We are hours away from the 150th Anniversary of a group of traitors launching a war on America. It was 4:30 AM on April 12, 1861 when Fort Sumter was attacked to protect slavery and other notions of white supremacy. Boiled down, the Civil War was about a small group of elites who used arguments about racism–wrapped in a patina of false patriotism and illusions of honor–to get a lot of poor folks to die in a war fought to protect the “rights” of a small group of elites to steal the labor of others.
Before the shooting started, there were many who sought a compromise to avoid the coming bloodshed. From 1820 to 1861, the Confederates made demand after demand and every time the demands were met–the goal post was moved and new demands were issued. Finally their demands left zero room for compromise as their minority demanded absolute capitulation from the majority to their crazy ass ideas and fantasies. They were called out on their bullshit and they responded with treason and violence.
In many ways, the current skirmish over funding the Government for the next six months and the larger coming battle over Paul Ryan’s Path to a Galtian Utopia has very strong echoes of the build up to the Civil War. The names of the Parties have flipped, but the battle lines are similar. One side is unwilling to compromise and welcomes chaos with giddy excitement. The other is willing to embrace painful compromise to preserve the Union–agreeing to meet the Confederates far more than halfway time and time again. And yet–then as now–any compromise with the Confederates is never enough. Each new agreement just opens the door to more crazy and a fresh new unreasonable demand.
I guess they’re just celebrating Confederate History Month…Post + Comments (154)