“Where men are forbidden to honour a king, they honor millionaires, athletes, or film stars instead; even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.”
C. S. Lewis

The reasons behind the election of the man who currently resides in the White House can be found in this same question. Was he elected because he clearly articulated a vision of a morally upright, honorable America where all men would have the opportunity to excel and then reap the rewards of their success? or was he elected because he seemed “cool” and “hip” and represented “the latest ‘in’ thing”? To paraphrase someone he is fond of quoting, was he elected based on the content of his character – or on the color of his skin? I have no doubt that it was for the latter.

I have made no secret of my admiration for constitutional monarchy as a form of government, and Mr. Lewis has presented the chief argument in favor of that – the moral and spiritual reason. Many people will, of course, feed their “spiritual nature” with poison rather than food simply because the nature of man tends toward the wicked rather than the good. Those type of people will always be with us. The benefits of having a leader who represents honor and righteousness and justice and freedom go not to what I refer to as “Walmart people,” but to those who yearn for a leader who brings out the best in men rather than pandering to our baser instincts.

Photo from NBC News site with the clear intention of distorting the facts of the two men involved. The story was about the distortive effects of those photos.

Justice has been done. Anyone who actually listened to the trial rather than listening to the media (i.e., the propaganda branch of the government), knows perfectly well that a verdict of “Not Guilty” was the only just outcome. Given the powerful influences involved, I was highly doubtful that justice would really be served in this trial. I quite literally thank God that it was.

Those calling for “Justice for Trayvon” are really calling for vengeance. One cannot have justice for one party without having justice against the other party. You either have justice or you have injustice. Period.

Justice does not “make things right”. One person is still dead and one person will never again lead a normal life, and given the number of death threats made against George Zimmerman, there is a real possibility that one of those will make good on the threat. It’s a bad situation all around and there is just no getting around that. Justice, however, has been done in that the case was tried according to the rule of law and decided on the facts and the evidence – not on emotions.

What happens next is really more important to the nation than the trial. The wide-spread concern about rioting by Blacks would never be an issue if the roles were reversed. Rioting by Whites just doesn’t happen in cases like this. The Black community has a real opportunity to prove that they have grown and matured, and that they can act in a civilized manner in a civilized country. They have the opportunity to prove the critics wrong. Obama and other Black leaders have the opportunity to show real leadership by admitting that their initial remarks did not serve to defuse the situation, but it must be defused now. The media has the opportunity to back off the rhetoric and the distortions.

Will they? The optimist in me certainly hopes so. The realist in me has serious doubts.

As one who had embraced radical libertarianism while in college in the early 1970’s, I fully understand the attraction of an individual-based system. I associated with others who introduced me to the libertarian concept, and who were active in the libertarian political scene. That was a time when trusting in “self” and radical self-government appeared to be the solution to all life’s problems. Instead, it was a Utopian fantasy. One of the blessings of growing up is the ability to understand the shortcomings of all men, including ones self.

He goes into much greater detail, but this section of the post will give you a good idea of what it is about. Be sure to read the entire post.

If humanity does not shrug off this illusion, it will self-destruct.

Here at Amerika, we retaliate with a few ideas:

• There is no equality. Crush their primal taboo, which is the idea of no hierarchy. We all have different abilities and most importantly, moral character. Some are stronger than others.
• Bring back the monarchy. We trust in institutions and lists of rules to make our leaders honest. It doesn’t work. Instead, pick honest leaders, or people who are ahead of the rest of us in moral character and leadership ability.
• Social Darwinism is a friend. Stop saving people from themselves. Stop welfare, stop subsidies, stop warnings. We don’t need (to) save people from themselves. Let natural selection work for us.
• Focus on nature. Our cities and even suburbs are designed to hide nature away. Instead, make sure everything is surrounded by forest so that people always know primal fear, and transcendental beauty.

Mr. Stevens’ Amerika blog has been a part of my regular reading for quite a while – highly recommended.

More posts on secession.

Molotov Mitchell is president of the award-winning Illuminati Pictures. His specialty is entertainment communications, particularly reaching the “under 40″ demographic. He is available for speaking engagements through CMG.

