Thanks, Mr. Snaggle-Tooth, for your lengthy treatise in response to my prior arguments. In it you write:

Ole Ben links a Liberty article by libertarian attorney Timothy Sandefur, ‘n I mus’ say it’s jus’ ‘bout as good as the pro-Unionist argumint kin git. Quite Jaffian it wuz, with the acrid odor of Claremont about it. But that article got picked to pieces in-iss un’, written by anothah libertarian attorney, Stephan Kinsella. (See this here response by Kinsella too.)

Well, in the interest of time, here’s an even better version of Sandefur’s argument (link leads to abstract, from which you can download a PDF). It’s a very well-documented and well-argued essay, and there isn’t much I can add to it in this forum. Some of its salient points: 1) The “compact theory” of the Constitution is weak and doesn’t hold up to careful scrutiny; 2) Unilateral secession is unconstitutional; 3) The South’s actions were not justifiable as a revolution; 4) The Confederate States were primarily motivated by a desire to protect slave property; and 5) Libertarians ascribing all the ills of national government consolidation at the feet of Lincoln and the Civil War have overreached and committed the post hoc fallacy.
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I’ve had a recent exchange with Snaggle-Tooth Jones over some historical issues of contemporary political significance: my initial response is here; his latest post is here. I haven’t had time to draft a thorough and thoughtful response to his latest, but in the meantime would like to point him to an eloquent piece written by my friend Joshua Sharf at the Denver Post‘s Gang of Four about Ron Paul’s misguided take on Civil War history (key excerpt follows):

Paul’s argument isn’t right. It isn’t even wrong. It misses so many fundamental facts of life in 1860 that it could only appeal to that narrow slice of the electorate whose civics education ended in 12th grade, but who actually remember what they were taught. You can’t be completely ignorant and make an argument like this. Less than a year out of college, I tried to make this same argument. It says something about RonPaul that on just about anything outside of economics, he sounds like a refugee from a college debating society.

And yes, Snaggle-Tooth, I have read Jeffrey Hummel’s book: His argument happens to suffer from much of the same narrow view. In that vein, you also may want to read a 2002 essay penned by an acquaintance of mine, titled “Liberty and Union, Now and Forever.” I’ll get back to you with more soon.

Fellow blogger Snaggle-Tooth Jones has leveled a misguided attack:

This here’s a YouTube video showin’ a 1938 reunion of Confederate and Yankee soldiers on the field of Gettysburg:

Now, here’s a litte question for Ben DeGrow and the othah no-account neocons (and damn fool libruls) who ‘r vexed over All Things Confederate: why do ye suppose these men cud get together in such a spirit of civility, if not chivalry?

I’d like to hear from ye in my commints box, Ben DeGrow.

Why d’ ye ‘spose U.S. Grant happily tolerated the playin’ of “Dixie” at this here event? Or why do ye ‘spose that Grant was so magnanimous at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox? Or why Lee defended Grant when one of his feller professers at Washington College made a deerogtoree comment ’bout Grant?

How unlike the Politically Correct Grant wuz. And among the ranks of the Politically Correct I include so-called conservatives like you. *Especially* conservatives like you, since y’all should know better.

‘L, anyway, it’s said that the Yankees in that YouTube video got chills done they spine when that Reb feller did the Rebel Yell. Y’all oughter still be gittin’ chills.

The Northern conservatives of the 21st century surely ain’t like the Northern conservatives of the 19th and early to mid-20th. More like damn fool libruls, I’d say.

First of all, I had to chuckle when reading and finding out that I am “vexed over All Things Confederate.” I like to think I have a more balanced view informed by a fairly thorough and widespread reading of primary and secondary sources in 19th century American history. Though I by no means have come close to plumbing the depths, I do believe I’ve read and studied enough to form intelligent opinions on the topic. And no, it has not led me into political correctness – which Mr. Jones should feel free to elaborate on more in depth (as well as provide examples).
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Read William Bennett’s impassioned plea to teach kids the soul of American history once more, published today in National Review Online. I share Dr. Bennett’s passion: So many young Americans today are truly deprived in this respect.

Bennett explains:

Many of our history books are either too tendentious — disseminating a one-sided, politically correct view of the history of the greatest nation that ever existed; or, worse, they are boring — providing a watered down, anemic version of a people who have fought wars at home and abroad for the purposes of liberty and equality, conquered deadly diseases, and placed men on the moon.

And later:

In his farewell address to the nation, the large-minded amateur historian President Ronald Reagan warned of what we see in our nation’s report card today, saying “If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit.” How much more dangerous is this now, as we fight a war for our very existence and expect young Americans to sign up and fight for a country and way of life worthy of their own lives? In the long run, why will future Americans want to stand up and fight for a country they do not even know — a country in which they are born aliens? How do we ask them to fight, and perhaps die, for a country they do not know?

Our history is full of controversy, suffering, struggling, overcoming, and winning. There is no reason to elevate its failings at the expense of its successes, nor is there reason to ignore its failings or, worse, turn it into a snooze-fest. The task is to tell the truth — but can we not do so in an interesting, lively, and glorious way — the way I know and have seen some teachers do?

