Liberal columnist upset because Republicans ended slavery

[Ravi]

I wouldn't consider Cohen a liberal. He spent a lot of time supporting Dubya.

 

[theHawk]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.

It turns out, however, that some of those most inclined to exalt American exceptionalism are simply using the imaginary past to defend their cultural tics — conventional marriage or school prayer or, for some odd reason, a furious antipathy to the notion that mankind has contributed (just a bit) to global warming. Their enemy is what Gingrich calls “the secular left” — people who not only approve of gay marriage but also apparently don’t fly charter as he does. The huge role of religion in American politics is nothing new but always a matter for concern nonetheless. In the years preceding the Civil War, both sides of the slavery issue claimed the endorsement of God. The 1856 Republican convention concluded with a song that ended like this: “We’ve truth on our side/ We’ve God for our guide.” Within five years, Americans were slaughtering one another on the battlefield.
Therein lies the danger of American exceptionalism. It discourages compromise, for what God has made exceptional, man must not alter. And yet clearly America must change fundamentally or continue to decline. It could begin by junking a phase that reeks of arrogance and discourages compromise. American exceptionalism ought to be called American narcissism. We look perfect only to ourselves.

The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

What makes you think the Republicans who ended slavery were conservatives? They were liberals. Just like the liberals who are fighting for equal rights for Gay folks.

Liberals are the ones who like to exploit a minority group that they outnumber for their own selfish needs. Back then it was taking all the fruits of labor from African slaves, today its taxing the upper 20% to redistribute to themselves.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.


The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

your link has nothing to do with your thread title

WTF are you babbling about? Republicans and conservatives were not the same thing back then

Where the fuck did I say that they were conservative? The idiot liberal is upset because Republicans refuse to compromise, and the issue he chose to illustrate his point is slavery.

He's complaining about being certain when you're wrong. The Civil war occurred because both sides were immovably certain that they were right. One of them had to be wrong.

 

[edthecynic]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.
The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

What makes you think the Republicans who ended slavery were conservatives? They were liberals. Just like the liberals who are fighting for equal rights for Gay folks.

Liberals are the ones who like to exploit a minority group that they outnumber for their own selfish needs. Back then it was taking all the fruits of labor from African slaves, today its taxing the upper 20% to redistribute to themselves.

Except, the more financially successful ARE the Libs. So you are saying that the Libs are taxing themselves to redistribute it to themselves.

 

[ClosedCaption]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.

It turns out, however, that some of those most inclined to exalt American exceptionalism are simply using the imaginary past to defend their cultural tics — conventional marriage or school prayer or, for some odd reason, a furious antipathy to the notion that mankind has contributed (just a bit) to global warming. Their enemy is what Gingrich calls “the secular left” — people who not only approve of gay marriage but also apparently don’t fly charter as he does. The huge role of religion in American politics is nothing new but always a matter for concern nonetheless. In the years preceding the Civil War, both sides of the slavery issue claimed the endorsement of God. The 1856 Republican convention concluded with a song that ended like this: “We’ve truth on our side/ We’ve God for our guide.” Within five years, Americans were slaughtering one another on the battlefield.
Therein lies the danger of American exceptionalism. It discourages compromise, for what God has made exceptional, man must not alter. And yet clearly America must change fundamentally or continue to decline. It could begin by junking a phase that reeks of arrogance and discourages compromise. American exceptionalism ought to be called American narcissism. We look perfect only to ourselves.

The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

fail

 

[NYcarbineer]

Pride goeth before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

What makes you think the Republicans who ended slavery were conservatives? They were liberals. Just like the liberals who are fighting for equal rights for Gay folks.

Hey genius, can you point to anywhere I made any claim about the Republicans that ended slavery being anything other than Republicans? Have you always had the ability to see things that are not there, or is it something that happened after you became a liberal? Do you think the Republicans should have compromised on slavery? Should the people who are fighting for gay rights compromise?

They were Liberal AND Republican

The Conservatives supported slavery and states rights....just like today

Yep.

And today a liberal is upset because the lack of compromise resulted in slaves being freed. Can you deal with that, or are you so focused on the fact that Republicans tend to be conservative now that you agree with this guy?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

your link has nothing to do with your thread title

WTF are you babbling about? Republicans and conservatives were not the same thing back then

Where the fuck did I say that they were conservative? The idiot liberal is upset because Republicans refuse to compromise, and the issue he chose to illustrate his point is slavery.