Early in our history, or perhaps it was an illusion all along, we voted for candidates based on their stated position, their background, and other criteria. While those are still the terms in which we discuss elections, it is only a mask for what is really happening.

America has divided into two very distinct groups. Two diametrically opposed groups with ideas that are completely incompatible, with no room for true compromise. One will be in power and the other will actively oppose anything done by the group in power. The candidate names and the party names are just convenient labels. The two major parties have completely switched roles over the last 150 years, so the only constant is the struggle between the guiding principles of these two groups.

• One group believes that the individual is responsible for his own material destiny, and that government exists to protect individuals from force or fraud and to provide a basic framework for a civilized society. The same applies on the family level but no further. This group is identified by the labels: conservative, The Right, Republican, libertarian, etc.

• The other group believes that government exists to ensure fairness and equality. It is an egalitarian system that believes all people have equal talent and ability and drive, and that if results are unequal then it must be because the system is unfair and it is government’s role to make it “fair”. This group believes it is the role of government to redistribute wealth to ensure equal results. This group is identified by the labels: liberal, The Left, Democrat, socialist, etc.

Since the objective of these two groups is to win a majority of the votes, there is a self-leveling mechanism involved in the party platforms. The Left will move just far enough to the right to try to win a majority, while the Right will move just far enough to the left to try to do the same. If one side won’t move toward the center, then the other side captures those votes and gains power. While the line between the two sides is constantly shifting, it is still a line drawn down the middle resulting in a close election. Landslides are the result of one side failing to read the mood of the country and not adjusting their position accordingly.

To really understand the difference between these two groups, I look as closely at the people who support them as I do the actual candidates. The liberal side is coarse, crude, vulgar, immoral, and aggressively attacks my most basic beliefs taught by The Bible. They are sometimes referred to as the “Free Stuff Army” and the “Gimme-Dats”. As I imagine my grandchildren living in a world controlled by the liberals, it chills me to the bone. I have a duty to do what I can to keep that from happening. Protecting future generations is one of the most basic obligations of the Southern gentleman.

The two basic rules of power in America are:
1) There are only two sides, and they are defined by whether the individual or the government is responsible the individual’s success or failure.
2) We pick the side that we believe is right and vote for that side. The name of the party or the candidate is just a way to identify which side we believe in.

So, what is the RIGHT thing to do once one recognizes how this works? My conclusion is that we pick the side we believe is right and vote for that side. That leaves me with only one option – to cast my vote for the conservative side, which in this election is Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan. It is far from a perfect choice, but what in life isn’t?

That statement has lead to several rather passionate discussions from friends and relatives who are well-informed and truly want to do the right thing, and I respect and appreciate their efforts. That, however, changes nothing.

Every four years, America goes through The Most Important Election In History. I should have noticed this earlier, but it has taken me just a few months short of sixty years to realize that it is ALWAYS “The Most Important Election In History”.

At some point, we need to come to the realization that life is not segmented into four year terms. People fail to take the long term view because they have no tolerance short term sacrifice. When you take the long view, sometimes that means that bad men get into office; it is also true that they might well do some serious and irreversible damage. Doing what is right is seldom a painless endeavor.

Let me note here that I have been a bit more than just a passive observer of the political process, although there is no need to repeat the details in this post. I am not some dreamy kid with an idealized “vision” that is out of touch with reality. I understand that politics involves compromise – but I also understand that voting does not, or at least it should not.

• Florida is shaping up to be a key battleground state for this upcoming presidential election. Obama and Romney are dead even in the polls.
• In a race this close, every vote is important.
• Obama is not only doing an extremely bad job as President, he is working directly counter to everything that has made America such a remarkable nation in history. He is working to destroy America.

With all that said, I will not be voting for Romney – even if I could somehow know that my one vote would make the difference in this election. I will be voting for a candidate who has no realistic chance to win. I will be voting for the Constitution Party candidate, Virgil Goode. Now, for the purpose of this discussion, his platform is not important; the same arguments would apply to any number of other minor party candidates.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
— John Adams

What drives your choice in an election? Our entire system of government was designed around the idea that people would vote for the person who best represented what they honestly wanted in their leadership. It was assumed that a morally upright and honorable people would make such choices.

