End Virginia Confederate History Month – and the other History Months, too
By Brian Kirwin | Thursday, April 8th, 2010 | PolicyI have seen few things in my life that get people so emotionally revved up than “history months.” For the life of me, I shake my head and wonder why.
We’re in the midst of major economic turmoil, families are still losing jobs and homes, government is moving toward socializing medical care, terrorists still want to kill us, and during the “pre-show” for WHRO’s What Matters (which airs this Friday), and each of the other guests wanted to talk about McDonnell and Confederate History Month.
And scanning blogs and newspapers, it’s all the lefties want to talk about. You’d think the issue mattered.
It doesn’t.
Some Governors issued the proclamation, some didn’t. For the life of me, I wouldn’t miss them if they were gone or notice them if they stayed.
Of course, having grown up in the half of the country that won that war, about all I think about when seeing a Confederate flag is Daisy Duke.
Maybe we need a Daisy Duke month.
Or better still, maybe we need to finally put a stop to all these “history months” that honor every group that has political muscle behind it. Yes, all of them.
And all those marketing gimmicks that start with “Honoring the major contributions of (insert protected demographic categories)?” I’m over them all.
I’m over the federal government taking the duty of conducting a Constitutional “actual enumeration” to mean “tell us your race and gender” and a bunch of other things that is not “enumeration.”
Why keep dividing Americans?
My experience with most of these “history months” is angry comments, nasty emails, and personal attacks – and for once, I’m not the one making them.
And that’s the biggest problem of them all.
So, being a uniter (not a divider), let’s have a moratorium on all these “history months,” “honoring the significant contributions of” and stop segmenting everyone into who gets honored and who doesn’t.
Get rid of all of them – with the lone exception being, of course, my newly proposed Daisy Duke month.
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The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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46 Responses to "End Virginia Confederate History Month – and the other History Months, too"
Why keep dividing Americans?
I had to laugh a few years back when Virginia separated Lee/Jackson/King day into two “separate but equal” holidays. The continued denigration of the Civil Rights movement continues. I anticipate a slavery theme park in the near future — little Uncle Tom Cabins made with Lincoln Logs; Simon Legree, Frederick Douglass, and Scarlet O’Hara action figures; a cotton-field maze… Maybe a special Rosa Parks bus made with Legos, and yeah, updated with Daisy Duke shorts and Gen’l Lee Hot Wheels.
Sir,
So you don’t understand History, well maybe it’s because you’re ignorant of the facts. In your statement you wrote “having grown up in the half of the country that won that war”. With all due respect the North didn’t win the War of Northern Aggression, the Federal Government did! The problems we face today that you alluded to are directly tied to the Federal Governments Victory at Appomattox.
Since the War Between the States the Federal Government has encroached on the several States responsibilities and our personal Liberties. Not just the Southern States but all the States. Since the WBTS the Federal Government has taxed us, and regulated us. The problem with many folks in our Country today is they don’t know history and that’s on purpose. Our Federal Government Schools don’t want you to be aware how free our Country once was. The Government doesn’t want to teach the successes and failures of the past. Socialism and Democracy are both constant failures. Our Founding Fathers knew that very well as a collective group, they sought a Republic, with checks and balances between, the people, the States, and the three branches of Government.
I posted this on another thread; I leave it here for your consideration:
The Constitution doesn’t have anything written about secession and the best thing that occurred during the War Between the States was the end of Slavery. The worst thing was nearly a million lives lost. I include Civilians mostly in the South that starved to death. Between Sherman and Sheridan, Civilians paid a heavy toll.
Was leaving the US Constitutional? Was fighting the several States to “preserve the Union”, Constitutional? The answer is NO on both questions. What was Jefferson Davis convicted of after the War? BTW Jefferson Davis was President of the Confederate States of America and was imprisoned for years after the War. Jeff Davis was never charged or tried; one day when his health was failing they just released him. Jeff Davis had the perfect defense and Govt. Lawyers knew it. Many folks wanted Davis hung after the War but without a trial they could only hold him in jail. Had he been tried the whole War could have been declared unconstitutional, leaving the North paying for all damages!
We can all learn from the past, April is Confederate History Month!
Sir,
Don’t rely on government for education.
Here’s a statement yesterday from Terry McAuliffe on this subject:
A couple quick points –
1) He’s wrong about this not being about jobs. McDonnell is bringing this month back in advance of Virginia’s Civil War Sesquicentennial, which will help promote Virginia tourism and jobs. We’ll have more in the e-zine tomorrow. Be sure to sign up!
