Senator Elbert Guillory On The 2nd Amendment

 And his family's Southern & American heritage. A proud Southerner speaks truth to power . . .

Leaving The Government Plantation

Update: Kevin Levin apparently got wind of this video and posted about it. What's hilarious is Kevin accusing Senator Guillory of distorting " the past for their own purposes." Wow, talk about a kettle/pot moment. 

I think what most upsets progressives like Mr. Levin is the fact someone like Guillory rejects the collectivist nannyism of the Democrat Party (not that the Republican Party isn't headed in the same direction - they just walk slower). Simply put, Guillory has rejected what academia and the ruling class have prescribed for him.

And it's obvious Levin ignored the real jest of Guillory's comments: the absolute extremism of the Democrat Party in regards to what most would view as traditionalist Americanism (and which is not tied to a particular party). There were once basic values that both Democrats and Republicans agreed on, but there is now a deep and widening chasm regarding those basic values. Senator Guillory laid that out in rather plain language.

The extreme Alinskyism/progressivism which has gripped the left is apparent in the modern Democrat Party (and much of academia). The mask is off and what the good senator from Louisiana saw under that mask made him run into the arms of the Republican Party. That's the real story here but as usual Levin misses that or, more likely, chose to ignore it.

Honor Thy Father

One of the best ads I've ever seen.

Father’s Day – A Special Message For Us & Our Time

Cross-posted from Buffalo Jackson:

Men used to build and create as much for future generations as for their own needs, so their tools have a special message for us and our time. When you hold an early implement, when you close your hand over the worn wooden handle . . . you are near to another being in another life, and you are that much richer. ~ Eric Sloane

I like old things—wood, leather, tools, furniture, pick-up trucks, old axe heads; to name just
a few. I also like to surround myself with these relics of the past. A number of these things adorn my office. These “early implements”, as noted author Eric Sloane points out, connect us with timeless principles and memories of the past. This is especially true when a father or grandfather passes one of these treasured relics to his son or grandson. We all have them, don’t we? A pocket-knife given us by our father or grandfather one Christmas or birthday; an old pocket-watch, worn, but carefully cared for over decades—tucked away safely in a drawer or old cigar box. We often pull these cherished items out when no one’s around and hold them—almost reverently—as we recall the circumstances and the man who passed them on to us. They’re family heirlooms. Sometimes these items may even hold great monetary value but, more often than not, the only value they have is to the one who knows the story behind them.

Such is the case with the wood planer you see here. I was told it was hand-made by my great-grandfather, Charles McGann. He gave it to my father, who eventually gave it to me. Some folks would have thought it just an old worthless piece of junk, something to be discarded. Not my great-grandfather. Not my Dad. Not me. My Dad never used it, but “Mr. Charlie” did. He used it to build his home; a home that still stands. It’s a rather crude tool, the hewn marks still visible in the wood block body that makes up the main part of the tool. The blade has some rust on it, but it could be sharpened to a razor edge. So the tool is still functional if I wanted to use it. It’s probably over 100 years old. The planer has that “worn wooden handle” described by Sloane.

As I hold it, I can picture my great-grandfather rising early in the morning to begin the day’s work on the house. I can see him in my mind’s eye with his shirt sleeves rolled up, sweat on his brow, and wood shavings peeling back on his arm as he pushes the plane forward in a steady rhythm, shaving down one of the oak floor joists before laying the pine floors. He built the house in the very early 1900’s when the now paved streets it sits on were just dirt roads. There he lived with his wife and children until his death in 1953 at the age of 82. Not too long ago, I came across his obituary in one of my files. It reads, in part:

Waynesboro, March 4 -- Charles Lockridge McGann, 82, a resident of Waynesboro for 52 years, died at 4:10 am today at his home, 577 Locust Ave., after a long illness.

Mr. McGann was a familiar figure on Waynesboro streets, taking a daily walk downtown from his home. He retired from active farming and caretaking about four years ago, but continued to work around his home in the yard and garden. He was a lifelong member of the Main Street United Methodist Church and was a member of the church's Baraca Class when it was formed in 1913. He was treasurer of the group for 35 years.

This story is a microcosm of American life in those days. My grandfather died in the home he built with his own hands, the home he lived in for over 50 years, and the home he raised his family in. He went to the same church his whole adult life. He was a fixture in the community. He was honorable.

Those were less complicated times. We look at them nostalgically, wistfully. I even find myself longing for those days, though I never knew, nor can I comprehend, the hardships that men like my great-grandfather endured. Life was harder, much harder. Money did not come easy. Conveniences were few, luxuries even fewer. Yet we often find ourselves envying these men, don’t we? We consider how they lived their lives—simply, but honorably—and what they built from scratch. And we find ourselves wanting. Men like my great-grandfather built things to last: homes, families, tools—for future generations. For us.

I hold this old tool in my hand. I read my great-grandfather’s obituary and I find myself “near to another being in another life” and I am truly that much richer.

Happy Father’s Day.

Anti-Christian Bigotry In Public Schools

Why did this high school administration bully a valedictorian?

