Special thanks to the original author for offering to share a Southerner's point-of-view. The following contains only minor edits:
With the announcement of every new Republican contender for the G.O.P. nomination for president, I am asked by yet another flat-head conservative: "Now surely you see him as a good Republican?"
Thus, with the announcement of Mike Huckabee’s candidacy for the Republican nomination, I was assured once again that here was a good Republican. But that is the problem: another "good" Republican is not the answer for anyone concerned about the loss of respect for our Christian and Southern heritage, the increase in the size and scope of government and the ever-increasing tax bite and power of the IRS - gifts all brought to us by the Party of Mr. Lincoln. Perhaps it is time for Southerners to accept the fact that good Republicans are not good enough.
Since the 1964 campaign of Barry Goldwater, the South has given the Republican Party its largest block of voters. It has also given the G.O.P. its White House victories and majority status in Congress; remove the South from the Republican Party and the G.O.P. becomes America’s hopeless party. But how has the good Republican Party treated Southerners in the past forty-three years?
Five Republicans have held the office of President of the United States. Yet, during that time, Southerners have watched as Federal government-sanctioned discrimination against White people, called “Affirmative Action”, went into affect; Southerners have watched as the moral underpinnings of their culture - Christianity, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments - have been routinely purged from their communities while pornography and sodomy were given official protection; and Southerners have had to stand aside as millions of unborn children were murdered due to a “freedom of choice" - to take away another's life. If choice is so important to our new national identity, where was choice when our Southern children became guinea pigs and were forcibly bused into unwholesome environments? There was no choice - and all of the aforementioned was done on the watch of many "good" Republicans. God save the South from forty-three more years of such good friends!
During his second bid for the White House in 1968, Richard Nixon, a Republican, assured Civil Rights leaders of his intent not to oppose "crusades" such as forced busing and reverse discrimination. “Watch what I do, not what I say," he told them. Well, we elected Nixon and, sure enough, forced busing became a priority and the South carried the burden. Furthermore, under Nixon, the father of Affirmative Action, Arthur Fletcher, received a high position in government.
Since then, in every presidential election, the Republican Party turned to the Southern conservatives for support. In exchange, the South has heard a lot of rhetoric from the Republican Party, but in the end, it was the NAACP and other advocates of big government which the Party has anointed with power.
How many times have we heard a fellow Southern Christian bemoan the loss of traditional moral values in America? Most Southerners were disgusted by the sight of Federal Marshals forcefully removing a copy of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court Building in the early 90s. But who was president when this happened, Bill Clinton? No, it was a good Republican, George Bush; if Mr. Bush was desirous of assisting and preserving traditional moral values in America, why did he not order those Federal Marshals to stay out of Alabama's business? Remember, Bush is the father of George W. Bush who, as governor of Texas, had a Confederate memorial plaque removed from the Texas Supreme Court Building. There is a pattern here!
Since the time of Nixon, each Republican president has assisted in the growth of big government while giving lip service to State’s Rights and the Constitution. These good Republicans have been very good at saying what Southern conservatives want to hear. However, their actions have shown a lack of respect for the traditional values of morality and Constitutional government. This is displayed not only by the elected Republicans, but by their appointed department heads. For example, Bush’s Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, has been quoted as saying that the Constitution is "an outdated document." And this man calls himself a conservative?
Many Southern activists bemoan the lack of respect given to Southern heritage - that is, Confederate flags, monuments, and leaders. While this is surely the case, one must remember that our Confederate forefathers did not go to war for a flag, monument, or particular leader; they fought for the right to govern themselves and live as free men in a free society. That is our greatest heritage as Southerners, and we must remember that all other forms of Southern heritage are not nearly as important. Our job is to undo the malignant growth of government and the current inability of “we the people of the sovereign States” to enforce the limits of the Constitution upon the government the way the Founding Fathers had intended.
The reason the Ten Commandments were removed from the Alabama Supreme Court Building was because the will of Washington took priority over the will of the South. At the same time, the South cannot prevent the murder of the unborn child although its population opposes abortion. Sadly, the Federal government will soon be enforcing the “rights” of sodomites upon us because “we the people of (the once) sovereign States” no longer have the right to govern ourselves.