No he didn't

He said both sides of the slavery issue claimed that god was on their side. Again.....WTF are you babbling about? It has nothing to do with your link

No, he said the problem is the lack of compromise.

Should the people advocating for gay rights compromise? Or should they insist on sticking to their guns and refuse to give into the people that want to marginalize them?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Hey genius, can you point to anywhere I made any claim about the Republicans that ended slavery being anything other than Republicans? Have you always had the ability to see things that are not there, or is it something that happened after you became a liberal? Do you think the Republicans should have compromised on slavery? Should the people who are fighting for gay rights compromise?

Yeah I thought it was kind of dumb.

Oh, and there is no way those Republicans would have supported gay marriage. Their platform was two fold: End slavery. Keep marriage between a man and a woman.

Well said, would've been nice had we at least tried a more diplomatic approach rather than being so quick to the gun. But hey it's america, it's just gotten progressively worse (the foreign policy that is) as our history has gone in terms of our favoring of war.

Slavery ended in europe without a war, probably could've happened here.

It was all but dead until the cotton gin made it economical. The truth is that both the North and the South profited off of slavery, and it took a determined effort to eliminate it here. The fact that the South chose to go to war primarily over this just made the process harder.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

your link has nothing to do with your thread title

WTF are you babbling about? Republicans and conservatives were not the same thing back then

Where the fuck did I say that they were conservative? The idiot liberal is upset because Republicans refuse to compromise, and the issue he chose to illustrate his point is slavery.

He's complaining about being certain when you're wrong. The Civil war occurred because both sides were immovably certain that they were right. One of them had to be wrong.

Finally, a valid criticism of the attack I made. Nice to see some people can think. But, if you actually read the whole thing, he is complaining about the lack of compromise in general. Sometimes compromise is a bad thing.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.

The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

What makes you think the Republicans who ended slavery were conservatives? They were liberals. Just like the liberals who are fighting for equal rights for Gay folks.

It's lookin' like Tennessee Teabaggers have come-up with a "better" idea.....

.....modifying educational-materials.

 

[CaughtInTheMid]

Republican Abe Lincoln freed the slaves.
A Republican Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
The Republican's during the Civil War were "civil rights oriented".
In 1892, the Democrats took the presidency & Congress and repealed most of the civil rights laws.
In 1929, most blacks were Republicans.
In 1932, Republican Herbert Hoover drew 3/4 of the black vote. Democratic Franklin Roosevelt drew 1/4. Roosevelt won.
By 1936, millions of blacks starting changing parties.
In 1942, Democrat Harry Truman integrated the armed forces.
A Democratic Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

 

[WillowTree]

from the article..

Therein lies the danger of American exceptionalism. It discourages compromise, for what God has made exceptional, man must not alter. And yet clearly America must change fundamentally or continue to decline. It could begin by junking a phrase that reeks of arrogance and discourages compromise. American exceptionalism ought to be called American narcissism. We look perfect only to ourselves.

sounds like obummmer talking donut?

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.

It turns out, however, that some of those most inclined to exalt American exceptionalism are simply using the imaginary past to defend their cultural tics — conventional marriage or school prayer or, for some odd reason, a furious antipathy to the notion that mankind has contributed (just a bit) to global warming. Their enemy is what Gingrich calls “the secular left” — people who not only approve of gay marriage but also apparently don’t fly charter as he does. The huge role of religion in American politics is nothing new but always a matter for concern nonetheless. In the years preceding the Civil War, both sides of the slavery issue claimed the endorsement of God. The 1856 Republican convention concluded with a song that ended like this: “We’ve truth on our side/ We’ve God for our guide.” Within five years, Americans were slaughtering one another on the battlefield.
Therein lies the danger of American exceptionalism. It discourages compromise, for what God has made exceptional, man must not alter. And yet clearly America must change fundamentally or continue to decline. It could begin by junking a phase that reeks of arrogance and discourages compromise. American exceptionalism ought to be called American narcissism. We look perfect only to ourselves.

The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

What makes you think the Republicans who ended slavery were conservatives? They were liberals. Just like the liberals who are fighting for equal rights for Gay folks.

I love this argument.... The Republicans were actually Democrats and the Democrats fighting to keep slavery were actually Republicans.

 

[CaughtInTheMid]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.




The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

What makes you think the Republicans who ended slavery were conservatives? They were liberals. Just like the liberals who are fighting for equal rights for Gay folks.

