John Flanagan writes to Thomas DiLorenzo about his article this morning:
“No more cogent example of Misean thymology with Rothbardian amelioration, I dare say, exists.
“With this piece, and Lew’s circulation list, you will have incensed most every American history professor in the land. Not only will they have to re-explain (rationalize) the Lincoln Myth, but they’ll have to acknowledge, although reluctantly, the limits of the ‘science’ which they ‘teach.’
“You wrote: ‘Plains Indians’ and, in my re-read, I read: Desert Arabs. You wrote: ‘assuring the fortunes’, I read: assuring the interests. You wrote: ‘elites,’ I read: neo-cons. You wrote: ‘railroads,’ I read: pipelines. There may not be perfect historical parallels, yet, across time, significant actors, disguising their motives, seem to be common threads
“Perhaps, that last spike driven at Promontory Point was driven not into the ground, but rather into the heart of our apparently ill-considered and inadequately written Constitution? This railroad thing tests less as a tool for communication and much more as a tool for consolidation—of what we now know were some pernicious concepts withering the opportunities for a life of liberty.
“May Professor Jaffa’s first stop this morning be at CVS, for Tums, his second at noon, and last after dinner, for refills!”
11:09 am on October 1, 2003
