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“Southern Knights.” 150 Years of Memories
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*****************

150 years ago today, around 3 PM, some 12,000 Confederate soldiers, "stepped off" on a death march into a hailstorm of lead and canister shot poured into their ranks from well dug-in Union positions and artillery batteries on the outskirts of a little Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg.

Those doomed Confederate troops would walk nearly three-quarters of a mile -- over open ground -- with no cover of any kind, while the union forces poured lead into their ranks toppling bodies like a scythe in a wheat field.

The Confederates were slaughtered. It was the turning point of The War Between the States.

Gen. James Longstreet was unhappy with Gen. Robert E. Lee's command to attack the Union positions.  When it came time for him to issue the order for George Pickett to take his men across that great killing field, he simply could not bring himself to say the words.  He merely nodded with bowed head.  Pickett ordered his men into the sluice of death, in line abreast, extending nearly a mile in breadth. 

In less than an hour it was over.  That field was littered with Confederate dead. Over half of Pickett's Division lay dead upon the field... over three thousand men.  All 15 regimental commanders, including two Brigadier General's and six Colonel's were dead.  Their skill, their experience, gone forever.

When George Pickett finally made his way to Lee, Lee ordered him to prepare his Division for a possible Union counter attack. Pickett replied to Lee:  "Sir.  I HAVE no Division!" 

Pickett never forgave Lee.

Union forces did not counter attack -- their commanders not wishing to face the still formidable Confederate forces nor the Confederate artillery dug-in on Seminary Ridge.
The next morning, the morning of July 4th, 1863, dawned dark and foreboding with skies that soon opened with torrents of rain. Lee seized the opportunity and retreated.

It still hurts.

Some few years ago, I stood in the cemetery of a small, rural, southeastern North Carolina church and helped to dedicate six granite Confederate Veteran Grave Markers for six “Heroes of the South” who were veterans of the Confederate Army.

As the exceedingly bright September afternoon sunlight shone down upon those gathered for this solemn ceremony, three flags snapped in the strong fall breeze as it danced it’s way across the cemetery embracing each stone in turn, and forcing our flags to flutter and, at times, stand straight out with their halyard as taunt as a bow string.

At the top of the flagstaff was the Stars and Stripes, the flag of our country, the United States of America. Just below “Old Glory” was the state flag of our state, the state of North Carolina, and directly below that was the Confederate Battle Flag, the flag of no country, and no state, just a battle field ensign, but… it was the flag under which the men we honored had marched and fought and died.

As I spoke to those assembled on that sacred ground, I let my eyes drift casually over the onlookers. I saw one child, a little sandy-headed boy, about 4 maybe 5 years of age. He was the only youngster there.

I thought, that young man needs to hear this, he needs to have his parents tell him what all this color and honor means. He needs to be told… before it is too late.

Our children have been taught a “revisionist history” about this unique part of the United States. Generation after generation of American children had been led away for their roots until southern children, especially, no longer know who, and what, they are.

Although the history of the United States, and the people of the US, is colorful the history of the Southern portion of our country is even more colorful. Settled primarily by Scot-Irish peoples, with French Huguenots along our southeastern coasts, the people of the early South always felt the difference between them and their northern brothers and sisters.

The South was agrarian… a land of farmers. The North was industrialized... a land of factories and immigrant workers from, mainly, northern Europe.

Farming is inexplicably tied to the weather, to the seasons, and weather and the seasons move at their own pace, a pace which is, for the most part, much slower than the pace of impatient man. Factories, for the most part, were not dependent upon the weather as the workers were most often inside out of the elements so their manner of work and life was at a much more rapid pace than that of the South.

Our dress was different from that of the north. Hot and humid, the south demanded lighter weight clothing, and lighter colors, than that of our nothern counterparts.

Our speech mannerisms became a birthmark of the Southron. We spoke slowly… almost poetically. Our northern neighbors spoke in a more rapid-fire cadence.

The early South was much more prosperous than the North. At the outbreak of the American Civil War the gross national product of the South was three times that of the North. For all intents and purposes, the South was supporting the North.

The North demanded more and more southern money to run the government and laid tariffs and taxes against the South and the South’s trade with Europe until the Southern people said: “enough”. The government of the US would not give an inch on the tariffs, and taxes, and the South parted company with the US and formed it’s own country, the Confederate States of America.

