That Peculiar Institution

I've had connection problems the last few days, so I almost missed this story. Michael Medved came up with a new reason that the rest of the world hates us, and it's a good one. Writing at Townhall,* he says:

Those who want to discredit the United States and to deny our role as history’s most powerful and pre-eminent force for freedom, goodness and human dignity invariably focus on America’s bloody past as a slave-holding nation.

That's right, it's all the fault of the anti-slavery contingent. It's not only responsible for ruining America, but it's an unfair assertion. After all, slavery isn't as bad as it's made out to be. Medved proceeds to expound on this in detail with his list of "Six Inconvenient Truths":

1. Slavery was an ancient and universal institution, not a distinctively American innovation.

2. Slavery existed only briefly, and in limited locales, in the history of the republic - involving only a tiny percentage of the ancestors of today’s Americans.

3. Though brutal, slavery wasn’t genocidal: live slaves were valuable but dead captives brought no profit.

4. It’s not true that the U.S. became a wealthy nation through the abuse of slave labor: the most prosperous states in the country were those that first freed their slaves.

5. While America deserves no unique blame for the existence of slavery, the United States merits special credit for its rapid abolition.

6. There is no reason to believe that today’s African Americans would be better off if their ancestors had remained behind in Africa.

The Mahablog provides an analysis of his piece at More Drool.

Medved's amazing effort also garnered him a well-deserved award from Keith Olbermann -- The Worst Person in the World (video is available at Onegoodmove).

I guess this is more of a piece -- akin to the GOP Presidential candidates dissing blacks by taking a pass on Tavis Smiley's ALL-AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL FORUMS, or Bill O'Reilly's amazement that Black people dining at Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem are -- just like real folks. Which gives me the opportunity to post Jon Stewart's take on O'Reilly:




All I have to say is that the GOP is certainly becoming "That Peculiar Institution."

(Video via Crooks and Liars)

* I won't link to it directly, but you can find it at one of the other sites that mention it.

Tags: Civil Liberties, Jon Stewart, Daily Show, Commentary, Video, Racism, Michael Medved