020 election was stole in the face of Democrats having declared multiple times that elections they lost were stolen. To the NTs, we patriotic Americans will work to ensure that Trump is re-elected in 2024.

    Please See "We’re fed UP!" at:
    https://www.facebook.com/lora.ross.904/videos/545415163912000/
    See also:

    Meet Ray Epps, Part 2: Damning New Details Emerge Exposing Massive Web Of Unindicted Operators At The Heart Of January 6
    https://www.revolver.news/2021/12/damning-new-details-massive-web-unindicted-operators-january-6/

    2000 Mules documentary by Dinesh D’Souza
    https://watch.salemnow.com/series/xFOCFe59zfCS-2000-mules
    12 Minutes of Democrats Denying Election Results
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2Ejqjz6TA

    1. I've never been a Never Trumper. You could look it up. The problem with telling his supporters to march on the Capitol, "peacefully" or otherwise, was telling them to march on the Capitol, period. The election was OVER at that point, and a decent man would have recognized that fact and gone quietly, while working hard for his party to make sure the Covid-wrought changes in election laws were overturned and other security measures put in place. Meanwhile all of your citations are irrelevant to your larger "stolen election" point. There was no "massive landslide" for Trump; he lost in the same way he had won in 2016, around the edges in the swing states. Furthermore, the Left has long since confessed their plot to "fortify" the election and I have pointed out publicly how they were going to do it in the pages of the Epoch Times, here, and elsewhere for two years. Get out of your bubble and embrace reality -- it will help us win the '22 and '24 elections if you're not still nursing Trump's grudges.

  3. Read your book "Why Men Fight.." and enjoyed it immensely. I would like to see a 2nd volume covering the many other examples in history of men fighting hopeless, Alamo-type battles for the greater good. These men can never be celebrated or remembered enough, I don't think people realize how profoundly they influenced the world we live in today for the better.

  4. Money counts. Lawfare has been destroying Republicans since Nixon. It bankrupts them with process and they retreat. Trump can't be bankrupted. Desantis can be.

  5. If you’ve got a problem with IPAs, the microbrewing revolution has given you countless low hop alternatives. 😉🍺
    Otherwise, great article with very important perspective about how we REALLY got here. Thanks!

  6. Let me add that I like Donald Trump. But I think DeSantis has a better chance of winning, unless some QAnon type idiocy cranks up, and starts selling the "Don't vote = that'll show 'em" stuff they were pushing during that Georgia senate run-off. Perhaps the winning ticket would be Trump-DeSantis. I know I would support it. But at the end of the day, I think DeSantis is the stronger candidate.

  7. Trump did not lose, the election was stolen.Period. End of stor… hell no, Trump will be President in 2024 and will fire the entire bunch of them!

  8. Walsh: from where do you think the crowd of younger candidates is coming? Do you think the GOP's energy is Trump-based or RINO-based? It's all well and good to take shots at Orange Man--he richly deserves them for many reasons--but the fact is that the Dems and RINO-GOP are in league with one another to suppress young America First populist candidates. Look at GA and CO. I don't know what will happen this year--even less in 2024. All I can say for sure is that anti-Trump sedition poisoned America for five years and I understand many wishing to shove the 2020 election 'results' down the throat of both the left and duplicitous, saboteur right.

  9. Trump has been more thoroughly battle tested, has a well documented record as president, and the left is more afraid of him (see eg Jan 6 nonsense). I hope he can be more ruthless this time—unless he has health issues (or otherwise decides not to run, he is 2024 candidate, get used to it.

  10. “This will stop Trump for sure!”
    People have been saying and writing that since July 2015.
    The false testimony of Hutchinson won’t do it either.
    Just like in 2016, there will be multiple candidates running in the GOP primaries. One of them will be Trump.
    The others will have the same opportunity to defeat him that those in 2016 did.
    If Trump loses in the primaries, so be it.
    Good luck to all.

