This is the first in a series of posts dedicated to preserving the memory of some of the Confederate heroes who fought in the War Between the States.
Gen. Richard B. Garnett (November 21, 1817 - July 3, 1863) - was killed while leading his regiment in the ill fated charge against the federal center at Gettysburg, an assault known today as "Pickett's Charge."
Garnett had been a career officer in the US Army before the Civil War. Like many officers, he resigned his commission and fought for the South.
Stonewall Jackson had charged Garnett with cowardice after the Battle of Kernstown in 1862. Jackson had ordered Garnett arrested and planed a court martial. However, the trial was never held and Garnett felt he did not have an opportunity to defend himself against the charges. Lee reassigned him to Pickett's former brigade. Fellow officers noted that Garnett thereafter seemed to look for ways to expose himself to danger in battle, supposedly to demonstrate his bravery. (Most soldiers and officers who knew Garnett did not find Jackson's charges credible).
He arrived on the field of battle near Gettysburg on the second day of the great battle, July 2, 1863. Because of any injury to his leg, Garnett was unable to march during Pickett's Charge. Both Gen. Longstreet and Garnett's good friend Gen. Lewis Armistead urged him not to participate in the battle. Garnett replied, "You know why I must."
"Then don't ride a horse," Armistead urged him, looked at the magnificent black charger upon which Garnett was mounted. "We have all been ordered not to ride during this charge and you will be the only mounted man among us. Every rifle on that hill will be aimed at you. You won't stand a chance."
"See you on the top of the hill," Garnett said and rode away to join his brigade.
Garnett's regiment occupied the left front of the formation making the assault against Meade's army, flanked by Kemper's and Armistead's brigades. His beautiful black charger carried him upward, ascending the hill, over the rail fences in the way. He reached the sunken road, where his Confederates were being slaughtered by murderous canister, called grape shot. Garnett placed his black felt hat on the end of his sword, lifted it high, and yelled, "Virginians! With me! With me!" Onward, Garnett reached the stonewall, the further most point reached by the Southern assault. Federal canister fire was like being in a fierce hail storm, except that this hail was hot, not cold, and it tore great, bloody holes in the Confederate lines. Black smoke obscured his vision. There were no sounds that could be distinguished, just the thunderous roaring of battle in a continuous, deafening volume that seemed to shake the very earth.
Halfway up the slope, Confederates were already retreating, mostly walking, not running. Many were wounded, dragging rifles behind them. Out of the billowing smoke came a black horse, running wildly, blood frothing from its dark gray muzzle, more blood bubbling from a wound in its left shoulder, its eyes full of terror, not knowing where to run.
The next day, July 4th, the remains of Lee's army withdrew toward Virginia, leaving the dead behind. Confederates were mostly buried in mass, unmarked graves. The body of Gen. Richard Garnett was never identified. Toward the end of the 19th Century, many bodies were exhumed and returned to Virginia for reburial as an act of humanitarianism. It is assumed that Richard Garnett's was among them and that he rests in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
In one of history's most intriguing mysteries, a beautiful sword turned up in a second hand store in Baltimore around 1902. It bore the engraved name "R.B. Garnett, US Army." It appeared to be the sword that Garnett wore during his service in the US Army and the one he wore during Pickett's charge on July 3, 1863. How it got to a pawn shop in Baltimore has never been explained. The man who purchased the sword died shortly after the purchase and his son returned the sword to Richard Garnett's family.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
CONFEDERATE FLAGS ARE A TOOL TO ACHIEVE A POLITICAL END
In the 1950s and 1960s the Confederate flag of my youth was not very controversial. Everyone had bigger concerns. The South was being segregated. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, and later Johnson, pressed for new civil rights laws. Kennedy sent US Marshals and federal troops (nationalized Alabama Guard) to Birmingham to protect civil rights marchers and force the integration of the University of Alabama. It was a painful time, to be sure, but nobody had time to worry about a flag.
Unfortunately, it may have been during that time period that our modern generalizations and impressions about the Confederate flag were formed. It is indeed unfortunate that some segregationists and white supremacists choose the "Confederate flag" to symbolize their misguided cause.
But most of us had no such impression of the Confederate flag and we assigned no such context to it. That would happen later at the direction of the ever-left leaning media and the extreme left wing race baiting politicians.
The Confederate flags, and there were many different ones, had a historical context. It was a symbol of a by gone time, a historical era, in which the North and South met on hundreds of battlefields large and small to test two widely different political convictions. The North's conviction was that the Union was sovereign, inseparable and must be preserved at all costs. The South's equally fervent conviction was that the Union was a voluntary compact into which each state entered by its own will and could leave if it saw fit. For many years following the war, constitutional scholars in the North and South stated that the Southern viewpoint was the more legally correct. Look it up and you can prove that to yourself. It wasn't a universal view by any means but there are an ample number of legal scholars who held the same view as Thomas Jefferson had expressed on this matter.