There were no political parties when the Constitution was written. The two party system developed because it is very effective at what it does: it allows a powerful elite to select our political leadership. From the voters’ perspective it is like going to a car lot filled with every make and model imaginable, yet being told you must choose between the blue car and the red car – of the same model. And from that experience, people cast their vote and then walk away believing that they have chosen their leaders. Amazing.

Here are three short videos that may help shed some light on why I am voting for a minor-party candidate who cannot possibly win, yet one who represents what I am looking for in leadership for this country. They are also about why I will not be voting for Romney – and those are two different issues.

For more on the moral requirement that we vote for the candidate we truly believe would be the best leader (no matter which party they represent), please see the Lost Causes post.

For a more practical-oriented discussion, see “Voting Strategy 2004 – When The Lesser of Two Evils Is No Longer An Option” – a document I wrote in 2004. This covers some of the practical (i.e., expedient) reasons for voting for a minor party candidate – if that is who you believe is the best choice. You may want to take a few minutes to read it.

As a closing note, Alan Keyes (featured in the first two videos) served as an ambassador under Ronald Reagan and was a presidential candidate in 1996, 2000, and 2008. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak when I was a delegate to the Republican state convention in Florida. Ambassador Keyes is truly a remarkable man who loves his country. He was the only candidate at that convention who received a standing ovation. He was wildly popular among many of the delegates, yet the media shamefully treated him as though he were just the janitor sweeping the floors. Why? Because he was not the chosen one. He was not the man who the party leadership had decided would be the nominee. He was ignored by the media, just as Ron Paul was ignored in this election.

10/18/2012 – Edited to add: I didn’t write this post because I think I have all the answers (though at times I wrongly think I do), so I’m still making an honest effort to sort this out and do what is right. Please be sure to read the replies before leaving a reply. Constructive criticism and comments are deeply appreciated. Most folks follow the crowds like robotic drones; there are very few of us who truly agonize over the question of what is the right thing to do. Thank you.

I have no winning alternative to offer, but well over a decade ago, I stopped voting for the “lesser of two evils” and cast my vote for Constitution Party candidates. I would ask that you take another look at the post titled, “Lost Causes” when considering what you will do on election day. Is your one vote really going to make a difference in the outcome? No, of course not. Then why would you be willing to give your vote to anyone other than a candidate who you truly believe is the man best qualified to lead the nation in the way you believe it should be lead?

A Southern gentleman does what is RIGHT – not what is expedient. Our ancestors fought for the Lost Cause because it was the right thing to do. We have a noble heritage to uphold. Voting should be a moral decision not a political decision.

Edited to add:
For another perspective on why voting your conscience makes practical, real-world sense, read “Voting Strategy 2004 – When the Lesser of Two Evils is No Longer An Option“. Although this was written for the 2004 election, the principles still apply. In the interest of disclosure, I played a major role in writing this document.

America was never intended to be one massive government with states being little more than administrative subcontractors for the federal government. It was intended to be a group – a confederation – of sovereign states. The support of “States Rights” has been a Southern theme for almost as long as there has been an America.

Many today will argue that senators should be elected by popular vote. I’ve stated several times here that I am no fan of the popular vote. People wrongly equate popular vote with freedom, when in fact, it has just the opposite effect. It is bad enough that our form of government has descended into something little better than mob rule. What makes it worse is that, thanks to the 17th Amendment, mob rule extends throughout the entire government from the White House to the town hall.

In a future post, I hope to present my own ideas on how a government should be set up – a mental exercise that everyone should go through at least once in their life. More importantly, I’ll also include why I believe it should be that way. Until then, this video goes into the amendment that should be repealed – the 17th Amendment.

A recent shooting in Sanford, Florida (about an hour’s drive from my home – I used to work there as an engineer for a defense electronics company) has once again polarized America into a Black vs. White, Us vs. Them situation. First, let’s admit that none of us really knows what happened; God knows, but He isn’t talking at the moment. Here are a few of my own observations regarding the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman.

