Why THIS Story NOW?

This week, I have been thinking about how issues which have been in the background for a considerable amount of time suddenly become part of "The Narrative".

First up today, Ken Burns' new series on The American Revolution.

Timing: just before Christmas.

Questions:

Why does this series seem different from, say, his Civil War epic?

It's not long now until the 250th anniversary of the country. Has anything else about the Founding of the Country made the news lately? Why is Ken Burns introducing the subject?

Burns’ latest PBS six-episode documentary, The American Revolution, explores the founding of the United States and the subsequent war with the British Empire. It could have been an excellent start to the upcoming celebration of America’s 250th anniversary of the founding, but sadly, it steers away from celebration and emphasizes both explicit and implicit criticism of the Founders.

Within the first five minutes of the first episode, we are told that the Founders (specifically Benjamin Franklin) used the Iroquois “flourishing democracy” as a blueprint for the United States Constitution. The evidence, however, is sparse, if non-existent, in the documentary.

Franklin frequently commented on the lives of Native Americans, but we have to be careful how we evaluate Franklin’s words on the subject. He was famously satirical, whether he spoke about the British, Americans, or Indians. In a letter to James Parker, dated 20 March 1751, Franklin writes,

It would be a very strange Thing, if six Nations of ignorant Savages should be capable of forming a Scheme for such an Union, and be able to execute it in such a Manner, as that it has subsisted Ages, and appears indissoluble; and yet that a like Union should be impracticable for ten or a Dozen English Colonies, to whom it is more necessary, and must be more advantageous; and who cannot be supposed to want an equal Understanding of their Interests.
Much later, in 1784’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America,” Franklin speaks highly of the “Civility” of Indians in comparison to the Americans. However, he ends up satirically and equally alluding to a hypocrisy of both groups, as well as the human need to praise the group that he or she is part of.

But Burns doesn’t seem to be interested in nuance and leaves out certain complexities of political and philosophical thought. The entire series is devised around an oppressor-oppressed dialectic.

Concerning Benjamin Franklin and satire, I just read somewhere that the Founders didn't allow Franklin to write the Declaration of Independence because they thought he might include a joke in it somewhere.

Concerning Ken Burns, we do not need another oppressor-oppressed dialectic at this time.

After watching the entire series, Burns’ objective is to claim that principles played no role in the founding of the United States. Rather, it was based on low self-interest. But this creates a contradiction for Burns and his co-directors. One does not speak of liberty and yearning for it unless one has experienced tyranny. Tyranny creates destructive conditions for an individual, be it existentially, economically, or politically. As historian Bernard Bailyn says in the documentary, the creation of the United States is about the “struggles between the possibilities of power and liberty.” It still is. It would have behooved the filmmakers to include a few philosophical points about what the American mind truly is. And why the Americans have loved liberty and limited power.

Got any better ideas for recognizing the American Revolution as an important anniversary approaches?

Compare to the principles made clear in Sullivan Ballou's letter from the Ken Burns Civil War epic. There are versions of the letter floating around in which the part of Sullivan Ballou's letter to his wife concerning the future growth of their sons into "honorable manhood" has been removed. Could not upset The Left with a reference to "Manhood" once "gender" became an issue.

Watch on YouTube

Minnesota and Somalia

When did this become a national issue?

Was it when the NYT finally acknowledged that there were problems under the watch of Tim Walz? Was their piece a personal message to Tim Walz?

Was the NYT piece a response to the piece by Ryan Thorpe and Chris Rufo revealing that terrorists in Somalia were profiting from public program fraud in Minnesota?

If you have been tracking these issues over at Powerline, you know that they have been urging people to give credit to responsible prosecutors (for seven years!), to local reporters and to government whistleblowers who have not gotten much national attention. WHY?

Additionally, a little before the Thorpe/Rufo piece hit, a 7,000 word story was written by Armin Rosen in County Highway.

Thank you to the Wall Street Journal for graciously mentioning and quoting from Armin Rosen’s “superb” 7000 word report on the Minneapolis Somali welfare scams — and crediting local journalists.https://t.co/TzDBu4kZSA

Here is a link to Armin’s story:https://t.co/YgTgC2fzHv

— County Highway (@countyhwy) December 4, 2025

So, when and why did this really become a national issue?

Rosen's X feed has been kind of interesting, whether you agree with it or not.

And here's the other thing, the third rail of this whole topic isn't immigration or Islamophobia or whatever—it's the, uh, frequency with which major politicians drift in and out of the margins of these schemes. It's not smart to go after an Ellison or an Ilhan or a Tim Walz…

— Armin Rosen (@ArminRosen) December 2, 2025

WEEKEND

The Week In Pictures: Minnesota Meltdown Edition

The FBI apprehended the J6 pipe bomber, something the Biden FBI had somehow been unable to do. Weirdly, he turned out to be a left-wing extremist. The The FBI apprehended the J6 pipe bomber, something the Biden FBI had somehow been unable to do. Weirdly, he turned out to be a left-wing extremist. The Democrats chose their latest cause: standing up for Venezuela’s narco-terrorist regime. They advanced a novel “legal” theory, that it is perfectly OK to kill drug dealers in the Caribbean by blowing up their boat, but only if you do it in a single explosion. Makes perfect sense, just like how we fought World War II.

But the biggest story of the week was corruption in Minnesota–billions stolen from taxpayers, mostly by Somalis, under the somnolent eye of Governor Tim Walz. Actually, that was the big story of 2022, but better late than never. We welcome the national press to the fray, and have participated enthusiastically in their reprise of the stories we have been writing for years.

Music

Winter, original version

Meahwhile, in Poland, the Energy Chamber orchestra

Allegero non molto, First Movement

If you don't think it's different from the original, check at 2:09.

Largo, Second Movement

Allegro, Third Movement

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Last week's thread, November 29, Reaching a State of Readiness After Thanksgiving

Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 11:20 AM

| Access Comments