"Let 'em up easy, General"-- the wisdom in being a gracious winner...

[ColesCountyDem]

The date is early April 1865, the location is somewhere near Richmond VA and the characters are President Abraham Lincoln and Gen. Ulysses Grant. The Army of the Potomac is poised to annihilate the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and bring an end to the bloodiest conflict in the history of the Republic. Gen. Grant is seeking instructions from President Lincoln about what terms of surrender he should offer Gen. Lee. Both Lincoln and Grant adhere to the policy of 'unconditional surrender', in the strictest military sense, but Lincoln mercifully broadens this policy to effectuate both a permanent cessation of hostilities and a rapid reunification of a nation torn apart by civil war.

"Let 'em up easy, General"...

We have witnesses one of the liveliest primary seasons in my lifetime. Passions have run (and are still running) high. Tempers have flared. Hot words have been exchanged. Egos have been bruised. There is a danger, albeit small, of a political rift within our party that may cause us to throw away not merely our chance of regaining the White House, but also our chance of expanding our control of Congress and more.

We can't let that happen, folks-- period, end of sentence.

My purpose here is not to convince Sen. Clinton's supporters to stop their efforts to help her win the nod in Denver; the same goes for Sen. Obama's fans. I'm not here to lecture anyone about 'math' or 'arithmetic' or 'super delegates'. My purpose is, rather, to get ALL of you to take a deep breath and look ahead to not only the fall campaign, but to the future shape and direction of the Republic.

Presumably, we here are all progressives, and we have witnessed the disastrous, 7+ year-long course set by the most reactionary administration in my lifetime. The GOP promises us more of the same under Sen. McCain. How, therefore, can any of us propose to allow this great republic to remain 'stuck on stupid', simply because we wish to either gloat, sulk or lash back after the convention in Denver? If you're a progressive, you can't and you won't.


Should your preferred candidate win the nomination in Denver, please, please PLEASE take President Lincoln's wise instruction to heart, and "let 'em (the losing candidate's supporters) up easy", will you? Be a gracious winner, and rather than gloat about your *personal* victory in this 'battle', keep in sight that this 'war' isn't over until such time as we have a Democrat in the White House with increased majorities in Congress, gubernatorial mansions and state legislatures across the depth and breadth of the Republic.

Let 'em up easy.

Just this old fart's $.02.

:hi::)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Congratulate them on a hard fought battle

and consider suggesting to those who aren't ready to support the Presidential nominee to go all out in support of a Democrat down-ticket. That's what this Kucinich supporter is doing.

[ColesCountyDem]

3. Wise and welcome words.

Thank you!

:)

[scheming daemons]

2. That works with a man of honor like General Lee... not with a snake.

If Obama takes his foot off her neck now, she'll jump up and bite him.

[ColesCountyDem]

6. I don't believe that at all.

Sen. Clinton will wholeheartedly support Sen. Obama's candidacy, should he get the nod in Denver. I believe that with every fiber of my being.

[Leftist Agitator]

10. I believe that she will continue to tear Obama down all the way through November.

She's gunning for 2012 now.

[ColesCountyDem]

14. We shall see what we shall see.

You see her gunning for 2012, but I see her angling for the Veep slot (something I would heartily endorse). Her rhetoric has changed subtly but noticeably since Tuesday.

:)

[atufal1c]

13. c'mon Scheming...

It's over.

If you can't find it in you to be graceful, be smart.

We need her and hers. This acrimony is going to get us nowhere.

Edwards is now even talking about endorsing.

Let it go.

[scheming daemons]

27. You can't be gracious until the other side is actually WILLING to surrender....

[ColesCountyDem]

29. Someone will cry 'Uncle' before Denver. n/t

[Melinda]

4. Wisdom to heal by.

Thank you for helping to mend hearts *and* minds. :hi:

Kicked and recommended.

[ColesCountyDem]

8. You're welcome, and than you for your kind words and rec. n/t

:hi:

[baldguy]

5. Before that, Grant made sure the Confederate Army had their weapons taken away.

And I'm sure Lincoln approved.

[ColesCountyDem]

12. Indeed he did, BUT...

Don't forget, however, that he also let them keeps their horses and mules, etc. .

:)

[atufal1c]

19. Actually, if I recall

I don't think he did.

At Appomattox, didn't Grant allow those that pledged not to fight to keep their rifles so that they could hunt for food and such? Wasn't that part of how Grant allowed them to end the fight with dignity?

Doesn't matter, just saying.

[baldguy]

45. "...pledged not to fight..." being to key words.

[tabasco]

23. Actually, Grant let the rebels carry home their muskets and rifles.

He knew they would need them for hunting.

[ShortnFiery]

7. Don't forget, the Clintons have NOT been forced out of the race yet?

Full. Speed. Ahead.

[ColesCountyDem]

9. I've not forgotten it.

Neither have I forgotten that Sen. Obama doesn't have the nomination sewn up yet. What will be in Denver will be; I'm focusing on the 'big picture'/end game.

:)

[ShortnFiery]

26. Well Kudos. I'll keep that in mind. eom

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Grant had to slap those same people he let up "easily" down a few years later.

When they were killing the ex-slaves and assassinating anyone that stood in the way of the reinstitution of de-facto slavery.

[grantcart]

16. actually I think those were the shrikers who were long time gone from the

loyal soldiers who under discipline stayed to the bitter end.

