Didn't know about these military tribunals until today. I'm sure life was generally rough and unfair for everyone at that time and place, but I do recognize an unsettling pattern. It's another parallel between Lincoln and Obama, interesting not least for what has changed since. I gather back then it wasn't illegal to fight an occupying army on your homestead.
I saw "Defiance" today, and it reminded me of the partisan movies I grew up on, in the old country. Hollywood is getting quite good at depicting that desperation, grit, and mad courage to resist unspeakable brutality. Is the West falling under the same spell we eastern kids have known since childhood? Or are people here relating to these stories in a different manner? After all, not everyone has Šumarice in their back yard.
Of course, they can't resist introducing the trademark characters of Anglo-Saxon folklore: the testosterone-charged, square-jawed supermen that tackle every obstacle in their path. A little incongruous if you ask me, but nothing is perfect in this world. It's a price worth paying to enjoy a good partisan movie again.
