Look at what obsession with slavery has done to African-Americans. No black alive today was ever a slave, but they have fed on resentment over that historical episode for so long that they have marginalized themselves in American society. They have doomed another generation of children to short, brutal lives of poverty, violence and self-segregation.
American citizens of Hispanic descent are increasingly making noise about reclaiming most of the American west and forming their own commonwealth. Their justification? "We wuz robbed in 1848!" An historical grudge gone ballistic.
We Southerners (or least a few) are sometimes our own worst enemies by carrying on grudges dating from the Civil War and Reconstruction. When the Civil Rights Act was pending before Congress in the 1950s, some Southern states modified their state flags to incorporate the Confederate battle-flag as a symbol of resistance. Under the folds of that honored banner, they chanted, "Segratation now. Segregation forever." Remember? Then, those very same hypocrits complain that the "Stainless Banner" is equated by blacks with racism. Gee, I wonder why?
When passion trumps reason, the unforeseen consequences are usually bad.
Venting one's anger with shrill charges of liar, warmonger, war criminal, ad nauseum, about a president who died almost 150 years ago contributes nothing useful or constructive to a discussion board.
The words we choose, and the manner in which we express them, define us. They should not be employed carelessly. If one damages his reputation and credibility through thoughtless words, he has no standing to subsequently complain that he isn't being taken seriously.