2) Does anyone think Terry McAuliffe is NOT running for governor in 2013?
Salt Lick, got the history channel blocked?
I just came across Doug Mataconis’ proposal to make this “Virginia Civil War History Month” – recognizing both Union and Confederate sacrifices, acknowledging how central Virginia was during the war at not only hosting the confederate capitol and it’s proximity to DC, but also by having more battles than any other state – including the first and the last. We are also the only state in the union where half the state remained loyal to the Union and became its own state: West Virginia.
Virginia Civil War History Month makes sense and should be supported, along with Virginia Heritage Day.
Salt Lick, got the history channel blocked?
James — Naaah. I do, however, have a Stars and Bars quilt made by my grandmother, and it’s on my bed beneath a painting of Robert E. Lee. Seriously. And I reenact.
I don’t have an issue with the holidays, just the fact that they are celebrated in ways that usually denigrate the thing which should be honored. And more and more, what we all should celebrate together, as a nation and a people, is balkanized and transformed into politics as usual. Lee, Jackson, and King, for example, were all men of great character, albeit in different ways. We should be able to come together and celebrate them. On one day. Only the narrow-minded can’t do that.
I’ve got a friend who was President of a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter that voted to stop saluting the Stars and Stripes. He was voted out for opposing that insanity. Etc, etc, etc.
“And scanning blogs and newspapers, it’s all the lefties want to talk about. You’d think the issue mattered.”
Apparently, it matters to Bob McDonnell, or he wouldn’t have issued the amended proclamation. McDonnell really should have talked to George Allen about what happens to your national political prospects when you try to appease racists. After all, do the tourists need a silly proclamation to induce them to visit Virginia’s Civil War battlefields? Hardly. Many history buffs have been planning their visits here for years.
BTW, i do agree with you that all these history months are a lot of nonsense.
I was a consultant on Bob’s campaign.
One of my top priorities was minority outreach….guess I’ll have some questions to answer.
Regardless of the details, this confirms (through perception) the way Republicans view and value minorities, particularly African Americans.
I had several African Americans tell me, “Marcus if you had not introduced me to Bob, I wouldn’t have voted for him because I thought he was just another Republican Red Neck Racist”
Well I guess I have questions to answer now!
MAYBE we can have Native American Removal History or Japanese American Imprisonment History Month, or Jim Crow Revival Week.
Either we allow all of them or knock it off and clear all the special interest the crap off the calendar. Like it or not the Sons of Confederate Veterans are as free to hold their events in sunshine as those remembering the abolitionist republican and former slave Frederick Douglas are through Black history month (formerly Negro History Week). We are a free People and we have overcome some pretty tough events in our past. When we choose to ignore the past and deny one groups observance while favoring another, the past is often repeated. I doubt the south wants to fight the north or crop owning comglomerates want to legalize slavery.. besides, modern farming machinery devalues cruel slave labor.
I wonder why they don’t observe Black history month in countries other than the US, Canada or the UK? hint hint
I’m not surprised that Brian would try to down play the incredible lack of sensitivity displayed by our Governor. After all, it was an earlier Governor who wrote….”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” If I were the Governor, heads on my staff would roll to be replaced with citizens who understand that the Governor is supposed to represent Virginia, and all of us, not just those of his personal political ideology.
“If I were Governor”….
My God…
Excellent I totally agree Mike
Mike, You owe it to yourself to meet our governor. Bob is a class act. We Virginians of all faiths and skin colors have not had a governor of this high caliber in decades, let alone a republican governor, who has paid his dues and earned his stripes across party lines and has throughout his adult professional lifetime no history of racial divisivness. I wish prior governors could have had and future governors will respectfully take the high road and recognize our history be it a source of pride or pain.. warts and all so that we can keep history where it is. Just my 0.02 cotton pickin dinars comrade.
Peace & Harmony, T
Marcus, you and I both know that Bob McDonnell is NOT a racist, never has been never will be.
I agree with those who say we don’t need any of these ridiculous “history months” and I do not teach them in my classroom, I teach all things in chronological order, where they fit in history, no one gets special mention.
I also agree that we should consider calling it Civil War history month (if we have to have one), remembering all aspects of that period of our history – though it saddens me that history has been so poorly taught for so long that people fail to realize that the Civil War was the culmination of what had been decades of aggitation between the states and the federal government over a variety of issues and the role of each – including taxes, trade, etc, etc.
