Author Archives: James Salerno

Time To Talk About Veterans Day

Posted on by

In 2023, what does Veterans Day really mean in America? Today, MAGA boomers are flooding social media with Veterans Day graphics. You know the ones I’m talking about – they have a picture of a soldier, probably an eagle, and a slogan like “thank you for keeping us free” imposed over a flag. I have nothing against the MAGA boomers. They mean well, and we are aligned on many important issues. But their line of thinking is based on the myth that the America of today still operates under the original Constitution. The systems our founders set up still work, but those pesky Democrats can’t stop messing things up! The purpose of the military should be to protect home, which truly keeps us free. But the truth is America’s veterans have not done that since 1812.

Continue reading →

The Most Important Country in the History of American Foreign Affairs

Posted on by

Ask the average man-on-the street what the most important country in the history of American foreign affairs is, and you will probably get similar answers. It could be Britain, due to America inheriting her economic, cultural and political institutions. It could be the Soviet Union, due to the Cold War shaping American militarism for nearly a century. It could be Israel, due to their influence over post-Cold War geopolitics. These are all good answers. But the most important country in American foreign affairs rarely gets discussed today, and it’s located 700 miles off of the Florida coast. Foreign policy often affects domestic policy. This is why the most important country in the history of American foreign relations is Haiti.

Haitian revolution
Continue reading →

Presidents’ Day Weekend: Franklin Pierce

Posted on by

Third and final installment of examining the obscure Presidents on this long Presidents’ Day weekend. With William Henry Harrison, I played a little bit of “what if” with his presidency and argued that he’s more significant than he gets credit for. With Millard Fillmore, I argued that while not great, he is in no way terrible and deserves a fresh look. Today, with Franklin Pierce, I’m going to argue that he is a legitimately great President. Let’s examine Young Hickory of the Granite Hills.

14th President Franklin Pierce
Continue reading →

Presidents’ Day Weekend: Millard Fillmore

Posted on by

“Born in poverty, poorly educated, and utterly unsophisticated, Millard Fillmore is one of our most obscure presidents, and one of our worst.” Yikes. This is the opening sentence on the back cover of Paul Finkelman’s Fillmore biography, which is part of Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s American Presidents Series. Schlesinger isn’t some nobody, his father is a “renowned” presidential historian and one of the first to come up with a presidential ranking list. Yet, this grade-school level garbage is what passes for historical research. “I don’t know who he is, so he must have sucked.” And you people wonder why I hate the professional historian class so much? This Presidents’ Day weekend let’s give Millard Fillmore a fair shot and examine him under a new lens.

13th President Millard Fillmore

Continue reading →

Presidents’ Day Weekend: William Henry Harrison

Posted on by

Happy Presidents’ Day weekend! Enjoy the three-day weekend if you’ve got it. The holiday itself is monarchical and un-American, but it’s also the American Way to use any excuse to take a day off from work. I want to focus on three of the lesser-known Presidents this weekend, the first being William Henry Harrison. Harrison is only known as the answer to a trivia question: which American President died after only 31 days in office? Or, he’s the butt of a joke: he was the best President because he didn’t stick around long enough to screw things up! But who was William Henry Harrison? And is his presidency more important than we give it credit for?

9th President William Henry Harrison

Continue reading →

Is “Free Speech” a Founding Principle?

Posted on by

Life. Liberty. The pursuit of happiness. The right to self-determination. Freedom. The right to bear arms. Free speech. These are often cited as uniquely American principles; they’re what separates us from the rest of the world. I want to focus on just free speech. Is it truly a founding American principle? The answer to that question is complex.

 Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

Continue reading →

Alternate History: The USA Stays Out of WW2

Posted on by

I was asked recently if the United States was right in supporting Stalin and the Soviets in World War II. I find this a fascinating question, because it is built on decades of false history. I will take the question further – should the United States have been involved in World War II at all? I love alternate history, and this is my take on that topic.

Tanks in Poland
Continue reading →

Militarized Education – Progressive Origins with Industrial Results

Posted on by

This is a companion piece to my article on 1950s America. My theory is that reading, writing and arithmetic are overrated. I believe that these are worthy skills that produce positive results for society. But we cannot view human beings as cogs. Running them all through the same machine is not only rooted in collectivism, but it’s a very new approach and we are only beginning to realize the consequences. Industrialization and the Cold War are the main culprits in my theory, but as with all things, the root of the problem is complex. Let’s examine.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
Continue reading →

1950s America and why Conservatives are Wrong to Idolize It

Posted on by

From a conservative point of view, the 1950s were a high point in American history. The nuclear family was still intact. Church participation was at an all-time high. Every town offered numerous social institutions to strengthen fraternity and community. Housing was affordable for almost anyone that had a career, and jobs were abundant. Rapid technological innovations and national pride created an American optimism that hasn’t been seen since. The solution to today’s ills is to mimic the 1950s. There’s only one problem with this – the 1950s were artificial. They were an aberration in American history. 

Continue reading →