Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for May 06, 2010

I don’t want to nit pick, but the headful of lice shows too much dedication to the role.

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Well, at least they’re being fair - everyone plays canon fodder eventually.

Democracy in action… at least in simulation.

Didn’t the North have some sort of rule that you could pay your way out of being drafted? Did the South have something similar?

By the time Vietnam rolled around, that was no longer official policy, so you either had to have low friends in high places, or ROTC (Run Over To Canada)

what’s innacurate is the confed flag waving all over the place. Didn’t most units display a unit or state flag?

pschearer,,, Please remember, if everything you say is fact, it was the Democrat Party responsible for it.

True, Grampa, but today’s Confederate flag-wavers are all Republicans. The Democrats grew up.

cdward - that would be CANNON fodder with 2 n’s.

Canon fodder is another word for altar boys.

bada-bing and rimshot…

PSCHEARER What did Sherman do besides rape, burn, pillage, and plunder? Oh, yeah, he said “War is Hell.” They never did these things or own slaves before mid-nineteen century America. Must be typos in my Bible.

A man invests thousands in a slave or a horse. Is he going to beat that investment? Maybe you would, but not a rational man.

BrianCrook,

First off, I do not belong to any party but do observe both parties and their actions compared to their words.

When, exactly, did the Democrat party grow up?

Lew: There was never anything rational about slavery. Slaves were beaten all the time, often viciously. I don’t understand your comment about “They never did these things….” As for your Bible, does that include all the parts justifying slavery?

Regarding Sherman, I have read a fair amount of his writings and I find him an admirable man of principle! My particular favorite was his reply to a group of Southern ladies who complained about the destruction of their town. He responded that it was the women of the South who cheered as they sent their husbands and sons out to wage immoral war, so they had no right to complain when war came to their doorsteps. I believe that was the context for the famous “War is hell”.

In Georgia, Sherman spared towns that offered no resistance, but when he turned to South Carolina, he held them responsible for the whole war as the first state to secede and the first to fire on federal troops, so there was no holding back. I find it odd that Georgia gets all the publicity.

As for pillage and plunder, yes, gutting the Confederacy’s food source was exactly the point. But Sherman punished outright looters, and while I’m sure somebody somewhere got raped, I’ve never seen evidence, just general accusations. It was certainly not a weapon of war like in some modern conflicts.

As for your implication that I am irrational, that is beneath answering.

pschearer, nice post.

Although I’m no fan of Sherman, I’d just like to add that there are at least a couple instances of rape on record during Sherman’s march to the sea. The cases are on record because the soldiers who did it were executed by hanging. Sherman did not tolerate it.

@Lewreader:

Most male slaves did NOT cost “thousands;” they were about $500 (WAY cheaper than hired labor year after year.) They were viewed as expendable and replaceable, so THAT argument goes away.

Yes–they DID beat an “investment” that cost $500, to instill fear and nip in the bud what the owner saw as dangerous behavior–such as learning to read.

NDeez,

Converting the value of a dollar, $500 in 1860 dollars is approximately $9,985 in 1999 dollars. So as far as the money part is concerned, your both right.

http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Reference/Reference%20html%20files/MonetaryConversion.html

There have been some really good puns today==nit-picking and canon fodder!!

PS: This proves my post yesterday. There is nothing political in these re- inactions. It’s just a hobby, and a way of getting away from home, chores, and wife.

We had some re-enactment people at a big Scout jamboree. Brought a little cannon and fired it (blank) for the lads. The artillery officer explained that the life expectancy of guys on the cannon crew was about 4 minutes. Everybody fired at the cannon crew because a cannon could wipe out a hundred men with one round. Whoever was left on the cannon crew had authority to draft ANYBODY he saw to help serve the cannon. Some general was grousing because he got thusly drafted but there was nothing he could do about it.

