Obama Does Right by the Confederacy

[ClydeR]

I give credit where credit is due, even when it's due a Democrat. A big thumbs up to President Obama for making a wise decision.

The Memorial Day question was..


In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson dedicated a large bronze memorial to the Confederate dead in a special section of Arlington National Cemetery, the foremost shrine to the Union armed forces. Wilson exulted that only in a democracy could a people once so bitterly divided come together again so proudly. U.S. presidents since then have continued to pay tribute to this narrative of "sectional reconciliation" by sending a wreath of flowers to Arlington's Confederate Memorial once a year.

The question for this upcoming Memorial Day is whether Barack Obama will continue the traditional offering or put a stop to it. Will the first African American to occupy our highest office honor the soldiers of a short-lived, breakaway nation formed for the express purpose of preserving the institution of black slavery on this continent?

More... (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/22/AR2009052202999.html)


The answer is..


President Obama will send a wreath to the Confederate Memorial at Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day, rebuffing a petition urging him to cease the decades-old tradition.

More... (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009256798_conmem24.html)

[MrTastyHead]

Something has to exist for you to do right by it.

You lost, get over it.

[Tisket]

Now I KNOW Clyde is Liberali Fatali.

[Drew]

Will the first African American to occupy our highest office honor the soldiers of a short-lived, breakaway nation formed for the express purpose of preserving the institution of black slavery on this continent?

Wrong.

[ClydeR]

You lost, get over it.

I am not at all upset that the South lost the Civil War. As you said, it's over. No matter how he felt about the South's reason for starting the war, President Obama did the right thing by honoring the fallen Confederate soldiers. They were mostly dirt poor young men whose families never owned slaves, who had no choice but to fight, and who would not have benefitted from a victory by their "side" in the conflict.

So.. President Obama deserves a big thumbs up for being over it.

[ClydeR]

Wrong.

Please set the record straight, Drew. We would all benefit from your opinion as to the real cause of the Civil War. While we wait, I will quote the history professor who wrote the first article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/22/AR2009052202999.html) that I cited in the original post.


First, it is important to put to rest the old debate about whether the Confederacy had other, more fundamental motives besides the defense of slavery. The resolutions of secession in 1860-61 make plain the states' overriding concern for slavery. The historical evidence is so overwhelming that, on this point, revisionism should no longer be possible.

Nonetheless, the myth that the Confederacy somehow had higher, more abstract motives ("state sovereignty," or, more ironically, "liberty") entered history in its own right. Through the mid-20th century, this myth reigned supreme, and it made possible the "reconciliation" of Northern and Southern whites symbolized by the Confederate memorial at Arlington. Whites on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line minimized the historical impact of slavery even as they resurrected the idea of white supremacy that undergirded it. They sentimentalized their racism with images such as the faithful "mammy" on the Arlington memorial, who holds out a baby to her master returning from the battlefield. Woodrow Wilson and the men and women who erected these tributes to the Confederacy were steeped in this brew of denial and self-justification.

[Jayvn]

Now I KNOW Clyde is Liberali Fatali.

Pretty much proof positive...

ADVANCE THE FLAG OF DIXIE tabor!

[radamanthys]

Yea, it's him.

Regardless of whomever it is, the posts inspire some damned good debate. Rock on, Clyde.

[Jayvn]

You should also discuss the living conditions of slaves vs free blacks who worked in factories in the north..that's always a fun one.
I'm against the idea of a man having to have a human master but if I had a slave that I spent my personal money on compared to if I had a bunch of cheap ass easily replacable labor... I'd think the slave would be taken care of better, like any other piece of farm machinery now you keep the shit oiled and fill it with gas and clean it..I guess people clean their farm stuff?

I guess due to being raised or traumatized into the mindset they wouldn't revolt, but how the hell could a grown ass person willfully be a slave? does it really never cross your mind to just say.. fuck this shit I'm gonna kill this guy, burn his house down and start walkin'.

I wouldn't mind having a house midget... a mute one..because I wouldn't want to have to carry on conversations with it.

[Back]

Yes, Stan, kudos to our president. ;)

[Sean of the Thread]

Being a NY native I'm not ashamed of kicking it southern country style.

And yes it's now confirmed to be Tabor.

[Liberi Fatali]

Being a NY native I'm not ashamed of kicking it southern country style.

And yes it's now confirmed to be Tabor.


