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| Only Victor Davis Hanson could write this |
| 2004-04-28 |
| Mr. Lincoln Gives a Press ConferenceâSeptember 1, 1864 Some thoughts to keep in mind as we surround Fallujah Mr. Lincoln, you promised victory over our enemies, but as the recent attack on our capital itself by General Early proves, isnât it more accurate to say you cannot even protect us from assault in our own homes? Can you right now guarantee that we will not see another surprise attack on Washington? Mr. President, we are now in the fourth year of what clearly has become a quagmire with no end in sight. Opposition to your conduct of the war is growing by the day. Do you attribute this present mess to your own failure to communicate? Mr. Lincoln, will you please respond to charges that you used the attack on Fort Sumner as cover to wage a preplanned war to punish the South? Mr. Lincoln, please. Almost every day now we hear of our soldiers being killed with little progress in either Virginia or Georgia. Can you tell us why General Sherman seems unwilling or unable to take Atlanta? And was it, in fact, a mistake to send General Sherman deep into the South, when the greater enemy, General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, are still undefeated in near sight of our capital? If we cannot pacify Virginia, why in Godâs name are we in Georgia? Isnât Sherman diverting attention from the real enemy near our capital? Mr. President, when exactly was the last time you visited a war hospital and have you spent any time recently at any of our national cemeteries? With all due respect, Mr. President, may I ask why and how after months of searching and constant patrols, no one can find, much less capture Nathan Bedford Forrest, who as a result has become a folk hero to millions? Mr. President, why after years of occupation are there still killings and assassinations in Missouri and Kentucky? Were not these areas supposed to have been pacified long ago? Mr. Lincoln, would you please respond to General McClellanâs charges at the recent Chicago convention that with the establishment of the Emancipation Proclamation you misled this nation in the reasons you gave for this war. Is it not true, Mr. President, that you assured Americans that you have started this war to preserve the Union and protect federal property in the South? Yet now you claim that in fact our sons are dying to free slaves and provide equality to the Negro? What was the real reason, Mr. Lincoln, that you cooked up this war and got us into this mess, and why did you not tell us the full story when the shooting started? Mr. Lincoln, are you aware of a small cabal of abolitionists in your War Department who in secret planned this disaster to further their own hidden support for the Negro and hoodwinked you into starting this war of northern aggression? Given the illustrious war record of General McClellan and your own murky past as a soldier, isnât it wiser for the American people to turn over their armies to someone with some real experience with war? Mr. President, Sir, do you not think it is high time now to apologize for this summerâs slaughter in Virginia, and the thousands of poor innocent boys who were butchered there due to the ignorance and incompetence of your generals, about whose shortcomings you most surely knew? Can we at least have from you an âIâm sorryâ to all the kin of the poor dead? Mr. Lincoln: We have now seen a long train of failure. And after the removal of Generals McDowell, Hooker, Pope, and a score of others, isnât it clear that you have no clear idea how to defeat the enemy, much less the proper person to lead us out of this present and mostly unnecessary mess? Isnât it also true Mr. President, that in light of the recent draft riots and attrition in the field, we have too few troops at the front? Why are we not committing another 40,500 soldiers now to ensure that we never see again anything like these recent weeks of constant Confederate aggression? Rumors are flying, Mr. President, of general unhappiness in your cabinet, and of statements by Mr. Stanton and others that you are simply not qualified either in temperament or character to finish the warâand especially that you were obsessed with freeing the slaves and starting this war when the southern states wished only to leave in peace and posed no direct threat to the security of the United States? Why is it, Mr. President, that so many of your ex-friends and subordinates now speak so poorly about you? Now that this war clearly has failed to reunite the Union and that you, Sir, will not be reelected as President of the United States, can you at last admit where you were in error and to the mistakes that led us to our present defeat? Mr. Lincoln, do you not think it was naïve to assume that Northerners could impose by force Yankee-style democracy and culture on the traditional society of the South? Isnât this arrogance on our part to think we can force others to be like us? What is it about you, Mr. Lincoln, that leads your opponents to such vitriol and invective, to such a degree that you appear as an ape in cartoons and a scoundrel and nave almost daily in public essays and opinion-pieces? And why do the Europeans especially seem to hate you, so much so that England threatens to intervene on the side of our enemies? Now that it is clear that neither General Grant can take Richmond nor General Sherman Atlanta, have you thought of stopping the war and bringing our boys back home? When will you resign Mr. President? Gentlemen of the Press. I have ordered General Sherman to take Atlanta. And when he succeeds, I think all your questions shall be answered. