The best kept secret in the media over the past few years has been the 150th anniversary of the most significant event in American history. The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, yet there has been a strange, deafening silence and the absence of any fanfare commemorating that bitter conflict fought to end racial slavery. One would assume, with the first ever black president in office, that the costly struggle which initiated the long journey toward full civil rights for every American would merit a little official attention. Alas, nobody in today’s smug political establishment seems overly concerned that a few million white guys and several hundred thousand black ones fought and made heroic sacrifices to remove the canker of slavery from our land, while also preserving a tottering Union mortally threatened by sectional strife. In short, this was a war that cemented what the American Revolution had only begun, thus insuring the continuation of the greatest human experiment in self-government that history has ever seen. Continue reading →