For a man who won two elections, Trump sure is obsessed with losers

The president and his supporters don’t seem to realize or care that the Confederacy and a certain German dictator lost.

(U.S. Army photo)

By Carron J. Phillips

According to the rules, to the victors go the spoils. President Donald Trump and his supporters, seemingly enamored with Confederate generals and having adopted Hitlerian imagery, want to rewrite those rules—and history.

Someone needs to remind them that history will always reflect these figures as failures.

“I feel like something happened like 10 years ago … it’s like you have to think that every single person that who fought for the Confederate side was an evil person. I just think that’s so stupid,” Vice President JD Vance recently said on a podcast.

In the words of comedian Katt Williams, they have an “unnatural allegiance to losers.”

During a recent speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Trump announced that he would be restoring the names of Army bases that had previously been named after Confederate generals. This decision came after Congress recognized that honoring individuals who fought for slavery (and lost) wasn't appropriate.

“In a statement, the Army said it would ‘take immediate action’ to restore the old names of the bases originally honoring Confederates, but the base names would instead honor other American soldiers with similar names and initials,” read a report from the New York Times. “For example, Fort Eisenhower in Georgia, honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower—who led the D-Day landings during World War II—would revert to the name Fort Gordon, once honoring John Brown Gordon, the Confederate slave owner and suspected Ku Klux Klan member. This time around, however, the Army said the base would instead honor Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, who fought in the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.”

The decision was related to a previous bill that aimed to rename nine Army bases after Confederate generals. Though it might sound trivial, the reality behind it is quite disturbing. This move serves as propaganda that perpetuates the false narrative that the Civil War was not about slavery—when, in fact, it was—but rather about states' rights—which it was not.

And you wonder why they keep banning certain books that tell the stories of this country’s gruesome past.

“Books bans have increasingly become the policy tool of anti-Black policy leaders who systematically perpetuate intolerance and ignorance,” read a 2023 op-ed on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s website. “These attempts systematically and disproportionately impact Black youth who would benefit from the literary work's interrogation of society as they shape their understanding of their people's history.”

The reluctance to bear the "burden" of white guilt and the avoidance of accountability have become a long-standing tradition passed down through generations in America. Today, this is often referred to as "Southern heritage" or "pride." However, it can be as overt as an elected official who obstinately rejects facts, choosing instead to live in a self-created false reality where those who have lost are seen as winners.

"We can and should teach this history without labeling a young child as an oppressor or requiring he or she feel guilt or shame based on their race or sex," Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said in 2021 when he signed a bill into law that limited critical race theory. "I refuse to tolerate otherwise during a time when we are already so polarized."

To be clear, these efforts aim to rewrite history. However, this ideology does not focus on correcting a past wrong. Instead, it represents a situation in which the evil that was once defeated by good is resurrected by a newer and more potent form of evil. This is why Trump is hosting a birthday party disguised as a military parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary. Originally, the celebration did not include the elaborate pomp and circumstance that is now expected; these additions were made when Trump’s administration got involved. As a result, hundreds of military aircraft and vehicles will participate, leading to an anticipated and unnecessary cost ranging from $25 to $45 million, according to the Associated Press.

“This Trump tank travesty is all about stroking Trump’s ego,” Gulf War Army veteran Paul Sullivan explained in the report. “If Trump truly cared about our service members, he would sit down with them quietly and say, ‘What can we do with $50 million or $100 million to make your lives better?’ He’s not.”

What we anticipate in the coming days is a repetition of the past. According to Historynet.com, Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday was declared a public holiday and featured a series of events, parades, and receptions. The April 1970 issue of LIFE magazine included images taken by a photographer who documented the occasion, titled "Hitler at 50: Color Photos From a Despot’s Garish Birthday Bash." However, unlike most media coverage of those tumultuous times, the magazine included a disclaimer. “We do not usually give so much space to the work of men we admire so little.”

The National Weather Service is forecasting a high likelihood of rain on the day of Trump's event, along with possible thunderstorms that could disrupt the proceedings. It could be a mere coincidence, or perhaps it's a sign that Mother Nature understands that losers don’t deserve nice things.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University.

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