Okay, so $500 in 1860 = $9985 in 1999, which probably brings it to $11000 in today’s dollar. That’s about the price of a cheap new car. Some people take very good care of their cars, regardless of price, and some will drive it into the ground and complain about their lousy cheap car. I’m sure people’s caretending of their personal property, whether it be a car or a slave, hasn’t changed in 150 years. So, both sides of the argument about treating or mistreating slaves are probably valid.

wonder how many of those guys are carrying cell phones or I phones or disposable lighters to light campfires of course, playing war is always fun as long as there is no chance of actually being killed and after a few days, you get to climb back into your SUV with a/c and dvd players and gps system and head for home to a nice, hot shower at your home filled with all the 21st century toys we are accustomed to

Our little town has taken to doing NORTHERN reenactments. Our refurbed 1800’s railway train chugs through town and gives tours during the event. It isn’t as much fun as actually burned down the south, but they seem to enjoy it.

Boys playing Soldier (Civil or Other Wars) with fake blood/injuries are having more fun than experiencing the Real Thing. I think it’s ok to let them “Act Out” all their aggressive behavior(s) and talk about it while enjoying a cold brew.

Everyone’s talking about Sherman, but nobody’s talking about Mr. Peabody.

Mythreesons said:

PS: This proves my post yesterday. There is nothing political in these re- inactions. It’s just a hobby, and a way of getting away from home, chores, and wife.

I’d like to believe this, however, unfortunately, my experience with the reinactors is showing otherwise. A woman I play music with is trying to force the band to not play “Battle Hymn of the Republic” at a Memorial day concert, and she has ranted on about that evil and treasonous Lincoln.

The fact that there are at least as many Confederate flags as American flags flying from lower class white’s homes and emblazoned on vehicles is also a cause for concern.

Nighthawks and Jehosaphat are the latest posters to point out the violence that is GT’s perennial target. For at least two months now, Trudeau has been satirizing those who make a game out of our frightening world. A liberal pacifist like GT must find it absurd to glorify the bloodiest war in U.S. history by reenacting it–more absurd even than playing at revolution, like the Tea Partiers, Jeff Redfern and the CIA, or strutting around while packing heat as in the Starbucks series.

What gives GT’s satire its bite is its genuine pity for these self-deluding characters who–like most of us including the cartoonist himself–need to escape occasionally from the violence of reality.

Why would someone play Jeff Davis at a Civil War reenactment? Davis was rear-echelon.

Now, a Mexican-American War reenactment (where he was a colonel) would be another story…

Aaaahhhh! The history of the USA? You’d think most white Americans owned black slaves but, as I understand, less than 3% ever owned slaves. Whites were also sold into slavery (by other names) but do not seem to be cared about so much.

This all makes me wonder what history would the black slave population have to look at if not for the Dutch slave traders? Many of those sold to the Dutch would have been wiped out by competing tribes in their homeland if not for the financial gain by selling them, but I hardly ever hear about that, Hmmm? Should thanks be given for even having a history to look at? Just curious?

palin drome, interesting observation re: GT’s anti-violence themes. If your point is correct, I’ll be looking forward to his satirization of Obama’s use of remote-control model airplanes to kill hundreds if Pakistani women and children. After all, according to the wanna-be Times Square bomber, revenge for drone attacks is why he planned to blow up New York with a Nissan Pathfinder.

Is president Obama creating a new generation of terrorist violence… and if so, shouldn’t GT hold him accountible for it?

We also forget that American Indians also owned slaves. Captured slaves were routinely used as sacrifices to the gods in many tribes. Some of them (like the Carib tribe) would even wipe out peaceful neighbors, take the women, and then castrate the boys under 12 for fattening up and eating.

For some reason, it’s politically popular to think of slavery as a particular US institution that will stain us forever, but the only thing unique about it here was that hundreds of thousands of people died in the cause of abolishing it. My great-great-grandfather was one of them, a Maine volunteer. Where else in the world did that happen?

Think of the irony… if not for Columbus, and then for Republicans, America would still be slave territory!

Sherman!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

What about Stonewall who modern day Christians worship in their homeschooling second to Jesus only?

He turned his cannon on fleeing, barefoot Mexicans and blasted them to kingdom come.

Slavery was wrong, but the Founders did understand the issue of States’ rights. Trudeau is trying to mock that issue, because it will be raising its head soon as the States opt out of Obamacare. http://www.i2i.org shows how Colorado will opt out. That is a state’s right to do.

baslimthebegger,

I wonder why you blame all previous wars on certain people? All previous deaths upon certain people? All that you wish to blame on others? Obviously the current administration is not accountable for! WHY?