Remember: the South succeeded from the Union because Lincoln, a Republican, wanted to impose his will on the South. This is the Republican tradition - big government, the IRS, the death of State's Rights. It is amazing that the Republicans have fooled the people for so long.
As Ron Kennedy demonstrated in his book, Reclaiming Liberty, for the past 75 years the Republican Party has been just as responsible for the growth of government as the Democrats. Every socialist scheme of Roosevelt, Johnson, and Carter has been protected and enlarged by Republicans. Both parties have acted against the South's will. Yet every four years, the Republican Party sends its anointed candidates to Dixie to convince Southerners that they are good Republicans and therefore, once again, Southerners need to vote for the Party of Lincoln. As long as Southerners tolerate being treated as a political hooker - to be used once every four years by the Republican Party - we can never expect the principles that we love to be upheld. Another good Republican, even if he is from the South, will change nothing. What we need is a candidate with a love and respect for our heritage of liberty that has, for the past fifty years, been under unrelenting attack. By contending for the Republican nomination, our candidate can reawaken Southerners (and the G.O.P) to a love and respect for our heritage of freedom.
Imagine the dilemma and consternation within the Party of Lincoln when our Southern delegates to the Republican Convention demand an apology from the Republicans for their unconstitutional acts against the South! How will they respond when we demand a plank in the Republican Party platform that recognizes the real State’s Rights?! And if they turn our candidate down, what will they do when we take the South out of Mr. Lincoln’s Party and support a third party in the general election (remember, without the South, the Party of Lincoln is forever an unsuccessful party)?
As long as we Southerners allow the National Republican Party to use us, we will be condemned to living with less freedom and more government; we will be destined to having sodomites held up before our children as heroes while men such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are given the bum's rush; we will continue to have good Republicans elected like Nixon and Bush. The question before us now as never before is simply this: “Are we willing to do those things necessary for reclaiming liberty?”
With the announcement of every new Republican contender for the G.O.P. nomination for president, I am asked by yet another flat-head conservative: "Now surely you see him as a good Republican?"
Thus, with the announcement of Mike Huckabee’s candidacy for the Republican nomination, I was assured once again that here was a good Republican. But that is the problem: another "good" Republican is not the answer for anyone concerned about the loss of respect for our Christian and Southern heritage, the increase in the size and scope of government and the ever-increasing tax bite and power of the IRS - gifts all brought to us by the Party of Mr. Lincoln. Perhaps it is time for Southerners to accept the fact that good Republicans are not good enough.
Since the 1964 campaign of Barry Goldwater, the South has given the Republican Party its largest block of voters. It has also given the G.O.P. its White House victories and majority status in Congress; remove the South from the Republican Party and the G.O.P. becomes America’s hopeless party. But how has the good Republican Party treated Southerners in the past forty-three years?Five Republicans have held the office of President of the United States. Yet, during that time, Southerners have watched as Federal government-sanctioned discrimination against White people, called “Affirmative Action”, went into affect; Southerners have watched as the moral underpinnings of their culture - Christianity, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments - have been routinely purged from their communities while pornography and sodomy were given official protection; and Southerners have had to stand aside as millions of unborn children were murdered due to a “freedom of choice" - to take away another's life. If choice is so important to our new national identity, where was choice when our Southern children became guinea pigs and were forcibly bused into unwholesome environments? There was no choice - and all of the aforementioned was done on the watch of many "good" Republicans. God save the South from forty-three more years of such good friends!
During his second bid for the White House in 1968, Richard Nixon, a Republican, assured Civil Rights leaders of his intent not to oppose "crusades" such as forced busing and reverse discrimination. “Watch what I do, not what I say," he told them. Well, we elected Nixon and, sure enough, forced busing became a priority and the South carried the burden. Furthermore, under Nixon, the father of Affirmative Action, Arthur Fletcher, received a high position in government.