There is no way Libertali has the intelligence or wit to pull ClydeR off. Him being a prizefighter with no voter ID card and all.

I still think it's PB.

lol.

[Liberi Fatali]

I am not at all upset that the South lost the Civil War. As you said, it's over. No matter how he felt about the South's reason for starting the war, President Obama did the right thing by honoring the fallen Confederate soldiers. They were mostly dirt poor young men whose families never owned slaves, who had no choice but to fight, and who would not have benefitted from a victory by their "side" in the conflict.

So.. President Obama deserves a big thumbs up for being over it.

I couldn't have said this better myself.

[radamanthys]

Here's a good story, somewhat related.

I was sitting on my porch a couple years back, when I lived in one of the more 'urban' settings in Binghamton. It was a nice day, so I was sitting there in the chair playing my 5 string. There's something about a porch that just makes playing the banjo that much better.

Well, when I play, I typically just plunk around, not really paying attention to what I'm playing. As I'm plunking along, a rather large group of black people were ambling by. I wasn't paying much attention to them- it's not exactly a rare occurrence. All of a sudden, one of the guys in that group turns around rather sharply and gives me a death stare that could melt the chrome off a trailer hitch.

I was rather confused, so I quickly assessed the situation. What the hell caused him to... oh, shit. Then, I realized- I'm a goner.

I had just serenaded a large group of blacks to the simple joys of "dixie".

I'm amazed that I survived that one.

[Tea & Strumpets]

Yea, it's him.

Regardless of whomever it is, the posts inspire some damned good debate. Rock on, Clyde.

Yeah, it's a work of pure genius to imply that Obama supports slavery. I don't really think that ClydeR is Tabor, though. Tabor usually can't resist trying to use big words to sound smarts.

Also, I'm from Australia. G'day mate, put another shrimp on the barbie. (that is my joke about how Tabor tries to use slang from other countries)

[Back]

Its Stan, man. Stan the man, man.


They are. That's why I had to create the ClydeR account: And after being exposed (I accidentally kept my automatic Democrat font program running :embarrassed:) I realized, just like many others, that I care about what people online think about me and that I have to be honest.

I guess things just start off as fresh as they can from here. My apologies, everyone.

[radamanthys]

Yeah, it's a work of pure genius to imply that Obama supports slavery. I don't really think that ClydeR is Tabor, though. Tabor usually can't resist trying to use big words to sound smarts.

Also, I'm from Australia. G'day mate, put another shrimp on the barbie. (that is my joke about how Tabor tries to use slang from other countries)

People in this country actually think like him. He's the sole representative of a large demographic within this country.

Actually, in his criticisms of Obama, he's starting to sound quite a bit like some of the wingnuts that used to criticize Bush. Just sayin'.

[Tisket]

Its Stan, man. Stan the man, man.

Wrong. Again. Do you ever get weary of being the PC forum monkey?

[Back]

Wrong. Again. Do you ever get weary of being the PC forum monkey?

Either its you or you are just being a raging bitch again. I’ll go with the later.

It’s Stan.

[ClydeR]

Yeah, it's a work of pure genius to imply that Obama supports slavery.

Honoring Confederate soldiers is not the same as promoting slavery. Reagan wasn't supporting Nazis when he went to Bitburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitburg#Reagan_visit_controversy).

[Warriorbird]

Even under Jackson slavery colored the tariff debate... Jackson was a slave holder but was hated in the South for fear that it'd eventually lead to the North trying to end slavery.

I highly recommend 'American Lion' by Jon Meacham. People should know more about Andrew Jackson. He was a complex guy but, like TR, he has much to teach modern followers of both parties.

[Tea & Strumpets]

Honoring Confederate soldiers is not the same as promoting slavery. Reagan wasn't supporting Nazis when he went to Bitburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitburg#Reagan_visit_controversy).

You should start a thread titled "Why does Reagan hate Jews" if you want to discuss this seriously. Seriously though, you are dope.

[Valthissa]

Took my eight year old son to Malvern Hill. Battle of the Crater last year. I am always struck at how 100,000 men could cram into such small spaces and shoot at each other with cannons.

As I understand Lincoln's theory, the confederate dead should be honored because they were just as american as the union dead.

C/Valth

P.S. -

ClydeR - if you want to stimulate debate why not post honestly instead of your increasingly lame attempts at being the PC's version of Colbert?

(possible delusional answer - if even one poster falls for my act then I must be funny)