“It is difficulties that show what men are.”

I was reading a biography on John Adams, lawyer, statesman, founding father and 2nd President of the United States, when I ran across this quote by Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus. Epictetus taught that we cannot control external events, but we can control how we respond.

Surely, these are difficult times. We are witnessing, with our own eyes, the destruction of liberty, freedom and the ever encroaching tyranny that my ancestors fought against, twice. We are seeing with incredible speed, the disappearance of Jefferson constitutionality. We are seeing a “created” belief that our rights come from government, and not Divine Providence, or nature if you will. Our government, instead of protecting and guaranteeing our rights, chips away daily at those rights. A prime example would be our current President Biden’s unprecedented and totally unconstitutional executive order of a mandatory COVID vaccine or weekly testing, for every business with 100 or more employees. How can anyone even come close to believing this is right?

Since the Ferguson MO incident in 2014, we have seen protectors of our community put on trial by the media, ridiculed, castigated, and their entire lives and their family’s lives ruined simply for doing their job, as the world “Monday morning quarterbacked” a decision that these protectors had mere seconds to make. We have witnessed rioting, burning, looting and killing, done by those who claim to be on the side of right.

Since the George Floyd incident, we have watched groups built on lies (BLM) become the driving power of the media. We have watched with freight train speed, the toppling of statues dedicated to honor the memory of our ancestors. We have watched other noteworthy statues of historical figures torn down or removed because of the complaints from a small minority, while statues a 16 foot tall statue of Communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin remain in place untouched.

We have seen our governments hop on board with this new “woke” crowd, taking up their cause on many issues, rather than stand their ground against unconstitutional tyrannical acts. Many days I have watched or read the news and came away terribly disturbed.

But there is hope. The hope is that there are still a few of us left who don’t back down, who in spite of being called “racist” or “fascist,” stand our ground and call out our government and their misdeeds.

I am encouraged by the actions of some of the states, exercising their states rights, nullifying Federal laws. I am encouraged by the Governor of Florida, standing in the gap for the rights of the parents to choose whether their children should wear a mask or not. I feel confident that Florida and other states will file suit against the Biden Administration for this most recent intrusion on personal rights.

These are difficult times…the most difficult times that I have seen in my 60 plus years on this earth. But, it was “difficulties” that made men like George Washington, John Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Thomas Jefferson, and others who founded this country. It was “difficulties” that made men like Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Johnston Pettigrew, John Bell Hood, JEB Stuart, and Robert E. Lee.

“It is difficulties that show what men are.” As these difficulties continue to assault us, let us show the enemy “what men we are.”

Educate your children.

Thank you for reading.

Is Davis A Traitor? (The Question of Secession)

In our fight to preserve our history, more often than not, we come across those who call our ancestors traitors for fighting for the Confederacy. We know they were not traitors…but do we know WHY they were not? Sadly, many of us do not. Again, as I so often say here, we must educate ourselves so that we can educate other.

For education, I would encourage you to read “Is Davis A Traitor?” by A.T. Bledsoe. Bledsoe was a lawyer, Episcopalian priest and a Confederate officer. This book, written in 1866, was to help in the trial of President Jefferson Davis…a trial he wanted, but did not get.

Bledsoe masterfully puts together a constitutionally valid argument for the “Compact Theory,” and Secession using quotes from those such as Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Morris.

I would encourage every Southern loving person to add this book to your “arsenal” of weapons used to defend our history which is so swiftly being destroyed and buried by our enemy.

As always, teach your children and keep our heritage alive. Please share on your social media.

Thank you for reading.

The Dismantling of History.

In 1890, the Robert E. Lee equestrian statue was the first statue to be placed on Monument Row in the City of Richmond Virginia. It was a monument to Virginia’s most loyal son, a man who would rather resign his US Army commission and turn down the command of the US Army, than raise his sword against Virginia. Lee vowed never to raise his sword again, except in defense of his home…which he did when Lincoln invaded the Confederate States of America.