I love this argument.... The Republicans were actually Democrats and the Democrats fighting to keep slavery were actually Republicans.

it's more true that many people will accept. see post #32

 

[Valox]

If you read the article and dismiss the OP's original remarks, Cohen makes some good points about the myth of American exceptionalism.

For an industrialized nation, the United States has a very high murder rate and, no surprise, a very high execution rate. We have a health-care system cleverly designed to bankrupt the average person and a political system so dysfunctional that we may go into national bankruptcy, blaming one another for spending too much or taxing too little, but not both. God indeed works in mysterious ways.

American exceptionalism has produced a dysfunctional education system — more than 14,000 school districts, lots of bad (but job-protected) teachers, oblivious parents and students who are too dumb to know they’re dumb. American eighth-graders score 66 points below their Japanese counterparts in math, yet almost 40 percent of American children think they’re good in math. That figure for Japan is 4 percent.

Unfortunately, many are blinded by patriotism and partisanship to acknowledge that America is on the decline in many areas. We should be a little cautious in championing "American exceptionalism" and more focused on correcting our problems.

 

[Katzndogz]

Slavery did not become an issue until well into the Civil War. Lincoln proposed ending slavery as a way to punish the south for secession.

 

[Dragon]

[
I love this argument.... The Republicans were actually Democrats and the Democrats fighting to keep slavery were actually Republicans.

Wrong; that's not the argument. The argument is that the Republicans were actually LIBERALS and the Democrats fighting to keep slavery were actually CONSERVATIVES.

Liberal does not equal Democrat. Conservative does not equal Republican. Abraham Lincoln was not a conservative, but he was a Republican. Grover Cleveland was not a liberal, but he was a Democrat. And so on. Ideology is one thing. Party is another.

 

[tinydancer]

Tell me again that liberals are inherently more intelligent than conservatives and I will laugh my ass off.

It turns out, however, that some of those most inclined to exalt American exceptionalism are simply using the imaginary past to defend their cultural tics — conventional marriage or school prayer or, for some odd reason, a furious antipathy to the notion that mankind has contributed (just a bit) to global warming. Their enemy is what Gingrich calls “the secular left” — people who not only approve of gay marriage but also apparently don’t fly charter as he does. The huge role of religion in American politics is nothing new but always a matter for concern nonetheless. In the years preceding the Civil War, both sides of the slavery issue claimed the endorsement of God. The 1856 Republican convention concluded with a song that ended like this: “We’ve truth on our side/ We’ve God for our guide.” Within five years, Americans were slaughtering one another on the battlefield.
Therein lies the danger of American exceptionalism. It discourages compromise, for what God has made exceptional, man must not alter. And yet clearly America must change fundamentally or continue to decline. It could begin by junking a phase that reeks of arrogance and discourages compromise. American exceptionalism ought to be called American narcissism. We look perfect only to ourselves.

The myth of American exceptionalism - The Washington Post

What makes you think the Republicans who ended slavery were conservatives? They were liberals. Just like the liberals who are fighting for equal rights for Gay folks.

Oh it's the old switcharoo bullshit argument again!

I know this game inside and out. And you libs always come up on the wrong side of town.

Now I am at a disadvantage because I am trying to rebuild my book marks (storm fried out the computer last week and I have a new one)

I have so much data on you Dems and the KKK and Jim Crow laws you'll wish you died as a child.

Stop with the revisionist history. I've done this over and over and over on many boards and I don't mind at all doing it again to torture democrats who cannot accept their past.

Just accept the fact that Republicans ended slavery and the KKK was started by Democrats.

 

[Dragon]

Regarding the OP's article, the title of this thread is completely misleading. It's very clear that the author is condemning BOTH sides in the Civil War, but if he went into the details he would probably come down hardest on the side that seceded from the U.S. and then started the shooting. Lincoln actually WAS willing to compromise, to a degree that outraged radical abolitionists. His original program, before the Civil War upended the works, was to take a long road toward ending slavery. He wanted to keep slavery out of the Western territories and ensure that they became free states. That would tilt the balance of power in Congress, in the short term cutting out enabling legislation like the Fugitive Slave Act, and in the long run hopefully creating a basis for a constitutional amendment.

Radical abolitionists like Wendell Phillips abhorred this milquetoast attitude. He called Lincoln "A huckster in politics, a first-rate second-rate man." So there was definitely uncompromising God-is-with-us radicalism on both sides, but the difference is that on the Confederate side it ruled, while the Union side was ruled by moderation.

So really what he's upset about is not that Republicans freed the slaves, but that secessionists started the Civil War.