Joshua High School officials didn’t just act like a school bully when they turned off a valedictorian’s speech after the speaker mentioned Jesus. They also violated Texas law and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution . . . when a Christian valedictorian at Joshua High School referenced his faith in his graduation speech, school officials literally turned the microphone off. The valedictorian has been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy to become an officer, and Principal Mick Cochran threatened to write a letter to the Navy saying that this young man is of poor character, attempting to persuade the Navy to refuse allowing this talented student to attend. . . . legally, Joshua High School and its employees are in serious trouble. [Attorney] Sasser is requesting a meeting with the school board by June 24 to discuss a public apology and a public promise never to do this with another student.

Sounds like a very clear case of attempting to intimidate this student with threats, religious discrimination, and a first amendment civil rights' violation to me.I'd say Mr. Cochran has some explaining to do, possibly before a jury. Were I this young man, I'd be demanding a lot more than just an apology. Story here.

The Founding Founders

*Update - the White House blog has been updated/corrected. Hmmm . . . was it just a typo, or . . . ??? ☺
 
I guess the White House just ain't all that into the "Fathers/Patriarch" thing. Gee, you'd think with Fathers' Day being this Sunday, they could make an exception just this one time. Screen shot from the White House blog:

And NRO points out the following:

Meanwhile, notice the first suggestion as to how viewers might use this treasure trove of information:

Here are a few possibilities for using Founders Online:

Assemble the Founders’ views on slavery into a single set of search results in which many of the original documents do not use the word at all.

Well, of course.

Notice To Anonymous Commenters

If you're going to post snarky, sarcastic remarks, you'll need to use a real, identifiable name from now on."Anonymous" ain't gonna cut it anymore. Otherwise, your comment will be rejected.

Thank you.

American Exceptionalism 101

New Alternative WBTS History

One of the authors of Stars & Bars over Philadelphia, Mr. David Walter, just contacted me about an alternative WBTS history book he has co-authored - and this one looks quite interesting. Here's the press release:

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

The 150th Anniversary of the Union Army’s victory over Gen. Lee’s Confederates at Gettysburg is, justifiably, the historical focus of this summer.  The event has, of course, spurred discussion of various “what ifs?”
A new alternative history novel, “Stars and Bars Over Philadelphia,”  advances a case for the Confederate States of America winning “The War for Southern Independence” in the summer of 1863!

A musket mis-fire spares Gen. Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville, and he and Robert E. Lee go on to carry out the invasion campaign they had carefully  planned.  Based on historical documents, we now know that Stonewall Jackson had advocated…as early as Oct. 1861…an invasion of Pennsylvania that included destruction of the coal mines and the capture of Philadelphia, then the fourth largest city in the world and a huge cog in the North’s industrial capacity to wage war.  This novel is a realistic look at how Jackson’s plans could have succeeded.

Readers will enjoy such scenes as:

The surrender of the 20th Maine.

The heroism of Hancock’s Charge against Pickett’s Division.

Armistead seals off the breakthrough and gains Division command.

Gen. Lee debates slavery with a prominent Quaker abolitionist.

Jackson’s corps destroys the coal mines with the help of the Molly Maguires.

John Mosby, the “Gray Ghost,” runs wild behind enemy lines.

Battle of the Brandywine Creek on the ground where Gen. Washington fought Gen. Howe.

Custer and Hampton clash at Valley Forge.

An unhinged Lincoln has Meade decimate his Army of the Potomac attacking Longstreet’s defenses.

Louisiana Tigers chew up Buford’s flank.

Jeb Stuart runs the Stars and Bars up on Independence Hall on July 4th.

Lincoln’s cabinet turns on him and demands an armistice and peace talks.

Lee’s farewell message to his victorious Army of Northern Virginia.

And much, much more as the ANV’s three corps steal a march on Hooker and Meade, cross the Susquehanna River, and then inflict defeat after defeat on the Army of the Potomac while laying waste the industrial capacity of eastern Pennsylvania.

Researched and written by historians David Walter and Don Ernsberger.   A donation will be made to battlefield preservation for every copy sold.  Autographed copies are available for $20, plus $3.50 shipping, from Stars and Bars, 937 Thorne Drive, West Chester, Pa. 19382.

You may also purchase the book from Amazon here. 

Two Examples Of The More Robust

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I recalled something I read in one of my favorite books of recent years - Lost Gold of the Republic. The excerpt below is in reference to the two men who made one of the most amazing and richest discoveries (both financially and historically) in American history:

While the differences between the two partners were obvious to all, including them, they were also developing immense trust in each other. Both shared a common bond: a willingness to travel unconventional paths. John [Morris] had left college after three semesters for lack of interest. As he put it, they didn't have anything to teach him that he wanted to know.

And then there's Morris's partner, Greg Stemm:

He dropped out of college at the age of 20, and “took care of a sailboat for a gentleman in the entertainment business”. This was how he ended up working with Bob Hope, for whom he worked as a personal assistant-cum-location scout. “He was a bright guy and very kind to me. That’s what sidetracked me into advertising and marketing.”

