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Trump's lawyer defends the Confederacy's secession - equates Lee to Washington
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer John Dowd forwarded an email to associates that expressed support for the South's secession from the Union in the 1860s. Dowd sent this email to conservative journalists, government officials, and Dowd's friends, among others. The email originated from Jerome Almon, a right wing nutcase who runs websites that focus on conspiracy theories.
Subject line: "The Information that Validates President Trump on Charlottesville."
"You cannot be against General Lee and be for General Washington... Both men led rebellions "against the ruling government... There literally is no difference between the two men."
We are beginning to see how deep this goes. The gloves are off and Trump's mask has been pulled aside. Make no mistake, Trump has chosen a lawyer that reflects his core values.
That 'Lee is no different than Washington' blurb is some seriously stupid sh...err...schtuff.
Washington rebelled against a system of government, Lee supported the exact same form of government, but with an extra layer of protection for the institution of slavery.
Washington was at best a middling general, Lee was at best a general who won most of the risks that he took, both might be still taught at West Point, but not as shining examples of modern warfare.
Washington personally helped create a united America, Lee endeavored to tear America apart.
Washington was one of the first Americans, Lee rejected calling himself an American, preferring to consider himself a Virginian.
Napoleon was quoted as saying that people wanted him to be another Washington, meaning that the wanted Napoleon to be different than how he turned out. So no, Washington wasn't just like Napoleon...or Shaka Zulu...or Alexander the Great...or Ramses...the leaders noted were all despots.
"You cannot be against Lee and for Washington" - oh, yes...yes, you can. Anyone who finds an equivalence between the two men is just fooling himself.
I saw a response on Twitter to the whole "Washington/Lee" thing from a black man who weighed in with his opinion, which was (paraphrasing, since I can't find the tweet now), "Washington didn't revolt against a government for the right to keep my ancestors as slaves. Lee did."
I think there's a good point there--nobody argues that Washington (along with several of the Founding Fathers) had slaves. Nobody argues that it was morally wrong for them to do so. But their motivations for the Revolutionary War didn't have the right to own slaves as one of their core tenets (their gripes were primarily based on taxes, trade, and their treatment by British officials), whereas in the American Civil War, it was *the* driving force (and you can argue it was about States' Rights, but one of those States' Rights the Confederacy was fighting to keep was the right to own another human being. You cannot unlink the two.)
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer John Dowd forwarded an email to associates that expressed support for the South's secession from the Union in the 1860s. Dowd sent this email to conservative journalists, government officials, and Dowd's friends, among others. The email originated from Jerome Almon, a right wing nutcase who runs websites that focus on conspiracy theories.
Subject line: "The Information that Validates President Trump on Charlottesville."
"You cannot be against General Lee and be for General Washington... Both men led rebellions "against the ruling government... There literally is no difference between the two men."
We are beginning to see how deep this goes. The gloves are off and Trump's mask has been pulled aside. Make no mistake, Trump has chosen a lawyer that reflects his core values.
Actually this debate has gone on for more than a century among legal and constitutional scholars. Going by the constitution and US laws at the time there was good reason to say what the Confederate States did in succession was perfectly legal. Go a step forward, once they established themselves as an independent nation, US Troops occupying Fort Sumter amounted to a foreign military occupying a fortified structure within their nation. They gave the troops at the fort ample opportunity to leave the fort to return back to their own country. Because they didn't, the Confederate troops felt justified in removing an occupying force from their country. It's all about perspective. One must be able to look at history honestly, impartially, and see things from the perspective of all sides involved.
Have to admit that I didn't see it coming. I thought that Trump would surely have had the basic common sense to pick a lawyer that at least APPEARED to have some mainstream views. Not one that is dumb enough to publicly parrot some white supremacist gobbledygook. The man is his own worst enemy.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer John Dowd forwarded an email to associates that expressed support for the South's secession from the Union in the 1860s. Dowd sent this email to conservative journalists, government officials, and Dowd's friends, among others. The email originated from Jerome Almon, a right wing nutcase who runs websites that focus on conspiracy theories.
Subject line: "The Information that Validates President Trump on Charlottesville."
"You cannot be against General Lee and be for General Washington... Both men led rebellions "against the ruling government... There literally is no difference between the two men."
We are beginning to see how deep this goes. The gloves are off and Trump's mask has been pulled aside. Make no mistake, Trump has chosen a lawyer that reflects his core values.
Get over it- don't you have more important concerns?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Indigo Cardinal
I saw a response on Twitter to the whole "Washington/Lee" thing from a black man who weighed in with his opinion, which was (paraphrasing, since I can't find the tweet now), "Washington didn't revolt against a government for the right to keep my ancestors as slaves. Lee did."
I think there's a good point there--nobody argues that Washington (along with several of the Founding Fathers) had slaves. Nobody argues that it was morally wrong for them to do so. But their motivations for the Revolutionary War didn't have the right to own slaves as one of their core tenets (their gripes were primarily based on taxes, trade, and their treatment by British officials), whereas in the American Civil War, it was *the* driving force (and you can argue it was about States' Rights, but one of those States' Rights the Confederacy was fighting to keep was the right to own another human being. You cannot unlink the two.)
Objectively, it was legal at the time, morality is subjective. Judged in the context of their times I have no problem with either and believe it unfair to judge them with 21st century eyes.
Have to admit that I didn't see it coming. I thought that Trump would surely have had the basic common sense to pick a lawyer that at least APPEARED to have some mainstream views. Not one that is dumb enough to publicly parrot some white supremacist gobbledygook. The man is his own worst enemy.
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Trump's lawyer defends the Confederacy's secession - equates Lee to Washington
tRump's lawyer defends the Confederacy's secession - equates Lee to Washington