• The main stream media (MSM) is doing everything it can to whip people into a frenzy and to make the story fit their Leftist ideals. Not report the news – make the news.
• The MSM describes Zimmerman as White, when he is a man with a Hispanic mother (Peruvian) and a White father. Barack Hussein Obama is always referred to as “Black” because it is to the Left’s advantage to have a Black president. It is also to the Left’s advantage to call Zimmerman White rather than Hispanic.
• This is heading to an inevitable ending – Zimmerman will be arrested for something. When he is tried, everyone involved in the trial will know that mass rioting by Blacks will be the result if he is found not guilty. It is impossible for Zimmerman to have a fair trial.
• Martin is portrayed as an innocent little angelic child who was simply minding his own business and walking down the road with some iced tea and some candy. Really? Why was Martin visiting his father so far from his school on a school night? He had some free time because he had been suspended from school. Do you have any idea how bad someone has to be to get a five-day suspension (some sources say ten days) from a public school in Miami? For a Black male to be suspended from a public school? Do a search on that and see for yourself just how little that was reported, yet you will find all sorts of circumstantial details about Zimmerman not related to the shooting.
• Aside from being “unarmed” and “carrying only some iced tea and some Skittles”, the media seldom points out that he was a 6’3″ 140 pound football player. Dressing in a “hoodie” that is the “in” fashion among the Black gangster crowd, is just glossed over or even used as a rallying point. “Hoodies” are worn by thugs precisely because it helps hide their identity while they commit their crimes. While it certainly isn’t a crime to wear a “hoodie”, symbolically aligning oneself with thugs clearly says something about one’s character and personality.
• Zimmerman, on the other hand, is shown only in what appear to be mug shots – never the pleasant, smiling kind of cherubic photos that show Martin as the MSM wants him to appear.
• Further making this into a Black-White issue, the MSM continues to describe the neighborhood as a “mostly White gated community”. It is, in fact, 49% White.
• Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have swooped in to join the publicity fray, with Jackson going so far as to call Martin “a martyr”. Philadelphia Mayor Nutter characterized the shooting as “an assassination.”
• The New Black Panther Party has posted a $10,000 bounty on Zimmerman. Will the government charge them with murder if Zimmerman is killed? Is this really any different from paying a hired killer?
• In the “Seldom Reported” category – a witness reported that Zimmerman was flat on the ground and screaming for help with Martin beating him; when police arrived, Zimmerman was bleeding from the face and back of his head and had a broken nose, and had grass stains on his back; Martin’s father listened to the 911 tape and stated that the person screaming for help was not his son.
• The neighborhood had experienced eight burglaries, nine thefts, and a shooting in just the last year. Zimmerman actually caught one thief and aided in the apprehension of others. Zimmerman’s black neighbor was interviewed and included the remark that most of those criminals were black. How often was that reported?
• Barack Hussein Obama – the man claiming the title of President – has added his weight to the crusade against George Zimmerman. He said, “… we’re going to get to the bottom of what happened.”
• Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, always ready to shred basic rights, has asked Eric Holder’s Justice (sic) Department to investigate the “Stand Your Ground” laws that are now in effect in 23 states.
• Those who are heading up this mob are making accusations that are simply not supported by evidence. Quite simply, they are backing themselves into a corner such that they cannot gracefully backtrack should evidence prove them wrong (remember that thing called “evidence”?). This is reminiscent of the mob rule involving the Duke Lacrosse team hoax, the Tawana Brawley rape hoax, and others of lesser renown. When these race hustlers are faced with evidence that shows them to be liars, they seldom, if ever, back down and admit they were wrong. Instead, they quietly claim that they were right all along and the White supremacist conspiracy is at work, or some such nonsense.
• When Blacks (or anyone else being manipulated by the Left) are demanding “justice”, it pays to look very closely at exactly what they mean by “justice”. It is almost always “justice for someone”. Justice, by definition, is neutral. You cannot have justice for someone without also having injustice against someone else. You either have justice or you don’t. You cannot have justice for Trayvon Martin without having injustice against George Zimmerman.

