[@POOHEAD189]

ROBERT E. ROMMEL?

All of our identities are soaked in myth. I grow when I examine these myths with a critical eye.

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rommel_myth]The Rommel Myth[/url]
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Following the war, the Western Allies, particularly the British, depicted Rommel as the "good German" and "our friend, Rommel", hewing closely tothe tenets of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht. His reputation for conducting a clean war was using in the interests of West German Rearmament and the reconciliation between the former enemies- the United Kingdom and United Satas on one side, and the new Federal Republic of Germany on the other.The 1950 biography Rommel: The Desert Fox and the 1953 publication of The Rommel Papers added layers to the myth, which has proven resilient to critical examination.

The mythology surrounding Rommel has been the subject of analysis by both English- and German-speaking historians in recent decades. The reevaluation has produced new interpretations of Rommel, including his relationship with National Socialism, his abilities as operational and strategic level commander, and his role (if any) in the July 20th plot to assassinate Hitler. Historians and commentators conclude that Rommel remains an ambiguous figure, not easily definable either inside or outside the myth.
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I know Godwin's law is on the rage nowadays, but the parallels are very stunning. Between hero worshiping, historical revisionism throughout the years, and racially motivated nationalism, the heroes that both you and me were raised on may not be as "heroic" as we originally thought. Besides, like I said in my previous posts, even if a man like Robert E. Lee was as great as a man the Southern mythos has us believe, he fought for an institution of racial beliefs and slavery. The very flag of the Confederacy at the time of the Armistice, [url=https://www.theflagshop.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/3/r/3rd-confederate-flag-std.jpg]The Bloodstained Banner[/url] represented that ideology. The white you see was to represent the bountiful cotton fields and the white purity of the south. Originally it was all white with the battle flag in the corner, but as you'd imagine, that becomes problematic on the battlefield where white is generally seen as a symbol of surrender. 

Point being that no matter how much hagiography we take in on either of these two figures, the regimes they fought for and supported through military action treated human beings like cattle or worst. This does not absolve the Union or the Federal government of its own inhumane actions, but this also does not justify fighting over a statue of all things. Take them down, put them in a museum if you want to spend the money, and move on.