Quote of the Day (Theodore H. White, on Voting as ‘The Only Substitute for Violence’)

“The general vote is an expression of national will, the only substitute for violence and blood. Its verdict is to be defended as one defends civilization itself.” —Theodore H. White, The Making of the President: 1960 (1961)

For years, that statement sounded like Civics 101: so simple, so pious. Now, it rings with unexpected eloquence. 

This election, one Presidential candidate, to his eternal shame, has forgotten that lesson because he can’t stand being labeled a loser. With his campaign devalued, he now wants to debase the democracy process itself. For that crowning reason, he needs to be defeated soundly.

Quote of the Day (Theodore H. White, on the Past GOP and Liberalism)

“Now that the Democrats have captured the liberal imagination of the nation, it is forgotten how much of the architecture of America’s liberal society was drafted by the Republicans.” — Theodore H. White, The Making of the President: 1960 (1961)

Watch or read about this week’s GOP convention and think how far removed it is from “the architecture of America’s liberal society”—then go weep for the loss of the once-great Party of Lincoln, not to mention a more egalitarian and humane United States.