The Confederacy had a Congress, a President, an Army, and a Navy, and a land area, and population, much larger than that of the 13 original colonies. Plus, the South had… the money. Without the South’s money the US government was broke.

And so, the US invaded the Confederate States of America. (Always follow the money, dear reader.)

One of the hallmarks of the Scot-Irish people is their willingness to fight and… the intensity with which they fight. The ancient Romans got a bellyful of the Scot-Irish warriors when they tried to tame them.

I don’t mention slavery, here, as a cause of the American Civil War … because it wasn’t. It WAS dragged into the war later… but, at the outset of the war, slavery, in the South, was not THE issue. In fact, Lincoln had said publicly he was not against slavery.

Here are the words of a proposed 13th amendment to the US Constitution… House Resolution 80 (Joint Resolution of Congress, Adopted March 2, 1861)
Full Text of H.J.R. No. 80, the "Ghost Amendment":

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution, namely:
ART. 13. No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State.
--12 United States Statutes at Large, 36th Congress, 2nd Session, 1861, p. 251.

The resolution above is often referred to as the “Ghost Amendment”, the proposed original 13th Amendment.

The argument still rages today as to whether it passed… or not. At least two states ratified it… Ohio and Maryland!

The opening shots of the Civil war occurred in 1861. The Emancipation proclamation did not take effect until January 1st of 1863. The real 13th amendment, abolishing slavery, passed the Senate easily in April 1864, but was defeated 95 to 66 the first time it went before the House of Representatives in June. It took the House six more months before it reconsidered the amendment and adopted it 119 to 56 on January 31, 1865. The war ended at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, in April of 1865.

The four years of turmoil left scars upon the South, which have never healed. North Carolina, as an example, lost 40,000 of its men to the war. The US was involved in the Vietnam War for nearly ten years. The US lost 58,000 men as a result of that nearly decade long war. Compare that to the 40,000 men NC lost… in just four years. The South’s population was nearly stripped of it’s young men... for a generation.

The southern men who survived came home to a land devastated. All the advancements made in the 80 years since their grandfathers had fought the British for Independence was, for all intents and purposes… gone. Many found it impossible to start over so they packed up they families, and whatever meager belongings that had left, and went west.

Those who stayed turned to the hard work of rebuilding a society, which had been utterly destroyed, and began rebuilding. The South has continued to rebuild ever since.

But the scars are still evident, if not in our buildings and our landscapes, then certainly on our psyches. As the only part of the US to be invaded, and conquered, and occupied, we have a greater sense of liberty and freedom than, perhaps, any other part of this great country.

But we don’t talk about it. We aren’t allowed. We cannot remember our heroes who gave their lives in defense of their homes, their families, and their country… the Confederate States of America. The scars are still tender. Poke around them and you will be surprised at the vehemence with which you will be challenged by a Southron.

We fly our Confederate Battle Flag, not as a put down, or as an implied expression of a deep-seated desire to secede, but in remembrance of the sacrifices the South made.

Our Southern children are forbidden to celebrate their heritage. It is a heritage of heroes. Yet, too many feel threatened by the truth to allow a southern student, in public school, to wear even a belt buckle with the battle flag under which his ancestor fought and most likely died.

One thing the detractors of the South have overlooked. Their attitude does little to meld this nation into one. If anything they continue to drive a wedge between the people of the South and the people of the North. Suppression of the celebration of one’s heritage creates a smoldering anger, which will burn until it bursts into flames. When that finally happens, more than just feelings will be hurt.

All this was pouring through my mind as I spoke to those assembled for the dedication of those stones.

Ours is a great country. Somehow we have managed to get along since 1865 with a modicum of courtesy toward each other. But we must realize that we are yet two nations within one country. There is no way to ever remove the wall of separation between the North and the South unless, and until, we allow the truth to be told to our children and future generations of Americans. Continuing to cover-up the truth of our heritage, the good and the bad, is unhealthy and it needlessly feeds into the bitterness over wrongs done half of this nation 150 years ago.

There is no reason for half of this great country to feel threatened by the other half. Our Southern ancestors meant the US no harm when they parted ways in the 1860’s. What they did was perfectly legal and was their way of righting an injustice. The South had no interest, whatsoever, in overthrowing the government of the US. And yet, the US invaded and overthrew the government of the Confederate States.

