I apologize for leaving you hanging Monday morning. I was in the Center of the Known Universe (Charlottesville, VA) with my inamorata and some of our friends for a little Inn, Monticello, and foodie spell. We were chased out a bit early by the coming snow, but it was nice to be home before it started and then spend the day enjoying it.
This will not be a long or particularly meaty post, but it is one I thought about yesterday and decided needed doing. I write for no other reason than to mock the naked attempt of the new Secretary of Defense to deliver red meat to the Trumpenproletariat in the form of re-renaming a military installation in North Carolina, and further to mock some of the reactions thereto.
Let’s get some things out of the way first.
That any U.S. federal installation was named after traitors and their cause, for whatever reason, was unfortunate. But doing so was part of our history, and part of that history involved the process of trying to stitch that traitorous region back into the larger national tapestry. That the process of reconciliation provided aid and comfort to those who attempted across the decades to advocate the “Lost Cause” theory was equally unfortunate, as any attempt to put the cause of the Civil War in any bin but the “it was fought because the South seceded from the Union in order to protect a society built on slavery” will never pass muster. “
I was however, not in favor of the renaming mania of the last few years, mainly because of the continued historical lessons that were available to be learned as to why and how ships and bases came to be named after traitors.
But to paraphrase Lincoln, “the renaming came”, and it was not without critics, many of whom believed that this was part of the DEI conspiracy that had taken over the country and was making everyday lives of normal Americans into a modern hellscape of epic proportions (just kidding). Many of these critics pointed to the terrible erasure of “heritage” and “history” involved in removing the names of dead confederates, and this represented just one more instance of the federal government having it in for the much victimized “white working class”.
This was the state of play on 20 January 2025, when St. Donald of The Cross resumed his throne, there to right the wrongs of the woke. Sir Pete of the Grape took up the cause of the Trumpenproletariat and its victimized supporters of rebellion and insurrection (there’s a theme here), and in one of his early initiatives in the Great Woke War, he announced to much fanfare (as he was flying out of the country) that what had once been Fort Bragg and had been renamed Fort Liberty, had been renamed Fort Bragg. Sort of.
You see, the “Bragg” of the previous Fort Bragg was confederate General Braxton Bragg, and when the honor of the South was soiled in renaming the base Fort Liberty, it was HIS honor and the honor of those who TO THIS DAY deem his cause worthy, that was besmirched.
But the NEW Fort Bragg is named after PFC Roland Bragg, a World War II Silver Star recipient…from get this…. MAINE! In NEW ENGLAND! A state that voted for KAMALA HARRIS for President!
Don’t get me wrong. Private Bragg was a legit hero based on reporting of his war exploits. BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT MAGA ELECTED. They elected people who would unashamedly advocate for their victims’ causes and make things right!
The “wink, wink, nudge, nudge”, too cute by a half nature of this re-renaming is precious to behold. What’s next? Renaming Fort Gregg-Adams in Virginia to Fort Lee, named NOT for the Commanding General of the Lost Cause, but for Medal of Honor recipient PFC Milton Lee, killed in Viet Nam?
Most worthy of mockery of all in this theater of the absurd are those who look at the re-renaming and consider it to be a “worthwhile compromise” between those who advocated removal of Confederate names and those who consider the changes to be blights on regional honor. How is this a compromise? Who are they kidding.
We are not a serious country.
I said in my head (like a mantra) and to people in conversations (a couple times) " we are not a serious country". Mostly I thought about a four year old ambling about the Presidents desk.
Then I read Ms. Sasoon's eight page memo and Mr. Bove's reply from the Adams and DoJ dust up, and I realized there is quite some seriousness going on in the nation, that we are all just standing like deers in the headlights watching, unable to move or act. Eight pages of a lock type argument that will be ignored or dismissed by 50%. Threats and bone chilling intimidation is all that could be mustered on the return. A sesmic shift in right and wrong, or at least the ability to sort it.
"Serious" just doesn't fit for the whole thing like it did this morning. But I stand like a deer in the headlights unable to offer anything better.
I enjoyed reading your look at the renaming of Fort Bragg, made me smile. Decided to take a brief look at the professional performance of General Bragg. Went and grabbed my copy of the "Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War," edited by Patricia L. Faust, published in 1986. On page 75, Bragg's Civil War career, written by Professor Albert Castel, is briefly described. The last paragraph sums up Braxton Bragg's career, "Bragg displayed talent as an organizer and strategist, qualities negated by serious defects of personality and intellect. The story of his military operations is a dismal one of blunders, wasted opportunities, useless slaughters, and ultimate disaster." Oh one other comment, "In June 1862, President Jefferson Davis, a friend, raised Bragg's rank to full general and placed him in command of the Army of Tennessee." The current Secretary of Defense might want to study some history. Just my humble opinion. (I apologize if my closing comment is a little snarky. I have never been impressed with West Point graduates that forgot their oath to our nation.)