Senate Race in Virginia and the Confederacy

The Virginia Senate race is getting bogged down in debate on the Confederacy. Both Republican George Allen and Democrat James Webb are facing questions, Allen about his displays of the Confederate flag and Webb about a speech he gave in 1990 expressing admiration for the bravery of the Confederate army. On Webb's problem, I simply point out that even US Grant, the general who lead the campaign to crush the Confederacy, expressed admiration for the soldiers of the Confederate army. He admired the bravery of the army in pursuing its cause while abhorring the cause itself. How many modern American generals have admired German generals like Rommel, while abhorring their cause?

As to Allen's issue, well, I'm someone who drew swastikas on his school book covers in junior high and early high school (there goes my political career) because I thought it was a cool symbol, and because I was a stupid kid who really did not understand what the thing stood for. (Not that the Nazis have a patent on the design. I've seen swastikas on floor tiles from the Roman empire.) I've never, even then, remotely admired Nazi ideology, so drawing a swastika was no reflection of my personal beliefs. So Allen wore a Confederate flag pin in a high school picture. Barring anything to indicate his true beliefs, I would chalk that up to the eternal stupidity of youth.