There’s so much to discuss and explore in the themes Bennett raises in this article, but textbooks and teachers seem to be one great place to start. Let’s promote and reward the truly good ones.

Is this merely a pipe dream of mine that the Republic can yet be saved by educated young men and women who are inspired to really learn and understand our nation’s past, and write the next bold chapter in American history? Sigh. I hope not.

Independence Day is almost upon us, but it appears about half of Americans couldn’t care less about the real reason for the celebration. The results of a new survey from Zogby are disappointing – albeit not terribly surprising – and a bit enlightening as well.

The pollster asked 1,884 American adults what the #1 reason for celebrating the coming holiday is (a holiday that just happens to be named Independence Day):

Just 48% of those surveyed say that they specifically mark the Fourth of July as a time to celebrate America’s independence. Another 33% say they see the holiday as an opportunity to spend time with family and friends, while much smaller percentages look at the Fourth as just a day off from work (6%), or as a break from the routine to allow some summer travel (2%).

Can’t figure out what the other 11% were thinking, but “the chance to relive childhood pyromaniac tendencies” didn’t appear anywhere in the story. The breakdown was the most interesting feature, and perhaps the latest exhibit in the Red State-Blue State phenomenon:

When it comes to celebrating America’s independence, there is a huge division down party lines, the poll shows. Sixty-five percent of Republicans say they use the Fourth for that purpose, while just 30% of Democrats say the same. Almost half (48%) of independents agree.

Among men, 55% said they celebrate the nation’s independence on the Fourth, compared to 42% of women. Patriotism appears to generally increase with age. While 55% of those age 65 and older specifically celebrate national independence, just 40% of 18-29 year-olds agreed. There was some small differences depending on geography – those living in the West (53%), South (50%), and Central/Great Lakes (50%) areas celebrate independence more than those in the East (40%), while those in rural areas (56%) and small cities (51%) do so more than large city residents (47%) and suburbanites (43%).

And yet, true to our great heritage, Americans remain stubborn defenders of tradition, even if many of them don’t seem to care much about the tradition itself:

Although they may not be celebrating the true meaning of Independence Day, Americans are adamant about keeping the holiday on the Fourth of July, regardless of what day of the week it may fall. Seventy-seven percent say they would not favor moving the holiday to the first Monday of the month to simplify time off from work, mirroring the treatment of several other holidays. And 80% say that celebrating the Fourth of July on a different day would diminish its meaning.

Thank a veteran or active-duty serviceman for their great sacrifices as we remember those who “gave the last full measure of devotion,” from Lexington & Concord to Baghdad and a thousand places in between.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life.
America, America,
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And ev’ry gain divine.

Editor’s note: I have included my most highly recommended Lincoln book selections at the end of this post, if you care to read that far.

Since the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was subsumed under the generic President’s Day label, the significance of tomorrow often is forgotten. But I would have a difficult time omitting a commemorative mention of the significance of February 12 – especially this year.

In both the Gregorian and Western Christian church calendars, 2006 runs the same pattern as 1865, the closing months of Lincoln’s life – since recounted in legendary memory. The assassination of the 16th President took place on the night of Good Friday, April 14, the same date in which American Christians and others will celebrate Christ’s divine sacrifice on Mt. Calvary this year. The timing of Lincoln’s murder established a quasi-religious mythology surrounding the Great Emancipator.

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I’m probably not the first one to tell you to read Mark Steyn’s new article, “It’s the Demography, Stupid.” Reading it may be the equivalent of having a bucket of cold water splashed on you while you’re lying asleep in bed. But you may be glad you woke up when you did. Simply a must-read.

President Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation (October 20, 1864):

It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, defending us with his guardian care against unfriendly designs from abroad, and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our own household. It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their campus, and our sailors on the rivers and seas, with unusual health. He has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while he has opened to us new sources of wealth, and has crowned the labor of our workingmen in every department of industry with abundant rewards. Moreover, he has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions.

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may be then, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid, that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust, and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased him to assign as a dwelling-place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.

In testimony where of, I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

There lives in those words a lot of relevance to our nation’s circumstances today. Of even more enduring relevance, the opening of the 107th Psalm, from the New American Standard Bible:

1Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary
3And gathered from the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.
4They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;
They did not find a way to an inhabited city.
5They were hungry and thirsty;
Their soul fainted within them.
6Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He delivered them out of their distresses.
7He led them also by a straight way,
To go to an inhabited city.
8Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
9For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

May you see afresh the LORD’s lovingkindess in your life. May the LORD bless you with a grateful heart during this Thanksgiving holiday, a grateful heart that lives on throughout the year. Peace and blessings to you and yours – and save some turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing leftovers for me!

Jan Crawford Greenburg of the Chicago Tribune raises the specter today that political expediency might steer the Bush White House away from nominating an avowedly outspoken anti-Roe candidate for the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court Nomination Blog speculates on the significance of reported statements that the President’s people have dropped strong conservative Judge Edith Jones from the list.

