Strange bedfellows

In 1775, a plain speaking corset maker recently arrived from England gave voice and vision to the frustrations of 13 disparate colonies the England never believed could act in concert. The 48 pages of "Common Sense" electrified, unified and animated a populace the English elites considered "rubes, uneducated, ungrateful," and certainly "stupid." In 2016, a blunt talking billionaire is doing something very similar and the elites - media, Wall Street, D.C., are reacting exactly as did King George III. History makes for some strange bedfellows. Thomas Paine and Donald Trump may yet be the strangest.

Steve Quick

Arlington Heights