PRESIDENT TRUMP ... EMBARRASSING AMERICA ONE HISTORY LESSON AT A TIME

He's at it, again ... President Donald Trump on the Civil War:

"I mean, had Andrew Jackson been [born] a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, 'There’s no reason for this.' People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War — if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?" 

"People don't realize, the Civil War -- you think about it, why? People don't ask that question. But why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"

Here, listen for yourself ...

Seriously? This is 8th grade history. Can Trump really be that clueless? Yes, he is. Let's review ...

"He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, 'There’s no reason for this.'" 

Let's see, the reason Andrew Jackson saw 'no reason for this' is because he didn't see it. He died in 1845. The Civil War started in 1861. 

But, wait, it gets better (or is that worse?) ...

"People don't ask that question, but why was there a Civil War?"

Students and scholars have been asking about the Civil War for well over 150 years, and counting. There's literally thousands of books - perhaps even 65,000 - written about the Civil War. And, yes, a few of those even discussed why it started. 

Then we have this Trump classic ...

"Why could that one not have been worked out?"

How about the economics of slavery pitted one emerging civilization, the industrializing north, against a static civilization, a slave dependent agriculture dominant south. In many ways, this was the original "clash of civilizations" in post-revolutionary America. Yet, Trump has no clue about any of this.

I have more commentary, but why bother?

Sigh ...

- Mark