David Arbeitman: Columnist provides sanitized version of history – GazetteNET

Published: 7/24/2020 4:47:58 PM

Jay Fleitmans Securing liberty for all (July 7) is plagued by bias and important omissions. If we are to distill his message to its essence, the gist of his column seems to be be proud of our country and look on the bright side.

This strikes me as particularly tone-deaf during our pandemic, economic recession, police violence and systemic racism, and climate emergency. Yes, there is a nod to the decimation of the indigenous native population and slavery, which he refers to as great blots in American history but no recognition that social injustice and racism is not just a relic of the past, but institutionalized into the fabric of our current society.

In reviewing our tumultuous past, he highlights anarchist bombings, labor unrest and communist subversion as notable threats to our democracy, but neglects to mention that the McCarthy era was a much greater threat to our democracy than any communist subversion.

For a person who claims to be a defender of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights including the First Amendment he does not explicitly reject Trump repeatedly attacking a free press and labeling the news media as the enemy of the people.

As a student of history, is he not aware that Hitler and Stalin used the same terms to muzzle dissenting opinions and criminalize criticism of their regimes? While he presumably celebrates the right to peaceably assemble, he portrays protesters as rioters and looters, even though the vast majority were peaceful when exercising their First Amendment rights.

I, for one, am quite relieved that Fleitman is not teaching U.S. history to our students in our public schools as he would present a sanitized version of our history. I believe that the greatest threat to our democracy and our national security is President Trump. In accepting and encouraging help form foreign powers to help him steal the election, Trump showed and continues to show disdain for our Constitution and our electoral process.

Those who do not stand up to would-be dictators who threaten our democracy are complicit in undermining democratic values and the rule of law and will be judged harshly by history.

David Arbeitman

Florence

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David Arbeitman: Columnist provides sanitized version of history - GazetteNET