The scars are deep here in the South. I carry a partial list of my blood kin who were killed in battles with US troops, or died later, as a result of wounds received in those battles. Southern families consider those men heroes of the highest order. And we bristle when their good name is besmirched by some ignorant, politically correct, individual, from a Congressman, to a Senator, to a public school administrator.

The Confederate History of THIS family WILL be passed on to the children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren, so that we may keep their memory alive for the generations yet unborn.

A walk through a cemetery of a southern church can be a journey back in time. Looking at the dates, and the military ranks, carved in the headstones of our southern heroes can sweep one back to the days of Southern Knights in their gray and butternut uniforms. It also takes us back to the second half of that war when those same Southern Knights walked mile after mile on bloodied feet, in tattered uniforms, on empty stomachs, and still managed to claim victory, time and time again, against the army of a fledgling superpower.

You think we’re not proud of them, of their legacy, and our heritage? Then you have no understanding of the South, at all.

© J. D. Longstreet

Thought I'd take a quick break from my birthday/4th of July vacation week to share some fun news. My bedroom is featured in CNN's Open House series (along with my friends Emily and Bethany).


Now that is a great way to celebrate a birthday!

Check it out and see a lot of great spaces.

Happy holiday weekend y'all!!

From the Desk Of:
Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Received this in the inbox at Rational Nation USA this afternoon. It certainly seems to apply to some executives and almost ALL politicians methinks.


A bit crude but entertaining . . . ENJOY!!!

*Mathematics:* This comes from 2 math teachers with a combined total of 70 yrs experience. It has an indisputable mathematical logic. It also made me laugh out loud. This is a strictly mathematical viewpoint. It goes like this:

What makes 100%?

What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.

How about achieving 103%?

What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15
+18+11 = 98%

And…

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14 +15+23+12
+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But…

*A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21
+4+5 = 100%*

And…

B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+ 12+12+
19+8+9+20 =103%

And, look how far ass kissing will take you.

A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+ 19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while “Hard-work” and
“Knowledge” will get you close, and “Attitude” will get you there.
It's the “Bullshit” and “Ass Kissing” that will put you over the top.

Now you know why some people are where they are!

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


Kirsten Powers is a woman of the left. Yet there has always been something about her that I knew set her apart from the pack. It's called COMMON SENSE Kirsten recently reaffirmed my belief in her ability to reason clearly.

THE DAILY BEAST - It’s amazing what is considered heroism these days.

A Texas legislator and her pink sneakers have been lionized for an eleventh-hour filibuster against a bill that would have made it illegal for mothers to abort babies past 20 weeks of pregnancy, except in the case of severe fetal abnormalities or to protect the life or health of the mother.

But the fight is not over. The bill will be reintroduced, and supporters of the ban are optimistic it will pass. For now, Wendy Davis has achieved the dubious victory of maintaining a very dark status quo. Texas women will still be able to abort a healthy baby up to the 26th week of pregnancy for any reason, as the current law allows.

According to the Parents Connect website, if you are in the 25th week of your pregnancy, “Get ready for pat-a-cake! Baby’s hands are now fully developed and he spends most of his awake time groping around in the darkness of your uterus. Brain and nerve endings are developed enough now so that your baby can feel the sensation of touch.” Let’s be clear: Davis has been called a hero for trying to block a bill that would make aborting this baby illegal.

In addition to the limit on late-term abortions, the Texas legislature sought to pass regulations on abortion clinics similar to what was passed in Pennsylvania in 2011 after the Gosnell horror. The New York Times warned that the Texas bill “could lead to the closing of most of Texas’s 42 abortion clinics.” That sounds familiar. In 2011, the Pennsylvania ACLU claimed a post-Gosnell bill “would effectively close most and maybe all of the independent abortion clinics in Pennsylvania.” Last month, a Pennsylvania news site reported that “several” abortion clinics have closed, which isn’t quite the Armageddon the abortion-rights movement predicted.

So no, I don’t stand with Wendy. Nor do most women, as it turns out. According to a June National Journal poll, 50 percent of women support, and 43 percent oppose, a ban on abortion after 20 weeks, except in cases of rape and incest.