  11. While I am a great admirer of Michael Walsh's writing including these terrific blog posts. I very much disagree with his insistence that President Trump retire from public life and not make another run for office.
    One of the reasons Walsh cites is his belief that Trump lost the 2020 election which I find astonishing, given the all the irrefutable proof that the election was stolen thanks to the mail in ballots, Zucker Bucks and a host of other cheating schemes.
    Furthermore, the fact that Walsh gives any credence whatsoever to the corrupt J6 hearings to back up his assertions about Trump is beyond belief.
    Yes, Ron DeSantis will no doubt be a great President when his time comes. He is young and smart and has a brilliant future ahead of him; but the truth is that we cannot afford to lose the Free State of Florida, not at this time. DeSantis is showing every other Republican governor how it's done and there is no one else that can do that job.
    President Trump is a proven winner and has already won some of his greatest battles while being under brutal assault 24/7/365 for five straight years and counting. He deserves respect for his achievements plus he is the only real leader on the world stage today who can rally the MAGA troops.
    I think that we conservatives must learn a lesson from the Dirty Dems- do not let the perfect get in the way of the good. Stick together, no matter what. Stop attacking our own people.
    This may be the only chance we get to save our Republic.

  12. A thoughtful essay marred at the end by Trump FUD. Gov. Desantis is a fine Governor and a potential candidate for the 2028 campaign. But President Trump has demonstrated the ability to accomplish great things in spite of hatred from the Left, backstabbing from the RINO Right and unconscionable opposition from our Federal bureaucrcy. To dismiss him as the GOP equivalent of Joe Biden is mere grasping at straws. If we fail to reverse the 2020 Steal we will have to live with the consequent massive distrust in our electoral process and the professional politicians who tolerate it. This is another example of conservative cowardice and failure to even try to win. Abandoning The Donald for failure to be the perfect White Knight in favor of another shining possibility - one the Progressive Press is already demonizing simply chains up another Democrat win. And I for one am thoroughly tired of glorious defeat for lack of the persistence to win.

  13. The only ticket that will win is Trump/DeSantis. Trump belongs to nobody other than the American People; DeSantis will belong to the donor class if running against Trump and, therefore, will lose the 10 million independents Trump gained at the end of his term. Yes, I love DeSantis, but he will not be able to freely do what he has done in the great state of Florida. The Deep State got Nixon and Trump in 2020 in nearly identical fashion folks.

    Respectfully

  14. DeSantis is far more effective, because when he clashes with the media, he doesn't call them names, he simply destroys them with facts. His style is not as abrasive as Trump's and there are many conservatives who (wrongly in my opinion) absolutely hate Trump and believe every lie spread about him by the media. DeSantis is also better than Trump as a candidate because he doesn't make every clash on policy about himself, but about the people, Florida, or the United States,
    Let me use one example. In the Georgia Senate run-off, all Trump could talk about was the election and how it was stolen from him. He didn't talk about how important it was for the country to have a Republican majority in the Senate to protect against Biden. And he pushed his own candidate who helped fracture the Republican vote. So the Republicans lost BOTH seats, setting up a tied Senate, with Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker! DeSantis would NEVER have done that.

  15. "Thanks to the Democrats' Jan 6 hearings, and in particular to the unforced and artless testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, Trump has been irremediably damaged."

    NeverTrumpers like you will believe any lie Democrats spout.

  16. The media is going to paint any Republican as Hitler and Desantis is better at shredding that idiot posse than Trump. He's quicker on his feet and far better at articulating policy than Trump. Everyone can appreciate Trump got the ball rolling on dismantling the bureaucratic state but the decade(s) long effort to slash it needs a younger guy or gal at the helm. Trump has every reason to want personal retribution on the operatives that undermined his time in office. That will be far easier to get done if he is not the every day story in the lying media. In my opinion his personal desire for payback does not over ride the ultimate goal of taking back and cutting the Federal Government down to size. I understand the desire but the country is more important than one guy.

  17. You missed a chance to strengthen your case by adding some adjectives to the name of the disgraceful Franklin Pierce.

  18. DeSantis can't win. Doesn't bring the independent vote. Nobody knows who he is beyond the blog crowd. Should he run media will turn him into Hitler within a week.

  19. Mr. Walsh you just made my 4th of July brighter than it's been in an age.
    Thank you and Happy 4th to you and yours.
    0311

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