And there it is-my first attack on Trump

I've never been one to sit still on the occasions that would-be historians make some claim that bears no relation to reality.  Especially when they circle ominously close to a hot-button item for me.

Enter Donald J Trump.

Very appropriate as Trump is exhibiting a sense of history on a par with Obama's sense of geography.  Bernie's math skills would fit here too.

For those that don't know the story, Trump went down a bunny trail that simultaneously pissed me off about his lack of historical clarity and his choice of heroes.


President Trump during an interview that airs Monday questioned why the country had a Civil War and suggested former President Andrew Jackson could have prevented it had he served later.

"I mean had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later you wouldn't have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart," Trump said during an interview with the Washington Examiner's Salena Zito.

"He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, he said, 'There's no reason for this.'" 




So.  Where to start.


How about how Jackson would have reacted to the circumstances that faced Lincoln in 1860, rather than those he faced in the 1830's when he defused the Nullification crisis.  The first real attempt at state secession, South Carolina tried to declare federal law null and void in regards to a tariff they had no interest in, as it was meant to help the textile concerns of the north rather than the lazy slave-owning cotton entrepreneurs of the south.  Some people- including apparently Trump- take this to mean Jackson might have been able to similarly defused the slavery crisis of 1860-1.

But, WOULD HE?  Think about it.  The battle in 1833 was over a state could nullify Federal Law.  Had not that much to do with north v. south, and nothing at all about slavery.  Jackson was a slave owner to the day he died.  What makes ANYone think he would not have supported the south?  That he wouldn't have LED secession if push comes to shove?  You can say the man was a patriot, and by his lights, he was... but so was Robert E Lee, and his bond with his state of Virginia was stronger than his bond to the United States.  And Lee was a far more thoughtful, more Christian man than Jackson.

Oh, but he had SUCH a big heart.  And was apparently kind to HIS slaves.  But where was his heart when he condemned the Indian Nations to the Trail Of Tears?  Where was his big heart as 6,000 Choctaw, 3,500 Creek, and 4,000 Cherokee died in mass winter marches from their native land to the "worthless" areas that would become Oklahoma? How about the slaughter of the Seminoles who resisted in Florida?   Say what you want, Jackson was at his core a genocidal racist.  So, Mr. President, you make a GRAVE mistake with me, holding that man up as an example, especially when you think he could possibly done a better job than the greatest President in American history.


Next, how is it he was so angry about what was going on with the Civil War when he had been DEAD FOR FIFTEEN YEARS?  He was as clueless about what was going on as YOU apparently are...


But this wasn't enough yet, oh, no.

"People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?" Trump said during the edition of "Main Street Meets the Beltway" scheduled to air on SiriusXM.

"People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"


Let me see if I can help you with that.  The south- led by the Democratic Party- was so worried about losing their lazy way of life over what Lincoln MIGHT do if elected, they turned to rebellion and violence, rather than the rule of law.  One would think, Mr. Trump, that of all people, YOU would understand that point better than anyone.  After all Berkeley is nothing but another little Ft Sumter forced on us by little minded ideologues who cannot stand that someone dare disagree with them, and are petrified that something outside their grasp of reality might happen.

YOU attend your rallies, right?  Have you seen any evidence that such hate can be negotiated away?

And let's talk about negotiations.  The Missouri Compromise.  The Kansas-Nebraska act.  "Popular sovereignty".  Which failed track to you think YOU could have made work?  Great men like Daniel Webster and Henry Clay gave almost their every breath to hold this nation together without war.  Do nothing idiots like James Buchanan let their efforts die in vain.  Where in that spectrum do you think Jackson falls? Or yourself?

I don't accuse you of revisionist history, as Obama and his ilk like to do.  I accuse you of being a historical idiot, and we ALL know the saying about those who do not know their history.  My advice to you is to find some way to NOT talk about things you don't understand.  My advice to America is to vette future political candidates on whether they could pass a legitimate, Catholic School 5th grade history exam.  We make enough other mistakes as is.