It is true and must be recognized that wealthy men in the South in the 1860s owned slaves, held political power and used that power to protect their investment in slavery. That is a justifiable point up until Lincoln called for an invasion of the South in response to Fort Sumter. However, the throngs of Southern men who answered their states' calls for volunteers to repel the invasion were not motivated by slavery but by loyalty and duty to their states. Virtually no one is recorded by historians as marching into battle shouting, "Save slavery." Very few Southern soldiers would have died for slavery. In fact, I contend that most of the Southern military's rank and file resented the aristocrats who owned slaves, more out of an economic resentment than any political or moral problem with slavery, though some Confederate soldiers openly disapproved of slavery on moral grounds. A journalist recently noted, correctly, that when Gen.George Pickett prepared his brave but doomed charge at Gettysburg, his division shouted, "For Virginia," not "For Slavery."
Modern revisionists have assigned their own context to the "Confederate flag." They have willed it to represent white supremacy, slavery, hatred, racial divide or segregation, or whatever else they can use to achieve political power. It is not the Confederate flags that divide people--it is people who use the flags as a tool, as they will use any tool, to achieve their political ends. If their ends could be achieved by using the US flag, the Bible, marriage, baseball or apple pie, they would use any of those things just as they use their perception of the Confederate flag - to divide and conquer.
Unfortunately, it may have been during that time period that our modern generalizations and impressions about the Confederate flag were formed. It is indeed unfortunate that some segregationists and white supremacists choose the "Confederate flag" to symbolize their misguided cause.
But most of us had no such impression of the Confederate flag and we assigned no such context to it. That would happen later at the direction of the ever-left leaning media and the extreme left wing race baiting politicians.
The Confederate flags, and there were many different ones, had a historical context. It was a symbol of a by gone time, a historical era, in which the North and South met on hundreds of battlefields large and small to test two widely different political convictions. The North's conviction was that the Union was sovereign, inseparable and must be preserved at all costs. The South's equally fervent conviction was that the Union was a voluntary compact into which each state entered by its own will and could leave if it saw fit. For many years following the war, constitutional scholars in the North and South stated that the Southern viewpoint was the more legally correct. Look it up and you can prove that to yourself. It wasn't a universal view by any means but there are an ample number of legal scholars who held the same view as Thomas Jefferson had expressed on this matter.
It is true and must be recognized that wealthy men in the South in the 1860s owned slaves, held political power and used that power to protect their investment in slavery. That is a justifiable point up until Lincoln called for an invasion of the South in response to Fort Sumter. However, the throngs of Southern men who answered their states' calls for volunteers to repel the invasion were not motivated by slavery but by loyalty and duty to their states. Virtually no one is recorded by historians as marching into battle shouting, "Save slavery." Very few Southern soldiers would have died for slavery. In fact, I contend that most of the Southern military's rank and file resented the aristocrats who owned slaves, more out of an economic resentment than any political or moral problem with slavery, though some Confederate soldiers openly disapproved of slavery on moral grounds. A journalist recently noted, correctly, that when Gen.George Pickett prepared his brave but doomed charge at Gettysburg, his division shouted, "For Virginia," not "For Slavery."
"It is not the Confederate flags that divide us--it is people who use the flags as a tool, as they will use any tool, to achieve their political ends."
Modern revisionists have assigned their own context to the "Confederate flag." They have willed it to represent white supremacy, slavery, hatred, racial divide or segregation, or whatever else they can use to achieve political power. It is not the Confederate flags that divide people--it is people who use the flags as a tool, as they will use any tool, to achieve their political ends. If their ends could be achieved by using the US flag, the Bible, marriage, baseball or apple pie, they would use any of those things just as they use their perception of the Confederate flag - to divide and conquer.
"They use the Confederate flags as they would use any tool... If their ends could be achieved by using the US flag, the Bible, marriage, baseball or apple pie--they would use any of those things just as they use their conception of the Confederate flag-to divide and conquer.
"
SHOW YOUR IGNORANCE - REMOVE A CONFEDERATE FLAG
The Confederate battle flag was all about slavery. It still is.
There was only one official Confederate flag. It looked like this.
Most people who fly, or even tolerate, a Confederate flag are secret racists, hate mongers, segregationists, or they have Freudian fantasies about returning to Antebellum societal values.
The current panic about the Confederate flag is justified because the flag is responsible for 9 innocent people losing their lives in Charlestown, South Carolina.
All of the above are FALSE.
1. The predominant issue in the Civil War was states' rights vs. nationalism. Who was the sovereign authority: the Union or the individual states. A hundred years before the Civil War, Thomas Jefferson supported state sovereignty and even argued that states had a right to leave the Union. Most of the southern men who fought and died in the War Between the States never owned a slave and would not have fought to preserve anyone else's slaves. They fought for their state. Robert E. Lee was opposed to both slavery and secession. He said that he never desired to raise his sword again, save in defense of his Virginia.
