Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

"A historian is often only a journalist facing backwards." -- Karl Kraus

Mark S. Byrnes is Chair and Professor of History at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC.

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• 
  Feb 2, 2018
  

  The Nunes Memo, “Bias,” and the Skills of the Historian

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  It struck me while reading the instantly infamous Nunes memo that we'd be better off if we were all trained as historians.
  

• 
  Aug 16, 2017
  

  The Right Words

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  Trump was failing a basic obligation of leadership. He did not pay tribute to virtue.
  

• 
  May 27, 2017
  

  Why Trump's Snub of NATO Matters

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  NATO is not a “deal.” It is not a protection racket. The American creation of NATO was meant to serve American interests.
  

• 
  Jan 19, 2017
  

  The Era of Bad Feelings?

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  "It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt ... that they are incapable of exercising the sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found." James Monroe
  

• 
  Dec 11, 2016
  

  What Was 2016 About? Who We Are and What Values We Cherish.

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  What has disturbed so many of us about Trump's election is that the choice that 46.2 % of the voters made is so antithetical to our vision of what America can and should be.
  

• 
  Jul 30, 2016
  

  Will Khizr Khan be Donald Trump’s Joseph Welch?

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  Joseph Welch asked the question that woke up the American people to Joe McCarthy’s lack of decency. Khizr and Ghazala Khan have done the same service for the American people today—if we listen.
  

• 
  Jun 7, 2016
  

  “We Find the Republican Party Busily Chewing on Itself”

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  Donald Trump’s bigoted comments on Judge Gonzalo Curiel have produced an amazingly clarifying moment for the Republican Party.
  

• 
  May 24, 2016
  

  Trump Isn't a Fascist. He Has Fascist Instincts.

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  "I don’t think Trump is a fascist because fascism is an ideology, and I think that the only thing that Trump believes in is Trump."
  

• 
  Mar 28, 2016
  

  Orrin Hatch's Embarrassing New York Times Op-Ed

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  Senator Orrin Hatch took to the New York Times op-ed page to try to make the case for the Senate refusing to take up President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. It didn’t go well.

  

• 
  Feb 15, 2016
  

  Ted Cruz's Phony Supreme Court "Tradition"

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  He says presidents don't appoint people to the Supreme Court in election years.  Ridiculous.

  

• 
  Dec 8, 2015
  

  The American Reaction to Refugees Since 1924

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  The reactions we see today to the prospect of admitting refugees from Syria and elsewhere have a long history in this country. 
  

• 
  Nov 22, 2015
  

  The American Reaction to Refugees, 1848-1924

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  The sad demand that only Christian refugees should be admitted to the U.S. reminds this historian of an awful American tradition.
  

• 
  Nov 15, 2015
  

  The American Reaction to Refugees in the Early Republic

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  From the earliest days of the republic, the American attitude toward refugees has been marked by an ambivalence and tension.
  

• 
  Sep 20, 2015
  

  Ben Carson's "Know-Nothing" Attitude Toward Islam

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  It's a bigoted anti-Muslim sentiment that echoes an earlier--and just as ugly--anti-Catholic bigotry.
  

• 
  Jun 23, 2015
  

  This Flag Needs to Go Down--So Does the Lie it Represents

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  Yes, it's a symbol.  That doesn't mean it doesn't matter.  That is WHY it matters.
  

• 
  Jun 16, 2015
  

  It's Ok to Celebrate Magna Carta

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  It's still OK to celebrate Magna Carta. After all, we're all talking about a birthday here. 
  

• 
  Apr 8, 2015
  

  "Unconditional Surrender" in Iran

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  After the nuclear framework agreement was announced last Thursday, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton told CBS News that "the only acceptable deal would be Iran's nuclear disarmament." What?

  
  

  

• 
  Feb 1, 2015
  

  "There Was a Right Side and a Wrong Side": Art and Historical Memory

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  Why The Civil War: The Musical is both top notch -- with a great set and costumes -- and also deeply flawed.
  

• 
  Dec 14, 2014
  

  Dick Cheney’s David Frost Moment

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  “I'm more concerned with bad guys who got out and released than I am with a few that, in fact, were innocent.”--Dick Cheney on Meet the Press
  

• 
  Oct 19, 2014
  

  Can Obama Do in Iraq What Nixon and Ford Couldn't in Vietnam?

  by Mark Byrnes's Facing Backwards

  Whether Obama will be able to keep his promise not to send American ground forces back to Iraq is very much an open question.