"What to do", indeed.
He needs a little dose of ZOT:
Posted on 05/15/2003 5:16:03 AM PDT by sheltonmac
All through American history, brave Southerners have taken up the reins of leadership when their countrymen needed them most. More than just obscure footnotes in the pages of a public school textbook, these names have become synonymous with leadership.
George Washington, perhaps the most famous of all Southern leaders, stood up to a king and his imperial army. He faced overwhelming odds during the American Revolution, yet survived to see the birth of a new nation.
Washington’s sense of duty throughout the war carried over into his role as our nation's first president. Unlike most modern politicians, he was a man of principle, and more than anything he wanted to ensure that America's desperate struggle for independence had not been in vain.
His death in 1799 brought grief to freedom lovers everywhere. All of America mourned, but the pain of his loss was felt as far away as Europe. Such was the extent of his influence as a champion of liberty.
Robert E. Lee, like Washington, rose up as a leader to defend his homeland against a powerful foe. When he accepted command of the Army of Northern Virginia, he did so with a gracious spirit, and went on to win the admiration of thousands on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Even after his surrender on April 9, 1865, Lee remained the epitome of true leadership. Having witnessed the renewed assaults on the South in the years following the War Between the States, he wrote:
"If I had foreseen the use that those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox courthouse. No sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my men, my sword in my right hand."
For men like Washington and Lee, freedom itself was merely an abstract concept; it was what that freedom secured that gave them the courage to fight. They fought not only for liberty and independence, but for everything they held dear: their homes, their families, their heritage.
Despite their fierceness on the battlefield, both men remained humble, never forgetting that they served their fellow citizens—and they did so with a passionate loyalty rarely seen today. The South is in need of such leaders again.
In this age of political correctness, attacks on Southern heritage are being carried out with increasing frequency and ferocity. Everything has become fair game for the social fascists seeking to erase from our national consciousness anything even remotely connected to the Confederacy.
In South Carolina, political pressure resulted in the removal of the Confederate battle flag from atop the state capitol. Georgia has just undergone its second flag change in as many years. In Kentucky, people are demanding that a statue of Jefferson Davis be removed from the grounds of the state capitol because it is considered "offensive" to a handful of malcontents with little else to occupy their time.
Naturally, anti-Southern bigotry is not limited to the political arena. Groups that pretend to promote "tolerance" and "diversity" consistently threaten economic boycotts of businesses and other organizations that fail to take decisive action against popular Confederate icons. Most recently, Boy Scouts in the Richmond area of Virginia were forced to remove Robert E. Lee's name from their uniforms in order to avoid offending the less tolerant.
Fortunately, there have been small victories along the way. In 2001, when presented with the chance to adopt a new state flag or keep the old one, Mississippi voters—by a margin of 2-to-1—chose to keep the 1894 flag emblazoned with the Southern Cross.
But such victories are few and far between. If its culture of courage and independence is going to survive, the South needs brave men and women to stand on the front lines against the onslaught of PC warriors. The South is once again in need of leaders like George Washington and Robert E. Lee: loyal, virtuous, strong, principled and uncompromising. I know they are out there, but enemies of Southern heritage like the NAACP seem to have a monopoly on name recognition and media coverage.
This is not a battle simply to win the right to wave a Confederate flag without being called a racist. It is a fight for the very heart and soul of the South. It is a fight to preserve what's left of a very important part of our history. After all, the South's heritage is America's heritage as well.
Funny that DiLorenzo would single out this one sentence from Lincoln's 12/01/62 address, which was very lengthy, but ended:
"Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We -- even we here -- hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just -- a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."
Lincoln said the slave should have freedom. He -never- advocated that anyone should be forced out of the country.
But that is a little inconvenient for DiLorenzo.
Walt
It does, doesn't it?
I haven't thought of that in a long time...reminds me of my lurker days.
BUMP!
David Dieteman and Donald Miller over at LR also reference the quote, and say it comes from Charles Adams - but I have not been able to find any such reference by Adams, or at least not without direct access to the book in question. Footnotes certainly would have been helpful.
I also discovered a reference indicating that it came from an account given by Stockdale and related to R. L. Dabney by Rev. J. S. Lyons of Louisville, KY. It was printed in The Life and Letters of R.L. Dabney by Thomas Johnson. Page 499.
Part of the problem is that it is not in any letters of Lee; it's a second (actually third) hand attribution of a verbal comment made by Lee with no witnesses in hearing. And the two sources for it, Adams and Dabney, are both notorious southern partisans.
Given how utterly incongruous it is with all of Lee's other postwar comments (that we can verify), I am inclined to conclude that it is at best hearsay and at worst an invention, especially given the sources.
Whether this bears on the larger argument at hand is for others to decide.
Walt
Nope. I just give back what is given to me.
Having lived in Georgia while growing up, I have found that all areas have their segment of the population that seem to believe that the rest of America is "beneath them".
May I also submit that the fealty to states as opposed to the nation is what was used to fragment the country and initiate the war. We should be proud of our state, our region and our country, but never the former at the expense of the latter. Too much blood has been shed because of that. Now, the Race-Baiters of the NAALCP and their liberal apologists from the East Coast are trying to start the war all over again, not for high principles, but rather for power. The exchange I have had on this thread with the initial individual was meant in fun, but I am facinated by the number of strap-hangers with agendas who are joining in.
"What to do", indeed.
He needs a little dose of ZOT:
You are asking me? You, a native of Virginia? For heaven's sake, go out and buy a map!
Nahh! I would hate to give you a concussion.
That's GOOD ENUFF FOR ME!
Well, you did offer,now you are backing out? Typical northerner. As far as your comment on me needing a map...you forget, we are the masters of giving directions to you northerner carpetbaggers! I merely was giving you points of interest to remind you Virginia is the start of it all! (sorry roanoke Island did flop but it is still in the south!) Southern Heritage gave birth to the United States! It was a Virginian that got all the states together (southern hospitality).
...the South needs brave men and women to stand on the front lines against the onslaught of PC warriors.
I'll take my stand
I hope you didn't mean that.
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