# I pit Fox News' Andrew Napolitano for his really stupid statement on the Civil War and slavery **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 25, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251 "2014-02-25T20:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/81 "2014-02-27T00:13:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Not even the dumbest Arkansan would believe that. 🙂 No, but he’d be marching in gray anyway – as one Cornfed far to poor to be a slave owner said (IIRC from [_The Civil War_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Civil_War_(TV_series))), "'Cause y’all are down **here!"** ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/82 "2014-02-27T01:27:33Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, but he’d be marching in gray anyway – as one Cornfed far to poor to be a slave owner said (IIRC from [_The Civil War_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Civil_War_(TV_series))), "'Cause y’all are down **here!"** Well, we regard that as a damn good reason. 🙂 Arkansas only voted to leave the union after the feds asked for a draft of three hundred men to go and kill their friends and neighbors from Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. And one of our legislators refused to vote for it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/83 "2014-02-27T01:45:23Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > And right from the start, from _Birth of a Nation_, through _Gone With the Wind_ and, curiously, even during the Civil Rights Era (with the exception of Blaxploitation movies on the margins of the audience), Hollywood has always chosen a sympathetic view of the CSA. > > What’s up with that shit? _Birth of a Nation_ reflected the views of a majority or at least a substantial plurality of the American public when it came out. It would have been suicidal for Hollywood to make an anti-Klan film then. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/84 "2014-02-27T02:16:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > _Birth of a Nation_ reflected the views of a majority or at least a substantial plurality of the American public when it came out. It would have been suicidal for Hollywood to make an anti-Klan film then. Would it? There **was** no Klan in 1915. _BOAN_ is believed to have inspired the founding of the second Klan that year. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/85 "2014-02-27T02:32:19Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Arkansas only voted to leave the union after the feds asked for a draft of three hundred men to go and kill their friends and neighbors from Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. But they were okay with being drafted to kill their friends and neighbours from Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/86 "2014-02-27T02:40:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > They did say that early on, yes. Politics is the art of the possible, and they couldn’t succeed if they pushed too fast, too hard. But the Republicans were still founded on the principle of opposing slavery, and it would be unrealistic to think they’d ever stop short of full abolition. > > But _tariffs_, Napolitano? Really? Well, in his defense South Carolina in IIRC the 1830s almost seceded over tariffs. That said, there’s a reason the Southerners referred to “the Black Republicans” not “the Tariff Republicans”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/87 "2014-02-27T03:58:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But they were okay with being drafted to kill their friends and neighbours from Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania? About half of them were. The First Arkansas Cavalry, C.S.A., met the First Arkansas Cavalry, U.S.A. in combat in Fayettevile, Arkansas in 1862, I believe. That city is where I earned my Master’s Degree from the Graduate Institute of Technology, University of Arkansas, although GIT was in Little Rock. Should I return to Fayettevile, I intend to see the brick with my name on a sidewalk for the graduating class, and the street corners where Arkansans killed each other. Folks from Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania might possibly have been friends, but I they were not their neighbors. =) Lighten up, it’s been 150 years. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/88 "2014-02-27T04:33:14Z")
I’ll lighten up when they lighten up. Oh, wait–their great-great-grandpappies were _still_ treasonous dogs. Guess I can’t lighten up. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/89 "2014-02-27T14:18:30Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It was the state legislatures that voted to leave the Union, not the nasty slave owners. > 🙂 Just FYI - in three states, it was by referendum. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/90 "2014-02-27T14:19:50Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Forget it, he’s on a roll. Nice reference. (The exact quote is “Forget it, he’s rolling.” Just to be extra pedantic). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/91 "2014-02-27T14:33:08Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Just FYI - in three states, it was by referendum. Ignorance fought! =) Which three? One was South Carolina, I’ll warrant. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/92 "2014-02-27T15:19:12Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > One wishes the Government could have given them tractors and harvesters for numbers of slaves freed. Johnny, tell the nice slave owners what they’ve won! Why… its their choice of either the Luxurious F-250 or the Ever-Stylish Silverado…! AND with 2 dozen designer ball-caps by WTF. “If you’re wearing a ball-cap and there’s no team logo on the top, WTF!” Plus, their very own copy of "Civil War: The Home Version… > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Will this cost Fox News it’s valued Black viewer demographic? Somewhere the Zombie Herman Cain just moved his head from side to side and line-danced to ‘Thriller’. Wait… Michael Steele and Condi Rice just joined him…! > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But they were okay with being drafted to kill their friends and neighbours from Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania? To be fair, this was years before the NFL and the pay was a lot lower back then. Also, lets be mindful of that less-famous quote from The Civil War: _saw __saw__ saw_ \*\*Aaaaargh…! My Fucking Leg! NOOOOOOO…! \*\* _saw __saw__ saw_ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/93 "2014-02-27T15:25:57Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > To be fair, this was years before the NFL and the pay was a lot lower back then. =) > [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Also, lets be mindful of that less-famous quote from The Civil War: > > _saw __saw__ saw_ \*\*Aaaaargh…! My Fucking Leg! NOOOOOOO…! \*\* _saw __saw__ saw_ That was in Gone With The Wind. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/94 "2014-02-27T17:40:38Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That was in Gone With The Wind. Hey, I know I tease a lot… and if I hurt feelings, I’m sorry. I put that one last if only as a reminder of the Hellish consequences of that war. Some memories from a trip to Gettysburgh: kid next to me- “Why is the tree-line by the road where Picket camped so lush, yet so straight?” Tour Guide- “Well, actually before the battle all the trees extended right up to that hill up there… and it was all like that. That line is the artillery range limit of the Union cannon and every tree before it was obliterated by cannon fire.” :eek: (Think “shoot out the star”. For half of an entire forest.) * * * Me- “So tell me… why does this room have fist-sized holes in all four corners?” Guide- “All the buildings that were used as hospitals at the time have them. They were drilled intentionally. It was the only way to drain the blood from the floor fast enough… and reports were that even with them, the blood was Still ankle-deep.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/95 "2014-02-27T17:46:41Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Me- “So tell me… why does this room have fist-sized holes in all four corners?” > > Guide- “All the buildings that were used as hospitals at the time have them. They were drilled intentionally. It was the only way to drain the blood from the floor fast enough… and reports were that even with them, the blood was Still ankle-deep.” I’ll but trees cut down by cannon fire and musketry (!) but that’s a lot of wounded guys in not much space. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/96 "2014-02-27T18:01:13Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > that’s a lot of wounded guys in not much space. That pretty much precisely sums up the Battle of Gettysburg. 50,000 casualties in three days, mostly concentrated in fewer than 100 acres. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/97 "2014-02-27T18:12:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Would it? There **was** no Klan in 1915. _BOAN_ is believed to have inspired the founding of the second Klan that year. No, but there were obviously strong pro-Klan sentiments. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/98 "2014-02-27T19:21:10Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Ignorance fought! =) > Which three? One was South Carolina, I’ll warrant. Like the Confederates, you lose. It was Texas, Virginia, and Tennessee. At least according to [the usual, somewhat reliable source.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinance_of_Secession) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/99 "2014-02-27T19:28:11Z")
I am surprised. The first to go just called up the state legislature and everyone woke up Confederate the next day. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/100 "2014-03-01T00:42:01Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And if **OMG** does read this he’ll probably just call Lincoln a “libtard” anyway. No, no, no. Lincoln was a great man and a Republican. The Republicans wanted to free the slaves and those nasty Democrats wanted to keep the institution. In fact, Frederick Douglass was a Republican, too. Why more blacks don’t vote Republican is beyond me. I’m being sarcastic, of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251.md?page=6)