History repeats and is doing so again, signaling us that the rotting, zombied remains of the party of Lincoln need to go the way of the party of Washington, Hamilton and Adams.
In December of 1812, after capturing a British ship and hauling it back across the Atlantic, Stephen Decatur arrived triumphantly at Newport, Rhode Island. Once repairs were made to his fleet, Decatur’s ships sailed up the East River in May 1813 with the intention of making their way back across the Atlantic to intercept even more British convoys. But after finding himself surrounded by British ships, Decatur rerouted down the Thames River to Connecticut, a Federalist stronghold whose citizens chafed under the impact of the War of 1812 on their coastal trade. British blockades seemed curiously welcomed there and blanketed the port.
In December 1813, Decatur hatched a plan to slip through the British blockades under the cover of darkness. But as he carried out his nighttime gambit to break out into the open sea,…
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