Wednesday, May 14, 2014

BETWEEN THE LINES

If you read through the whole article discussing the theft of Robert E. Lee's house you'll see they left out just one little fact about the place we call Arlington National Cemetery. The Army stole this house and property from the adopted son of George Washington. We don't have much of a track record when it comes to honoring the memory of George Washington. It took some pretty special people to honor his memory and preserve his estate at Mount Vernon.

They say that war inflames passions. I suppose it always has. 150 years ago the Union started to bury soldiers in Robert E. Lee's rose garden. We can't seem to stop.


2 comments:

Buck said...

In re: The Mount Vernon Ladies. The Association she founded in 1853—a nationwide organization of women—appealed to the American people for $200,000 in an unprecedented grassroots fundraising campaign.

That's a whole helluva lot o' money in 1853.

HMS Defiant said...

I'd be surprised if it took longer than a week or two to raise the sum. They grabbed it and held fast and by my last 3 visits there they have done very well by us all.
It's like the Alamo. You shudder to think what the fools would have done with it.

OK, that given, I was very pleased by Fort McHenry but it would have vanished long ago if it was left to the Government to look after it. I hate to say it, but it's like the Constitution and other documents of the Founding. Somebody let the Government take charge of them and so, with them in charge, with their scientists in charge, you can just barely make out the dark smudge of the Declaration of Independence or Constitution at The Archives. Light damages them so of course you can only view them in twilight. Kind of a metaphor for what we have today.
They failed to post copies of the documents under full light that you can actually read anywhere in The Archives. That's understandable. It's not like they want people to actually read the Amendments.