Mightier Acorns

Are we noticing the history we are living?

The way we were taught history in school did not prepare me for this moment.

We studied the usual significant milestones in (mostly) American history, learning the dates of events and some of the connective tissue of cause and effect. However, few of my classmates retained any of that information, and fewer still learned how to think critically about what we were being taught.

And it shows.

I shared this article in a Note already, but it is super important:

Civil War Memory

The Damage to our Shared History Has Been Done and It Will Take Years to Repair

We are witnessing a wholesale erasure of history across federal agencies and programs that have worked tirelessly over the years to interpret our shared past in an inclusive and balanced manner. Whether we are talking about the National Park Service, the…

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3 months ago · 35 likes · 13 comments · Kevin M. Levin

I am a federal employee, and there are a million or more of us waiting to learn each week whether we will still be employed next week. There is no rhyme or reason for the “cuts” going on, as the lies about fraud keep mounting up. If there was a real effort to curb fraud underway, that would be one thing—but this is not about taking account or finding facts.

None of what is happening right now is right—little of it is legal. And Congress could stop it if the Senate Republicans would support Rep. Al Green (D-TX) or Rep. Raskin (D-MD) on articles of impeachment.

Jamie Raskin, Democrat and representative for Maryland’s 8th congressional district, has also spoken about a possible impeachment of Donald Trump. On Tuesday (Feb. 4), Raskin was asked whether he would consider impeaching the newly-elected president over “illegal executive overreach,” to which Raskins replied, “Find me two Republicans, and I’ll go to work tomorrow.”

Vibe.com, “Donald Trump Faces First Articles Of Impeachment In Second Term

That is unlikely to happen, but it should be clear by now that the Executive Orders and contradictory actions of the DOGE (which may or may not exist, legally) are infringing on Congress’s powers. Any principled conservative would not stand for that.

Meanwhile, I will continue to try to conduct my family history research and understand the historic moments that my ancestors faced. It can’t have been easy for them to decide how to act when the Continental Army was assembled. I know what kinds of strife existed between family members, church members, and civic leaders in the lead-up to the Civil War.

Those personal conflicts that existed underneath the larger historical moments feel more real to me than before.

I hope my descendants have the ability to research this moment, and I hope they never have to feel this way about it.