There are hundreds of “History Repeats Itself” quotes.
We are all familiar with George Santayana’s “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
There is even a humorous version — or is it? “Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat the eleventh grade,” by James W. Loewen
Then there is this seemingly intricate, yet sagacious one by Criss Jami: “Those who stand for different causes during different generations often experience the same oppositions and the same difficulties as those of the previous and the next generations. That is the basis of history repeating itself.”
I like this one in particular: “History repeats itself over and over again, but most of us have short memories.” – Mike Colter
Some of the quotes above are intended to be inspirational or motivational.
In the troubled times we are going through we certainly need inspiration and motivation.
Republicans (I was one once) have, in the past, been quite good at such.
So, in the interest of learning from and reflecting on the past (and to refresh our “short memories”), here is the first (Republican) quote that should inspire and motivate us all. More may or may not follow.
“You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.” Lindsey Graham, January 1999.
What a difference two decades — and a same-party administration — make.
Update #2:
“The notion that you can withhold information and documents from Congress no matter whether you’re the party in power or not in power is wrong. Respect for the rule of law must mean something irrespective of the vicissitudes of political cycles.” — Former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy during a 2012 Congressional hearing.” Gowdy has signed on to serve as outside counsel to Trump to fight the impeachment inquiry.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.