@ Mike – you realize you were quoting a slave owner right?
I’m not calling Bob a racist, but I had hoped the republican party was trying to be inclusive…this sure doesn’t help.
No, Bob is not a racist…I hope, but what do you expect an African American to see with this.
I grew up reading every book about Dr. King I could find and I learned as much as I could about my history. I have been involved in Republican politics frequently since college. And yes even recently I have seen and heard many many things that make me “THINK” to say the least.
Republicans have been very responsive to the Black community from my view and in my dealings. HOWEVER…this is a huge setback, do you have ANY idea how hard it would be for me to take the congressional nominee to any black churches or businesses, or even social organizations???
How would Golden, Rigell, Taylor, or anyone look at an NAACP breakfast?
J.R. wrote: “Of course, having grown up in the half of the country that won that war…”
I guess this is meant to explain why he is not enamored with southern culture, or perhaps he doesn’t understand why we Virginians seem pre-occupied with the Civil War. As a lifelong Virginian, and a direct descendent of both Confederate AND Union soldiers, I have two things to say about that:
1) Don’t be so quick to cast aspersions on our history, for, unbeknownst to you, you may share in that history. Don’t forget that many southerners migrated to the north and to the west during the Depression. These “rebels” that many choose to dismiss may in fact be your own progenitors. Do a little digging into your family background – you may be surprised.
2) More Civil War battles were fought in Virginia than in all other states combined. Many hundreds of thousands of men and women – Union and Confederate, White and Black – fought, bled and died on this land, right in our own backyards – and I mean that literally in most cases. To ignore that or to scorn it is, in my opinion, unconscionable.
Daisy Duke, indeed.
Having said all that, I would support unequivocally amending this to be “Civil War History Month,” as some have suggested. That would allow us to learn more about this fundamental part of American history, and help to avoid some of the controversies of recognizing only the Confederate experience.
Moreover, not insignificantly, the Civil War played a major part in Black History. That is an indisputable fact. Why go out of our way to tear open old wounds and discourage Blacks from learning about their own history? This is what we’re doing when we xenophobically elevate the Confederate soldier’s experience and ignore or denigrate the sacrifices of countless others who participated in that tragic conflict.
Well James, I have met every Governor since Baliles, yet I know Bob McDonnell the best. I consider him to be a man of integrity, character, and would never consider him to be a racist. But since he just resigned from a Commission because it had issued a statement with his name on it that he had not read, I must assume that he pays attention to these matters. That said, if he had read the original proclamation carefully, I doubt he would have signed it and I can only assume that since his close staff prepared it, he didn’t pay it much attention. So someone in his administration has to go for making such an incredibly bad mistake that, put in the context of his AG’s campaign, has put a new definition on what it means to be a Virginian.
Can I ask a question, I am sincere in this so no one take it the wrong way please. Isn’t the claim that we need to “move beyond race”? And yet, when the governor recognizes a part of VA history and does not center it around slavery (race), everyone gets all bent out of shape – so I ask, what is the standard, move past it, or make it the center of everything. Maybe the governor assumed people would understand that slavery was a horrible evil, no one does not know it was a part of the aspect of the Civil War, but it was not all of it.
Ok, tried to delete that, because I answered my own question in this specific case, so ignore the question. I understand the original problem with the proclamation, what do people think of the amended version?
Jimmy D, JR didn’t write it.
Bearing Drift is releasing its position on this issue tomorrow in our e-zine article. You would be surprised, Jimmy D, to learn that many of your statements we agree with.
And, Brian is right, I did not write this post.
Brian: I’ll support Daisy Duke month.
On a serious not, the only thing about the Confederacy worth commemorating is its end.
Let’s trash Confederate History Month and Lee/Jackson Day and substitute a holiday celebrating Virginia’s re-entry into the Union. That was a happy day that we need to remember.
Like Brian I grew up north of the mason dixon line, and had no idea such a thing as Lee/Jackson day even existed, nor do I think of Lee/Jackson on Martin Luther King Jr. day. While I to this day believe that the confederate states were wrong to secede (the federal government had not met the oppression standards necessary to warrent secession), I do believe there is merit in looking at the states rights arguments they made, especially give then ever encroaching and expanding Federal government we are dealing with today. Oh, and to be sure I am not misunderstood – I am not advocating secession
My apolgogies to both J.R. and Brian. Sincerely sorry about that.
