It is perverse if you think like a socialist. R.E. Lee's daughter was a racist, froth-at-the-mouth bigot, because her father was one of the top two or three racists in human history. Marse Robert was a bigot since he refused to allow the Federal Government to illegally trash the economy and laws of his state for some vague "high moral purpose."
Lee was a slave owner, and, like all slavers, raped and tortured his property on a regular basis. Did you know that, despite being a hereditary heir of the country's founding royalty, Lee was a traitor to his elite class?
/sarcasm off
Okay, I was just perusing this thread for historical interest, and as a Southerner whose ancestors fought for the Union (and a product of the Federalist/Whig political tradition--America's true conservative tradition) I don't really fit into any easy category, since I'm opposed both to worship of the Confederacy and hatred of the South. And as a Theocrat, I don't even regard slavery as inherently wrong (provided it is practiced within Divine guidelines).
HOWEVER--this attack on morality is simply too much. "Morality" simply means G-d's Laws, and G-d's Laws are the only laws there really are. How ironic that "paleoconservatives" who are supposed to be "theocons" are attacking morality!
Henotheism and religious subjectivism are the true inner secrets of "palaeoconservatism," which is why their attacks on universal morality and advocacy of disparate local customs sounds so much like the Left's mantra "deze are de wayz of our pipples."
Further ironies: "western civilzation" and chr*stianity being defended from liberals whose main clients are Fundamentalist Protestants (Blacks) and inquisition Catholics (illegal Mexican immigrants). Sounds chr*stian and "western" to me!
General Lee may have been a patriot to Virginia, but he fought against the United States of America. That's fine if you don't claim to be an American (rather than a state) patriot. But to claim to love the United States of America while cheering a man who fought against it simply makes no sense.
I'm afraid the Jeffersonian/Calhounian "compact theory" is once again on the rise and being adopted by "conservatives." FCOL, doesn't anyone remember America's original conservatives--the Hamiltonian Federalists???
Once again, please remember that I am a Southerner and have no use for South-haters, nor do I dismiss slavery has inherently immoral, so please kindly refrain from the usual charges against those who don't identify with the Confederacy (though I certainly don't demonize it).