He also had to take strong measures against the winning warriors who having tasted the blood lust wanted to continue it in genocide against Native Americans.

[ColesCountyDem]

17. Yes, he did, but he did so as the head of an intact, functioning republic. n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

18. Which happened because of Radical Republicans

who decided not to heed Lincoln's advice and to punish the South.

[ColesCountyDem]

21. That's what I was taught in US History class, too. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

30. The Radical Republicans fought to make the defeat of slavery a reality.

They lost that battle because of the "moderate" Republicans and Democrats who successfully allowed the resurrection of de-facto slavery under the false label of "reconciliation" that shunned the ex-slaves.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

35. check history

I'm not talking of pre 1863, but rather post April 1865. The Radical Republicans were out to derail Lincoln's plan for reconstruction, which Johnson more or less adopted, and they succeeded. Their whole point in allowing blacks to vote at the time was not altruistic, but rather to insure that Southern states would be in Republican hands, with northern Radicals being the power behind the elected black officials.

[Warren Stupidity]

38. The 'radicals' believed in liberty and equality

Lincoln was never very big on that part of abolition. Those 'radicals' had this odd concept of one person one vote. It was not until the second reconstruction and the re-introduction of federal troops and the voting rights act and civil rights act of the 1960's that our system of legalized aparthied and disenfranchisement was abolished.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

43. I am referring to 1865 and beyond.

The "radical republicans", like Sumner, were "radical" because they wanted full citizenship for the ex-slaves. The ex-slave owners achieved their lost power by enlisting the support of poor whites on the basis of race. Just as they had done when they stupidly went to war to ensure their dominance.

Johnson was impeached because of his opposition to equal rights for Blacks and is why he is regarded as one of the worst, if not the worst, president in our history.

The defeat of the radical republicans led to the institutionalizing, and acceptance, of racism in this country.

[Warren Stupidity]

36. Punish the south: enfranchise blacks.

End the punishment: Jim Crow.

The history you were taught was racist bullshit. The shameful end of reconstruction brought servitude back to the south for 80 more years.

[BlooInBloo]

15. I'll keep that in mind, once we've won. Thanks!

EDIT: Yah - and that worked SOOOOO well in reconstruction. :rofl:

[knixphan]

20. The best cure for sibling rivalry...

is to go beat up the kid next door.

His name is Johnny McCain, and he's a prick.

Let's get him.

[ColesCountyDem]

22. LMAO!

Indeed!

:rofl:

[knixphan]

25. it always worked on my block :)

:spank: :hug:

[Warren Stupidity]

40. !!!!

[TheZug]

24. Wise words, but where's the white flag?

[ColesCountyDem]

28. It will come, just like it did then.

When Lincoln was talking with Grant, Gen. Lee hadn't yet surrendered his army, but all 3 knew it would happen eventually, and sooner rather than later.

:)

[KaptBunnyPants]

31. And then, by the 1870s, the Confederate movement was once again back in power.

The abolitionists were tarred as tyrants who abused the poor and noble southerners. And the South to this day still largely thinks that they were right and consistently violates the rights of minorities, including voting rights. The civil war is not a good analogy for someone who's trying to make peace between two rival camps. All those people killed, and very little was actually accomplished because the confederate power structure was allowed to regroup, rejoin the political process, and dominate the entire country. And their descendant, the modern Republican Party, still dominates the country. It's not a great endorsement for "peace".

[ColesCountyDem]

33. A point about my orginal post, if I may?

I didn't use 'the Civil War' as an analogy; I used the surrender of Lee's Army, and deliberately so. The distinction is both clear and valid, I believe.

:hi:

[Warren Stupidity]

39. Indeed. And 100 years later federal troops were back

busting up the crypto-confederacy and its apartheid system once more, now that the economic utility of keeping black people picking cotton as sharecroppers bound to the land had given way to mechanized agriculture.

Besides even Lincoln and Grant knew that you let them up easy once they surrendered.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

32. Kill! Stab! Eviscerate!

Oh wait, I'm down with diplomacy. :)

[ColesCountyDem]

34. LOL!

Naughty, naughty!

:silly::spank::P

[VotesForWomen]

37. it's WAY too late for that. what till all the O-ists race baiting comments get replayed to the gene

general electorate.

[AllentownJake]

41. We are trying

However when Grant when in to negotiate the surrender did Lee pull a pistol from his crotch and take a shot?

[ColesCountyDem]

49. No, of course he didn't do that...

By the same token, I've not seen Sen. Clinton do that, either. I believe that many here are hypersensitive to virtually everything and anything, at this point, and see plain ol' campaign rhetoric as something far more sinister. (It isn't).

:)

[JVS]

42. That's a historically horrible example. Southerners dismantled reconstruction and we had to go...

back 100 years later to fix stuff and it still is kind of weird.

I am much more in favor of the 1945 Soviet policy toward Germany (or at least their part). What had once been a ferocious enemy was molded into the most loyal satellite state that the Soviets ever had.

[RainDog]

44. exactly.

except that part about East Germany is kinda creepy. :)

[ColesCountyDem]

47. Actually, the Bulgarians were the most loyal ally the USSR had. n/t

[K Gardner]

46. I love posts like this.. very nice & intelligent reading !

[ColesCountyDem]

48. Thank you!

:hi: