With all seriousness, though, I think it’s reasonable to judge historical figures by the standards of their time - at least the higher standards of their time. Those who take steps away from repeating the horrors of our past should be (critically and conditionally) admired, while those who take steps back should be scorned as the shitheads they are.
Japanese-American internment.
Oh, yeah, that’s an entirely reasonable criticism.
Edit: wait, was Biden actually the most progressive American president? Holy shit
lmao, it’s like winning by default.
With all seriousness, though, I think it’s reasonable to judge historical figures by the standards of their time - at least the higher standards of their time. Those who take steps away from repeating the horrors of our past should be (critically and conditionally) admired, while those who take steps back should be scorned as the shitheads they are.
I try to judge historical figures by where they ended versus what was normal when they were young.
Otherwise there is nothing left but smugly judging the past by our fleeting standards and missing the real lessons of the past.
There’s probably an argument for a few of the Progressive Republicans.