Everyone here is making compelling arguments, and I appreciate it. But allow me to make one analogy: by most accounts, it can be argued that the U.S. “lost” the war in Vietnam. Therefore, are we supposed to spit on, ignore, or refuse to recognize the service and sacrifice of so many who fought in that conflict?
You may not agree with what Lee and/or Jackson were fighting for, but both men are held in extremely high regard for their military prowess. For that alone, it can be argued that their legacies should be remembered.
And for the record, Robert E. Lee freed his slaves long before the Emancipation Proclamation, and Stonewall Jackson was a self-described abolitionist and never owned slaves. He called slavery a “great sin.” Ulysses Grant did own slaves up to the EP, and Abraham Lincoln considered Blacks to be an inferior race, and only freed the slaves after much political pressure to do so. These are documented facts. I do not mean to argue that slavery was immaterial or irrelevant to the political fire storms that led to the American Civil War, but certainly whether one was “pro” or “con” on the slavery issue did not necessarily dictate on which side his political or moral affiliations ultimately rested.
I don’t see an issue with either version of the proclamation. The revised one is more sensitive towards those who are sensitive. However, the first did not promote racism. It simply focused on the good part of that portion of our history. We should honor the good, lament the bad and learn from both.
On the other hand, if governments refrained from “making” any history months, that would be the most fair and I think make the most sense. Is there actual value added with little cost? I believe history is taught in the government schools.
West Virginia seceding the state of Virginia brings on an interesting discussion. Creating a state out of another state without the parent state’s permission is unconstitutional. Since Lincoln and the North said states could not secede, then they must be bound by the Constitution still. Yet the North readily accepted West Virginia as a state. Also a bit hypocritical since the North decided that a state couldn’t secede, but a county could.
Jimmy D, I don’t think there should be a Vietnam War History month either.
@Jimmy D – good points. I think what makes the issue of the Civil War different from that of Vietnam (at least in American social structure) is that the causes of the Civil War have been poorly taught for so long that it is assumed to be only about slavery. Because that is the assumption, those who fought for the confederacy are to be maligned, not remembered (in the minds of some – I personally advocate not giving them undo praise or denegration). The only way to combat this is to correctly teach history – ALL of it, good, bad and ugly.
@Jimmy D,
Wasn’t the black servant that Jackson had a slave? I am not certain, but I believe he was. However, Jackson did write a letter to a relative which stated that if he could prevent war by freeing all the slaves that he would, on the other hand if he could prevent war by maintaining slavery that he would. I hope I stated that correctly, my source is my memory…
G#D D@mnit!, who are you to speak for all African Americans? Why does every group get to celebrate their heritage yet you pc hate mongerers continue to practice revisionist history.
Confederate heritage is about state rights alright: the right of states to enslave human beings.
Quit whitewashing and revising history. It makes you look even worse.
@Mikey – your wrong, and no on here is trying to revise slavery OUT of history, just trying to add back in what was taken out about 80 years ago. Look up the nullification crisis – had nothing to do with slaves, first time we landed on the doorstep of Civil War.
For the record, I agree with Brian.
@Mike is right on, and I’m far from a “lefty” too.
The initial statement was totally shameful. The cover up “excuse” only added fuel to the fire (can someone please explain exactly WHAT Bob was thinking???), and then the “revised statement” last night came too little too late for many. It is upsetting that McDonnell would even opt to celebrate this lost cause.
The Civil War was a shameful, disgusting part of American History. If I had a great-grandfather who fought for the south, I would not want to celebrate his life just because he fought for the south. Why on earth do we feel the need to maintain statues of men who would have fought for the right to own slaves? To me (personally) it is akin to Germany maintaining statues of Nazis down Wilhelmstrasse. As it turns out, my grandfather fought for the Germans during the war. And indeed, he was a good man. But I fail to find a reason as to why his life should be celebrated “through” the war? Why are we as a nation so proud of this ass-backwards part of our past?
It does little to support the notion that the war was about many other things, when we initially hear complete disregard for a major cause of the war. And sure, northerners had slaves. Many southerners did not. But who cares? The single most important outcome of the war was the EP — pure and simple.
Time to bury this horrible celebration.
Didn’t the Federal Government set fire to Richmond and burn it to the ground? And isn’t the Federal Government today setting economic fires in state capitols all over the US with unfunded mandates, Constitutional assaults on State and individual rights which is contributing to the modern equivalent of a national conflagration?
