I'm a glutton for punishment

[PragMantisT]

I can't stop myself from reading the letters to the editor in the ArkDemoZette. I could always poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick.

Today's topic was Robert E Lee, southern super hero.

I was born up north, but have lived in Ark most of my life. I consider myself a southerner by association but a southerner nonetheless. There is a cult of Robert E Lee down south. One of the ltte today decried any maligning of REL with maligning George Washington. Both took up arms against the government that provided for them for a good portion of their lives.

I contend that REL was a traitor. Blasphemy down here. I also contend that George Washington was a traitor also. Not to the US but to the UK.

Today we celebrate Presidents' day. They do not celebrate Presidents' day in the UK (though they do celebrate Guy Fawkes day).
To the victor, Washington is a hero. To the vanquished, not so. Do southern culters not realize that REL was on the side of the vanquished, thus there hero is not the hero of the victor?

Julius Caesar was a hero to Romans, not to Gauls nor to the other tribes conquered. Hannibal was a hero to the Carthiginians, not the Romans. I doubt that the Romans allowed a Hannibal day in Carthage post 2nd Punic war. Though the Carthiginians were probably saddled with a day off in honor of Scipio Africanus.

I understand that REL was a fine man and a great general, and I hate being at odds with my neighbors, but worship of a guy on the losing side escapes me. That's the best southern culture can do?

Anyone afraid of the residents of Troy, the Trojans, a popular mascot for athletic teams. They were utterly destroyed. Of course they allegedly became the Romans, not as popular a mascot, nor are the Greeks, nor the Athenians. But the Spartans, winners.

Any thoughts? How can I approve of REL?

[Deja Q]

1. History is revised from the viewpoint of the winners

It's up to you as to who you want to approve of. Other people have no right to impose their will on others, though they have the right to say you're wrong and say why. Or so modern morality claims, though you see far more republicans trash cars with Dem bumperstickers on it than vice-versa and so on, and that alone speaks volumes...

Had REL won, all of this would be reversed and we'd be living under a differently defined sense of morality. If you could call such a travesty "morality". Oh well...

[stopthegop]

2. he's viewed as a traitor now...but the thinking

was different then...the first loyalty was to state, not nation...for Lee (and many others) to join the Union side would have been treason by their lights...prior to the war between the states there wasn't the overarching concept of the 'union'...IIRC New York even specified when ratifying the constitution that they reserved the right to pull out later if they chose...

[tom_paine]

3. From the movie "Gettysburg"

"I will settle this argument once and for all. There are those of you, perhaps, who think that you are descended from an ape. There might even be those of you who think I am descended from an ape. But I challenge the man to say that General Robert E. Lee is descended from an ape."

I see they're still using the same logic to "disprove" evolution down there...

[BillZBubb]

4. Lee was a traitor

All the talk about things being different/states more important is Southern revisionism.

Washington was not a traitor, because under accepted political theory he was fighting tyranny. He was being forced to live under a system of laws and regulations where he had no vote or input. Washington also was involved and supported petitioning the Crown to change its ways and allow representation. Those efforts came to nothing. He tried to accomplish his goals within the legal framework and didn't fight until those attempts failed.

Washington was in rebellion, but he was no traitor.

Robert E. Lee was a traitor, plain and simple. He was a member of the U.S. army. He took the oath, yet reneged on it. He had the right to vote. He and his state were represented in Congress. There is no reasonable claim of tyranny. The Southerners could not cite one instance of unconstitutional actions by the U.S. government to warrant secession. They just didn't like the outcome of a fair election.

Lee and his fellow traitors made no attempt to peacefully resolve their grievances or legally obtain secession in the courts. Instead, they attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumpter. If that is not treason, maybe I need a new copy of the U.S. Constitution-where it is spelled out for all to see.

[PragMantisT]

5. Thanks

Good point re: Washington rebellion vs treason.