Malice Towards Some

From Old Virginia Blog:

22 April 2010


Malice Toward Some?









































As I predicted, Governor McDonnell's apology for failing to mention slavery in his Confederate History Month proclamation (as well as the fact he re-issued the proclamation and included slavery), did nothing to dissuade his critics. Politicians, CW bloggers, and "journalists" have continued their assault on McDonnell while attacking those who simply wished to celebrate and honor their Confederate heritage and their ancestors' sacrifice; all this despite the Governor's mea culpa. Again, this was all predictable and simply proves my belief that much (though not all) of the criticism was simply political grandstanding to bash McDonnell because he's a conservative Republican - or to gain attention from a fawning press which is always more than happy to paint certain Southerners as ignorant, toothless hicks who hate everyone and everything except Hee-Haw and NASCAR. Others have made similar observations. Dan Gainor at Fox News is just one. Here's an excerpt from his recent commentary:



"For all the outrage – real and manufactured – over this minor incident, one need only look to the White House to gain guidance on how to treat the South both now and then. President Lincoln (a Republican, you’ll recall) wanted to heal his nation and honor the dead on both sides. His second inaugural address called for 'malice toward none, with charity for all.' Even President Obama has been far more charitable to Confederates than the media – going so far as to lay a wreath at a Confederate memorial."





You can read the rest of Ganior's comments here.



In the most recent issue of CWPT's Hallowed Ground (which I received yesterday), there was a short, but interesting, interview with historian Robert K. Krick. I've heard Krick speak several times and he always manages to say something quite profound--in my view anyway--and often with humor. Though the interview in HG has nothing directly to do with the current debate surrounding Confederate History Month, I thought a few of his words from that interview would be quite appropriate for this post and might shed some light on a debate that has generated little more than heat up to this point:



". . . the eternal great lesson of the war is the vast cost in blood and treasure of political fanaticism. Humans always have been certain of the virtue of their beliefs of all kinds, and far too many welcome the chance to bludgeon others into their version of the light. The Dark Ages resulted . . . and the Civil War . . . and unbelievable 20th-century horrors. And there remains ample self-righteous fanaticism afoot today."



Well said Mr. Krick, well said. Too bad there are those who would prefer to score political points and agenda items rather than follow the example of these two old veterans, as well as heed the wisdom of Krick's words.





Posted by Richard G. Williams, Jr. at 7:00 AM