By the mid-Eighties Stemm was still in advertising when, with a group of likeminded businessmen — including the Apple founder Steve Jobs and Michael Dell of Dell Computers — he set up the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, a network for fledgeling tycoons. Today YEO has 6,000 members in 70 countries. Stemm, though, still felt the call of the sea and when, in 1986, he met a shipbroker in a *bar in Grand Cayman, an opportunity arose that seemed too good to miss.

*As I discovered in college, I often learned much more valuable information and received a better education by skipping class and hanging out at the local bar - though I'm not comfortable recommending that course for others. ☺

Here's some video about this amazing discovery.

Are You More Robust?

“Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: 'You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself — educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.”~ Doris Lessing

Homeschooling Is Exploding

With the daily barrage of absolute lunacy going on in public schools - from a child being expelled for chewing his pop tart into the shape of a gun, to schools scanning the iris's of students eyes without the knowledge of their parents - Americans are voting with their feet.

. . . the number of children whose parents choose to educate them at home rather than a traditional academic setting is growing seven times faster than the number of children enrolling in grades K-12 every year. As homeschooling has become increasingly popular, common myths that have long been associated with the practice of homeschooling have been debunked.

Just as amazing is the cost efficiency of homeschooling:

Recent studies laud homeschoolers’ academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students. Yet surprisingly, the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students.

As is the case 99% of the time, local control with less bureaucracy and centralization produces a far better result than does centralized power - and you can't get any more "local" and less bureaucratic than parents teaching their own children.

The homeschooling movement is truly one of the most revolutionary, grassroots, successful, and innovative things taking place in American education today. I am so very privileged to be a part of it. Virginia is one of the friendliest homeschooling states when it comes to legalities. And all of this is being done without the elitist "experts" in academia - in fact, it is being done in spite of their desire to shut it down, or at least control it. More here.

It Worked For West Virginia . . .

Several Colorado counties that strongly oppose increased regulation of the oil and gas industry say they want to form their own state. They are planning on calling it North Colorado or Northern Colorado.

Story here. Speaking of West Virginia - It might not be a bad idea for southwest Virginia and western Virginia to leave Virgina and join West Virginia and leave much of the the rest of the state to it's own follies. Why not?

Mini-Review Of Lexington, Virginia & The Civil War

From fellow blogger Peter MacHare . . .

    Richard:
    
    Thank you very much for Lexington, which I enjoyed very much. I tend to think of every little thing as providential, so the first check being lost enabled you to inscribe the book "on the 150th anniversary of Stonewell Jackson’s ‘crossing.’"  Well!
    
    I did notice the synergy from page 10 (your "basement office") to page 141 (Fishwick’s "offices are silent biographies") and have always appreciated your good clear prose (I taught legal research and writing for 15 years, so, believe me, I know bad prose when I see it and here I didn’t see it).
    
    If I might be permitted to ramble a bit more, understatement was well employed in pointing out that Hunter was "not devoid of all compassion." If that’s the best we can say, then Hunter was a beast and no mistake. You beat me to Lexington by four years. I first visited in 1972 as a senior in high school, looking to confirm that Washington and Lee was for me. It was my first time in the South and I never left.
    
    There is one thing that I missed: at page 79, you point out that Fannie Wilson died a year after writing her letter, but I couldn’t find the circumstances, so I hope you will tell me. I thought I hunted through the book pretty well, but may have just missed it.
    
    Thanks again, Richard.
    
    Peter

Thanks Peter! As I informed Peter, I did not find out what caused Miss Wilson's demise. Time and other projects did not afford me the time to research; though I'm sure the information is out there somewhere.

I'm Proud To Say Two Of Them Are Mine

 
73,441,399 Background Checks For Guns Under Obama...

Southern Soldier - Alvin York

Alvin York & His Mother

Alvin York was, at one time, known by every American boy and a household name in practically every home in America. A quintessential American icon and hero from Tennessee who experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity York was, initially, a contentious objector during WWI. His views changed during the war and he single-highhandedly "killed 20 of the enemy, silenced 35 machine guns, captured 3 officers and 129 enlisted men, and broken up a battalion that was about to launch a counterattack against the Americans."

The unbelievable accomplishment led to General Pershing calling him the "greatest civilian-soldier of the war." And, so, it was a delight to read Brett McKay's piece about Sergeant York this morning at Art of Manliness. McKay discusses the lessons men can learn from York's difficult decision regarding what he initially saw as a conflict: his Christian faith and war.

“Mother,” Alvin began, “I promise you tonight that I will never drink again as long as I live. I will never smoke or chew again. I will never gamble again. I will never cuss or fight again. I will live the life God wants me to live.” It was just past midnight on New Year’s Day, 1915, and Alvin York had begun a brand new chapter in his life.

It's a great article and I highly recommend it to readers. 

I'd also recommend John Perry's book about York. An easy, but good read. And, of course, who can forget the 1941 film classic about York's life which starred Gary Cooper as Alvin York and Walter Brennan as York's mountain preacher. Here's a clip featuring one of my favorite scenes - York being confronted with his conflict of faith and sorting it all out on a mountain top in Tennessee. Classic.



And here's an old newsreel reporting the death of Alvin York.



York's ancestors fought for the Union during the War Between the States.