History lives!

In high school I went on a student-group tour of Europe which included a few days in France.
One of my few memories from this is spray-painted grafitti:

"Vive le Roi!"

Even as a youth of 16, this suggested to me that the Revolution of 1789 was still relevant.

Recent posts on progressive blogs have noted that the "Birther" movement is strongest in the South; that the South is most opposed to healthcare reform (while suffering from the lowest rate of healthcare coverage in the country), and otherwise seems somewhat outside the mainstream of American politics.

Why is this?
The American South today is pretty much as cosmopolitan as the rest of the country. Damn foreigners, Mexicans, blacks, and every other minority are well-represented.
The only explanation seems to be The American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea still resonates.
Nixon's so-called "southern strategy" took advantage of this resonance.
Pat Buchanan still supports himself - somehow - based on this.

Modern anti-Semitism - in an age when religion, for most of us, is worn lightly - seems an anachronism.
That is not to say it is not real.

The Right's use of the "Socialist" epithet depends for its effectiveness on long-forgotten perceived threats to the American Way of Life - back when Bolshevism and Stalin did, in fact, seem to challenge American capitalism for control of the world.
Somehow, the charge of 'socialism' still has appeal as a legitimate reason to oppose "Obama-care".

Modern American Christians - particularly the various flavors of conservative evangelicals & fundamentalists - have resurrected most of the 'heresies' denounced by the Church Fathers.

George Santayana remarked:

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

He was wrong.

Even those who can remember the past are condemned to repeat it!