One can assume I am also not the only woman in America who is really tiring of the Wendys of the world claiming to represent “women’s rights” in their quest to mainstream a medical procedure—elective late-term abortion—that most of the civilized world finds barbaric and abhorrent. {Read More}

Kirsten Powers is a liberal democrat on the right side of the abortion debate. She, like the majority of American women understand the issues clearly. With women like Kirsten speaking out is there any doubt but what reason and common sense will ultimately prevail?

Kirsten, you go girl...

What IS Truth?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
****************

There seem to be two events based on the Zimmerman trial unfolding simultaneously.  One:  The judicial system's trial of George Zimmerman -- and two: The media's public lynching of George Zimmerman.

Unless the prosecution pulls a surprise from the woodwork, I am beginning to wonder how the heck they even got this case before a judge.

I am compelled to ask myself if this whole trial of Zimmerman is nothing more than a "sop" thrown to the black community -- a concession, if you will,  given to mollify or placate them in the hope that they won't riot.

It could also explain the state  "over-charging" Mr. Zimmerman.  By over-charging, I mean charging him with an offense worse than the circumstances of the case would seem to dictate. 

Why second degree murder rather than manslaughter?  There's no question the hike in the difficulty of securing a conviction for second degree murder makes a finding of "not guilty" far more likely.    

The Zimmerman trial is destined to join the ranks of the cases tried in the media. There have been many cases in the annals of the  judicial history of the United States openly tried in the media.  This, then, is one more.  

From the liberal use of the words "murder" and "murderer," by the MsM, you'd think Zimmerman had already been tried and convicted of murder.  He has not ... at least not by a jury in a court of law.  One cannot say the same thing for the court presided over by the MsM, however.

I'm not an attorney.  But as a law enforcement officer, many decades ago, I spent a lot of time in courtrooms ... in the witness box and in the gallery ... just listening and observing.  I am hardly ever surprised at what witnesses say in response to questions from attorneys -- especially when the phrase; "Please describe, in your own words, what happened on the night in question."  That's when the "pucker-factor" within the courtroom community increases exponentially. 

Then there are some witnesses who appear for one side yet, in the end, actually assist the opposing side's case. 

That being said, I must tell you it appears to this layman that the prosecution is the best defense Mr. Zimmerman has! 

Look.  The plain truth is -- we will probably never know exactly what transpired the night of the confrontation between Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Martin.  Sadly, the truth of such events almost never sees the light of day -- and -- if and when it does,  it is oft times dismissed as fantasy, the product of an overactive imagination, or out-right lies. Too often, I have to remind myself, trials are not so much about finding the truth as they are about getting the accused found not guilty.

In an age of instant communications anywhere on the face of the globe, almost zero privacy, where everything is known about everyone,  you'd think the truth would be easily found and/or discerned.  Not so!  In fact, along with our digital revolution came the ability to create and/or destroy entire personalities.  We can create a "fact" or a "truth" and -- on a whim -- destroy it completely. 

We even have a name for this electronic mischief.  We call it:  "computer generated."  As a result far from being more trustful of the "truth" we tend to be far more suspicious of that which is presented as "truth."

Pontius Pilate, as he completed his inquisition of Jesus, said sneeringly: "What IS truth?"  I submit to you that ole Pontius would REALLY be confused today!

Truth be told, (no pun intended) the result of the Zimmerman trial will change few people's personal evaluation of what they think happened that night.  Minds were made up long ago.

How people comport themselves after the trial, especially if Mr. Zimmerman is found not guilty, will speak volumes about how well  America's so-called "multicultural society" is working out for Americans.

So far as that goes, as a white man now in his eighth decade of life, I can, from experience, report that race relations are not much, if any, better than they were when I was a lad.  Some, yes.  But not a great deal.  

The difference is (I believe) -- we have learned to create facades much better now than we could then. To do that, we have had to learn to distance ourselves from the truth and quench our collective conscience.  As a result, we have produced at least one generation of psychopaths.  

Multiculturalism is unworkable for a society that is expecting to grow and thrive.  Even God, Himself, seems to have had problems with it.  I refer you to the story of the "Tower of Babel" in the Bible at: Genesis 11: 1 - 9.

