Getting stupid about history.

To have my Alma Mater – The University of Texas at Austin – succumb to political correctness and remove Jefferson Davis’ statue from the place where it has stood for 82 years is the last straw.

What raged across this continent between 1861 and 1865 has been called many things and attributed to many things. In fact, there are more than 20 names for it, most of which arose in the aftermath and being primarily of southern origin are understandably partisan.

Probably the most familiar and most widely used characterizations are: “The Civil War”, “The Great Rebellion”, “The War for States’ Rights”, “The War for Southern Independence”, “The War Against Slavery”, and “The War Between the States”.

But it was none of these.

Properly understood, it was a war over the cornerstone of democracy – Freedom of Association.

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NASCAR tried to discourage display of long-familiar Confederate battle flags at Daytona so that some would not be offended and others’ heritage toes would not be stepped on by offering to exchange fans’ Confederate flags for our national flag.

Unfortunately, the heritage embodied by that particular Confederate military guidon and the heritage celebrated by the Stars and Stripes are neither equivalent nor interchangeable and NASCAR officials’ efforts came to naught because they failed to realize they were confusing the two.

A more appropriate and more sincere solution might have been to pay for the production and delivery of replica CSA Stars and Bars flags to be exchanged…

9/2/15