panetta lecture series. before we begin, i want to first ask that on this memorial day, we have a moment of silence in honor of all those men and women who have died while serving in the united states armed services. thank you. this season we are discussing the health of american democracy, and it is very fitting that we recognize the individuals who have given their greatest sacrifice for our freedom and our way of life. we honor their commitment to country. our guests in our discussion this evening are particularly fitting for this holiday because tonight we will conclude the 2019 lecture series by looking back to the founding of our nation and to the men who first took up arms to fight in the name of liberty and give birth to our republic. in the wake of victory, they understood that they had to create a system of government that would preserve and protect the values for which they had fought. what were their motives and intentions? asking this question, it is important to
the most used day, the civil rights and elimination of poverty and especially voting rights soberly repeat the one partial quote they memorized in high school. it was martin luther king that told us and taught us that we should be judged base on the content character and not the color of our skin. that we should be judged on the content of our character and not color of our skin. in the words of dr. martin luther king that we must judge one another by the constant of our character, not the color of our skin. yeah, that one. and of course, if you went on twitter, you d see the same people applauding dr. king without noticing the irony of their remarks. for instance, you have senator rand paul tweeting that we should commemorate the life of mlk by uniting two americas into one that includes justice for one and justice for all. he pretty much tweets that every year. of course, rand paul is the same person that said he would have opposed the civil rights act of 1964 and t
independents 202-748-8002. we ll get to the calls in this, our last segment of today s program. line for democrats. randy, what do you want to talk about? caller: good morning. i d like to comment. free trade has put this country in one heck of a problem since they came up with this. you can t grover norquist and his plan to lower taxes continually in uneven basis, the way that is the money is pooling at the top of the stratus or the economy in 1%, it just doesn t work. our government was founded and paid for by itself by taxes at of the border since inception, it goes back to boston tea party. we re selling ourselves out with free trade. has to be some type of equitable vet tax that will help even the playing field for workers in america that don t earn enough in wages to pay social security taxes and the rest of the taxes and take care of them in old age. host: does it surprise you new wall street journal poll shows climbing for free trade, the poll showed highest portion
emancipation. it s important to us. because when we think about a reunified united states in the aftermath of civil war, what conclusion must we draw. clearly, a large majority of the american free population was not enthusiastic about emancipation. and to come back to a final theme that has been the bedrock of this course throughout, in a democratic society, where a large majority holds a particular value, that is inconsistent with the interest of minority, there s not much reason to be optimistic for the rights of that minority. remember james madison had said if majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure. i think that is a foreshadowing of the history of reconstruction on end through the rest of the 19th into the 20th centuries. so very fast whirlwind overview. next time, we re going to zero in on abraham lincoln and we re going to enter into conversation with him because what lincoln is trying to do more than anything else is shap
experiment of war, we demand that immediate efforts made for a cessation of hostilities, peace may be restored on the basis of the federal union. what the platform is saying immediately ceasefire negotiation with the south, the only issue, union. emancipation completely off the table. this then is the two sides. the two sides are drawn, but one very significant thing happens before the general election. the momentum on the field of battle turns. if there s single critical event, it is the fall of atlanta, which had been the object of union attention since the spring, fall of atlanta on the second of september. this is immediate greeted with jubilation across the north, and may have been the single thing what turns the tied of the northern opinion. in the election that follows, you see two very queer strategies. if you are a democrat, you re going to emphasize race. what northern democrats are going to do throughout the election of 1864 is constantly remind northern voters thi