2. There were many Confederate flags. Various states adopted various patterns and colors. Various regiments unfurled widely different flags over the course of the four year struggle.In any major battle, several different flags floated across the battlefield. The one pictured above is usually called the "battle flag," but even it had many variations. Many southern state flags contain some likeness to one of the Confederate flags. We assume states must now redesign their state flags. If you look at the Alabama state flag, you can't help but be reminded of a few of the Confederate flags. Will Governor Robert Benley ban the Alabama state flag, as he did the "Confederate flag," by removing it from the Civil War memorial?
3. There are as many motives for owning or displaying a Confederate flag as there were flags--even more. I have never flown a Confederate flag or worn one on clothing or on my vehicle. However, I am a student of history and trying to understand or teach history while censoring the "Confederate flag," is a mockery. I see the flag is historical reality. To me, it symbolizes a region of the country that once fought for its independence (right or wrong)--and it honors brave, sincere gentlemen (yes, gentlemen) who served their state/country, as they perceived it to be, and many died valantly under this flag. What gives you the right to desecrate their sacrifice which occurred more than 150 years ago?
4. Finally, the Confederate flag had absolutely nothing to do with the horrible tragedy of nine innocent people being murdered in South Carolina by a nut who may or may not have had any historic understanding of the Confederate flag, its meaning orits heritage. Context, heritage and meaning, by the way, have all been arbitrarily assigned by liberals, North and South, who use the flag as a convenient excuse for the worse barbarianism possible in human nature. Unfortunately, the current panic is fueled by two nearly unstoppable sources: liberal media and politicians. I should say, the lack of context, heritage, meaning and understanding has been exercised by the liberal media and politicians who depend on them for survival.
What bothers me most is that anyone who stands up and calls mob rule, anarchy and panic censorship irresponsible suffers the same fate as the flag. They have to be removed. Where will it end? It will end when logic replaces emotion and sensible people begin to realize that the Confederate flag did not have one single thing to do with the madman who murdered nine innocent persons in South Carolina. If only it were that simple. It's easy to remove the flag but not so easy to remove madmen from society. Let us not all become mad in the process.
There was only one official Confederate flag. It looked like this.
Most people who fly, or even tolerate, a Confederate flag are secret racists, hate mongers, segregationists, or they have Freudian fantasies about returning to Antebellum societal values.
The current panic about the Confederate flag is justified because the flag is responsible for 9 innocent people losing their lives in Charlestown, South Carolina.
All of the above are FALSE.
1. The predominant issue in the Civil War was states' rights vs. nationalism. Who was the sovereign authority: the Union or the individual states. A hundred years before the Civil War, Thomas Jefferson supported state sovereignty and even argued that states had a right to leave the Union. Most of the southern men who fought and died in the War Between the States never owned a slave and would not have fought to preserve anyone else's slaves. They fought for their state. Robert E. Lee was opposed to both slavery and secession. He said that he never desired to raise his sword again, save in defense of his Virginia.
2. There were many Confederate flags. Various states adopted various patterns and colors. Various regiments unfurled widely different flags over the course of the four year struggle.In any major battle, several different flags floated across the battlefield. The one pictured above is usually called the "battle flag," but even it had many variations. Many southern state flags contain some likeness to one of the Confederate flags. We assume states must now redesign their state flags. If you look at the Alabama state flag, you can't help but be reminded of a few of the Confederate flags. Will Governor Robert Benley ban the Alabama state flag, as he did the "Confederate flag," by removing it from the Civil War memorial?
3. There are as many motives for owning or displaying a Confederate flag as there were flags--even more. I have never flown a Confederate flag or worn one on clothing or on my vehicle. However, I am a student of history and trying to understand or teach history while censoring the "Confederate flag," is a mockery. I see the flag is historical reality. To me, it symbolizes a region of the country that once fought for its independence (right or wrong)--and it honors brave, sincere gentlemen (yes, gentlemen) who served their state/country, as they perceived it to be, and many died valantly under this flag. What gives you the right to desecrate their sacrifice which occurred more than 150 years ago?
4. Finally, the Confederate flag had absolutely nothing to do with the horrible tragedy of nine innocent people being murdered in South Carolina by a nut who may or may not have had any historic understanding of the Confederate flag, its meaning orits heritage. Context, heritage and meaning, by the way, have all been arbitrarily assigned by liberals, North and South, who use the flag as a convenient excuse for the worse barbarianism possible in human nature. Unfortunately, the current panic is fueled by two nearly unstoppable sources: liberal media and politicians. I should say, the lack of context, heritage, meaning and understanding has been exercised by the liberal media and politicians who depend on them for survival.
What bothers me most is that anyone who stands up and calls mob rule, anarchy and panic censorship irresponsible suffers the same fate as the flag. They have to be removed. Where will it end? It will end when logic replaces emotion and sensible people begin to realize that the Confederate flag did not have one single thing to do with the madman who murdered nine innocent persons in South Carolina. If only it were that simple. It's easy to remove the flag but not so easy to remove madmen from society. Let us not all become mad in the process.
Monday, June 29, 2015
ALABAMA GOVERNOR DIPS HIS COLORS
Another Alabama governor has taken his stand. Showing solidarity with other Republican leaders across America, Gov. Robert Bentley ordered the removal of the Confederate flag in Montgomery, AL on June 23.
