A Case of Right-Wing Lunacy

In previous posts, I write about cases of left-wing lunacy. Now, there is a case of right-wing lunacy for me to write about.

This particular case of lunacy appears on the Facebook page of a right-wing entity calling itself The Red Elephants. The website of The Red Elephants is featured in a 01/28/17 story by the Associated Press. That story describes how advertisements for major corporations are appearing on websites that spread fake news, with The Red Elephants being one of those websites.

Screenshot from Associated Press story

Now, along with promoting fake news, The Red Elephants entity has promoted fake history by posting the following on Facebook:

Claiming that Buffalo Soldiers slaughtered natives is akin to claiming that American soldiers slaughtered Germans during World War II.

The Buffalo Soldiers fought armed Native Americans who had been attacking white settlers in the Great Plains region of the USA.

Here is an excerpt from a History.com article about the Buffalo Soldiers:

“Following the U.S. Civil War, regiments of African-American men known as buffalo soldiers served on the western frontier, battling Indians and protecting settlers. The buffalo soldiers included two regiments of all-black cavalry, the 9th and 10th cavalries, formed after Congress passed legislation in 1866 that allowed African Americans to enlist in the country’s regular peacetime military. The legislation also brought about the creation of four black infantry regiments, eventually consolidated into the 24th and 25th infantries, which often fought alongside the 9th and 10th cavalries. Many of the men in these regiments, commanded primarily by white officers, were among the approximately 180,000 African Americans who served in the Union Army during the Civil War.

For more than two decades in the late 19th century, the 9th and 10th cavalries engaged in military campaigns against hostile Native Americans on the Plains and across the Southwest. These buffalo soldiers also captured horse and cattle thieves, built roads and protected the U.S. mail, stagecoaches and wagon trains, all while contending with challenging terrain, inadequate supplies and discrimination.”

The fact that the Buffalo Soldiers were the defenders, not the aggressors, is illustrated in this account from the Texas State Historical Association:

“Troopers of the 10th Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers accompanied Gen. William T. Sherman on his inspection tour of the Texas frontier in the spring of 1871 and returned with him to Fort Sill. There Sherman was informed of the massacre of the Warren wagon-train party on the Salt Creek Prairie, near the Young-Jack county line. Before the leaders of the responsible raiding party were confronted, [Col. Benjamin] Grierson quietly ordered the Buffalo Soldiers to saddle and mount, except for a dozen, whom he stationed behind the closed shutters of the windows of his house, facing a parade ground full of Indian warriors.

Chief Satanta arrived and admitted that he, Satank, Eagle Heart and Big Tree had perpetrated the massacre. When Gen. Sherman announced that the guilty chiefs were under arrest and would be tried, Satanta started to draw a revolver from under his blanket, whereupon the shutters flew open, and he was confronted by the Buffalo Soldiers with cocked carbines. Then the mounted soldiers moved out of the stables and took positions to cut off escape routes. Although Big Tree escaped, the remaining chiefs were taken into custody without a shot’s being fired. The Buffalo Soldiers performed with cool discipline in a situation that could have resulted in a blood bath.”

“Although Big Tree escaped, the remaining chiefs were taken into custody without a shot’s being fired. The Buffalo Soldiers performed with cool discipline in a situation that could have resulted in a blood bath.” Well, so much for Buffalo Soldiers slaughtering natives. /sarc

Anyway, The Red Elephants website states, “Our goal is to spread truth to the citizens of this great nation by reporting news and promoting free thinking. We will present a new brand of reporting that will be used to give conservatives a voice in the media that’s dominated by the left.” Apparently, that so-called “new brand of reporting” is factually-challenged.

Side Note:

. . . and speaking of factually-challenged, beware of pundits who are too arrogant to admit that they are fallible, especially those who claim to be always right even though their errors have become national news. Am I always right? Answer: Hell no! I have made plenty of mistakes in my writings.