Today, with a heavy heart, I report that at 9am this morning, that monument, which was protected by law, on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007, and on the Virginia Landmarks Registration since 2006, was removed from its pedestal, placed on the ground, and cut into two pieces, separating the torso of Lee from the horse. Supposedly this was for easier transportation to an undisclosed location for storage until the liberal government of Virginia can figure out what to do with it. To me, it was a malicious degradation to the man it represented, and government vandalism to a majestic piece of art.

I won’t go into how the death of a convicted felon was the catalyst of the dishonoring of a great man such as Robert E Lee because I don’t want to give that felon any recognition. I will say that Virginia Governor Northam turned his back of all of Virginia’s good and decent people, and orchestrated the removal of Lee’s statue as he has so many others. We can only hope that a statue of that convicted felon doesn’t take its place.

For many years I have wanted to visit Richmond and see those statues to Southern heroes. Regrettably I did not make that trip. Today that desire lays on my heart no more.

I want to publicly thank those private individuals who, with their own money, filed suit against the government to keep the Lee statue in its place only to be struck down, by an out of control, tyrannical government, much as Lee was in 1865. Their fight, just as Lee’s, was for a gallant and worthy cause, and just because they lost does not make their cause unjust.

In a letter written to Lee in November 1866, Lord Acton penned these words, “I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.”

Today, I mourn that “stake” as well.

Three Months in the Southern States

Make no mistake…we are in a fight for our history…our heritage. In order to win this fight, we must educate ourselves about our Southern ancestors. To do this, we must look to period books written by those who lived those times, and not to books of the likes of Ty Seidule’s book on Robert E. Lee. I’d like to suggest the book/diary by Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle.

Fremantle, a British officer, toured the Southern states from April through July of 1863 and was an eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg. Upon his arrival into the Confederacy, he was decidedly northern in his sympathies mainly because of his dislike of slavery, but that seemed to have changed some during his stay in the South. Fremantle spoke of the “gallantry and determination of the Southerners.” In his preface he said, “…but I think no generous man, whatever may be his political opinions, can do otherwise than admire the courage, energy, and patriotism of the whole (Southern) population, and the skill of its leaders, in this struggle against great odds.” He also spoke disapprovingly of the “foolish, bullying conduct of the northerners.”

One excerpt that I enjoyed was this one that he made while observing the Southern army, was this observation he made of Hood’s men, marching through Chambersburg…”One young female had seen fit to adorn her ample bosom with a huge Yankee flag, and she stood at the door of her house, her countenance expressing the greatest contempt for the barefooted Rebs; several companies passed her without taking any notice; but at length a Texan gravely remarked, ‘Take care, madam, for Hood’s boys are great at storming breastworks when the Yankee colors are on them.’ “

You can never get from today’s history books, what you can get from eyewitness accounts of people who were actually there. I highly encourage adding this book to your library and your repertoire of weapons in the fight to protect our great Southern history.

Teach your children. Don’t let your history die with you.

Secession-Is It A Right?

Is secession a right? Lincoln nationalist would have you believe it is not. I am here to say, it is…and protected by the Constitution.

First, lets look at the Declaration of Independence. Here, Thomas Jefferson so eloquently listed the reasons why 13 British colonies felt it necessary to break ties with Great Britain. He wrote that men are gifted by their creator “certain unalienable rights” and that government is put in place to protect those rights. Jefferson also penned that government gets its “just powers” from the people. But what does Jefferson say about government when it no longer meets the needs of the people…when it becomes “destructive of these ends?” Well, here it is, word for word, “…it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” I call this the revolutionary right to remove the current government and institute new…this is exactly what those southern states did in 1860-61.

Second, lets look at the Constitution itself. People argue against secession saying that “If its not in the Constitution, you can’t do it.” That argument doesn’t wash because the Constitution as a whole only applies to the central government. How do we know this? Because states powers are different. Article 1 Section 10 is the key to understanding how they are different.

Article 1 states that “Congress shall have the powers to…” and continues to list those powers. Anything else is prohibited for the central government to do. Article 1 Section 8 has the “positives” on what the government can do. Section 9 lists what the government cannot do. Section 10 is where the difference is. It starts out with “No State shall…” and continues to list what states cannot do. Nowhere is secession listed as one of the things that States cannot do. Once seceded, a state is no longer obligated to the compact of the Constitution. A seceded state would once again become a totally independent republic, just as it was before they were unified, just as Rhode Island and North Carolina were when they did not ratify the Constitution by 1788. I’ll add here that it only takes 9 states to ratify the Constitution.

