# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/121 "2014-03-03T18:31:49Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Why is it the South that gets singled out for slavery? The North had slavery too. The major slave trading ports were in New England. Maryland was a slave state that still allowed slavery even during the Civil War. If you live in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island or any of the other 13 original colonies, slavery was practiced their as well. The South needed slaves more than the North because it was an agrarian society that depended on the types of manual labor that slaved tend to be really useful for. The same is true in the Caribbean and other countries like Brazil. > > There wasn’t anything unique about slavery in the South. It just lasted later than it did in parts of the country where it proved less useful. Many states once had slavery, now none of them do and haven’t for a long time. Why is it that most people just handwave away the history of slavery in other parts of the country like it never existed and everyone in the North was always against it one principle alone? That wasn’t the case. Because the South tore the country apart to preserve slavery. Lincoln thought the Civil War was penance for the whole country–because slavery had been permitted to exist after Independence was declared. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/122 "2014-03-03T18:32:15Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Why is it the South that gets singled out for slavery? The North had slavery too. Because the northern states abolished it with no gun to their heads. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/123 "2014-03-03T18:38:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Because the northern states abolished it with no gun to their heads. Nor do they makes excuses for it. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/124 "2014-03-03T18:39:25Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > There wasn’t anything unique about slavery in the South. It just lasted later than it did in parts of the country where it proved less useful. Well, it “lasted longer _and_ only ended at gunpoint”. Northern States voluntarily gave up the institution, and while there was certainly slavery and slave trading in the North, even by the time of the constitution it was largely a Southern institution, and the 1807 vote to illegalize the slave trade largely broke down on regional lines. And the century long post-war attempt to downplay the wrongs of slavery and marginalize its role in causing the Civil War was also largely a Southern phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/125 "2014-03-04T17:55:02Z")
> [@Dumbguy](#): > > I lived in Germany for a few years, and I saw a complete and unqualified repudiation of what their country did in WWII. I never heard anyone, publicly or privately, defend or mitigate their country’s actions in any way. In fact, they seem to be their own biggest critics. And I don’t mean to laud this behavior. It seems like the only decent response to being so catastrophically on the wrong side of history. The fact that there are still those in the South that haven’t been able to come to this conclusion just shows what spectacular twats they are. In that way, the South is much more like the Japanese. They can’t stand the notion that their “honor” is besmirched by some inconvenient fact of history like slavery or the Japanese war atrocities so they rewrite the history to be more consistent with their self image. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/126 "2014-03-04T20:39:25Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > In that way, the South is much more like the Japanese. They can’t stand the notion that their “honor” is besmirched by some inconvenient fact of history like slavery or the Japanese war atrocities so they rewrite the history to be more consistent with their self image. Not to mention both employ ancestor worship. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/127 "2014-03-05T01:02:30Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And **now** two of them – only two, 😛 and :rolleyes: – look different – what’s up with that?! Your browser has the old ones saved in the cache. Those two must’ve been first used earlier, and wound up deleted from the cache for being too old. The rest of us only have two of the old ones: :dubious: and :smack:. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/128 "2014-03-12T16:06:02Z")
So Napolitano was on The Daily Show last night making the same arguments or taking them further. He said Lincoln tricked South Carolina into shooting first, that he was only interested in keeping the South to raise money through tariffs, that people were raped and killed on Lincoln’s command, that Lincoln resented the Southerners for challenging his authority, and on and on. I think the worst statement was that Lincoln’s goal was dominating whites in the South just because that was the most explicit piece of race-baiting. I’m wondering if I’m more disappointed in Stewart for giving Napolitano footage he can take back to his own show- because everybody watching The Daily Show knows this is a pile of garbage, but nobody who likes Napolitano is watching the show. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/129 "2014-03-12T16:13:58Z")
Someone has been snorting the neo-Confederate/Lost Causers coke stash. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/130 "2014-03-12T16:18:31Z")
Every time I see Napolitano, and hear him open his mouth, I sit in awe that anyone would listen to the man and not consider him a crackpot who eats his own underwear and showers in transmission fluid. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/131 "2014-03-12T17:00:22Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m wondering if I’m more disappointed in Stewart for giving Napolitano footage he can take back to his own show- because everybody watching The Daily Show knows this is a pile of garbage, but nobody who likes Napolitano is watching the show. This inappropriate respect for Napolitano is very reminiscent of how he used to fawn over McCain until he (Stewart) eventually saw him for what he really is. It really took a very long time. Likely he’ll come to recognize Napolitano for what he really is. Maybe last night will be the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/132 "2014-03-12T17:15:40Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > This inappropriate respect for Napolitano is very reminiscent of how he used to fawn over McCain until he (Stewart) eventually saw him for what he really is. It really took a very long time. That happened only when McCain veered hard to the right to win the Republican primaries and stopped coming on the show. He’s also still really tight with Bill O’Reilly and I think he’s too enamored of him, too. But at least they have some funny banter and O’Reilly can let the mask slip a little. This slavery bullshit comes much closer to simple racism. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/133 "2014-03-12T17:23:15Z")
