Abuse of History

The VDH piece is on politico's abuse of history. That ugly twisting and warping of history to make it fit their bent agenda. Example:

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) intoned of the USA Patriot Act he voted for, "We are a nation of laws and liberties, not of a knock in the night." Though, so far, that mild statute pales before exigencies of past liberal wartime presidents who really did jail innocents, night and day, without warning or sometimes even justification.

He ends with the whys of the situation.

In our confusion during this war, why do we often ignore history or twist its details to fit our own particular needs?

First, in our schools, formal study of the past has given way to the more ideological agenda of the social sciences. Mastery of historical facts is seen as passe, while the less educated instead "do theory" to prove preconceived notions.

Second, good intentions don't always equal good history. Being politically correct often makes us plain wrong, relegating history to melodrama and negating history's power to put tragedy into context.

Third, we're in thrall to the present affluent age, convinced that our own depressing experiences are unique, naturally dwarfing all prior calamities.

But history is not a parlor game used to prove a political point. Instead, at its best, history should offer us solace that we are never really alone.

I'll add one thing that he doesn't throw in. Politicos are famous for not letting the facts get in the way of their arguments. And the press never holds them accountable for their distortions. For that matter, rarely does anyone point out the abuses and in my opinion that allows for the popularization of distorted history. Once a politico says it, and it's printed in the press, it must be true.