The problem was, he didn't have a flag to lower. The Confederate flag had been removed from the Alabama capitol building back in 1992. The site where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in 1861 did not have a Confederate flag anywhere on its premises, causing quite a quandry for the Governor and his faithful aides.
Word had come down from the national party leadership to seize the moment by removing the flag, or anything Confederate, from government buildings. Governor Nikki Halley of South Carolina had just made a lot of political hay by recommending that South Carolina lower its colors. The move was well received in political circles. Party leadership was quick to seize the moment. Word came down that went something like this (we'd surmise):
"This confederate flag thing has caused us Republicans nothing but heartache for years. We've been beat over the head with it too long. This is the moment. If ya'll got anything 'Confederate' around, get rid of it - and take some pictures!"
But poor Governor Bentley didn't have anything. Alabama has been too progressive, too fast acting, having removed the Confederate flag from the cradle of the Confederacy 15 years ago! Oh, shucks. What to do?
How can we remove a flag when we don't have no flag? There was only one thing to do--find a flag and darn quick. A quick survey showed that there simply were no Confederate flags on the capitol grounds, no even one. It seemed there were only two places you were sure to find a Confederate flag or two in our near Montgomery. One place was the Oakwood Cemetery where several confederate veterans or their family members were buried. The other place was, of all places, the Civil War Museum.
I would have given a thousand dollars to have been a fly on the wall at the hastily convened meeting of the Governor's aides. "Well, git your a-- down there an remove that flag from the museum. And on the way back, kick down one or two flags at that cemetery. And take some pictures. Only at the museum. Only at the museum! No pictures at the cemetery, you idiots!"
When it comes time to dip yore colors but you ain't got no colors to dip, you improvise.
The governor probably isn't done. If he isn't laughed out of office for removing a Confederate flag from a Civil War museum, he could go after memorials of southern war dead or statues of heroes standing on nearly every county courthouse in the state. We suppose he could threaten custodians of cemeteries where Confederate dead are buried, since these graves often have Confederate flags placed on graves. We tried to be creative in coming up with other ways Governor Bentley could show his political disdain for all things Confederate. Our ideas include:
The problem was, he didn't have a flag to lower. The Confederate flag had been removed from the Alabama capitol building back in 1992. The site where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in 1861 did not have a Confederate flag anywhere on its premises, causing quite a quandry for the Governor and his faithful aides.
Word had come down from the national party leadership to seize the moment by removing the flag, or anything Confederate, from government buildings. Governor Nikki Halley of South Carolina had just made a lot of political hay by recommending that South Carolina lower its colors. The move was well received in political circles. Party leadership was quick to seize the moment. Word came down that went something like this (we'd surmise):
"This confederate flag thing has caused us Republicans nothing but heartache for years. We've been beat over the head with it too long. This is the moment. If ya'll got anything 'Confederate' around, get rid of it - and take some pictures!"
But poor Governor Bentley didn't have anything. Alabama has been too progressive, too fast acting, having removed the Confederate flag from the cradle of the Confederacy 15 years ago! Oh, shucks. What to do?
How can we remove a flag when we don't have no flag? There was only one thing to do--find a flag and darn quick. A quick survey showed that there simply were no Confederate flags on the capitol grounds, no even one. It seemed there were only two places you were sure to find a Confederate flag or two in our near Montgomery. One place was the Oakwood Cemetery where several confederate veterans or their family members were buried. The other place was, of all places, the Civil War Museum.
I would have given a thousand dollars to have been a fly on the wall at the hastily convened meeting of the Governor's aides. "Well, git your a-- down there an remove that flag from the museum. And on the way back, kick down one or two flags at that cemetery. And take some pictures. Only at the museum. Only at the museum! No pictures at the cemetery, you idiots!"
When it comes time to dip yore colors but you ain't got no colors to dip, you improvise.
The governor probably isn't done. If he isn't laughed out of office for removing a Confederate flag from a Civil War museum, he could go after memorials of southern war dead or statues of heroes standing on nearly every county courthouse in the state. We suppose he could threaten custodians of cemeteries where Confederate dead are buried, since these graves often have Confederate flags placed on graves. We tried to be creative in coming up with other ways Governor Bentley could show his political disdain for all things Confederate. Our ideas include:
- outlaw dictionaries with the word "Confederate" in them
- require schools to re-educate children who like the South
- punish students who speak with a southern accent
- punish teachers who speak with a southern accent
- punish anyone who speaks with a southern accent
- remove all historical markers in the state, especially if they mention a southern general, hero or soldier
- remove caps, hats, uniforms and belt buckles from the Civil War museum
- remove cannon balls, muskets, tents, camp kettles and other artifacts from Civil War museums
- close Civil War museums
- sign an order declaring Alabama to be a non-Southern state
- secede from Alabama and start your own state
- rewrite the history books (Sorry, already done that)!