Let me wrap this up with a brief vignette of what is happening and how the main stream media has so grossly abused the protections they claim under the First Amendment. Our son is a restaurant manager in a town near Sanford. One day, a reporter from Orlando came in and in casual conversation mentioned that he had just come from covering the story of a rally in support of Trayvon Martin (i.e., a mob wanting to lynch George Zimmerman). When asked what it was all about, the reporter explained that it was a rally in support of Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down “in cold blood” by a White man, and the police did not arrest him. When our son said, “OK, I’ve heard about that, now what is the other side of the story?” the reporter said, “There is no other side of the story. That is what happened.” His words were “in cold  blood”; if his statements don’t make your blood run cold, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Again, I don’t know what really happened. What I do know is that this is yet another example following the pattern of Rodney King and O. J. Simpson, where Blacks are demanding “justice” and meaning anything but justice. Before this is over, the politicians are going to put their pandering in high gear and do whatever they have to do to see that George Zimmerman is sent to jail. Does he deserve jail? I don’t know, but I see plenty of room for reasonable doubt, which is exactly why the Sanford Police followed the law and did not arrest George Zimmerman. What I do know is that in this Bread and Circus atmosphere, George Zimmerman will not get a fair trial and the full force of the government will be used to appease the Black community at all costs.

This is an election year, the economy is heading off a cliff, the politicians need a good distraction, there are election year conventions scheduled, and the media is working overtime stirring up more racial conflict. It is going to be a long, hot summer.

END OF ORIGINAL POST

I am planning to just add any further commentary on this issue as edits to this post rather than adding new posts. While this has the potential to become an incredibly important issue, it is not the focus of Confederate Colonel, and I don’t want to take it too far off track. Unless the situation escalates to the point that a new post is called for, we’ll just leave it at this.

April 2, 2012
NBC News has announced that it will conduct “an internal investigation” after being caught intentionally altering audio from the 911 tape to make George Zimmerman appear to be motivated by racial rather than rational criteria.

What NBC broadcast on the “NBC Today Show”:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.

The actual conversation:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.

Dispatcher: OK, and this guy – is he black, white or Hispanic?

Zimmerman: He looks black.

For an organization that claims to be practicing responsible journalism, this is so over-the-top propaganda that NBC should no longer have any kind of credibility at all. They have all the professionalism of the supermarket tabloids.

This news article provides more evidence that this may truly be turning into mob rule. We are facing a situation where the behavior of unruly mobs of Blacks is threatening the rule of law. There are plenty of honorable civilized leaders among the Black community; the question is, will we see a “Black community” or a “Black mob“? For the Black community, it is decision time – prove that you truly believe the rule of law is better than the rule of the mob.

04/05/2012 – SANFORD, Fla. – The city of Sanford is preparing for the outcome of the special prosecutor’s decision about George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin but has not been charged.

Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett said on Thursday that the city’s emergency management team has met regularly with the U.S Department of Justice to construct a plan. Officials said extra police officers and fire department officials are on standby. Neighboring agencies have also been asked to assist, if needed.

In the comments, Valli Genevieve said:

I have to say, here in New England, there is conversation in my community, for the first time I can ever remember, along the lines of “When the South wanted to secede, we should have let them go. They have been nothing but a thorn in the side of the republic. The North would be better off without them = higher education levels, environmental responsibility, more rational healthcare system, etc.”

Let the south go their own crazy tea party way, they seem to value lower taxes against all “common goods”. It may be time for them to live with the consequences of their politics and reactionary world views. But, it may be too late. The virus has spread and we may be looking at a civil war based on progressive versus regressive beliefs – a far messier and destructive outcome.

I agree with Mr. Genevieve. North and South would both have been better off without the other – at least as far as being forced together under the same government. There is much that we have in common, and there would be mutually beneficial trade and treaties, but we are two very different cultures that will never become one.

So often, it is Southerners who are accused of crying “Never Forget”. What we really forget is that there are two sides of this, and Northerners are the other side of this issue. I do not point this out to criticize Northerners, but to remind folks that the same cultural differences that split us apart are still there, just below the surface. This comment very clearly illustrates the stark differences that still exist between the conservative Southern culture and the liberal Northern culture (or, as Mr. Genevieve likes to put it – progressive versus regressive).

The original post at Front Porch Republic is a brief but fascinating look into the possible future of America.