The Civil War was ENTIRELY about slavery

I haven't been watching a lot of news lately. MSNBC's terrible reporting makes me gag, CNN is too busy trying to show how cool they are since they're on the Twitters and the YouTubes, and Fox News is well, Fox News. So maybe I missed something, but I haven't heard a lot of talk about the American Civil War. You would think on the 150th anniversary of the darkest chapter in our nation's history would be something worth discussing. 9/11, significant as it was, can't go by without a 24-hour terror porn replay of the newscasts from the days events, yet the anniversary American Civil War, which left over 365,000 people dead, has gone by without much of a peep.

You know that cliché, "those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it"? Well, in an political climate where elected officials, not just tinfoil hat buffoons and charlatans like Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart, are telling Americans that they may need to take up arms against their government, the Civil War might be something we want to talk about. Michele Bachmann (R-Toon Town) wants her constituents "armed & dangerous," Sharon Angle talked about "Second Amendment remedies" if she lost the election against Harry Reid (she did... barely) and Texas Governor, Rick Perry, has been stoking the flames of secession for years now.

On top of all this, we have people who actually claim that the Civil War wasn't really about slavery. Google "Civil War not about slavery" and you'll find millions upon millions of results. Oh really, the Civil War wasn't about slavery? This guy begs to differ:

"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."

Who said something so awful? The fucking Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens. Yeah, slavery had NOTHING to do with it. Excuse me while I LOL.

So the next time some asshole tries to tell you otherwise, or even worse, if you have some lunatic teacher shoving some bullshit about "states' rights" (yeah, states' rights to own black people), read them that quote from Alexander Stephens. My ultra right-wing 9th grade history teacher tried to push that nonsense on us... and yes right-wingers, it's not just liberal indoctrination in schools, I wish I paid more attention when I was 14 to call him out on his bullshit.

The Civil War was ENTIRELY about slavery and as our population gets increasingly dumber, these kind of climates can reemerge. Not that I think Michele Bachmann is going to bring back the slave trade, but it contributes to this society of nimrods that think the Civil War wasn't about race and if we just get violent, the government will actually listen to them. That's dangerous and that's where America is right now.

Liberal Media vs. Conservative Media

I know I talk about the myth of a liberal media on a fairly regular basis. It's not that there aren't any liberals in the media, but they're generally interested in presenting the truth. Contrary to popular (stupid) belief, there's not a concentrated effort within the collective media to promote left-wing agendas. However, there is a concentrated effort in the conservative media to promote right-wing agendas, except they have no interest in the truth. The right-wing media has not use for facts because the truth usually contradicts their agenda, so instead they rely on loud noises, smears and flat-out insanity.

Let's contrast and compare! First, here's Bill Moyers, the epitome of the "liberal media," and a man that Bill O'Reilly constantly rails against and sends his stalker producer to harass:

Bill Maher interviews Bill Moyers

Now just watch those clips with Maher and Moyers and understand that this is the "liberal media" - intelligent, well-spoken, fair and coherent conversation.

And now here's the conservative media:

Glenn Beck pretends to light someone on fire

Glenn Beck boils "fake" frog on air

Glenn Beck claims the half-white president "has a deep-seated hatred for white people"

Glenn Beck jokes about poisoning the Speaker of the House

Glenn Beck says he's "thinking about killing" Michael Moore

Glenn Beck agrees that we need Osama bin Laden to "detonate a major weapon" on US soil

This is the best the right-wing media can do, folks. Lies, threats, hypocrisy, fear, racism, and ludicrous stunts. Hell, it's not just their media, it's the right-wing in general.

Keystone Media

Need any evidence that race is still an issue in America? Especially in the parts that Rush Limbaugh's fat ass occupies? Just take a look at the case involving Harvard Professor, Henry "Skip" Gates and the media frenzy surrounding it.

Long story short, Mr. Gates was trying to get into his home after locking himself out or his door jamming (I've read both accounts), then a cop strolls along "investigating a break-in" and winds up arresting Gates. A black man arrested because someone thought he was breaking and entering... his own house. In the interest of full disclosure, Mr. Gates was actually charged with disorderly conduct, although I'd be a little disorderly as well if someone tried arresting me for breaking into my own home, especially when I'm already annoyed at the fact that I'm locked out.

The problem was amplified when President Obama was asked about the incident and called the arresting officer's actions "stupid." The police are now demanding an apology from the president. Really? An apology for being called stupid? Here's a tip, if you don't want to be called stupid, don't do something stupid. Just be glad he didn't call the guy a "fucking moron," you fucking morons.

Of course, if Gates were white, everyone would be laughing at Officer James Crowley and rightfully calling him stupid for arresting a guy trying to get inside his own home. But since Mr. Gates is black and this has become a national news story, all the closet racists are slithering out from under their rocks and onto Fox News/talk radio to say everything short of "this uppity black should've known his place."

Looking at the case, I highly doubt that Officer Crowley himself is a racist, but he did something incredibly stupid. Whether or not this was a case of racial profiling or complete ineptitude, you have to be a pretty bad at your job to arrest someone for breaking into their own house. The leeches (Rush Limbaugh) that are trying to turn this into a political issue are the same subhumans that have been pouring gas on America's racial tensions since Barack Obama became a national figure. As their numbers continue to dwindle, it seems Republicans have no problem being the party of nothing but angry white men.