>Doug's posting of Cockburn's "curious take on American history" (I
>didn't find it so, Doug, why did you?)
Because the Civil War represented a profound clash of economic and political systems that marked the emergence of the U.S. as an industrial power. I'm all for jury nullification, don't get me wrong, but the Cockburn/FIJA take trivializes it in an individualizing, legalistic way. I won't even bring up the anti-Semites lurking in FIJA, since that would be beside the point.
Besides, wouldn't it have taken a long long time for a critical mass of slaves to escape, be caught, and, if lucky, acquitted by a fully informed jury?
In Cockburn's case, I find the analysis especially troubling coming after the "get over it" remark. It's one thing to talk to right-wing nuts; it's another to start taking them seriously and quoting them.
Doug