A recent guest column by David Madden carried the headline line, “Let’s be very clear about Robert E. Lee.” In his first sentence, he starts by stating that Robert E. Lee was a traitor. To my knowledge no court convicted Bobby Lee of treason, but this author has. Had this slanderous allegation been made during Lee’s lifetime there would have been either an easy slander case or an endless line at his front door inviting him for “pistols at dawn.”
Had Madden read any American history at all he would know that in 1860 the Republic was still new and allegiances still rested in the States. Lee was offered the Union command, but chose his State, Virginia. The only thing that Madden makes “clear” is his hate and the simplistically which he has for the “War of Yankee aggression.”
Any credence that Madden might have disappears in his two last paragraphs when he reveals his real nature. He and his kind will destroy any thing that annoys them starting with Columbus and ending with the destruction of our Republic. Since Madden started his diatribe with oaths, I would remind him that the oath I took when I entered the service has no shelf life. ROBERT E. HUNTER, KETTERING
Couldn’t Civil War have been avoided?
With all this talk about suddenly undesirable statues, I just have to get into the argument. Not about the statues because, after all they are now part of history, but about the Civil War — the cause of why the statues exist. The war could have been prevented if both sides would have talked to each other and would have been willing to compromise.
For example, suppose the North would have offered to buy all the slaves and set them free if the South would have been willing to abandon slavery from that point on. A lot of money wasted on war could have been saved as well as many lives. But no, each side retreated to their respective corners and refused to talk; refused to compromise … hummm … sounds a little like our Congress today. THOMAS H. ROUTSONG, SPRINGBORO
Have we lost our collective minds?
An editorial cartoon sums up one aspect of our national convulsions: A couple is shown looking at a Chicago news report of killings and woundings in that city. And they’re saying to one another, “And we’re upset about statues?”
At least part of America seems to have lost its collective mind by claiming that history is too offensive to be left alone, mayors and governors go along with the nonsense, and members of Congress agree as well or stay silent. And major media voices claiming to be dedicated to diversity all but applaud it all. This is real life (or maybe unreal life) straight from the pages of “1984.”
Rewriting history to suit yourself comes right out of the “Mein Kampf” or Stalin playbooks. That is hugely ironic since the Charlottesville opposition to stupid KKK and white nationalists’ marchers lays claim to being today’s anti-fascist movement. How far down the road are we to collective insanity when ESPN re-assigns an Asian football commentator named Robert E. Lee away from a University of Virginia game in order not to provoke … well, what?
Some people react humorously. One Floridian says we should send him all the paper money pictures of slave owners (go ahead and look) and he will "take care" of the disposal. I'm with him. But until I get a wad of hundred-dollar bills to "dispose," I will pray that the country can soon come back to its senses. WILLIAM H. WILD, KETTERING
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