Judge lambasts amendment to rename confederate bases as "madness," gets thoroughly bodied by clerk

[Quixote1818]

FEDERAL JUDGE LAMBASTS AMENDMENT TO RENAME CONFEDERATE BASES AS “MADNESS,” GETS THOROUGHLY BODIED BY CLERK

Ryan Grim
June 15 2020, 4:01 p.m.

THE BATTLE OVER renaming U.S. bases that currently honor Confederate officers broke out in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on Monday. But the argument was not in the courtroom; rather, it was launched, and settled, over email.

In an email sent Circuit-wide on Sunday, Judge Laurence Silberman, a Reagan appointee, lambasted Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for her amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act requiring the military to strip the names of rebel officers from any military assets.

“Since I am about to be interviewed I thought it would be appropriate to unburden myself in opposition to the madness proposed by Senator Warren: the desecration of Confederate graves,” Silberman wrote.

The interview Silberman referenced was part of a series of chats judges do, open only to court staff. Silberman went on to explain that his great-grandfather had fought for the Union as part of Ulysses S. Grant’s army and was badly wounded at Shiloh, Tennessee. His great-grandfather’s brother, meanwhile, joined the Confederate States Army and was captured at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. “It’s important to remember that Lincoln did not fight the war to free the Slaves Indeed he was willing to put up with slavery if the Confederate States Returned,” he wrote (lack of punctuation and errant capitalization in the original, and throughout). “My great great grandfather Never owned slaves as best I can tell.”

More: https://theintercept.com/2020/06/15/dc-circuit-confederate-bases-federal-judge/?fbclid=IwAR2tpsa3tmRD5yUrWA-cjXRAjYgeTZ057XaeWKRgYEH079lYl_StehyhuSE

[Maeve]

1. Part of the reply (same source as above)

In your message, you talked about your ancestors, one that fought for the confederacy and one that fought for the Union. This seems to be a true example of a house divided. However, it is very clear what the Confederacy stood for. In 1861, at the Virginia secession convention, Henry L. Benning (for whom Fort Benning is named) in explaining the reasoning for Georgia’s decision to secede from the United States stated, “[it] was a conviction … that a separation from the North was the only thing that could prevent the abolition of her slavery…t is probable that the white race, being superior in every respect, may push the other back.” Unfortunately, in this scenario, no matter how bravely your uncle fought for the Confederacy, the foundation of his fight was a decision that he agreed more with the ideals of the Confederacy, than he did with those of the Union. And in the end, he chose the losing side of history.

Finally, I will note that the current movement to rename Government owned facilities is in line with your previous opinions on the importance of names and what they represent. In 2005, you publicly advocated for the removal of J. Edgar Hoover’s name from the FBI Building due to the problematic material you came across in your review of his FBI files after his death. You equated it to the Defense Department being named for Aaron Burr. In view of your opinion of J. Edgar Hoover’s history and your advocacy for renaming the FBI building because of the prominence it provides Hoover’s legacy, it is very strange that you would be against renaming our military facilities, since the legacy of the Confederacy represents the same thing. This moment of confronting our nation’s racial history is too big to be disregarded based on familial ties.

[dalton99a]

2. +1

[SoonerPride]

4. Now THAT is a clap back, with receipts!

[malaise]

5. Great response

Wish I could rec

[Mariana]

3. So Silberman is a hypocrite. What a surprise. nt.

[MagickMuffin]

6. "the desecration of Confederate graves"

No one is desecrating anyones graves, your "honor", they are talking about renaming military bases. And they SHOULD be renamed since those names currently on there were nothing but traitors to these United States of America.


Get with the program and get on the right side of history.

[riversedge]

7. The clerk wrote a great response. good for her for speaking up.

[Squinch]

8. Why is everyone suddenly sourcing the Intercept?

[Quixote1818]

10. I just saw the post on Facebook. Is the Intercept right wing or something? I'm not familiar with

them.

[JHB]

9. Silberman is one of the judges who overturned Ollie North's convictions

He's consistently been the sort of conservative partisan in the courts that Mitch is trying to stuff the courts with.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. We should stop honoring traitors and enemies of the nation.

It is especially troubling to honor such enemies by using the bastions of the defense of our nation.

[Goodheart]

12. Two points

1) "The desecration of Confederate slaves"??? WTF is he babbling about? Renaming military bases doesn't desecrate graves.

2) "Lincoln did not fight the war to free the Slaves". ??? Even if true, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China? The fact of the matter is that the Confederates (you know, the people under actual discussion) fought hard to KEEP their slaves. As traitors, none the less, who killed American soldiers in great numbers.

Ooops, a third point:

Fuck you, "Judge" Silberman.