Discussion for article #237792
I’m fed up with the Right constantly thinking that telling them to be decent human beings instead of Gollum-esque monstrosities is an attack on them. Maybe if they hadn’t sold their souls for thirty pieces of silver they’d have some empathy.
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from @jbarro “Bill Kristol’s call for respecting the confederacy sounds odd at first, but remember, they did start an unnecessary war.”
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I don’t think we should honor and respect the people who fought in the Confederacy. They tried to destroy the US to protect slavery. If a state, or group of states, started a war tomorrow to secede from the union and bring back slavery, would Kristol be OK with that and honor the people who died fighting for that cause?
To many of these conservative blow hards, the Confederacy basically means “white people”, so in their eyes, any “attack” on the Confederacy is an attack on whites.
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I think a distinction should be made between Confederate soldiers and the oligarchs (plantation owners) who sent them to war. The oligarchs wanted to keep their slaves and - for them - that was what the war was all about. But the soldiers thought they were fighting for heritage.
The situation is similar to what is going on today. The oligarchs want war in order to increase their riches. The ordinary soldiers think they are fighting for God and country. This was true in Bush’s wars and it is true in Obama’s wars.
I think we should honor the soldiers. Their motives have - in general - been good. But - as far as I am concerned - Bush and Obama can both go to hell.
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Because they are exactly the same, right?
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Valentinus who would you like to see as President?
“disrespect the memory of Confederate soldiers”
What about the constant disrespect the hate banner represents to all sane people?
What about that billie?
And, never forget, it was the south that started the civil war and it was the south that lost! How about a little respect for the winners!
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The only thing left to do with Kristol is to laugh openly and often. We already do, but it needs to happen more on the tee vee machine. No wonder he sympathizes with the confederacy; he’s a lost cause too.
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Yes, Bill - Nikki Haley, Jeb Bush, Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney … , etc. All those people on “the Left.”
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Not Hillary. She is a rabid hawk, just like Lindsey Graham.
See how Republicans are…continually trying make the word LIBERAL a dirty word.
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Lot of exploding going on today, only wish always-wrong Kristol literally exploded into a million little pieces. Now that I’d watch. At least we wouldn’t have to hear about him anymore.
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Kristol is a career charlatan. Also, can we stop writing about Ann Coulter? She’s a troll.
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I can’t get into the minds of the soldiers who fought for the south. But I can read the declarations the causes of war by the states that mentioned the retention of slavery as a primary reason. The ¨heritage" rationale is just a rationale that developed after they lost the war.
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Jeepers there’s a lot of “so and so explodes” headlines out there today. As for Bill Kristol’s face being “scrunched,” may it ever be so…
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“I am not a free market fanatic!” The world begs to differ on that opinion.
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Full disclosure: I’m a “northerner” for too many generations to count. My people (1 grandfather and 1 cousin - both volunteers) died in the war they did not start. But gee whizz!
Who said anything about taking away someone’s heritage? In my neighborhood, people put up Irish flags on St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve seen the Gadsden flag on tea partiers’ trucks and cars. We see the gay rights rainbow flag all over the place. MIA flags, check. We see all sorts of flags all the time. even the rebel battle flag.
I don’t think anybody is talking about prohibiting PRIVATE citizens from putting up any flag they choose. Just don’t be flying a flag representing treason and rebellion on the People’s property! IMHO, these conservative talking heads need to settle down stop trying to defend the indefensible.
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The confederate flag wasn’t just the flag of confederate soldiers. It was the flag of resistance to reconstruction. Much of the real racial division in this country emerged during the 90 years after the end of the civil war before the civil rights movement took hold, a period when many whites embraced racial hatred and the KKK acted on their belief that the only good black was a murdered black . Nathan Bedford Forrest’s sins didn’t primarily arise while he was a civil war general. His worst were committed while he was the head of the KKK.
I have no problem honoring confederate soldiers, but the racists themselves embraced the confederate flag as a symbol of their hatred. For that reason alone it should be banned.
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I supposed Kristol thinks we should put up a monument to Hitler too. The South lost. The South were nothing more than traitors to this country. They should have all been killed or locked up for what they did. We’re supposed to celebrate their “sacrifice.” The only sacrifice was by those on the Northern side who had to deal with these racists.
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