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.
‘L, good. Nice t’ see y’all payin’ attenshun to me, at least. I’ll be draftin’ a response to Missur Sharf by and by, tho it will obviously be difficut fo’ me, ‘bein’ I only got a 6th-grade edurcashun ‘n all. (See my bio on my web site.) An’, since I gotta git up-ere past that 12th-grade edurcasun threshold, I ‘spose-att means I gotta spend mo’ than twice the time and energy. Hoo-dawgies, what a challenge!
But I will say sumpin’ here at-iss particlur juncture: I do thank that y’all have placed too much confeedince in the Offishul (which is to say, Laundered) Histry. The devil will be found in the oft-ignored details.
Till later, y’all.
Here ’tis:
http://coloradoconfederatarian.squarespace.com/journal/2008/1/7/messrs-sharf-and-degrow-respond.html