When President Obama was first elected, I was happy for many reasons. Mostly, though, I thought he had a unique opportunity to end 4 wars; Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Civil. Well, many people are disappointed. True, he ended Iraq in his first term. However, Afghanistan will not end until the middle of his second. The LIFO (Last in First out) meme continues.
We are still fighting Vietnam, though only at home. We now have diplomatic relations and trade with the people who were our adversaries in Vietnam. At home, however, the right tells us that the left is why we lost the war, and that the left considers our soldiers baby killers. The irony is that it was a left administration that got us involved in Vietnam, and escalated the conflict. Nixon got elected on his secret plan to win the war, which apparently amounted to getting re-elected 4 years later with no progress, breaking the law, being forced to resign, and letting his replacement end it.
Ideologically speaking, the leaders on the right that still support the Vietnam War, never served in it. Bush, Cheney, Romney all say the supported the war. Bush used his family connections to get into the Air National Guard, Cheney got 5 deferments, and Romney who protested against protesters used the Mormon exemption which other religions did not get to avoid service. Today, though, the left is still portrayed as soft on defense.
However, the big stretch, in this allegedly post-racial America is the claim that we are still fighting the Civil War. A rectangular version of the Confederate Battle Flag (The original was square) appears all over The South. It still flies above some statehouses, although "still" is inappropriate. After the Surrender at Appomattox, the flag was put away. Many may have believed it was consigned to the dust-bowl of history. It did not return until the Civil Rights movement began gaining traction in the 1950's.
The new NRA President, James W. Porter, Jr., proudly talks about how he calls "The Civil War" "The War of Northern Aggression." Let's take a look at that. The Civil War began when South Carolinians fired on Fort Sumter. The South started it, but it is called Northern Aggression. What led up to that moment? It started with the election of President Lincoln.
South Carolina seceded in December of 1860 because they thought President Lincoln might abolish slavery. Today's secession talk is also about a fear of what a President might do. The Constitution was duly ratified by every state. It is a contract that should be harder to get out of than a wireless agreement with AT & T. The Southern States tried to void it because President Lincoln might have invalidated their states' rights to slavery.
The problem, however, is that defending your Constitutional right to own slaves directly contradicts the government's job of defending the unalienable rights of the slaves to not be slaves. There are a couple of things that need to be said about states' rights.
Article Six of the Constitution contains the Supremacy Clause which defines the Constitution as the supreme law of the land (every state agreed to this). Many people cite the Tenth Amendment which says that powers not specified in the Constitution revert to the states. However, Article 1 section 8 contains the "necessary and proper" clause. This clause gives Congress the authority to pass whatever laws they deem necessary and proper to fulfill their duties.
Southern states have the most anti-union laws in the nation. They are also loathe to support increase in minimum wage. If they could eliminate minimum wage they would- and we'd end up with slavery again.