But you don't seem to regret the way the South was treated. I was just using the system for judging what makes a traitor that you laid out. Don't like it? Then come up with something better

Haha, excellent point. Best way to avoid war crimes is to avoid wars. Agreed 100%.

So you're a traitor until you become a victor? Might makes right? Beautiful ethical system you've constructed... Those fuckin' redskins. What traitors they are. I mean, the South won a fair share of battles, but the Indians won, what?, like 2 or 3 over 200 years. They must be the worst traitors since they weren't…

Not to mention the draft riots/lynchings

By that token, Washington et al are also traitors, as they were subjects of the Crown. Same would be true of French Resistance in WWII, not to mention Stauffenberg and his peeps. If being a traitor is that simple, I'd say they're in some honorable company.

They killed more than they lost, so they weren't that bad at it. I can accept that someone who participated in the political system of the CSA could be called a traitor. But what about someone who took up arms when his home was threatened by an invading military with a record of war crimes? Is that traitorous…

Don't be an idiot. Look at a map of the battlefields. Look at the civilian casualties. The North barely suffered at all, and it participated in a laundry list of war crimes. The vast majority of the war was fought in the South. Northern cities weren't burned, women raped, children starved.

Because that flag is the flag of the elites. The people who actually owned slaves, wrote the articles of secession, CSA constitution, pushed the nation to the brink of collapse, and sent thousands to their deaths, whereas the battle flag is the flag of soldiers who sacrificed to protect their families from an…

Very good distinction to make. I think the argument could be that the battle flag is the flag of Joe Southerner and the CSA flag is the flag of the slave owners

Damn, bringing that truth and accuracy hard. +1 for keen precision

Excellent point.

You find the battle flag more offensive than the political flag?????

Do you consider the Confederacy (as in the political body) to be distinct from the soldiers? I'm not proud of what my country did in Iraq, but there's no way in hell I'm going to tell a vet that he shouldn't be proud of his service in Iraq. Does that kind of distinction strike you as valid?

I'm pretty sure the lingerie bowl players are technically professional football players as well. I hope you afford them an equal amount of respect as pioneers for women's equality

Unfortunately, their refusal to use birth control means their numbers are growing at a much faster rate than their more moderate countrymen.

No, because it wasn't 'his fortune.' It was stolen money. Taking it away from them isn't punitive. Locking them up would be punishment. Giving back something that wasn't theirs in the first place isn't.

There's no punishment in the Maddoff family's illegally acquired assets being confiscated. That's restitution. It's a different idea. If a cop sees you take my wallet out of my pocket and he returns it to me, that's not a punishment. The punishment is taking you to jail for theft.

"We generally don't punish the child for the crimes of the parent because they don't benefit from them"

I think you're slightly overstating Paul's stances. There's a difference between wanting to keep the taxpayers from funding abortions or birth control and denying access to them. Granted, I'm sure he would vote for an amendment to ban abortions, but I've never heard of him saying he'd do the same for birth control.

You deserve an e-hug.