The Wow I Can't Believe That News Story Thread

[Lisnaholic]

When I first saw a news item about a Charlotteville statue and a group protesting its removal, I didn't imagine how things would escalate.

There's no turning back the clock, but imo the decision to remove Robert E. Lee's statue was a mistake from the start. After all, many people commemorated in statues have caused death and destruction; should they all be taken down? If anything, in multi-cultural societies, we should be putting statues up and if people are uneasy about glorifying Robert E. Lee, wouldn't it have been better to strike a balance by adding a statue of Frederick Douglass or some local equivalent as well?

Sad and alarming on lots of levels, the spiral of violence in Charlotteville has also obscured the original issue.

[Zhanteimi]

Muslim terrorism gets mentioned only when white people die.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

When I first saw a news item about a Charlotteville statue and a group protesting its removal, I didn't imagine how things would escalate.

There's no turning back the clock, but imo the decision to remove Robert E. Lee's statue was a mistake from the start. After all, many people commemorated in statues have caused death and destruction; should they all be taken down? If anything, in multi-cultural societies, we should be putting statues up and if people are uneasy about glorifying Robert E. Lee, wouldn't it have been better to strike a balance by adding a statue of Frederick Douglass or some local equivalent as well?

Sad and alarming on lots of levels, the spiral of violence in Charlotteville has also obscured the original issue.

Why was it a mistake? Lee lead a treasonous army that attacked and killed thousands of members of the US military, that's not typically something we memorialize here.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Why was it a mistake? Lee lead a treasonous army that attacked and killed thousands of members of the US military, that's not typically something we memorialize here.

I could give a **** about the Confederacy, but they're still the South's ancestors and they bled and died for their homes and families and country and whatnot, same as any US soldier in any other war, so I see no reason not to commemorate the soldiers themselves.

[Zhanteimi]

^

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

I could give a **** about the Confederacy, but they're still the South's ancestors and they bled and died for their homes and families and country and whatnot, same as any US soldier in any other war, so I see no reason not to commemorate the soldiers themselves.

The difference is that their war involved killing members of the US military. They don't deserve a memorial any more than Timothy McVeigh does.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

The difference is that their war involved killing members of the US military. They don't deserve a memorial any more than Timothy McVeigh does.

They were still our people and served as honorably or dishonorably as an member of the US military. And comparing Confederate soldiers to Timothy McVeigh is the kind of flippant, Northern disdain that makes Southerners want to fly the Stars and Bars in the first place. It's also the same attitude that leads to Republicans calling Democrats socialists and Democrats calling Republicans racists. Do you really think it's a constructive way to look at things?

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

They were still our people and served as honorably or dishonorably as an member of the US military. And comparing Confederate soldiers to Timothy McVeigh is the kind of flippant, Northern disdain that makes Southerners want to fly the Stars and Bars in the first place. It's also the same attitude that leads to Republicans calling Democrats socialists and Democrats calling Republicans racists. Do you really think it's a constructive way to look at things?

They weren't "our" people, they were people who declared themselves citizens of a foreign nation and waged war against the United States. The only way in which the McVeigh comparison isn't accurate is scale, the Confederacy was far worse. No idea if it's "constructive" or not, but it's the reality of what happened. I don't see any point in glorifying it.

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

They were still our people and served as honorably or dishonorably as an member of the US military. And comparing Confederate soldiers to Timothy McVeigh is the kind of flippant, Northern disdain that makes Southerners want to fly the Stars and Bars in the first place. It's also the same attitude that leads to Republicans calling Democrats socialists and Democrats calling Republicans racists. Do you really think it's a constructive way to look at things?

**** the Union and the Confederacy and every piece of **** that died in that stupid ****ing war. Most people in the north were only against slavery because they were repulsed by the idea of Africans living in America. Most northerners thought the best solution was to simply kill all the blacks and wash their hands of it. And honor the confederacy? Really? **** those ****s. I piss on their ****ing graves.

[Zhanteimi]