Follow up Article 1 Section 10 with the 10th Amendment, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The Constitution and subsequent Bill of Rights, do not need to be interpreted by “Constitutional experts.” It was written so that the commoner could understand it. It is clear that what is not “prohibited” by the Constitution to the states, becomes a power of the states. James Madison said that the powers of the central government were limited, but that those of the states were “numerous and indefinite.” Tenche Cox in his 1788 essays lists what the central government can and cannot do. He points out that Congress cannot do anything except what is listed in Article 1 Section 8. Cox goes on to say, “In short, besides the particulars enumerated, everything of a domestic nature must or can be done by them (the states).” Tenche Cox affirms that the central government can only do what is enumerated to it, but that states powers are unlimited. So we see that no matter how you look at it, central government is limited and states powers are not. Secession is not a prohibited power of the states.

Lastly, a major clue here on how we know that the founding generation believe secession to be a right…because within 5 years of the founding document, the constitution, states started pushing for secession. Ironically, it was New England.

By 1788, 13 independent, sovereign republics voluntarily ratified the Constitution. By 1860, 20 more independent, sovereign republics had joined the Union. By May 20th, 1861 11 of those independent, sovereign republics, exercised their right of secession, exercised their revolutionary right to ” alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,” and rescinded their ratification of the Constitution.

That right still exists today. Why are so many states talking of separating from the Union? Because they know they can.

Thank you for reading and as always, subscribe and share this with your friends and family, especially your children. When this information disappears, our heritage dies with it.

The Pledge of Allegiance-Is this country really “one nation…indivisible?”

Photo curtesy of Getty Images

If you were born prior to 1957, you no doubt were brought up in public school where you started the day with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag….

“I Pledge Allegiance, to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

No doubt, your heart swelled with pride, looking at that flag in your classroom, or watching, through a window, flutter in the breeze on a flagpole outside your school. That’s all good and fine…if you believe that the republic is “one nation, indivisible.” But to any good Southerner, is this nation really “one nation, indivisible?”

Lets look at a little history on the pledge. The first original pledge is quite different from the current version. It was largely devised by Francis Bellamy, a socialist minister, and first published in the “Youth’s Companion” in September of 1892. The original version read like this, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Bellamy felt it necessary to incorporate what the “Civil War was fought to prove,” one nation, indivisible. Besides being a socialist, Bellamy was obviously also Hobbsian in his thinking. We know from my previous posts that this “nation” is not one, but many small republics tied together by a central government. We also know that per the compact theory, that this “nation” is not indivisible.

When the original pledge was first published in 1892, it was designed to be done with the “Bellamy Salute” described here…At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute — right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” At the words, “to my Flag,” the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side. This is a modified version of the “Roman salute” and is similar to the Nazi salute. Congress amended the flag code in 1942 to just the hand over the heart.

The words “the flag of the United States of America” were added in 1923 and in 1954, at the urging of President Eisenhower, the words “under God” were added. There have been a couple other versions used by different groups but these are the main and most recognized versions/changes that I could find in my research.

I, like you, went for many years saying the current pledge, having “one nation, under God, indivisible” hammered into my brain, and with no thanks to the public school system, not being taught the truth about secession, an idea well accepted by most of the founders. It has only been within the past 25 years that I began to realize that as a Southron, I could not longer in good faith, repeat that pledge. It always bothered me that the pledge was said at Sons of Confederate Veterans meetings. This pledge, as it stands, is anathema to everything Jeffersonian Constitutionalist Southerners stood for and should stand for. It goes against what my Confederate ancestors fought for.

The United States was and still is not “one nation,” but many small “nations” tied together by a central government. The founders repeatedly referred to the states as “sovereign” and “independent.” They knew that the Constitution was a compact between the states and that if such compact was violated by any of the parties, any party had the right to withdraw. Also, in Article 1 Section 10 of the Constitution, there are specific as to what states cannot do. Secession or separation from the Union is not mentioned. Follow that up with the 10th Amendment, that whatever is not “prohibited” to the states by the Constitution becomes a power of the states, you have a clear path to secession. I do believe in secession…it should be a last resort, but we do have that right.

