Confederate Colonel

Unless one is living in a cave, it should be pretty apparent that America - and the rest of the world - is heading into some very rough times ahead. The economic storm clouds have been building and the first wave of the storm has now swept ashore. Add to that the growing inflation and sporadic food shortages, increasing oil prices and decreasing availability, violence from “The Religion of Peace”, out of control illegal immigration, and scores of other major problems, and the future begins to look rather grim. We can debate the severity and the timing, but it is hard to come up with a logical argument for a bright future.

Some may see this as frivolous in light of how serious things appear to be, but how might this affect the attitude of people? Specifically, would this lead to more or less interest in living a polite and civil life? Do hard and turbulent times produce more or fewer Gentlemen and Ladies?

Turbulence and instability tend to intensify both ends of the spectrum. My own hunch is that turbulent times will produce a greater interest in returning to the life of the Southern Gentleman. Just as the great Christian revivals have always been during times of hardship and turmoil, the same factors should also lead to an increase in the number of Gentlemen and Ladies. In statistical terms, hard times flattens the bell curve - increasing the numbers on both extremes. Just as the number of brutal thugs would increase in hard times, good men will react by gravitating toward the code of the Southern Gentleman (whether they recognize it as such or not).

When people see their hopes and dreams begin to slip away - along with the hopes and dreams of everyone else - they will look for something to fill that void. Being a Gentleman or a Lady has no financial cost, yet it provides a sense of self-worth that cannot be measured. As we slip deeper into the coming hard times, we will see a resurgence of interest in living life as a Gentleman or a Lady. It is my fervent hope that Confederate Colonel can be an asset to help those who are searching for a better way.

Radar - April 11, 1999 - October 22, 2008

This evening, I laid to rest a dear friend - my dog, “Radar”. For nine years, this beautiful German Shepherd kept me company and was vigilent in defense of “her” home. Granted, it was mostly defending against rogue squirrels and the occasional cat that dared step foot in her domain, but that still counts.

Radar had developed cancer in her front leg at the elbow joint. The vet operated on it a few months back, but after surgery he informed me of the diagnosis and said that it would reappear. It did, and very soon. We did our best to make sure that her last days were as comfortable as possible, but it became increasingly difficult for her to walk, the pain was obvious, and the open sore quickly got worse.

I gave a lot of thought as to how to end her suffering. I considered taking her to the vet and go the lethal injection route, but a good friend - the woman from whom I purchased Radar as a pup, strongly recommended that a bullet to the head was far more humane. The decision was made. My wife suggested that I get someone else to handle the task, but it was my dog and my responsibility. We went into the back corner of the yard. After a few minutes of gently petting and scratching her head, the .22 hollow point traveled the two inches from the muzzle to her brain. She dropped instantly and her pain and suffering was ended.

She was a good dog and will be deeply missed.

Radar
April 11, 1999 - October 22, 2008

We all have them - those little rituals we go through every day that have some deeper meaning than what is on the surface. For some, it is the morning cup of coffee made in a very specific way while reading the morning newspaper. For others, it is a daily devotional. It might be a morning walk at sunrise or reading the next chapter in The Bible.

One of mine is shaving. I decided that since it’s a task that I have to do anyway, I may as well try to make it as enjoyable as possible. To that end, I use a Gillette Mach 3 blade on a nice holder rather than the Chinese-made holders that you find hanging from the hooks at Wal-Mart. I don’t use canned shave soap. I use Colonel Conk shave soap (Almond scent) and a good quality badger hair brush. I use it in the Old Spice shave mug that was handed down to me from my father. I take my time and use a sharp blade. When I’m finished, I rinse, dry, and use some Old Spice after shave. Some may find this a rather pointless waste of time, but for me it is a good way to start the day. It signals a clean fresh start of a new day - and it just plain feels good. One of the cornerstones of the Gentleman’s code is concern for others - and good grooming is part of that.

What would happen to Southern culture under the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama? For the answer, let’s look at what he has said in his own words:

This is from a column at World Net Daily by Phyllis Schlafly, titled Obama’s Audacity of Hate:

Obama describes how he deliberately separated himself from his multiracial heritage in order to give himself a 100 percent black persona, different and alienated from the white world around him. Obama writes that the book is “a record of a personal, interior journey” to establish himself as “a black American.”

With his new all-black identity, Obama stews about injustices that he never personally experienced and feeds his warped worldview by withdrawing into a “smaller and smaller coil of rage.” He lives with a “nightmare vision” of black powerlessness.

Obama’s worldview sees U.S. history as a consistent tale of oppressors and oppressed. He objects to the public schools because black kids are learning “someone else’s history. Someone else’s culture.”

Obama grew up in Hawaii, the exemplar of a melting pot of races, yet he sees it as a place of “aborted treaties and crippling diseases brought by the missionaries.” Although his mixed race was not a handicap in Hawaii, he whined that “we were always playing on the white man’s court … by the white man’s rules.”

One day his grandmother, while waiting for a bus to take her to work, was accosted by a panhandler. She gave him a dollar, but he aggressively demanded more – and she was scared because he looked like he might hit her.

When Obama learned that the panhandler was black, he said the news hit him “like a fist in my stomach.” Obama objected to the fact that his grandmother was “scared of a black man,” and his resentment at her (not at the panhandler) was such a big deal that he referred to this incident repeatedly.

Obama immersed himself in the writings of radical blacks: Richard Wright, W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Langston Hughes. Obama’s favorite became Malcolm X.

Obama scarcely knew his father, yet he wrote: “It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.”

Obama described his happiness in going to Kenya: “For the first time in my life, I felt the comfort, the firmness of identity that a name might provide.” He felt he “belonged” and had come home. Apparently, the only other place he felt at home was in Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago.

