2004 – THE SOUTH STRIKES BACK
(This theme will be the focus of the Donnie Kennedy For President Campaign)
The Suffering South
“How long, oh God, must your people suffer?” pleaded the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah as he viewed the sufferings of his people under the cruel yoke of heathen oppression. The time has come for Southerners to ask the Jeremiah question. The Trent Lott debacle is symptomatic of a greater underlying pathology. In America today Southerners are second class citizens! Our political values of limited Federalism and States Rights have become the political equivalent of the kiss of death! In modern America, the economy is controlled in New York by the Fed for the benefit of the privileged few. Hollywood establishes immoral social values as the norm for America, and “rights” for we the people are dispensed according to the wishes of power brokers and liberal special interest groups in Washington, D.C. “How long oh God must your people suffer?”
Loyal Citizens or Willing Dupes
The people of the South have provided a higher per capita effusion of blood on battlefields defending this country than any other section of the U.S.A. During the Vietnam War, the South had almost no anti-war protest. Our people have proven their dedication to this country with more than mere words. Southern blood stains battlefields around the world – but what has this Southern blood purchased? Today we are mocked for our values. Our history is publicly and officially distorted for the benefit of our political enemies while our children are forced to enter the struggle for economic security in the poorest section of America. The conservative movement in the GOP has promised to help, but history proves otherwise. Nixon’s representative told a civil rights group who were concerned about Nixon’s “Southern Strategy,” “Don’t listen to what we say, watch what we do.” So the loyal South voted for Nixon and we got wage and price controls, more bussing, affirmative action and more taxes. Then came Mr. Conservative Ronald Reagan. So the loyal South voted for Reagan. For that, we got continued bussing, continued affirmative action, less States Rights, and --to add insult to injury-- Mr. Conservative gleefully signed the renewal of the punitive anti South Voting Rights Act. Hoping to better our position, we then voted for Bush Number 1. Mr. “Read My Lips” gave us more taxes and yet another “Civil Rights” Act that he admitted was a quota bill! By the time Bush Number 2 came along, we thought surely all the evil was done and perhaps we could look forward to at least holding on to the few remaining liberties (not to mention income property). But Bush Number 2 has given us the largest increase in the Federal Government since the days of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society! How has the South benefited from its loyal GOP voting record?
Conservatism – A Century of Failure
The people of the South have and continue to support the idea of States Rights because, as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison taught us in their Resolves of 1798, the Sovereign State is the most reliable defender of our civil liberties and property rights in the American system of limited Federalism. The death of States Rights as a viable guardian against an oppressive Federal Government now assures us of continuing defeats in our battle against the liberal/socialist power centers in Washington, New York and Hollywood. At the beginning of the past century, 1913, conservatives were dealt a bitter defeat with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, which led to the destruction of sound monetary policy; and the ratification of the 16th Amendment, which allowed the Federal Government to tax income property. Although conservatives complained at the time, they never did anything to undo the damage. The following pattern would be repeated for the remainder of the century: (1) Liberals/socialist attempt to confiscate citizens’ property via taxes or liberties by using intrusive and unconstitutional laws, court orders, or bureaucratic regulations. (2) Conservatives mount a blustering campaign of complaints. (3) The confiscation act achieves “legal” sanction. (4) Conservatives grumble, then accept. (5) Then liberal/socialist move on to yet another raid on our liberties and property. In the mid 1930’s, conservatives complained with animated passion against FDR’s Social Security plan; but by the early 1950’s; the GOP was seeking ways to increase benefits as they attempted to out bid the Democrats in buying votes by way of Social Security handouts. Whether the issue is bussing, voter fraud, affirmative action, quotas, taxes or general complaints against “Big Government,” conservatives have not been able to roll back the successes of the liberal/socialist power block. Denial has plagued conservatives for over a century. They refuse to recognize the fact that without States Rights the Jeffersonian Constitution they claim to serve no longer exists.
Silence Gives Consent
The question now arises “What do we, the people of the South, do about our current political distress?” If we elect to do nothing, then our silence and inaction gives tacit consent to the continuing destruction of our liberties. No doubt many in the South today have what psychologist call “learned indifference.” Our experience has taught us that no matter who we vote for -- win, lose or draw-- nothing is really going to change for us. I saw it expressed best the other day on a bumper sticker: “Don’t Vote – It Only Encourages Them.” Becoming submissive serfs would not be a proper course for a brave and honorable people. I am reminded of the scene in “Braveheart” in which William Wallace’s father is trying to convince the few remaining Scotts to go with him in an attack against the invading English. “But we are too few. We can’t defeat them,” complain the realist. The reply should echo across time to all who seek to defend liberty “We don’t have to defeat them – we just have to fight them!” Fight them, not compromise with them or seek to build coalitions with moderate elements in their ranks. Fight because our Cause is morally right and our children deserve to know that we were willing to defend our principles regardless of the probability of victory at this point in time. To paraphrase President Davis: Another day and another time will come. But what can we do to assure that that day will come in our lifetime?
Call To Action
Events distant and current make it clear that the GOP takes the South for granted. Indeed, they treat us the same way the Democrats treat the Black vote – “We’ve got’em. After all, where else are they going to go?” Thus the abandonment of States Rights or any insult hurled at the South by the GOP to placate or woo the Black vote is fine – after all, the conservative South will not vote for the liberal Democratic candidate. The GOP assumes that we the people of the South are their political hostages. But we have the power to correct that fallacy. A group of 3,000 to 5,000 dedicated Southerners could begin a movement that within six years would turn the world upside down. Assuming we could put aside our egos (a major assumption for us!) and stay focused on our ultimate goal – Liberty - we could create a movement that would pose a dilemma for the neo-conservatives who currently control the GOP: (1) Support our call for the radical restoration of our original Constitutional Republic of Republics or (2) Face the loss of your Southern base to a third party Southern Independence movement.
We need to select a candidate to challenge Bush across the South in the upcoming 2004 Republican Presidential primaries. Stay focused on the South, run a media campaign based on talk radio, small community radio, selected cable networks, and selected direct mailing lists. Use this as an opportunity to awaken the Southern People to the potential power they have and work without stopping toward 2008’s Presidential primary. Can Southern activist put aside their egos and stay “hitched” for six years? The ones I know can. So the question remains – will we take advantage of the opportunity that now presents itself to us? The liberal/socialist establishment is determined to destroy the little freedom we have left. They are powerful beyond belief. The neo conservatives who control the GOP have more in common with them than they do with us. But that does not matter. As for me I choose to fight them!