Winston Churchill: “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Since History has been progressively recycled over the years into political mush, a month devoted to the Civil War will help accomplish what the schools aren’t: place perspective on how revisionists have reduced the Civil War to a political and cultural binary argument which is now “racism” and “victims of racism”; and that the Civil War was the only war fought on American soil by Americans against Americans.
Even though the war has passed into history, there are thousands of families such as my own who live with the stories, very old letters written between loved ones and artifacts that have been passed down from generation to generation. And we also have generational tragedies such as my uncle, three generations ago, who fought for the Union and who was part of the assault to start the Richmond fire that killed his cousin who was Confederate infantry detailed to guard the Tredegar Iron Works. By their letters, they weren’t racists and didn’t support slavery, they were conscripted and were just “there” taking orders from their commanders. But the insidious lesson in this is that families were turned against families not because of hate, but because of Government.
Does any of this matter, probably not to many because it is ancient history and we are here because of it. However if we let the “lefties” who are blogging and peeing all over themselves to revise and redefine Civil War history, the circumstances surrounding the Civil War will be corrupted and perverted into another tool of hate that can be used to divide and drive wedges between Americans.
We all have our opinions on this, but unfortunately our kids don’t. To “bury” it is denial and not challenging those who start using bogus arguments that have been politically filtered to start legislating (i.e. ancestral slave reparations, civil rights abuses, property destruction) retroactively isn’t moving us forward, it’s going to trap us in the past.
Tim J – No one at BD wants to “bury” that history. We recognize it for what it is. It should be taught, understood, and remembered.
However, “Confederate History” Month and “Lee Jackson” Day focuses on only one segment of that history without opening the aperture nearly large enough for an adequate discussion.
It strikes far too many as whitewashing history without looking at all of it – both repugnant and heroic.
I agree with J.R.’s last statement, 100%.
To eng esch & Tim J – you both make emotional and well argued points. Allow me to add my perspective:
There are those who say that to study or learn about the service of a Confederate soldier is to categorically defend the institution of slavery, or to uphold all principles for which the Confederate soldier fought and perhaps gave his life. I reject this.
For example, I can visit the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, where the famous Siege of Vicksburg waged for months, and where both my Confederate and Union ancestors were entrenched. If I choose to learn all I can about each of them and his service, does that mean I am a patriotic American, or am I a traitor and a racist? If I get misty eyed when I hear “Dixie,” but the same thing happens to me when I hear the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” what’s going on? Am I a racist or not? I’m confused, and given the narrow definitions of “heritage” and “racism” prescribed in the blogosphere and the media, it’s no wonder.
Learning what I can about the war experiences of both my ancestors only enhances my understanding of the tragic conflict. Understanding the tragedy of war, both its causes and its aftermath, is not a character flaw. And atoning for the horror of slavery does not inflate one to the status of hero.
I also have ancestors dating back to the American Revolution, and not surprisingly, some of them were loyalists to the Crown. Should I just write them off as evil men who supported the ‘wrong’ cause? Of course not. They are my flesh and blood, not monsters. They had their reasons for holding the political opinions they did, just as I do now. In one hundred years from now, should my descendents scorn and belittle my memory because they do not hold the same political and social views that I did in 2010? That’s preposterous, and I find it appalling that so many seem to be advocating just that.
For the record, I consider myself a “leftie.” But I think to dismiss or re-write a part of history that had such a profound influence on this country is both dangerous and unwise.
I agree with eng esch, the Civil War was shameful. Lincoln and the Republicans trampled on the Constitution:
1) Northerners were held in prison for speaking against the war and the government.
2) Carved a new state out of another state contrary to Constitution.
3) Trumped up charges to put opposition candidates in jail for no reason. Declared martial law in some areas for the sole purpose of ensuring that Republicans won elections.
4) Forced people to fight against their fellow citizens (conscription).
5) Lincoln didn’t want to sign a law that Congress passed, but realized that if he vetoed it, it would be used against him politically. So he made a public proclamation against certain portions and the bill never went into law (unconstitutional). Doesn’t make sense but its true.
