This is the Tom Hartman program.

I did want to start out by sharing one brief story with you.

And I think it's, you know, an important context.

It's a fascinating story, but it's also should inform us as to what are the

real traditions are in this country that have been largely buried.

I'm talking about going back to the founding of the Republic, and I'm talking about

the less than toxic traditions, rather than the highly toxic traditions, if you

understand what I'm saying.

But in 1792, now, you know, we became a Republic in 1789.

That's when the Constitution was ratified, and George Washington was elected president

and or selected president by Congress.

And it was kind of the beginning of the whole thing, right, 1789.

And so by 1792, we are three years into this Republic, into the United States, what

we call the United States of America.

George Washington is president.

John Adams is vice president.

As I recall, Thomas Jefferson was secretary of state, Alexander Hamilton was secretary

of the treasury.

John J was the first chief justice, the United States Supreme Court, and I'm kind of

hitting the limits of my memory there, but there was kind of a collection of luminaries

at least in terms of intellectual firepower and whatnot for the founding of the Republic.

And in 1792, the country faced a crisis.

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