You would think the event between Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Martin was a black and white racial issue.  I remind you -- no white person was involved.  When the MsM was un-ceremonially reminded of this fact, they suddenly invented a new race: a WHITE Hispanic.  Rather than change their "narrative" -- they changed the facts.  That should tell you everything you need to know about the motive of the MsM.

Something tells me this trial is not going to go the way most expect.  

Dr. Sam Sheppard  once said:  "I therefore believe that our system does not have a word for failed trial, and that is where the American public does not realize that our criminal justice system sometimes makes mistakes."  (Samuel Holmes Sheppard was an American osteopathic physician who was found guilty and later absolved in the murder of his wife.  There was a movie and a TV series said to have been based on the Sheppard case -- "The Fugitive."  Perhaps you've heard of them.)

© J. D. Longstreet

Marisabel Cabrera

Click to enlarge.

Yawn.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Rate

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

America is indeed changing. More accepting and tolerant. For certain the nation has a long way to go before bigotry and prejudice is finally eradicated for good. But the movement is encouraging and no amount of religious right influence or  latent racial prejudice will stop the trajectory.

Some interesting snippets of the changing times.

USA TODAY -...  Last year was the first time a majority of Americans had backed gay marriage.

The only major demographic groups in which a majority oppose same-sex marriage are Republicans (68%) and seniors 65 and older (51%). Even in the South, which continues to be the only region that doesn't show majority support for gay marriage, opposition has slipped below 50%.

• By a narrower margin, 48%-43%, those surveyed favor the Supreme Court's decision declaring unconstitutional part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which barred the federal government from providing benefits to same-sex spouses. Views on the issue are intense. Those who feel strongly about the issue split 29%-29% in favor and against the ruling.

• By 53%-37%, Americans say affirmative action programs are still needed to counteract the effects of discrimination against minorities. That reflects a rebound in support after the court's ruling. In an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll taken a few weeks before the court's decision, the nation split 45%-45% over whether such programs were needed or had gone too far.

In a case involving the University of Texas, the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action programs in college admissions were permissible but set a tough legal standard the programs have to meet.

• By 49%-40%, those surveyed oppose the decision by the court to strike down the provision in the Voting Rights Act that required some states, mostly in the South, to get federal approval to change election laws. Two-thirds of African Americans oppose the decision.

The country divides 43%-44% in approval-disapproval over the way the Supreme Court is doing its job. That's the lowest level of approval in eight years and nearly 20 percentage points lower than it was as recently as 2001...  {Full Report Here}

The only thing that is inevitable is change.  Best to accept change and work to make things better. Without giving up the many good things that have always been America. 

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


This individual has enjoyed his four plus years spent political blogging. It has been my pleasure to encounter some very intelligent individuals from the conservative libertarian side as well as from the liberal progressive side. Of course the downside has been there are are in fact some really dumb individuals on both sides. Individuals that lack the ability as well as the desire to even consider that there may be a different and possibly better way of looking at and approaching issues. I'm sure you all know somebody like that.

For me the journey has been informative and instructional. All of us develop our values, principles, and aspirations based in large share on our early life experience. For those with active and inquiring minds I'm fairy certain you understand. For those who prefer the known and avoid the temporary mind chaos of considering and sorting out new ideas and concepts, well turn in to Fox News or MSNBC.

After 61 years of a rather eventful (and stressful) life it simply astounds me that given all the changes in technology, the increased knowledge we have gained (especially in science), and the opportunities for economic growth and expansion that we have remained relatively stuck in the status qua. I suppose that is because humans my their nature prefer the known over the unknown.

So, we keep clinging to the data points we learned as children and young adults. Believing that doing so preserves our comfort zone and thereby our emotional and mental security. This phenomenon is not specific to just conservatives, it in fact extends to liberals. Regardless of political ideology, proclivities, or indoctrination people being people respond to what they know positively. Being open to different concepts and possible ways of doing things is, well, frightening for many. Perhaps most.

It has been said that the definition of insanity is to repeatedly do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.

America has sadly arrived at that low point.

To crib Forest Gump... " And that's all I have to say about that."

Often overlooked the Preambles are critical components of our nations founding writings. This video highlights both the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. It also expresses a fundamental concern over the state of our nation and flies our Old Glory in a respectful sign of distress.