“...in a 1998 interview in the magazine, ashcroft said that he and southern partisan must speak up to defend robert e. lee, stonewall jackson and jefferson davis, "or else we'll be taught that these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda."

The main point is that these individuals are not defending slavery. They even seem to describe it as “some perverted agenda.” You may (as I definitely do) disagree with their interpretation of history---but you have no logical or moral right to accuse of them of racism!

I have been having so much fun watching Trent Lott these days. Race is the third rail for Republicans and neo Conservatives: Willie Horton, suburb/inner city, support for public schools, affirmative action, upstate vs downsstate, Nixon's Southern Strategy. This isn't a dirty little secret. It has been in everybody's mind for the last twenty-five years.

David,
That's an odd reading of ashcroft's quote. YOu aren't the first to do it, but I frankly can't get my head around that interpretation of what he's saying. The point of his quote seems to be we need to *defend these men* against those who *teach* that these men gave their lives for a *perverted agenda.* I can't understand any reading of this other than what Ashcroft has a problem with is the descriptin of their purpose as a "perverted agenda." In other words, it wasn't perverted.

Now, we can have a second argument that he wasn't referring to slavery per se, but the usual list of stuff confederacy defenders trot out. But, if Ashcroft wasn't making the point as I described, what the hell point is he making?

“But, if Ashcroft wasn't making the point as I described, what the hell point is he making?”

W.J. Cash who wrote “The Mind of the South” argued that many Southerners embrace a make believe version of their history. I have encountered a number of these folks who adamantly insist that slavery was not the number one reason for the Civil War. One of these people was a Jewish lady and her family had roots in the Old South that began before the Civil War. I did not get the impression that this woman was a right wing fanatic!

John Ashcroft almost certainly believes that the Confederate military and political leaders were actually fighting against Northern imperialism and legitimate states rights issues. I personally consider this to be ludicrous and intellectually embarrassing. Nonetheless, a number of people seem sincere when uttering such nonsense. You have every right to conclude that they are illogically defending the indefensible, but you cannot call them racists.

Okay, but at some point when people are illogically defending the indefensible you have to question why.

If I started illogically arguing that Mossad was behind the attacks on 9/11, and held on to this belief for my life, there would be nothing anti-semitic about such a view per se, but my willingness to hold onto this belief in spite of logic of evidence would rightfully raise some questions about why.

Could someone supply the link to Hoagland's op ed in today's Washington Post. It says the problem with Lott is that he made visible the dirty secret that the Southern Republican party is built on an appeal to racism. He gets the obvious right. Look at Georgia where the first
Republican to be elected attacked the democrats for removing the Confederate Battle flag (mostly removing) from the state flag. That state flag was adopted in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Ed.

Could someone supply the link to Hoagland's op ed in today's Washington Post. It says the problem with Lott is that he made visible the dirty secret that the Southern Republican party is built on an appeal to racism. He gets the obvious right. Look at Georgia where the first
Republican to be elected attacked the democrats for removing the Confederate Battle flag (mostly removing) from the state flag. That state flag was adopted in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Ed.

Could someone supply the link to Hoagland's op ed in today's Washington Post. It says the problem with Lott is that he made visible the dirty secret that the Southern Republican party is built on an appeal to racism. He gets the obvious right. Look at Georgia where the first
Republican to be elected attacked the democrats for removing the Confederate Battle flag (mostly removing) from the state flag. That state flag was adopted in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Ed.

“Okay, but at some point when people are illogically defending the indefensible you have to question why.”

The obvious answer is that these people are not racists and feel uncomfortable with the past of their ancestors. It is a natural human inclination to ignore unpleasant truths. In many respects, their attitudes reflect the positive changes occurring in the modern South. Only the marginalized KKK and other similar groups overtly defend white supremacy. I live in Houston, Texas and I cannot recall ever meeting even one blatant white racist.

Hmmm. That guy is wack.

Josh has the whole Southern Partisan interview with Ashcroft on his blog. If I remember correctly, there is a line preceding the quote above that makes it even more clear that Ashcroft is defending Southern 'heroes' against any suggestion that there was anything wrong with their agenda of slavery and secession. In other words, he believes that those goals are not 'perverted.'

David, the only problem with that interpretation is that Ashcroft gave that interview to Southern Partisan Magazine, a magazine that doesn't make secret of it's conciet that...well...white people are better than everyone else. (I can only imagine what type of article in Southern Partisan prompted Bruce Glassman to write the following to the editor: "If in fact the threads of Democracy are loosening, as you so arrogantly suggest [to Reid Buckley], it is not a result of the "watering down" of the "original stock" that is to blame. Rather, I put to you, it is the insidious 70% Anglo-Irish, 30% German-Swiss predilection for beliefs in genetic, cutural, and tempermental superiority that you espouse which destroys a nation that has thrived on diversity."

It's a shame they pulled Southern Partisan off of the web, it'd would have been interesting what they have to say today, in 2002, about the Lott affair.

"John Ashcroft almost certainly believes that the Confederate military and political leaders were actually fighting against Northern imperialism and legitimate states rights issues."

Then what the hell is he doing in OUR government, when he is so enamoured of the treasonous enemy of the Unitied States!

'I live in Houston, Texas and I cannot recall ever meeting even one blatant white racist.'

As some one who grew up in Texas; you must not be looking very hard.

"As some one who grew up in Texas; you must not be looking very hard."

That's right, I'm not looking hard for these folks. I never run into them in my daily life. Why should I go out of my way to locate white racists? When is the last time you visited Houston? We have a black family on one side of our home, and a Hispanic on the other. Only recently, I noticed while shopping at Walmarts that I was the minority person in the store! A white racist would find Houston to be a hellish place to live.