There is much more, enough to argue that Lincoln trampled more on the Constitution than any other President, however I suppose the ends justified the means. I find it odd, that if secession was treason, then why were they unable to convict Jeff Davis on the charge of treason? I read (Shelby Foote) that Federal lawyers tried to put together a case against him for treason and they determined that they couldn’t get a conviction. Surely they had plenty of sources from which to gather evidence. Oh, you can also add to the list above that they took away voting rights for these guys who were never convicted of anything. And slavery and racism are both still bad, but I would like to point out that every other civilized nation in the world was able to end slavery (unless you count serfs in Russia) without killing over 600,000 of their own.
The Confederate apologists on this thread who shake their fists and tell everyone to “learn there history” need to understand a few things. Here are a few irrefutable facts about your beloved Confederacy:
1. The Confederacy stood for the principle that certain human beings were chattel to be bought, sold or disposed of in anyway seen fit by a despicable class of human beings.
2. Rather than being a Burkean Republic–a bastion of what the Founders envisioned when they wrote the Constitution, the Confederacy was a banana republic, no different than one of the failed Central American states. Power was concentrated in the hands of the landed gentry, there was almost no social mobility to speak of (the racist war criminal Nathaniel Bedford Forrest was considered remarkable in the South because he was born poor, in the North, as a biography, he was a dime a dozen: See Lincoln, Abe).
3. To the inbred dunce who is busy yammering about Licoln’s suppression of certain civil liberties, you are aware that the Confederacy conducted a murderous, systamatic suppression of Union sympathies in Eastern Tennessee, Western Georgia and Northern Alabama. You want to shed tears for a few seditious Democrat editors, why don’t you similarly cry for the loyal and true Americans who were killed by Jeff Davis’ murderous dictatorship in those regions. I won’t even touch upon the fact that Mr. Lincoln held an election that he may very well have lost during the war while Jeff Davis never stood in a true election at any time.
The fact is, while there can be pride in the fighting prowess of the Confederate soldier–although it is largely overblown when you consider that most military tacticians now realize that the South held incredible geographical defensive advantages and that the truly incredible feats of arms were almost exclusively performed by the Union armies–the Confederacy is an indelible and shameful black mark on all of the states that engaged in this treason.
Who cares?! The only reason I come to this site is to get updates about the 2nd.
Please… tell us what’s going on with that race.
The Republican Party was the abolitionist party. This means we were in favor of abolishing slavery. The Democratic Party was the party of the South. They are the ones who split from the North and Lincoln. FDR got the African Americans to vote Democrat because of the New Deal legislation and social welfare programs. (Fair enough.) A greater percentage of Republicans in Congress voted for the Civil Rights laws than Democrats did. Remember, the South was solidly Democratic until Reagan and then Newt Gingrich came along. Bob McDonnell is an enlightened and smart and empathetic person. McDonnell did not write this proclamation. His staff screwed up, royally. I’m sure that McDonnell will take care of this situation and it won’t happen again. Does someone need to get fired? That’s up to Bob. I’m sure the person who wrote the proclamation feels horrible anyway and will think ten times before putting something in front of Bob.
Oh and to the person above who claims he did moniroty outreach for McDonnell, I call bull sh*t. There is no way you would have written that drivel above had you worked for or even spent ten minutes with Bob. If your black froends have a problem with Bob refer to the post directly above this one. That’s the history liveral school teachers don’t teach in public schools, but its the truth nonetheless.
And to those questioning Lincoln…there is an enormous monument to his legacy at the end of National Mall because HE SAVED THE FREAKIN’ UNION. No one had ever faced what he did. If he made mistakes, from our excellent vantage point of 20/20 hindsight, he did the best he could do with the time and place he lived in. Thank God for Lincoln – America’s first Republican president.
Brian, where do you find these pictures? Daisy Duke – the originial, not that brain dead Jessica Simpson – wow. An American original.
@Ignatius,
Calling people names is always the best approach in any discussion. I didn’t say that the South was a sweet smelling rose. Both sides committed vile acts. I was pointing out that the North was far from perfect in its conduct. The South had many examples of social mobility, including Forrest. Davis was elected (and recruited) by a convention to a 6 year term, so of course he wasn’t subject to re-election during a the war.
I’ll end my discussions on this thread (with I am sure much rejoicing) with this: It is good to study all aspects of history, good and bad. I agree that having any history month is a waste of time and resources. Let the schools and museums do their jobs. However, if there are going to be history months there is nothing wrong with a Confederate History Month.
OMG; The blog site rocks ! Bearing Drift: Virginia's Conservative Voice » End Virginia Confederate History Month – and the other History Months, too How have one insure that it is appear this very good … Cheers ! Rob Rasner Charity Ortiz
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