"Save Yo' Confederate Money, Boys..."

Being born when I was, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and where I was, the South, I was prime fodder for the Civil War Centennial which began around 1960. As an eager 11-year-old history fan, I devoured everything I could find. My folks bought me the Life Magazine Civil War collection...

And still fascinated with history, I even have an actual Springfield musket hanging on the wall...

The year is stamped on the lock plate, 1863, the year the Battle of Gettysburg was fought. But growing up in the South carries some real conundrums. All that heritage stuff is drummed into you right up until you finally realized that, holy crap, this was fought so we could keep owning other human beings!

And I know, all that "Lost Cause" And "Gone With the Wind" malarkey continues down here, but that is the essence of the conflict. All these noble warriors were traitors to their country, and for many, their oaths as US Army officers. And the dodge that I see on Civil War Facebook groups that the fight was over states' rights? Again, what rights are we talking about here, gang? Come on kids, you know the one that mattered. In every state's articles of secession, the cause is clearly slavery.

I know all the arguments. Most who fought didn't own slaves, etc. The people behind the war certainly did, and weren't about to give them up. So, like every conflict, rich men send poor boys to fight to protect their riches.

The myth of the noble Robert E. Lee was perpetuated in a post I read just today. Lee was known to be a cruel slave owner and obviously led an uprising to protect his property.

But the myths persist, I think partially because it's just too hard to give up a cherished idea, or maybe more importantly, admit you might have been wrong. Being wrong is a tough thing to handle, and I'm someone who knows that far too well. My career is a testament to iffy choices and witless decisions.

If you think admitting that great-grandpappy was on the wrong side of the Civil War, imagine what it's like to be a German kid.

And taking responsibility isn't easy either. President Kennedy stood up in front of God, TV, and the American public and took responsibility for the disastrous Bay of Pigs Cuban fiasco. President Carter took full responsibility for the failed Iran hostage rescue attempt. President Biden stated during the chaotic August 2021 Kabul evacuation that "the buck stops with me," taking personal responsibility for the decision to end the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

But when asked about the now $40 trillion national debt, Vice President JD Vance faulted, all together now, the Biden administration. This despite the fact that about 25% of the whole thing was racked up under Trump's two terms.  So, the buck apparently stops somewhere in Delaware, I guess.

It's the default answer for everything, whether Natalie wrote it for you or not.

But this is the same problem die-hard MAGA folks have these days. Every economic indicator is now going in the wrong direction. Unemployment is up, jobs are down. Inflation is worse than on election day in 2024. GDP growth has slowed, and tariffs haven't worked. Gas nationally is over $4 a gallon, and we are stuck in a no-win conflict. The military is being sadly misled, and we're considering taking the name of a WWII hero off of a new aircraft carrier and naming it for Trump.

I predict the ship may soon develop a case of keel spurs.

Meanwhile, he is obsessing over a ballroom and reflecting pool, and posting silly AI images of himself being heroic.

And the latest is the price of beef. Cattle herds are very low in number, the lowest in decades. Ranchers are getting good prices for the animals, but retail prices remain high. Those prices are hurting the President's approval ratings, so there are lots of things the administration could do. But they have chosen to import 300,000 metric tons of Argentinian beef tariff-free.

They claim this will give American ranchers breathing space to increase their herds, but how do they do that when cheaper imports will make their prices lower?

And thus the dilemma for radio host Glenn Beck. I knew Glenn when he was a goofy morning DJ in Houston, prone to silly ratings ploys, you know, like this...

But then he discovered conservative radio and transformed into some sort of Cassandra predicting doom for the American experiment if we didn't reverse our liberal ways.

He has particularly reached new heights in the last ten years, polishing the knob of Donald Trump, but now the problem. While Trump adoration has been part of his meal ticket, and a profitable one, he also spends a lot of time pushing a big sponsor. That sponsor is named "Good Ranchers."

They are a mail-order source of meat, poultry, and seafood, like Omaha Steaks, whose primary claim is that they are 100% American-raised. All American. No awful, disease-ridden, drugged-up foreign stuff, right? So-o-o, what's a boy to do now?

So far, he'll try to extoll the President without mentioning that his latest move undercuts a big sponsor and cattle ranchers from coast to coast. And, of course, at all costs, don't criticize the guy in the big, rapidly crumbling house on Pennsylvania Avenue. Like a Confederate defender, you can't admit that the President is in over his head, which is not a high bar to clear.

And as hard as these moves are for die-hard defenders to deal with, they have one big advantage. The Democratic Party is exceptionally adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I have faith in them.

If anyone can do it, it's these guys.