- Assert that Alabama never fought in the War Between the States
- replace statues at courthouses with statues of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or Ralph Abernathy
- Redraw the map to show Alabama further north
- Run up a new Confederate flag so you can remove it next time there is a crisis
- Keep a spare Confederate flag in the governor's desk for future removal emergencies
- Write an emergency manual on how to react if you see "one of those flags" flying on your neighbor's property
- Do anything else stupid you feel like but it won't top removing "that flag" from the Confederate Museum.
BUBBA SHOWS THE COLORS
Bubba is a southern boy. He dresses southern casual, talks southern drawl, eats southern fried, chews southern backy, and drinks southern shine. And he don't care who knows it.
Bubba came home from work last Tuesday, got a cold one out of the fridge, flopped down in the recliner and tried to tune in Jerry Springer. Somehow, his southern finger slipped on the remote and he got not-so-southern CNN by mistake. Chris Matthews was making a big hoop-tee-do about Governor Robert Bentley removing the Confederate flag from a Confederate museum.
Now, Bubba lives in a thriving little town of 1,300 people not too far from Huntsville, Alabama. Previously, Bubba has never watched CNN but this Confederate flag thing has captivated him.
Next day, Bubba stops at Wal Mart after work. But Wal Mart informs him that they don't sell T-shirts, overalls or ball caps with the Confederate flag on them no more. Bubba ain't got no internet. So he drives all the way into Huntsville. They got a store over there that sells flags of all kinds.
This lady at the store tells Bubba that, Yep, they still sell Confederate flags. In fact, there has been a run on them since all the hoop-la on TV. More and more people are coming in and calling about buying a Confederate flag. In fact, she generally sells 2 or 3 Confederate flags a week. But in the last 3 days, she has sold 50 or 60 of them. People who didn't care about the Confederate flag before are now passionate about them. It's almost like guns. People who had never owned a gun just went crazy when the president started talking about getting rid of guns. Normal people who previously had seen no need for a gun started buying pistols (called handguns up North), shotguns, rifles, muzzle loaders, daringers, anything that might shoot. Now, it was happening with the Confederate flag. Seems you don't know how bad you need something 'til somebody tries to get rid of it.
I saw Bubba just tonight right after sunset, in that mystical orange and purple twilight over the Parkway. He had his new baseball cap pulled low, a big chew in his left cheek, his window rolled down and one strap on his new overalls a-lose for extra maneuverability. He let out the clutch, hitting second gear with a loud CRAAAZOOOP while a thick curtain of black smoke drifted lazily behind him, the way it must've done at Chicamauga. The last thing I saw was the glorious unfurled blue and red of the Confederate battle flag floating along the ghostly overpass as Bubba unlimbered Old Stonewall, his 1986 Chevy four wheel drive PU. I tell you the truth, for a minute, I thought it was the ghost of JEB Stuart--charging Custer's yankee cavalry at Gettysburg.
It just don't pay to tell some people that they can't fly a Confederate flag.
Bubba came home from work last Tuesday, got a cold one out of the fridge, flopped down in the recliner and tried to tune in Jerry Springer. Somehow, his southern finger slipped on the remote and he got not-so-southern CNN by mistake. Chris Matthews was making a big hoop-tee-do about Governor Robert Bentley removing the Confederate flag from a Confederate museum.
Now, Bubba lives in a thriving little town of 1,300 people not too far from Huntsville, Alabama. Previously, Bubba has never watched CNN but this Confederate flag thing has captivated him.
Next day, Bubba stops at Wal Mart after work. But Wal Mart informs him that they don't sell T-shirts, overalls or ball caps with the Confederate flag on them no more. Bubba ain't got no internet. So he drives all the way into Huntsville. They got a store over there that sells flags of all kinds.
This lady at the store tells Bubba that, Yep, they still sell Confederate flags. In fact, there has been a run on them since all the hoop-la on TV. More and more people are coming in and calling about buying a Confederate flag. In fact, she generally sells 2 or 3 Confederate flags a week. But in the last 3 days, she has sold 50 or 60 of them. People who didn't care about the Confederate flag before are now passionate about them. It's almost like guns. People who had never owned a gun just went crazy when the president started talking about getting rid of guns. Normal people who previously had seen no need for a gun started buying pistols (called handguns up North), shotguns, rifles, muzzle loaders, daringers, anything that might shoot. Now, it was happening with the Confederate flag. Seems you don't know how bad you need something 'til somebody tries to get rid of it.
I saw Bubba just tonight right after sunset, in that mystical orange and purple twilight over the Parkway. He had his new baseball cap pulled low, a big chew in his left cheek, his window rolled down and one strap on his new overalls a-lose for extra maneuverability. He let out the clutch, hitting second gear with a loud CRAAAZOOOP while a thick curtain of black smoke drifted lazily behind him, the way it must've done at Chicamauga. The last thing I saw was the glorious unfurled blue and red of the Confederate battle flag floating along the ghostly overpass as Bubba unlimbered Old Stonewall, his 1986 Chevy four wheel drive PU. I tell you the truth, for a minute, I thought it was the ghost of JEB Stuart--charging Custer's yankee cavalry at Gettysburg.