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #13 JDB: The left likes the Constitution as long as you don't try to enforce the "mean" parts. Section 9, Clause 2 of the US Constitution: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. The Constitution is silent on who may suspend habeas corpus, but then the if you gotta do it, it's probably got to be done in a hurry -- no time for deliberations. Bottom line: The US government has the power to suspend habeas corpus when attacked. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2004-04-28 7:58:37 PM |
| #12 Shit. Change Shiloh to Teheran and Kentucky to Damascus. Apologies. Shit! |
| Posted by: Lt. Col. Allen B. West (reinstated) 2004-04-28 7:21:10 PM |
| #11 Date: September 11, 2007 To: WoT Commander, John Weasely Clarke CC: CINC, President John F'in Kerry Subject: Insubordination to Idiots in Charge You commenced your cowardly and contemptable persecution of me soon after the battle of Shiloh, and you have kept it up ever since. You did it because I reported to When in spite of all this I returned with my command, well equipped by captures, you began your work of spite and persecution, and have kept it up. And now this second brigade, organized and equipped without thanks to you or the government, a brigade which has won a reputation for successful fighting second to none in the army, taking advantage of your position as the commanding general in order to further humiliate me, you have taken these brave men from me. I have stood your meanness as long as I intend to. You have played the part of a damned scoundrel, and are a coward, and if you were any part of a man I would slap your jaws and force you to resent it. You may as well not issue any more orders to me, for I will not obey them. And I will hold you personally responsible for any further indignities you try to inflict upon me. You have threatened to arrest me for not obeying you orders promptly. I dare you to do it, and I say that if you ever again try to interfere with me or cross my path, it will be at the peril of your life. I will reduce Mekkah to rubble and take the oilfields forthwith. This required campaign has demanded your attention and action for far longer than a sane man should have to tolerate. Do not test my patience nor my love for freedom ever again. |
| Posted by: Lt. Col. Allen B. West (reinstated) 2004-04-28 7:18:37 PM |
| #10 It wasn't just Southern racial views gaining currency; it was generalized 'compassion fatigue' after 10 years and the Republicans selling out to gain Florida for Hayes over Tilden. I was thinking of Honest Abe today when some twit on NPR breathlessly claimed that no American citizens had ever been denied Habeas Corpus. They were discussing Padilla and the Saudi goof held in the brig as 'enemy combatants'. The statement went unchallenged. Of course, Abe suspended Habeas Corpus and locked up many 'Copperheads' (Southern sympathizers). We got over it. |
| Posted by: JDB 2004-04-28 5:35:35 PM |
| #9 That's what I meant LH. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-28 5:33:10 PM |
| #8 a lot of historians would dispute that Ship. We werent losing militarily(in 1876, I mean), there was a failure of will in a North that was increasingly sympathetic to Southern racial views. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-04-28 3:49:51 PM |
| #7 You're right LH. But there weren't enough troops in the world to enforce a 1965 world view in 1865. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-28 3:46:57 PM |
| #6 You can win the war and lose the peace. Dont cut and run like you did in 1876. Anonymous Reconstruction era Southern Black. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-04-28 3:09:37 PM |
| #5 "General Beauregard, I regret that I have not written sooner. You know how difficult it is to keep in touch when on the march. Hope to see you soon." Gen. W.T. Sherman |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-04-28 3:02:15 PM |
| #4 General Johnston, My compliments, sir. We did not lose that war. We are merely waiting for supplies. |
| Posted by: P.G.T. Beauregard 2004-04-28 1:34:23 PM |
| #3 jawa, I wish Bush would say something like that. |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2004-04-28 12:34:05 PM |
| #2 If that idiot JB Hood hadn't skedadled off to Nashville I still be holding Willie T. off. |
| Posted by: J Johnston 2004-04-28 12:27:05 PM |
| #1 "If I were to read, much less answer all the attacks made on me, this office might as well as be closed for any other business. I do the best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said about me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, then ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference." Abraham Lincoln |
| Posted by: jawa 2004-04-28 12:23:11 PM |