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Dr. Joanne Freeman Profile picture
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Apr 5 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
OK. Turned to #pbsFranklin to watch while I'm running around.

Tuned in to see Clay Jenkinson (my senior essay advisor in college!)
So funny when you hear voices of friends coming from your TV.

Ellen Cohn!

#PBSFranklin
Always such a challenge to find images from the period being depicted. They’re doing a good job—though they’ve certainly had experience!

#BenjaminFranklinPBS
Good “snickering and sneering” image.

#BenjaminFranklinPBS
I don’t agree.

#BenjaminFranklinPBS wasn’t the only Founder with a sense of humor.

Give John Adams a try.
Hamilton had a sense of humor too. Practical jokes. But he didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut; not so good at self-editing his speech.

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More from @jbf1755

Dr. Joanne Freeman Profile picture
Apr 5
One of the problems inherent in not holding people accountable for political crimes is that it erodes public faith in our institutions of government.

Rapidly.

A fair trial.
Valid evidence.
And if guilty, accountability.
It’s one thing to believe that there’s corruption in government.

It’s quite another to dismiss the entire kit-&-kaboodle as ENTIRELY corrupt.

The latter jeopardizes the entirety of the rule of law.

The former offers tools for fighting corruption. Tools for improvement.
The Framers understood that key—above all else—was the process of government.

Process.

An anchor during times of strife.

That’s the ultimate purpose of the Constitution.

It’s a pact of process.
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Joanne Freeman Profile picture
Feb 20
The little bug crawling around under the fake bug exterminator tent...

The details.

#BreakingBad
THROWING SKYLER UNDER THE BUS.

Man.

#BreakingBad
Scarface on the TV.

The detail on this show.

#BreakingBad
Read 7 tweets
Dr. Joanne Freeman Profile picture
Feb 19
1/ A podcaster asked me what insight my last book #TheFieldOfBlood offers about politics now.

My answer:
* It shows how violence has been woven into even high politics for generations.

* It shows the power of emotion in moving political mountains, for better & worse.
2/ * It shows what bullying can accomplish in politics: the power of threats in gaining submission

* It shows how people who fear defeat by demographics often grasp at violence to maintain power

*It shows how a nation can be torn in 2, how Americans learn to turn on each other
3/ * It shows what happens when one party / group plays by the rules & the other doesn't -- the imbalance of power.

* It shows how new technologies (the telegraph / social media) can dramatically change the workings of democracy, sometimes in dangerous ways.
Read 5 tweets
Dr. Joanne Freeman Profile picture
Jan 7
Hey folks.

Over the course of the last year, I've been asked to speak about the historical context and implications of the events of January 6.

Here's a thread of some of that commentary, going all the way back to January 6, 2021 itself.
On January 6, 2021, I was asked to speak about the day's events on the @realTrumpcast podcast from Slate.

slate.com/transcripts/Mk…
That same day -- 1/6/2021 -- I spoke to PBS Newshour about the significance of the specific words that we use to describe that day's events.

pbs.org/newshour/show/…
Read 8 tweets
Dr. Joanne Freeman Profile picture
Oct 3, 2021
I agree--& wake up in the middle of the night too.

I also think "minority rule" is too tame an expression for what may be coming.

And "authoritarian" has no meaning for many.

We're moving towards a time when VERY few have GREAT power & the rest of us have none & can't protest.
1/ I sometimes think we have a problem with words.

Words like:
Authoritarian
Oligarchy
Minority Rule
Socialism
Communism

Even democracy.

Some of them (socialism, communism) are buzz words used w/o meaning.

Some have dire meaning that often isn't grasped.
2/ It seems as though the meaning of "democracy" has slipped away.

That people don't grasp the vital way that democracy divides and distributes power, & gives a people the right to delegate that power & rule themselves.
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Joanne Freeman Profile picture
Jul 2, 2021
1/ On today's episode of "History Matters (...and so does coffee!), I discussed how July 4th has ALWAYS been a day infused with celebration AND conflict, w/"declarations" about values met & unmet.

Even the original signing of the Declaration was infused with conflict & distrust.
2/ In his old age, ex-President John Adams was asked repeatedly about the "glorious" Founding, & always replied that it wasn't so blindly glorious.

They made mistakes.
They made poor choices.
The Founders weren't a united band of like-minded heroes.
3/ Regarding the signing of the Declaration of Independence--signed OTD, July 2, 1776--Adams told one starry-eyed correspondent that he had watched members of the 2nd Continental Congress, one-by-one, sign the Declaration, & could see that many were unhappy to be signing it.
Read 7 tweets

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