It just don't pay to tell some people that they can't fly a Confederate flag.
ALABAMA GOVERNOR REMOVES THE CONFEDERATE FLAG.....OUT OF A MUSEUM
Governor Robert Bentley of Alabama just won't be outdone. Not by the Governor of South Carolina, not by anybody.
So, the governor took action. He ordered the removal of the Confederate flag.
Only problem is, the Confederate flag had already been removed from Alabama's capitol back in 1992. So, the governor ordered another flag to be moved--out of the Confederate Museum in Montgomery.
It's like, we gotta have us a flag to remove, folks. Where can we find us a Confederate flag to move? Does anybody know where there's a flag I can move?
Where? I can't move a Confederate flag out of a museum, I'd be a laughing stock. You sure? It's the only Confederate flag left in Montgomery? Well, I reckon I'll just have to move it, then.
I'll bet my last mint julip that Governor Bentley acted on "the word" that came down from the national Republican party leadership. "Hey, Governors: We've taken a beating over this Confederate flag thing for years. There's nothing but heartache in this for us. Now's the time. If ya'll got a Confederate flag, go ahead and move it."
But, what if we uns ain't got no Confederate flag? Well, you big dummy. You'd better find one.
We got us a Confederate flag...where? In the Confederate museum? Well, git yourself down thar and remove it. And if there's any Confederate cemeteries 'round heah abouts, kick down one or two flags there, too.
"And git some pictures!"
So, the governor took action. He ordered the removal of the Confederate flag.
Only problem is, the Confederate flag had already been removed from Alabama's capitol back in 1992. So, the governor ordered another flag to be moved--out of the Confederate Museum in Montgomery.
It's like, we gotta have us a flag to remove, folks. Where can we find us a Confederate flag to move? Does anybody know where there's a flag I can move?
Where? I can't move a Confederate flag out of a museum, I'd be a laughing stock. You sure? It's the only Confederate flag left in Montgomery? Well, I reckon I'll just have to move it, then.
I'll bet my last mint julip that Governor Bentley acted on "the word" that came down from the national Republican party leadership. "Hey, Governors: We've taken a beating over this Confederate flag thing for years. There's nothing but heartache in this for us. Now's the time. If ya'll got a Confederate flag, go ahead and move it."
But, what if we uns ain't got no Confederate flag? Well, you big dummy. You'd better find one.
We got us a Confederate flag...where? In the Confederate museum? Well, git yourself down thar and remove it. And if there's any Confederate cemeteries 'round heah abouts, kick down one or two flags there, too.
"And git some pictures!"
CONFEDERATE FLAG SUPPORTS SLAVERY, RACISM, WHITE SUPREMACY AND HOOF & MOUTH DISEASE
If you listen to the all-knowing pundits, the Confederate flag is all about white supremacy, racism, hatred, segregation, and even slavery. In fact, it now replaces money as the source of all evil. Without the Confederate Flag the tragic and senseless event in Charleston couldn't have happened. Next thing you know, the Flag will be blamed for AIDS, hoof and mouth, anthrax and heaven-only-knows how many other epidemics.
You cannot turn on the TV anywhere in America without hearing politicians, Republican and Democrats, parroting each other about how terrible the Confederate Flag is and how it is a symbol of slavery, ad infinitum.
I am not a white supremacist and I believe in equal rights for all races. Of course, I condemn the terrible and tragic acts of violence carried out by some idiot in South Carolina recently. Not only did he destroy innocent lives in a senseless, cowardly fashion, he has caused the country to suffer post traumatic stress syndrome symptoms because of its unfortunate historic past.
Honest old Abe, when the war first began
Denied abolition was part of his plan.
Honest old Abe has since made a decree
That the war must go on 'til the slaves are free.
As both can't be honest, could someone explain how--
If he was honest Abe then he is honest Abe now?
Over 99 percent of the men who fought under the Confederate battle flag were simple and poor men from small towns and small farms who had never owned a slave and many of them probably had never even seen a slave. It was a rich man's war but a poor man's fight, to be certain.
If you read the letters, diaries and journals of the men in gray (the ordinary soldiers), you will find that they did not care about slavery one way or the other. Many of them, in fact, were against slavery. Very few of them would have fought to preserve slavery. So, why did they fight?
The men in gray fought for several reasons, the least of which was any concern for propagation of slavery. They fought, first and foremost, because their "country," meaning their states, had been invaded. They fought to defend their homes, their families, their freedom from having someone dictate to their lives to them. They fought to repeal and invasion of their homeland. (The North could never understand this and they still can't).
The men in gray fought for a loyalty, not to the Confederate government, but to their home states. The flag they carried into battle was not the same flag that flew over the political capitols or statehouses. The flag was red, signifying the brave blood that was shed on the battlefield; and blue, symbolizing duty and commitment. The stars on the flag represented the individual states.