Yeah, had respect for McCain’s moderate voting record and ability to sit and talk with liberals and have a little fun, until he decided that such behavior was unbecoming of a potential President, and what was more important was selling out to the base and only talking to the base and embracing all the things about the base which make the base stubborn, uncooperative, hyper-partisan, and insane. Then he chose Sarah Palin as an obvious ploy to garner youth attention and female voters, without examining her very closely, or getting to know her. That kind of irresponsible decision making is the same sort of behavior that landed us in a decade-long conflict in Iraq. Here he is today beating the drum for destroying all relations with Russia and potentially starting another arms race or cold war over behavior that we engage in constantly, which we are outraged by because we’re gigantic hypocrites. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/134 "2014-03-12T17:25:52Z")
McCain sold out because, having tried it another way and lost once before, he realized it was what he needed to do to win. He was right…ish. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 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/682251/135 "2014-03-12T17:46:15Z")
Seeing the whole interview; I’m quite happy that Jon Stewart was so earnest, clear, and quick in his refutations. Jon even highlighted the paradox of championing the Revolutionary War, while rejecting the Civil War (the far more moral war). That show should be held up as a learning tool for how to deal with people spouting insulting, revisionist, neo-confederacy nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/136 "2014-03-12T18:00:33Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > That show should be held up as a learning tool for how to deal with people spouting insulting, revisionist, neo-confederacy nonsense. They did a great job debunking the bullshit, but I can’t shake the feeling that step one should be “don’t invite them on your TV show specifically for the purpose of spouting insulting, revisionist, neo-confederacy nonsense.” ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/137 "2014-03-12T18:08:33Z")
I don’t know, Marley. It reminds me of the interview Rachel Maddow did with the ex-gay nut. Yeah, it gives a platform for lunatic to espouse his ridiculous viewpoints. But it also gives a platform for rebuttal, and oh… [what a rebuttal.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfMtA1F9eJo) I say bring the nutjobs on the air and let them state exactly what their positions are, and then calmly tell them and everyone else why they’re wrong. That’s wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/138 "2014-03-12T18:09:57Z")
But does the message get received? People who watch MSNBC already think these anti-gay laws are bullshit, and people who think Lincoln was an evil dictator who hated the white man don’t watch The Daily Show. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/139 "2014-03-12T18:23:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > But does the message get received? People who watch MSNBC already think these anti-gay laws are bullshit, and people who think Lincoln was an evil dictator who hated the white man don’t watch The Daily Show. Occasionally. Listen, I spent a lot of time listening to the other side’s talking points. Years of listening to Sean and O’Reilly and others on the radio (pizza man’s got a lot of time on his hands in a car, with a radio, and a lack of interest in the music stations), and then I went out and bought the books written by political commentators from all different political viewpoints, and watched the TV programs. I’m not alone. There are conservatives and Republicans who do seek out programming which is liberal in order to get what the other side is thinking. You read the comments on the websites detracting Rachel Maddow or Jon Stewart or any liberal TV personality and you’ll find your evidence that people who strongly disagree with them watch, at the very least, the clip in question. Maybe they’re doing it specifically so they can think they’re debunking the claims and arguments of the other side, but the programming is still being seen by a non-100 percent friendly audience. There’s also a rather large middle group of moderates who actually swing our elections who see what both sides have to say. Reaching those people by showing the vast disparity of the quality of thought between two differing viewpoints helps shape our democracy. If you are undecided and see first hand how completely clueless and indefensible “ex-gay” stuff is, or how asinine “pro-confederacy” advocates are, then it highlights how poor certain options are for the course of our nation and culture, and especially for those who may not come to the discussion with their mind already set in stone, who end up deciding things for the rest of us who seem to be stuck in a deadlock between the sane and the idiotic. Preaching only to the choir is one thing, but if your host is respectful to the opposing side and manages to allow them to put their viewpoint out there to be criticized, and then successfully criticizes it with no strong rebuttal, that’s excellent for the great big public discussion that takes place every time we are faced with choices. Losing when given the opportunity to advance your bullshit cause, to a respectful opponent who makes a strong counter-argument, and is clearly more knowledgeable and has criticisms which cannot be overlooked, is devastating to that particular cause, especially when you’re trying to make your case to a fair-minded person with no set agenda. It’s unquestionably good for our society, in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/140 "2014-03-12T19:26:47Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Someone has been snorting the neo-Confederate/Lost Causers coke stash. :rolleyes: How cluelessly out-of-touch of them! It’s all **meth** now! [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=6) [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=8)