Andy Hall is leaving his week at TNC’s place (but we will be able to follow him over at Dead Confederates). He leaves us with a poem–The Great Lie–by Tim Lewis. It is well worth the time to click this link and give it a read. The poem explores the great lie of the Confederacy in six stanzas and follows that with a call to truth and action. Here is how those six stanzas begin:
The first part of the Great Lie
Is to deny
That slavery was savage, barbaric…The second part of the Great Lie
Is to deny
The evil of the system…The third part of the Great Lie
Is to imply
That most enjoyed their bondage…The fourth part of the Great Lie
Is to deny
That the war concerned slavery at all…The fifth part of the Great Lie
Is to deny
Slave wisdom, endeavor and capacity…The sixth and final part of the Great Lie
Is to deny
Even the existence of wartime slaves…
This is a poem that should be taught in every high school in the land.
Thanks to Andy for sharing this.
Enjoy the night.
Cheers
freelancer
Because it belongs to lovers?
racrecir
Per the Open Thread tag: reading the Iran posts / comments here this evening reminded me of something Will Marshall said in the Fall of 2002:
Something to think about if you want to contribute to advancing the debate,
mr. whipple
My poem for this evening:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue
Republicans suck rancid donkey dick
Roger Moore
@racrecir:
What, that we should concede the debate from the get go by accepting that we have to attack, and the only grounds for argument is why? I’d rather move the all the way back to the question of whether, not when, why, and how, we should attack Iran, and I think that the default answer for any such question is no. If somebody thinks we should attack, it’s up to them to demonstrate both the necessity of action and the superiority of war to any other possible solution.
Roger Moore
@freelancer:
I think you really wanted this one.
arguingwithsignposts
@mr. whipple:
and they love IT!
MikeJ
@Roger Moore: Both are excellent. I saw 10kM at the Channel in Boston with Chris Stamey opening back in the day. Not Patty, but really, really good.
And that bastard fill in guitar player they had on a europe tour, Derwood, wound up marrying a girl I liked. So they must be good.
racrecir
@Roger Moore:
Hey, it works. And if I can just convince you to be open-minded and not question my motivations, it will work all the better. So, please, reconsider.
Three-nineteen
@racrecir: I’m confused. If you want to attack Iran, why does it matter if you agree with the Republicans’ reasons or come up with your own? And if you don’t want to attack Iran, why should you come up with reasons to do so?
mr. whipple
@arguingwithsignposts:
My erudition speaks for itself.
freelancer
@Roger Moore:
Go piss in a river.
DPirate
@freelancer: Great song!
JWL
… Bury the South together with this man,
Bury the bygone South.
Bury the minstrel with the honey-mouth,
Bury the broadsword virtues of the clan,
Bury the unmachined, the planters’ pride,
The courtesy and the bitter arrogance,
The pistol-hearted horsemen who could ride
Like jolly centaurs under the heart stars.
Bury the whip, bury the branding bars,
Bury the unjust thing
That some tamed into mercy, being wise,
But could not starve the tiger from its eyes
Or make it feed where beasts of mercy feed.
Bury the fiddle-music and the dance,
The sick magnolias of the false romance
And all the chivalry that went to seed
Before its ripening….
John Brown’s Body
Stephen Vincent Benet