I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. The South was in the middle of the civil rights struggle. It was awful. But in the 1950s and 1960s, nobody had time to hate the Confederate flag. The real enemies were the callous hearts and bigoted minds that produced the real racism of the time, which was real and ugly. In the 1960s, even in the midst of the struggle for racial equality, it was still permissible to speak of history. You could still read about Gettysburg or Sharpsburg without ridicule. You could study the various battle flags carried by North or South into battle. It was OK to honor heroes of battles, from either side. This was never equated with racism, white supremacy or hatred.
Alabama removed the Confederate flag from its capitol in 1992. You would think that Governor Robert Bently's thunder had been stolen, since he had no flag to remove. Might say he was like a sinking political ship with no cargo to throw overboard. But not Governor Bentley. Not to miss obeying the political mandate sent down from the Republican party chiefs in DC, the governor ordered the flag removed from the Confederate museum in Montgomery. Hey, we didn't have a flag we could remove from our state capital - but we found one in a Confederate museum and we removed it, yes, sir-ree, we did! (You can't stop a committed Republican when there's political hay to be bailed).
So, you cannot even display the Confederate flag in a Confederate museum. We wonder then, can you still display Confederate uniforms, hats, belt buckles, or swords? Those all are historic relics that seem essential to a museum of the time period. Why not remove cannon balls, muskets, hooped skirts and camp kettles, too? You can make the argument that all those relics are connected to the War Between the States, or to slavery, or to racism. Where does it end?
Sadly, I don't think it will end. You see, some people will never be satisfied. Nothing will be enough. When they get the Flag removed from the South Carolina capitol, they will demand it be moved out of the state. Then, they will demand that it not be manufactured. If you manufacture or sell one, you will be a racist. Then, they will demand that you cannot even display one in Civil War museum. Of course, they will demand that hundreds of "Confederate memorials" that stand on the grounds of county courthouses, state parks, county roads or other historic places be removed.
Finally, and we already see this happening, it will be removed from history. I predict that when the new history books are printed in a few months, there will be little, if any, mention of the role the South played in the War Between the States, unless perhaps the South is castigated as a racist region that caused the loss of nearly half a million lives to preserve slavery. (Is that already the story in the history books? I've been out of school so long).
You cannot turn on the TV anywhere in America without hearing politicians, Republican and Democrats, parroting each other about how terrible the Confederate Flag is and how it is a symbol of slavery, ad infinitum.
I am not a white supremacist and I believe in equal rights for all races. Of course, I condemn the terrible and tragic acts of violence carried out by some idiot in South Carolina recently. Not only did he destroy innocent lives in a senseless, cowardly fashion, he has caused the country to suffer post traumatic stress syndrome symptoms because of its unfortunate historic past.
Now, to my main point of this post. The Confederate Flag has absolutely nothing to do with slavery.
True, slavery was one of the big issues that fanned the flames leading to the outbreak of the War Between the States in 1861. But it was not the issue which impassioned hudreds of thousands of southern men to enlist in the Confederate States Army (CSA) and fight desperately for 4 years, any more than Lincoln fought the war to free the slaves. Lincoln repeatedly stated that emancipation of slaves was NOT his reason for fighting. He said it was to "preserve the Union." He ran on that premise in 1860 and ran on it again in 1864. As one Democrat pointed out in an 1864, Lincoln seemed to change his position somewhat toward the end of the war:Honest old Abe, when the war first began
Denied abolition was part of his plan.
Honest old Abe has since made a decree
That the war must go on 'til the slaves are free.
As both can't be honest, could someone explain how--
If he was honest Abe then he is honest Abe now?
Over 99 percent of the men who fought under the Confederate battle flag were simple and poor men from small towns and small farms who had never owned a slave and many of them probably had never even seen a slave. It was a rich man's war but a poor man's fight, to be certain.
If you read the letters, diaries and journals of the men in gray (the ordinary soldiers), you will find that they did not care about slavery one way or the other. Many of them, in fact, were against slavery. Very few of them would have fought to preserve slavery. So, why did they fight?
The men in gray fought for several reasons, the least of which was any concern for propagation of slavery. They fought, first and foremost, because their "country," meaning their states, had been invaded. They fought to defend their homes, their families, their freedom from having someone dictate to their lives to them. They fought to repeal and invasion of their homeland. (The North could never understand this and they still can't).
The men in gray fought for a loyalty, not to the Confederate government, but to their home states. The flag they carried into battle was not the same flag that flew over the political capitols or statehouses. The flag was red, signifying the brave blood that was shed on the battlefield; and blue, symbolizing duty and commitment. The stars on the flag represented the individual states.
I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. The South was in the middle of the civil rights struggle. It was awful. But in the 1950s and 1960s, nobody had time to hate the Confederate flag. The real enemies were the callous hearts and bigoted minds that produced the real racism of the time, which was real and ugly. In the 1960s, even in the midst of the struggle for racial equality, it was still permissible to speak of history. You could still read about Gettysburg or Sharpsburg without ridicule. You could study the various battle flags carried by North or South into battle. It was OK to honor heroes of battles, from either side. This was never equated with racism, white supremacy or hatred.
