Townahll commentator Larry O’Connor has mentioned on a number of occasions that the current rebellion against enforcing the nation’s immigration laws is reminiscent of South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun’s 1832 doctrine of nullification, that a state could nullify Federal laws within its boundaries, an issue that was supposedly settled by the Civil War. The comparison has led me to contemplate how many more contemporary issues are revivals of past episodes in American history, to the point where I now regard the flow of history symbolically as a helix, that is, motion in a circle superimposed on forward motion. Certain patterns keep recurring, such as the rise and fall of empires – Babylonian, Persian, Roman, Holy Roman, Ottoman, and Soviet, to name a few – against a backdrop of advances over time, not so much improved modes of governance (aside from the American Constitution) as the development of advanced technologies.

Here are some comparisons I have come up with:

The recent shooting attacks on Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could be a modern-day repetition of the attack on Fort Sumter that began the Civil War. Classical historian Victor Davis Hanson holds that Democrats, infuriated by their loss of power in the 2024 elections, are once again trafficking in sedition and insurrection. Specifically, Paul Crespo reports in American Liberty News that Democrats are inciting violence against ICE agents and cites examples of incendiary rhetoric:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries implored people to “fight” the Trump administration “in the streets.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, called ICE agents “deranged” and said it is “inspiring” to obstruct........

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