Since then, in every presidential election, the Republican Party turned to the Southern conservatives for support. In exchange, the South has heard a lot of rhetoric from the Republican Party, but in the end, it was the NAACP and other advocates of big government which the Party has anointed with power.
How many times have we heard a fellow Southern Christian bemoan the loss of traditional moral values in America? Most Southerners were disgusted by the sight of Federal Marshals forcefully removing a copy of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court Building in the early 90s. But who was president when this happened, Bill Clinton? No, it was a good Republican, George Bush; if Mr. Bush was desirous of assisting and preserving traditional moral values in America, why did he not order those Federal Marshals to stay out of Alabama's business? Remember, Bush is the father of George W. Bush who, as governor of Texas, had a Confederate memorial plaque removed from the Texas Supreme Court Building. There is a pattern here!
Since the time of Nixon, each Republican president has assisted in the growth of big government while giving lip service to State’s Rights and the Constitution. These good Republicans have been very good at saying what Southern conservatives want to hear. However, their actions have shown a lack of respect for the traditional values of morality and Constitutional government. This is displayed not only by the elected Republicans, but by their appointed department heads. For example, Bush’s Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, has been quoted as saying that the Constitution is "an outdated document." And this man calls himself a conservative?
Many Southern activists bemoan the lack of respect given to Southern heritage - that is, Confederate flags, monuments, and leaders. While this is surely the case, one must remember that our Confederate forefathers did not go to war for a flag, monument, or particular leader; they fought for the right to govern themselves and live as free men in a free society. That is our greatest heritage as Southerners, and we must remember that all other forms of Southern heritage are not nearly as important. Our job is to undo the malignant growth of government and the current inability of “we the people of the sovereign States” to enforce the limits of the Constitution upon the government the way the Founding Fathers had intended.
The reason the Ten Commandments were removed from the Alabama Supreme Court Building was because the will of Washington took priority over the will of the South. At the same time, the South cannot prevent the murder of the unborn child although its population opposes abortion. Sadly, the Federal government will soon be enforcing the “rights” of sodomites upon us because “we the people of (the once) sovereign States” no longer have the right to govern ourselves.
Remember: the South succeeded from the Union because Lincoln, a Republican, wanted to impose his will on the South. This is the Republican tradition - big government, the IRS, the death of State's Rights. It is amazing that the Republicans have fooled the people for so long.
As Ron Kennedy demonstrated in his book, Reclaiming Liberty, for the past 75 years the Republican Party has been just as responsible for the growth of government as the Democrats. Every socialist scheme of Roosevelt, Johnson, and Carter has been protected and enlarged by Republicans. Both parties have acted against the South's will. Yet every four years, the Republican Party sends its anointed candidates to Dixie to convince Southerners that they are good Republicans and therefore, once again, Southerners need to vote for the Party of Lincoln. As long as Southerners tolerate being treated as a political hooker - to be used once every four years by the Republican Party - we can never expect the principles that we love to be upheld. Another good Republican, even if he is from the South, will change nothing. What we need is a candidate with a love and respect for our heritage of liberty that has, for the past fifty years, been under unrelenting attack. By contending for the Republican nomination, our candidate can reawaken Southerners (and the G.O.P) to a love and respect for our heritage of freedom.
Imagine the dilemma and consternation within the Party of Lincoln when our Southern delegates to the Republican Convention demand an apology from the Republicans for their unconstitutional acts against the South! How will they respond when we demand a plank in the Republican Party platform that recognizes the real State’s Rights?! And if they turn our candidate down, what will they do when we take the South out of Mr. Lincoln’s Party and support a third party in the general election (remember, without the South, the Party of Lincoln is forever an unsuccessful party)?
As long as we Southerners allow the National Republican Party to use us, we will be condemned to living with less freedom and more government; we will be destined to having sodomites held up before our children as heroes while men such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are given the bum's rush; we will continue to have good Republicans elected like Nixon and Bush. The question before us now as never before is simply this: “Are we willing to do those things necessary for reclaiming liberty?”