"I don't think we hate the Confederate flag because we have learned too much. I think we hate the Confederate flag because we have forgotten too much.
Alabama removed the Confederate flag from its capitol in 1992. You would think that Governor Robert Bently's thunder had been stolen, since he had no flag to remove. Might say he was like a sinking political ship with no cargo to throw overboard. But not Governor Bentley. Not to miss obeying the political mandate sent down from the Republican party chiefs in DC, the governor ordered the flag removed from the Confederate museum in Montgomery. Hey, we didn't have a flag we could remove from our state capital - but we found one in a Confederate museum and we removed it, yes, sir-ree, we did! (You can't stop a committed Republican when there's political hay to be bailed).
So, you cannot even display the Confederate flag in a Confederate museum. We wonder then, can you still display Confederate uniforms, hats, belt buckles, or swords? Those all are historic relics that seem essential to a museum of the time period. Why not remove cannon balls, muskets, hooped skirts and camp kettles, too? You can make the argument that all those relics are connected to the War Between the States, or to slavery, or to racism. Where does it end?
Sadly, I don't think it will end. You see, some people will never be satisfied. Nothing will be enough. When they get the Flag removed from the South Carolina capitol, they will demand it be moved out of the state. Then, they will demand that it not be manufactured. If you manufacture or sell one, you will be a racist. Then, they will demand that you cannot even display one in Civil War museum. Of course, they will demand that hundreds of "Confederate memorials" that stand on the grounds of county courthouses, state parks, county roads or other historic places be removed.
Finally, and we already see this happening, it will be removed from history. I predict that when the new history books are printed in a few months, there will be little, if any, mention of the role the South played in the War Between the States, unless perhaps the South is castigated as a racist region that caused the loss of nearly half a million lives to preserve slavery. (Is that already the story in the history books? I've been out of school so long).
CONFEDERATE FLAG MUST BE CENSORED?
Censorship is against everything America stands for and is abhorrent to free speech and the free exchange of ideas.
Unless you are talking about the Confederate Flag.
Flying the Flag over a state government building is one thing. But it's not just public buildings that are the target of Confederate flag haters. For example, Wal Mart has stopped selling the flags, making an arbitrary choice that it wants nothing to do with this symbol. A Huntsville, AL flag store has seen a sharp demand for Confederate flags since the most recent controversy began. However, the manufacturer (who has been making Confederate flags for decades) said it may stop making them.
And just about every politician in the country is rushing to pull down the Stars and Bars and trample it in the mud. But, of course, they are not condoning censorship or interfering with the free exchange of ideas, no matter how currently popular or unpopular those ideas are. Never. They won't stand for any censorship--except for the Flag.
Private companies may, of course, decide what they want to sell and what they don't want to sell. But don't tell me that we are against censorship. Don't say that we leave each American with the choice about what to buy, what to wear, what to play with or what to fly. In this case, we won't. We censor the Flag.
If it's the Confederate Flag, we make an exception to our anti-censorship ideas. There are those among us who would dictate that we cannot buy a Confederate flag because they don't want the Flag to be manufactured or sold. You can't fly one on your property if you can't find one.
If you are bigoted and narrow minded and equate the Flag with racism and just don't want the Confederate Flag around, fine. Just say so. Don't give us that malarkey about the free interchange of ideas, each person making his or her own choice, and all that hogwash. That applies to things you agree with. It never applies to the Confederate Flag. It's just whistlin' Dixie.
Unless you are talking about the Confederate Flag.
Flying the Flag over a state government building is one thing. But it's not just public buildings that are the target of Confederate flag haters. For example, Wal Mart has stopped selling the flags, making an arbitrary choice that it wants nothing to do with this symbol. A Huntsville, AL flag store has seen a sharp demand for Confederate flags since the most recent controversy began. However, the manufacturer (who has been making Confederate flags for decades) said it may stop making them.
And just about every politician in the country is rushing to pull down the Stars and Bars and trample it in the mud. But, of course, they are not condoning censorship or interfering with the free exchange of ideas, no matter how currently popular or unpopular those ideas are. Never. They won't stand for any censorship--except for the Flag.
Private companies may, of course, decide what they want to sell and what they don't want to sell. But don't tell me that we are against censorship. Don't say that we leave each American with the choice about what to buy, what to wear, what to play with or what to fly. In this case, we won't. We censor the Flag.
If it's the Confederate Flag, we make an exception to our anti-censorship ideas. There are those among us who would dictate that we cannot buy a Confederate flag because they don't want the Flag to be manufactured or sold. You can't fly one on your property if you can't find one.
If you are bigoted and narrow minded and equate the Flag with racism and just don't want the Confederate Flag around, fine. Just say so. Don't give us that malarkey about the free interchange of ideas, each person making his or her own choice, and all that hogwash. That applies to things you agree with. It never applies to the Confederate Flag. It's just whistlin' Dixie.
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