Members of my family made the Long Walk (Trail of Tears), and yes, at least one of their slaves accompanied them to Oklahoma (I. T.). I know little about this history period of my family, except that “freedom, Education and Setting-up-in-business” were involved.

Slavery has always been an adjunct to Human Endeavor … and it has never been A Good Thing.

Ah, by the way, ever read a Motion Picture Contract?

JAJD,

Did it ever occur to you that what any Tribe/Clan/Village/Town/City/County/State/Religion/Family/Person…. etc. that may disagree with each other is capable of doing away with each other for any reason they may wish to and one of the reasons they get away with it is the way it is related to the people they communicate with and usually can restrict the communication to those same persons!

“The victors write history”, That is a term I heard from a personal photographer of Adolph Hitler while I was in Germany.

Does the term “Propaganda Machine” or MSM sound familiar?

Grampa, the Democratic Party began growing up around a century ago and took a great leap forward in the 1930s & ’40s. There have been some setbacks, but the Democrats are still more welcoming to progressive ideas & acts than are the Republicans.

Lew, your remark of this morning makes no sense.

Pschearer, I have not read Sherman’s writing, but I appreciate your remark about him.

If anyone is interested in the lives of slaves, I recommend Julius Lester’s TO BE A SLAVE. Hundreds of slave-holders beat, whipped, abused, & even killed thousands of slaves. Raping female slaves, in addition, was a good way for slave-holders to create more slaves.

BrianCrook,

Try being an American without race being the decision of or not!!!!!

BrianCrook,

I doubt if you were ever a slave and hence you have no right to accuse me or anyone of being a slave owner/converer/happy to promoteer/whateveryouare type of person?

Try to understand how those accused of what they are not guility of feel about those accusing them of that same assnine accusation!!!

Wake up and try to accept America instead of seperating all Races/Religions/Sexes/or what ever you can to seperate people in general

Try looking at history in any book you wish to look at. This could include the bilbe or any other book of your choice. Is control of any population being normal within the history of humanity???

Why do you prefer to blame the evil white, “NORTH AMERICANS”?

A lot of the earlier posts dealt with the issue of treatment of slaves. Whether they were beaten. Let’s say that an owner treated his property well. Fed them and clothed them well. Good living quarters.

Then he decides to sell some of his property. He keeps his big buck, but sells the buck’s wife and son.

Need I say more?

Joe-Allen, I read your post a couple of times, and I think you might be confusing Andrew Jackson of Tennessee (general and later president) and Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson of Virginia (famous CSA general and religious zealot). Although both were Presbyterians, Stonewall was better known for his religious views, and Old Hickory was dead by the time the Civil War Started.

Interestingly, there were Native American tribes aligned with both sides during the Civil War. Regardless of which side they helped, after the war they all got shafted anyway.

My earlier post to Ndeez about the cost of a slave was rushed because I had to leave for work. My point then was merely that they were expensive. I agree with Lewreader that slaves were an “investment,” one that could pay off in labor many times the initial cost over time if someone could afford the initial outlay. So killing them or crippling them to the point where they couldn’t work any more didn’t make sense unless the slave was perceived as such a danger that the owner was willing to write off his investment up to that point.

The point that I think Lewreader missed, however, is that violence or the threat of violence could still be used as a means of control. The slave owner didn’t have to ruin his “investment” by beating him to the point of death or disability. The slave owner only needed to beat him or maltreat him to the point of submission. In light of that, I seriously doubt any claims that slaves were not mistreated simply because they were expensive.

jeannie1212,

An interesting bit of Civil War trivia is that the last operating Confederate units east of the Mississippi included members of the Eastern Band of The Cherokee, who had no love for the Federal Government, due to the aformentioned Trail of Tears, and were allied with the Confederacy. They took part of the final battle (and final Confederate victory) at the Battle of Waynesville, but surrendered to the beseiged Union raiders once word of Lee and Johnston’s surrenders reached them.

seed_drill said, 5 days ago

The fact that there are at least as many Confederate flags as American flags flying from lower class white’s homes and emblazoned on vehicles is also a cause for concern. ———————————————————————————–

Fact? Not only is your remark stupid, its not fact. How do you know someone whose flying a Confederate flag from thier house is lower class? One fact for sure, is that you just proved yourself ignorant!