The year was
2000. Professor Ernst Bottomly, the noted historian, had just returned
home after a meeting with his publishers. The meeting had not gone well.He
put down the briefcase containing his manuscript and sank down into a living
room chair. His wife Mary came into the room.
You look tired,
she said. Was it a difficult meeting?
You could say
that.
Theyll publish
your book, wont they?
They want a lot of
modifications. They say a lot of the predictions I make about the years
ahead are too far out and will make their company look
foolish.
Like
what?
Well, I say that some
political outsider like Donald Trump might become president.
Donald Trump
president. Well, you have to admit thats pretty
outlandish.
I know it seems so
now but I think the way things are going in Washington its a
possibility.
What are some of the
others?
Well, I say that
therell be a lot of people wholl think our country is terrible,
that, for one thing, our society is racist through and
through.
Oh, I dont
think so. Theres a lot more to do but havent we made a lot of
progress?
Theyll say it
isnt enough, that its systemic. You know thereve been
some incidents; therell also be a movement to defund the
police.
Theres a lot of
room for improvement, but if the police are defunded wont there be more
crime?
Thats what I
say will happen. Oh, I also say therell be a movement
to tear down statues all over the country. Anyone who was a
Civil War hero for the South, of course, starting with Robert E. Lee, but also
anyone deemed not pure enough by our modern standards. Even
people like Washington and Jefferson. A lot of people will
also want to change the names of schools and anything else named for founding
founders like Washington and Jefferson.
What about Abraham
Lincoln?
He wont be
exempt either.
Well, thats
ridiculous. Im sure those things wont happen. You should make
those changes they want.
You may be
right. Ill think about it.
Whats for dinner?