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August 05, 2002
Speaking euphemistically
Today, Indianz.com (again for the slow learners, that's how they spell it) features a few articles from The Billings Gazette on the Nez Perce War of 1877. From that last link:
[Chief] Looking Glass [of the Nez Perce bands] counseled against going to war when the Nez Perce were forced onto the greatly reduced reservation. He grudgingly agreed to go onto the reservation at Lapwai, Idaho, choosing an area near the middle fork of the Clearwater River.Gen. Howard, receiving an erroneous message that Looking Glass was joining the other bands after the battle in White Bird Canyon, ordered two cavalry companies to arrest Looking Glass and all others near him.
The effort was compromised by trigger-happy civilian volunteers. Their village was destroyed and their horses stolen, but Looking Glass and his people got away.
Forced now to fight, Looking Glass joined the others and during a two-day running battle July 11-12 bloodied Howard's troops at the Battle of Clearwater.
The content is bad enough, but let's focus out attention on the form.
Our brave heroes, the white guys, received "an erroneous message" (rather than a deliberate lie), and their "effort" (not attack) was "compromised by trigger-happy civilians" (not sabotaged by overenthusiastic Injun-killers).
The villains of the piece "bloodied Howard's troops" (as opposed to managing to stave off an attack, or launch a counter-offensive).
History is written by the winners, of course, but usually they're less blatant about using word and event choice to construct a narrative in this way.
Or that's what the evilnastybad pointy-head liberal professors in their ivory towers do, anyway. Real 'mercans see through their transparent lies, and write stuff like the above.
And then claim they're being objective.
It's that last point that makes me hate them. I gots no problem with someone else holding a worldview I totally disagree with, but when they start claiming it's the One True Way of looking at the world, I tend to get effnic.
If effnic don't work, there's always moving straight on to nigga.
True, this is reactionary, but since it's a reaction to someone else getting effnic, in their case way white, it seems a prudent course of action. Tends to generate more heat than light, but if you're looking for reasoned debate on the 'net, you'd best hang out in places where everyone agrees with you to begin with.
Not that that qualifies as debate. . .
Posted by Aaron at August 5, 2002 09:20 AM
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