by Stephanie Janiczek
Clash Daily Guest Contributor
I have noticed a very telling trend among our leftist foes recently. The ignorance of history they have is troubling. Simply put, they honestly believe in happenings that never occurred, put words into the mouths of historical figures that never were uttered and believe that certain movements were other than what they were. None of this is shocking when one considers the decades of historical deconstruction by leftist professors and scholars like Howard Zinn.
History is the story of the human race. The old cliché was that it was always written by the victors and for millennia that was true, however since advances in archeology and historical scholarship, facts emerge and become part of the tapestry making a complete accounting. If one thinks about that, it is pretty amazing. The problems we face in historical education and scholarship now is that many of the people in the discipline are motivated not by curiosity or a love and reverence for the past but ideology and that ideology is the ideology of the left.
When I was studying the history of Nazi Germany, we did a lot of reading and researching on Nazi education. The Nazis were amazing at weeding out inconvenient facts in history in order to present a historical account that supported Nazi ideology. What is strange now, after discussing events with nephews, nieces and seeing the mind boggling nonsense uttered by leftists in the media about historical events, the same thing is happening here in the USA.
The facts about why the National Rifle Association came into existence are unknown and when these repeaters of leftist, propagandized history hear the facts, they condescend and belittle the person proving their belief is wrong. The myopic view of the world these people have and their disbelief that a professor lied to them or their venerated text books were wrong on purpose is a sad testament to how deep seeded leftist propaganda has sunk into our schools, universities and lives.
Another bit of history that is unknown or mocked by the left: The Republican Party’s stellar performance in the Civil Rights arena. It was the GOP that championed abolishing slavery, the first civil rights bills, and the first African Americans in congress were Republicans. Ask Toure’ on MSNBC or Juan Williams to comment on those iron facts and you will be greeted with jeers and outright hatred. The GOP also shepherded in the Civil Rights bills in the 60’s.
Question: Does anyone think the great racist himself, Lyndon Johnson wanted African Americans to have equal rights? Do a Google search on his comments upon the advent of the Welfare state, aka The Great Society. Democrats followed the GOP and then promptly made sure blacks went from a chance at a level playing field by being considered equals in every place in our culture to being considered children and in need of handouts. Does anyone think Johnson had poor African American’s best interests at heart? Like I said, go back and Google his comments about that moment in history. Welfare and the lies surrounding the Civil Rights era and about who supported blacks and who did not is one of the greatest hoaxes ever played on the American people because the American people are not given the facts.
History isn’t a subject that should be used like a club to hammer an ideology home. The disrespect shown to the men and women who fought so bravely to create this country, our faith and civilization itself is truly amazing. History itself is looked down on as an unneeded subject because, to quote a kid I know, “Why is that relevant now”? My other favorite excuse is, Well, that happened so long ago.”
I could have said that about the rise of Hitler but I had parents that grew up living that history and my father and uncles fought in the war Hitler started. And the thing about that war? That war would never have happened had the war previously been ended and treated with a little more compassion and pragmatism on part of the victors. What the rise of a tyrant like Hitler taught me was that there has to be a context for him to jump off the street corner and become leader. The context was the previous 15 years of history and even the history before WWI. That is how History works, everything is connected.
What bothers me so much about a leftist who doesn’t get the references to a Nazi propaganda rag, or a reference to a Napoleonic quote, or battle is this: Ignorance is not only our most expensive commodity as Rush Limbaugh says, it is also really a horrible sin against generations that have come before us and ourselves. And leftist ignorance of facts when history is being discussed is really disturbing because it suddenly dawns on the conservative in the debate that the leftist is ignorant on purpose.
Here’s an example of why this is really disturbing: If I were to tell a Nazi Storm Trooper that there were Jewish men who had fought in the trenches for Imperial Germany and had received the highest award that Imperial Germany could bestow on a soldier, he’d probably beat me senseless. Why? Because the mythology that the Nazis perpetuated among their followers was that Jews were cowards, who ultimately helped bring about Germany’s loss in World War I, with the aid of corrupt politicians. That’s not merely a myth these people believed to make themselves feel better, it was in the history they taught their kids.
Ignorance on purpose isn’t out of fear, it is out of ideology. If the facts do not suit the ideology, then the facts need to be changed. That is how the left these days teaches history, talks about history and propagates its ideology. They turn facts of events that occurred into lies to fit their narratives, exactly like Baldur von Schirach’s legions of educators did in Germany so long ago.
History really does matter. It matters because it is our story. It is our civilization’s steady footprint through the ages. Rome means more to us than we know because much of what we have comes from what Rome accomplished. Our founders did not just leap out of the night shouting “Republic, Republic, Republic!” Our founders needed a basis and a past because without that historical past from Greece to Rome to Britain there would not have been a founding of America.
I think many leftists realize that fact and do their utmost to squash it with diversity studies, non-western cultural studies and guilt trips designed as educational events. They know the facts matter, and we do, too. The war against radical leftists isn’t just in politics because our culture is also a front. Maybe the most important front.
Look at your grandparents and realize history really does matter.
Stephanie Janiczek is a former Capitol Hill Staff Assistant, Schedule C Appointee and Leadership Institute alum. Military Wife, Hunter, Horse enthusiast, dog owner, writer and feminist kryptonite.
