They Risk Upsetting The Bulk of Their Customer Base

[Minimalist]

McClellan took an army which had routed from the field at Bull Run/Manassas and built it back up to a formidable fighting force....on paper.  He made sure they were lavishly equipped and held grand reviews and parades in an effort to build morale.  But he couldn't lead in battle.

One of the best lines from the movie "Gettysburg" was this from a union soldier to his commander.

I'm tired, Colonel. I've had all of this army and all of these officers, this damned Hooker, this damned idiot Meade, all of them, the whole bloody lousy rotten mess of sick-brained, pot-bellied scabheads that ain't fit to lead a johnny detail, ain't fit to pour pee out of a boot with instructions on the heel.

Could have been talking about McClellan.

[Tonus]

(I'm probably never going to see eye to eye with you on this...

I both understand and respect that. I don't have the emotional investment that you have in it, nor is it my desire to wind you up for no other reason than to disagree. If you were enrico then I'd have a field day with it, but being an asshole for its own sake is so... gauche.

[Thumpalumpacus]

This is a battle flag that american soldiers fought and died under.

Nonsense. They were Confederate soldiers, not American. Simply because they were born in America doesn't make them American soldiers.

You're equivocating.

This is the battle flag of armies that fought for a nation which mandated slavery to be legal throughout its purview. It was written into the Confederate constitution that no state could restrict the right to own another human being, so the "state's rights" argument is bunk. Those rebel soldiers -- they were rebel soldiers, not American soldiers -- they fought to defend a Constitution which mandated the recognition of slavery throughout its jurisdiction.

I have no doubt they were brave men, and no doubt that inside their limited moral horizon they were doing what they thought was right ... but that flag represents a nation that in its Constitution mandated chattel slavery.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I've seen some suggestion that he simply got carried away with the idea that his army could do anything.

Catton spent quite a bit of time on that, if I remember my His 102 reading well enough. Lee was impressedby the foot-hardy soldiers under his command,

 

However, it is true that he well understood that the north had the resources to keep wearing the south down.  The comparison to Admiral Yamamoto is not misplaced.  He too understood what he was up against.

The discrepancy in resources and industry was clear in both cases.

[Minimalist]

I have no doubt they were brave men, and no doubt that inside their limited moral horizon they were doing what they thought was right ... but that flag represents a nation that in its Constitution mandated chattel slavery.

I suspect a majority of the confederate ranks could never have read that document or understood it if they did have some basic literacy skill.  They were cannon fodder, doing what they were told by their "leaders."

If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army.

Frederick the Great

[jesus_wept]

Can you still buy firearms at Walmart?

[abaris]

Nonsense. They were Confederate soldiers, not American.  Simply because they were born in America doesn't make them American soldiers.

Parker, do you realize you're playing the no true scotsman card?

They were Americans before and - if they survived - after the events. And in between it's also up for debate, since they certainly understood themselves as Americans, just not as members of the Union.

[Tonus]

Can you still buy firearms at Walmart?

I'm gonna give a tentative "yes" on this. I saw them for sale at an Ohio Walmart last October, I think. Then again, that area has at least two gun stores within a 20 minute drive.

[jesus_wept]

Can you still buy firearms at Walmart?

I'm gonna give a tentative "yes" on this.  I saw them for sale at an Ohio Walmart last October, I think.  Then again, that area has at least two gun stores within a 20 minute drive.

At least the black population of America shall be able to sleep soundly tonight, knowing that racist lunatics wont be able to buy their flags at walmart.

[Nope]

Can you still buy firearms at Walmart?

Our local Walmart hasn't had them for awhile but that doesn't mean that others don't carry them. I have also never seen a Confederate flag for sale there so I wonder if Walmart ever sold them to begin with or if they are just trying to put themselves in the news.