Another Defense of George McClellan

This defense of George B. McClellan (which consists  of many links and a little commentary) is offered in typical style by its author, who should be familiar to some readers of this blog.

I found most amusing the following claim:

McClellan was the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in the 1864 election. Incredibly, despite all the advantages that Lincoln enjoyed, McClellan received 45 percent of the vote. If Southern citizens had participated in the election, McClellan almost certainly would have won the popular vote.

If southern civilians had voted in 1864, then there would have been no war going on … and McClellan would not have secured the nomination. Indeed, although McClellan was not in favor of the Lincoln administration’s policy on slavery and emancipation, he wanted slavery to end (saying that McClellan was proslavery would indeed be a smear). The chances of a majority of southern voters supporting a candidate in the middle of the nineteenth century who opposed slavery in the slightest? Zero.

Note, however, the careful use of the word “citizens.” The writer clearly wants to keep black people away from the ballot box in his counterfactual fantasy.

Rarely have I seen such a bizarre leap in logic, but there you are. McClellan deserves far better than this.

A Great American Love Story

Fantasy Football and Player Behavior

Yes, I promised you … “and stuff.” This fits under that category. Three scholars (two of them are my colleagues at Barrett, The Honors College at ASU) discuss how people who play fantasy football select players with issues of player behavior in mind.

There is a connection here, of course. Some people worship Nathan Bedford Forrest for his skills as a battlefield commander. Some of them are at pains to deny his role in other activities.