Full Circle

So, I was watching Colbert the other night and he had Henry Louis Gates on. Prominent historian, Harvard professor, all-around really smart guy. He has written a book on Lincoln, he's doing a show on PBS on Lincoln-and he said something I liked, which was that each generation rewrites Lincoln as a way of looking within. It's true that each generation rewrites previous wars, events and heroes as a way of looking within and this has happened with Lincoln maybe more than any other president except Washington.
But he told a story that really bothered me-about going to visit the Sons of the Confederacy. And how do they feel about Lincoln?
They view him as a traitor who should be tried in absentia for crimes against the United States.
What a coincidence! I feel the same way about Robert E Lee-you know, the man who graduated at the top of his class at the United States Military Academy and was offered the position of top general in the United States Army-and instead resigned his commission and went home to Virginia to lead the Confederacy. he's the one I think is a traitor-but we are entitled to our opinions.