Obama rejects racial integration because it is “a one-way street” with blacks being “assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around.” Does he think America would be a better country if whites were assimilated into African culture?

Draw your own conclusions, but I have no doubt that anything related to The Old South, the Confederate States of America, or even today’s South would be considered the bête noire of the new rulers. Does that mean that I support - or will even vote for - the Republican candidate? No. I will be voting for Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate. Yes, I know - he has zero chance of winning. Yes, I’ve heard all the arguments about that being the same as voting for Obama (an absurd statement if I’ve ever heard one, and one that I completely reject). Can you imagine Robert E. Lee supporting the Lesser of Two Evils? Can you imagine Robert E. Lee admonishing someone for voting on principle rather than politics? Can you imagine Robert E. Lee advising someone to choose expediency over principle? No, of course not. Robert E. Lee would make the honorable choice. He would never have said that the likelihood of success is a criterion of right.

If you truly believe that McCain best represents who you want for a leader, then that is who you should vote for. The same goes for Obama (though I can’t imagine anyone who would be reading this would want Obama as their leader). If Chuck Baldwin best represents what you want in a leader, then that is who you should vote for.

We need Leaders - not Followers. Start by making your own choice as to who you vote for rather than following the herd. Do what is right. Do what is honorable.

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
John Quincy Adams

Robert Edward Lee (1807 - 1870)

Sunday, October 12 marks the 138th anniversary of the death of Robert E. Lee. Since so much has already been said on the life of this great man, I will devote this Blog entry to his death.

The following is from the findagrave.com article on Robert E. Lee:

His post-war years were spent as President of little Washington College (now Washington & Lee University), 1865-1870. On Sept 28th, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in the college presidents residence. The next ten days showed a steady improvement. However, on October 12th, during the worst rain storm and flooding in Virginia history, he became suddenly worst. With the last words, “Strike the Tent”, he quietly and peacefully expired.

The first building constructed by the General as head of the college was the chapel and it was decided to be the burial place. A casket for Lee had to be retrieved from those that had been washed down stream because of the flooding. The only useable one was short and the Generals boots were removed so that he would fit. His body was embalmed at the residence, dressed in his military uniform, place in the retrieved casket and taken to the College Chapel for viewing. One day prior, a funeral procession was formed at the Episcopal church (Robert E. Lee was a member) of enormous proportions. At the head was a brass band with muffled drums followed by a hearse (minus the body as it remained in the College Chapel) and behind came “Traveller” the General’s famous horse and finally thousands of people from every walk of life. After parading around town and through the College it ended at the College Chapel with concluding cannon fire by cadets from nearby Virginia Military Institute. All were permitted to pass by the bier of the General. The following day, a service was conducted and the body was placed in the basement crypt. When Mrs. Lee passed on, her body was entombed next to her husband’s and each of the remaining six children was laid to rest there as well. Their daughter Annie Carter remained in a cemetery in North Carolina where she died during the civil war. In 1994 she was disinterred and reinterred in the Lee Chapel thus reuniting her with the Lee family. Even “Traveller” after being mounted and displayed for a time was removed and buried a few yards away.

It seems that shorts, a T-shirt, and “flip flops” are now considered appropriate wear at just about any public place. How did we, as a society, get to this point? More importantly, how did we as Southerners get to this point? When did “being comfortable” become more important than self respect and respect for others? Our society seems to have lost what was once common knowledge - that our outward appearance has a major impact on our attitude and on the attitude of others.

We have probably all seen the advertisements for a “Work at Home” income. Aside from the fact that they are almost always a scheme to separate the gullible from their money, they also usually paint a picture of working while wearing pajamas and slippers. Perhaps there really are some people who can work that way, but my experience has shown just the opposite.

I have worked from my home, full time, since 1995. I am what many would consider an entrepreneur - I started a business after designing and writing a software program that turned out to be very popular within its niche. I have seen less than a half dozen of my customers face-to-face, so I could easily get away with spending my days unshaven and wearing whatever seemed to be most comfortable. While I have done just that for very brief periods, the effect it has on my attitude has proven to me that good grooming and dressing well are every bit as important - if not more so - than in an office filled with co-workers and clients.

While I sit in my office at home, I make sure than I shave each morning and put on nice dress clothes. At a minimum, I wear dress pants and a long sleeve white dress shirt. On occasion I will even wear a coat and tie. I have found that it has a profound effect on my productivity, my level of professionalism, my attentiveness, and how I deal with my customers on the phone. All are greatly improved as a direct result of my outward appearance - something that typically only I and my wife will see.

Today’s post has very little, if anything, to do with what Confederate Colonel is all about. It has everything to do with what America is (or rather, was) all about. Today, America took a giant leap into fascism - that system of government where the means of production remains in private ownership but is under government control. Today the “Bailout Bill” was signed into law. 1.8 TRILLION dollars of taxpayer’s money going to reward those who gambled with other people’s money - and lost. Greed and irresponsibility has been rewarded. Our economic system is supposed to reward those who take risks. Congress has now removed the risk hazard from those who stood to gain, and forced the penalty on the taxpayers.

As if that were not bad enough, this bill is loaded down with pork barrel giveaways. Add to that new powers for the IRS to share information with the CIA and other government agencies, plus who-knows-what other landmines planted in that piece of legislation. I won’t get into the gory details - others have already listed them and done a far better job of it than I could. Suffice it to say that there is absolutely no way that this was done for the benefit of the middle class American taxpayer.

The congressional roll call vote is available here. I am proud to say that my congressman - John Mica - had the courage to vote against the bill. He has earned the fullest support of every American. Read it. Remember it. Make sure that all politicians who voted for this toxic piece of trash are voted out of office. My only hope is that America survives long enough to see them driven from office in disgrace.