The Politico has a feature on Senator Jim Webb's Confederate Heritage roots that is worth reading. I guess this is what happens when you become a potential vice-presidential candidate. There is nothing particularly new in terms of the views expressed or for those who are familiar with Webb's heritage studies. We learn that Webb admires Robert E. Lee and has some choice words for those who would besmirch his good name:
The venerable Robert E. Lee has taken some vicious hits, as dishonest
or misinformed advocates among political interest groups and in
academia attempt to twist yesterday’s America into a fantasy that might
better service the political issues of today.... The greatest disservice on this count has been the attempt by these revisionist politicians and academics to defame the entire Confederate
Army in a move that can only be termed the Nazification of the
Confederacy.
And it wouldn't be complete without the standard account justifying secession:
The states that had joined the Union after the Revolution considered
themselves independent political entities, much like the countries of
Europe do today.... The 10th Amendment to the Constitution
reserved to the states all rights not specially granted to the federal
government, and in their view the states had thus retained their right
to dissolve the federal relationship
Yada, Yada, Yada, Yada... O.K...I get it. There is nothing surprising about such views as they are the standard stock phrases that emanate from certain quarters. The website also tried to make political hay out of a 1990 speech that Webb presented at the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Again, there is nothing surprising in it:
And so I am here, with you
today, to remember. And to honor an army that rose like a sudden wind out of
the little towns and scattered farms of a yet unconquered wilderness. That
drew 750,000 soldiers from a population base of only five million-less than
the current population of Virginia alone. That fought with squirrel rifles
and cold steel against a much larger and more modern force. That saw 60
percent of its soldiers become casualties, some 256,000 of them dead. That
gave every ounce of courage and loyalty to a leadership it trusted and
respected, and then laid down its arms in an instant when that leadership
decided that enough was enough. That returned to a devastated land and a
military occupation. That endured the bitter humiliation of Reconstruction
and an economic alienation from the rest of this nation which continued for
fully a century, affecting white and black alike.
Open up Webb's high school history text and I guarantee that you will find a sentence that reflects his referencing of Reconstruction as "bitter humiliation". As in the case with his earlier comments they are standard stock. It's ashame that Webb reduces further inquiry as stemming from nefarious motives. I assume Webb is an intelligent man; what does he see when he looks closely at the Confederate Memorial's friezes? Is this really just a monument to the common Confederate soldier? Is there really nothing more to think about given that it was Woodrow Wilson who addressed the audience at the unveiling of the monument in 1914 and who ordered federal office buildings to segregate employees along racial lines.
We could allow Politico to suck us into a silly debate about Webb's views on history, but I am not going to make too much about the fact that he is not a historian and has little to teach me about how we as Americans remember the past. To tell you the truth, I am much more interested in his proposed legislation that would offer full college tuition to those military personnel who serve three years and which is being resisted by the Bush administration and other Republicans in Congress.
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