MISS DIXIE'S STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

June 8, 2007

     Many people will remember the case of millionaire heiress Patty Hearse who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army back in 1974. After a somewhat extended time as a hostage it was reported that Miss Hearse had "gone native," that is, she began to identify with her captors and their radical philosophy. This act of a hostage becoming one with their captors has been described by many experts as the "Stockholm Syndrome." The existence of this syndrome and whether Miss Hearst was a victim of it is something that is debated to this day. Nevertheless, when it comes to "political" Stockholm syndrome, Dixie, that is, the South, is without a doubt a victim.

     Since the days of Barry Goldwater, well over forty years ago, the South has been promised that if they would abandon their loyalty to the Democratic Party, all would be well. After all, we were told that the Republican Party had become the party of small government and State's Rights-why should Dixie continue to support the Democrats who were now the party of big government? From the election of 1964 until this day, the so-called party of small government, the Republican Party, has held the South hostage. As time goes on it becomes more and more obvious that the core values of the South are not being defended, let alone promoted, by the Republican Party. Yet it is the Christian conservative voters of Dixie who have given the G.O.P. its White House victories and made it the majority party.

     Why one would embrace the values of their captors and why Dixie still votes for a party that does nothing to defend its core values is something that befuddles experts. In a recent Pew poll it was demonstrated that Southern voters hold stronger ties with Christianity than voters in the North.(1) It has also been demonstrated that Southern voters are more likely than their Northern counterparts to hold strong pro-life views; Southern voters are more likely to oppose illegal immigration than voters in the North; Southern voters are more likely to view the Bible and Christianity as positive forces in America than Northern voters and this list can continue on with such issues as gun control, reverse discrimination, local control of public schools and the display of the Confederate flag.(2) Recently two issues demonstrate this disconnect between the National Republican Party and the mindset of the average Southern voter: Illegal immigration and homosexuality.

     From the smoke-filled back rooms of the Federal Congress Building, Republicans and Democrats hammered out an illegal immigration bill that is nothing less than rewarding law-breakers by giving them amnesty. By a large margin Americans do not desire the passage of such a bill. By an even larger margin Southerners oppose this bill. Nevertheless if the Federal Congress gets its way, what Americans desire and what they get will not even be close to the same. For the South with its traditional State's Rights view, this bill is a double slap in the face.

     Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the virtual founders of the State's Rights party in these United States, warned what would happen once the Federal government became the sole judge of its actions and power. In the Kentucky and Virginia Resolves of '98 Jefferson and Madison stated that it was a function of "we the people" of the sovereign States to force the Federal government to live by the limitations of the Constitution and the will of the people. Now that REAL State's Rights are dead, the Federal government can and does act as its own judge, contrary to the will of the people. The South stands and watches as the Republicans and Democrats dictate a policy that Southerners understand would not stand up to a vote of the people. Likewise, they watch as the so-called defender of State's Rights (since Barry Goldwater) forces this act down the throat of the people without any fear of REAL State's Rights getting in their way.

     Like the immigration issue, the issue of morality, that is, traditional Christian-based morality, demonstrates how the hostage of the Republican Party, the South, is disconnected from the world-view of the National Republican Party. Recently a photograph of Vice President Dick Cheney, his wife and new grandchild was displayed on the White House web page. The baby is the child of Cheney's lesbian daughter. His daughter and her lesbian partner are raising Cheney's grandchild. This is the same Dick Cheney that refused to go to a friend's funeral in South Carolina because his deceased friend requested a Confederate flag be placed on his coffin. Here is proof positive that the National Republican Party would rather be seen promoting the homosexual lifestyle than be seen near a Confederate flag. Now remember in every poll and vote taken in the South, the Confederate flag carries the day by a large margin, while homosexuality is viewed as an immoral and abhorrent lifestyle. Does anyone see something akin to the Stockholm syndrome in Dixie? The Republican Party does not come close to the mindset of the average Southern conservative voter and yet, with each election, the South embraces its G.O.P. captors.

     How fortunate for the Republicans that no one, so far, has been able to perform a "hostage intervention" and awaken the voters of Dixie to their plight. As the G.O.P. presidential ticket continues to drift toward the center, that is, the left, spokesmen for the Republican Party are already proclaiming the mantra that "Southerners are better off voting Republican than allowing a Clinton or Obama to be elected." Really! So if Dixie once again votes Republican can she be assured that her Christian world view will be respected; will the public display of the Ten commandments be protected; will Southern States have the right to protect the lives of unborn children; will the right to keep and bear arms be protected; will the sacredness of one man and one woman marriage be protected; will the children of Dixie be protected from the homosexual agenda; and will REAL State's Rights once again be our bulwark against Federal tyranny?

     The Republican Party has held the voters of the South hostage for the past forty years with the threat that if they don't vote Republican an even worse party, the Democratic Party, will surely trample upon their values. Yet after forty years it is becoming more and more obvious that the Republicans are nothing less than the rear-guard of Democratic victories. Republicans never mount a counter-attack against the socialistic schemes of the Democrats and often join the Democrats in defending previous socialist victories.(3) The same Republican Party that has been a forty year failure for the South is the same Republican Party whose President, George Bush, stood by and allowed Federal agents to remove the Ten Commandments from the Supreme Court Building in Alabama; also, as the Republican Governor of Texas, Bush stood by and even encouraged the removal of a plaque honoring Confederate Veterans of Texas from governmental buildings in Texas. Why should Dixie remain loyal to her hostage takers? A better question to ask is "When will a reasonable alternative to Republican failure be offered to Dixie?"

1) James R. Kennedy, What is Dixie Doing in Rosie O'Donnell's America? www.kennedytwins.com
2) William L. Cawthon, Jr., The Free Magnolia, 'The South as its Own Nation, Vol. I, No.2, April-June, 2007.
3) James R. Kennedy, Reclaiming Liberty (Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, La.: 2005) 29-39.