I don’t think there’s too much to read into this solitary report – unless you are starved for news on the subject amid the raging silence of recent days. First, Jones wasn’t very high on many experts’ A-lists as a potential replacement (even though Main Street USA reveled in her potential role as “the nuclear nominee”). Michael Luttig, Sam Alito, John Roberts, Emilio Garza, and Janice Rogers Brown have all been better bets. Second, I am inclined to believe that the shrewd Bush White House is well-prepared for the impending struggle and will probably unload a tactical surprise somewhere during the process. Third, it would be folly for the President to alienate his base and betray a campaign promise.

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness….”

HAPPY 229TH BIRTHDAY, USA!

May you all safely enjoy your Independence Day weekend celebrations with friends and family!

If ever there were an occasion in our day for playing the Ashokan Farewell, it would be the funeral of Shelby Foote. The haunting melodic theme of the PBS series “The Civil War” and its most well-recognized face and voice – brought together one last time.

Before Foote achieved national face recognition on the PBS series for his colorful recounting of wartime tales, he was a successful novelist and author of the grand, daunting trilogy “Civil War: A Narrative” (the three volumes in paperback weigh more than 9 pounds combined) – ranked 15th on Modern Library’s Top 100 list of 20th century nonfiction English-language works. I count myself as one of the few who made it through the 2,800+ pages of rich and detailed military history. The fraternity of those of us who have made it through and are under the age of 30 must be very small, indeed. But what a hallmark of dedicated research and writing, a sign of a passion for telling the story behind the subject matter.

The Washington Times reports today that Mr. Foote died Monday night in Memphis, Tenn. He was 88 years old.

Time to bring out the fiddle and guitar for a sentimental replaying of a famous haunting melody.

The homosexual advocacy group Equality Forum is organizing a celebration event at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the 4th of July that will include commemorations of “gay icons in U.S. history,” a recent news report says.

Among the “outed” figures? You guessed it… Abraham Lincoln.

“[Former N.J.] Governor [James] McGreavey showed mainstream Americans that homophobia has kept those who seek elected office in the closet,” said Malcolm Lazin, executive director of Equality Forum. “These public officials include Abraham Lincoln, who saved the nation, emancipated slaves and founded the modern Republican Party.”

Lazin said he has read The Intimate Life of Abraham Lincoln. “As a gay man and an amateur American historian, I find the evidence indisputable that the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was a gay man,” he said.

“Anyone not blinded by homophobia will recognize that the president who preserved our republic was gay. It is time that U.S. historical figures be emancipated from the closet,” Lazin added.

Ah, the lofty credentials of Malcolm Lazin, the amateur historian, telling us that all the professional historians who have debunked C.A. Tripp’s shoddy, agenda-driven The Intimate Life of Abraham Lincoln – not to mention the thorough, knowledegeable and reasoned critique from Tripp’s former colleague Philip Nobile – are plagued by homophobia. Welcome to the vast right-wing conspiracy, academia.

Are radical pro-homosexual advocacy groups so insecure about the depraved lifestyle they flaunt that they have to enlist great American historical figures as closet homosexuals on the most dubious, flimsy, and phony of evidence? The answer seems to be ‘yes.’

Right now, I’m probably feeding their insecurity by bringing more attention to the Equality Forum event than it deserves. If I weren’t worried that politically-correct American educational bureaucrats might some day soon decide to include Tripp’s debunked Lincoln thesis in a fourth-grade history curriculum, I’d probably just yawn in pity.

To the radical activists: go on with your agenda, if you must. You are free to do so. But stop lying and distorting history in the process. How about an honest discussion?

Call me ‘homophobic’ and play the ad hominem game all you want, there is NO serious evidence that our 16th president was gay. The more you try to press the point, the sillier you look.

Erratum: The correct title of Tripp’s book is The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, not The Intimate Life of Abraham Lincoln. The title of the book was incorrectly cited in the CNS News article above, and I didn’t catch the fact until later.

It’s been precisely three-and-a-half years since the fateful and tragic day of 9/11. Victor Davis Hanson looks back at the “turning points” since that day and judges American foreign policy successes up to this point. As always, Dr. Hanson is a must-read.

Hugh Hewitt has dangled another Vox Blogoli before us, and I couldn’t resist the temptation for this one…

“Does the Senate GOP Go McClellan or Go Grant if Harry Reid ‘Goes Gingrich?’”

According to the New York Times, Senate Minority Leader Reid has threatened to shut down the business of the Senate if Bill Frist and the Republicans remove the filibuster rule for judicial confirmations.

While awake to the danger of carrying the US Civil War-era historical analogy too far, I decided to address Hugh’s question creatively and analytically. I write as someone who grew up a Civil War buff – voraciously devouring all sorts of literature on the subject by the time I entered college – and later made the transformation to junior Civil War scholar, acquiring a masters degree in 19th century American history from Penn State University. I also write as an active Republican partisan.

The answer to Hugh’s question is simple: the Senate GOP needs to go Grant! The Ohio-born general did indeed resolve in 1864 “to fight it out on this line if it lasts all summer.” The lesson of Grant is that he devised a grand strategy for securing military victory over the Confederacy and stuck to it.

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