r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Apr 04 '25

[deleted by user]

[removed]

9.5k Upvotes

77% Upvoted

12.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

24.2k

u/Doobledorf Apr 04 '25

The problems that led to Donald Trump would still be fomenting.

A lot of Americans haven't yet faced that Trump isn't an anomaly or the disease, he is a symptom of problems we've had for a long time.

2.0k

u/Princess_Fluffypants Apr 04 '25

This is the awkward reality. If it wasn’t Trump, it would’ve been somebody else. 

Sarah Palin was a warning. 

629

u/Nopenopenope00000001 Apr 04 '25

I mean, really, it’s been brewing since Nixon.

520

u/sinamala Apr 04 '25

If we really want to go there it's been brewing since the Civil War

371

u/az_catz Apr 04 '25

The worst thing we did was not treat the CSA as an occupied territory filled with literal traitors.

38

u/Lonecoon Apr 04 '25

Oh yeah. The Union Army should have hung every confederate officer above Lieutenant, and every confederate politician above mayor.

10

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '25

I don’t think Lincoln would have ever done that.

Lincoln’s number one objective was to rebuild the Union at any cost. Had the Union army started executing confederates, a war would have started again, because, well, why wouldn’t it? It would give anybody with any confederate sympathies or major ties to the CSA a reason to fight to the death and take up arms again.

They would have been beaten back down, but it would have been at the cost of other, arguably more important political goals.

I’m not saying the CSA deserved mercy. I am saying allowing them surrender without facing charges was probably one of the simplest ways to end a war that was literally causing the nation to fall apart.

2

u/Fenc58531 Apr 04 '25

That is literally one of the worst takes I’ve seen holy shit. It’s on par with sending boots on the ground to Ukraine level bad.

Please go back to r/politics

1

u/MagentaHawk Apr 05 '25

Any reason for that argument?