So in good conscience, I simply cannot say the pledge in its current form. I’m not saying we should not honor the flag…we should. We should honor those ancestors of ours who fought with the Continental Army for independence from Great Britain, and for others who fought to keep this “republic of republics” free.

I propose a new version to this pledge…I pledge my honor, to the flag of these United States and to what it stands for, many republics united together, under God, in the never ending pursuit of liberty, justice and equality for all.

Thank you for reading. As always, if you like my posts, please subscribe, share the posts on your social media. I am not here for anything other than education…especially of our children. Our history is dying. It is up to us to keep it alive.

Horrible Tragedy

Yesterday we woke up to the horrible news of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. For some unknown reason, a normally quiet man took it upon himself to gather up some guns, camp out in a room at the Mandalay Bay hotel, and fire aimlessly into a crowd of concert goers.

We don’t yet know a lot of the details as the media reports are conflicting, and the investigating agencies aren’t quite yet ready to release all they know…and they know a lot more than we do.

As expected though, the political left, never missing a good opportunity, started again their renewed cries for gun control.  Hillary Clinton, made one of the most ignorant tweets I saw yesterday about how much worse it could have been had the NRA gotten their way with the relaxation on silencer laws. Hillary may be a smart woman…but she has no knowledge of firearms, at all.

I  can sit here, and type out my arguments against the leftist gun control agenda all day long….but the one thing that stands out in my mind, and is so simple to understand, is that criminals do not care about laws. I can say that because of my 25 years of law enforcement experience. As a matter of fact, I will say it…again. Criminals do not care about laws. 

You may say, “What has this got to do with being a Southron?”  It has a lot to do with it…because this same bunch, with the leftist gun control agenda, are the same ones wanting to tear down every statue that stands for the Confederacy.

I’ve said all along…it isn’t about the Confederacy. It’s about change…change to the America we know, to the America they want.

“See ya in hell, Billy Yank!”

A pleasant exchange…

This morning, after I dropped the wife off at work, I popped by the local Food Lion. I wondered, aimlessly through the store, impulse shopping, as I often do….picking up the essentials, but lingering longingly at the snacks, candy and ice-cream.

After I finished, I pushed my buggy up to the checkout and had the most pleasant conversation with the cashier, a black lady by the name of Maxine.  As she scanned my groceries, we carried on a conversation, a pleasant conversation as if we had known each other for all our lives.

After I got back to my car and was headed home, I reflected back on those few moments. Here I am, an older white male conversing with a black female, most likely close to my age. We have different backgrounds, different cultures, different home lives and most likely, a different political view. But yet, we were able to carry on a decent conversation, a most pleasant conversation….we were nice to each other.

With all the turmoil and upheaval in our country, it was nice to have a good conversation with this lady.

Why can’t all our conversations with everyone be like this one?

If you’re ever in the Morehead City, NC area, stop in at the Food Lion and say hello to Maxine.

The Confederate Statue….

…Controversy isn’t About Slavery. It’s about ending America.

I found this article about what I’ve been preaching since I started this blog. It’s not about the Confederate statue, or about slavery, or anything like that. It is about ending American as we know it.  This plan isn’t new…It’s been in progress for many years now.

Here is the article by John Daniel Davidson, a writer for The Federalist. Enjoy, cry, get upset, but learn….and maybe we can stop this before it gets too much further along.

 

The Confederate Statue controversy isn’t about slavery. It’s about Ending America

It’s not about Confederate statues….

….it never was.

A few blog posts back, I pointed out that the removal of Confederate statues, monuments to those brave few who knew nothing about fighting for slavery, but believed with all their hearts they were fighting for a new independence, was just a flash point for this new revolution. Their cause is a new revolution…a new United States, one that is a far cry from what our forefathers envisioned it to be.  Please read this article from back in August where the oldest monument to Christopher Columbus was vandalized.  This is only the beginning….

Oldest Christopher Columbus statue vandalized