Rumble in Chattanooga

Wow.


The huge electronic billboard on the Chattanooga Convention Center flashed its welcome to the 16th League of the South Convention all weekend. What a perfect way of announcing to the world how our Cause has entered the mainstream political debate!

That's what Mark Thomey of Louisiana observed in his talk Friday morning, as he reminded us of Governor Perry's remarks at a Texas Tea Party rally. Dennis Fusaro of Gun Owners of America spoke on how the best protection of our gun rights will be at the state level, warning that well-intentioned groups that rely on Federal legislation can be coopted by Beltway politics.

Dennis recommended this video as an introduction to State-focused gun rights activism:

VCDL Freedom Rally Innsbrook 2009 from MG on Vimeo.

League of the South president Michael Hill relished his "I-told-you-so" moment when he pointed a finger at the TARP bailouts as damning evidence that the Federal government is indeed an "organized criminal enterprise" that has been exposed as an illegitimate empire that has replaced a federated constitutional republic.

Tom Moore, of the Southern National Congress, argued that we need to dedicate more time to securing and consolidating political power rather than focusing purely on fighting for the Battleflag. Speaking just for myself, I understand what Tom's saying, and I'll confess to having argued both sides. In my mind, we need both: the Battleflag is the pre-eminent symbol of the Southern people and their cause, and the best way to defend it is to possess the necessary political power so we can prevent the Battleflag from being taken down -- or better yet, to stop our enemies from attempting to strike at our cultural symbols in the first place.

On Saturday morning, Mike Crane of Georgia made the case that returning to the Constitution of 1787 is not only impossible within the present centralized system, but useless, since that arrangement has already failed to safeguard liberty. Like it or not, he said, we ARE re-constructed, whether we want to admit it or not, and our children are even more thoroughly so, thanks to the pervasive influence of the government schools and a complicit entertainment industry. The DC empire is so big, and so divided that only an authoritarian government can hold it together, so hoping to restore self-determination and small government within what is now an empire is hopeless.

My favorite quote of the convention came from Mike Crane: "I haven't said secession is the only answer -- I wouldn't mind if they threw us out."

In his talk, entitled, "Who are we and what do we want?", Franklin Sanders stressed that we are not doctrinaire conservatives. Those politicians who've assured us for decades they're "conservatives" haven't conserved a thing, and have only offered soothing words to get us to accept bigger government, more immigration, and higher levels of government appropriation of our incomes. The unconstitutional and despotic PATRIOT Act, he reminded us, was the work of so-called "conservatives." Further, we are not the Klan, who would pervert us all with a race-based dictatorship, but neither are we liberals who imagine racial harmony can be imposed by government-imposed quotas. Nor are we "do-it-if-it-feels-good" libertarians.

Instead, said Franklin, we Southerners are a people with an historical culture and rich political tradition. As such, we are friends of ordered liberty who reject both anarchy and tyranny. The Southern tradition recognizes that neither the individual nor the group is supreme. The rights of both must be balanced. And genuine, enduring racial harmony can only be achieved through the Gospel and by individual acts of reconciliation. But the only way we will be able to create solutions based on our traditional beliefs and values is through the machinery of our own political system -- as Franklin put it, "A name and place among the nations of the earth."

In the spirit of Halloween, Master of ceremonies Alex Cheek warned us of the monsters that threaten our liberty and way of life, including the mummies, Southerners who are trapped in a past where the South was a respected part of the US, and pretend there is no war on our culture nor an Open Borders agenda aimed at demographic revolution. Mummies still pledge medieval fealty to a regime that's as illegal as it is illegitimate. Other frightful creatures we must watch out for include ghosts, former League members who gave up because independence wasn't achieved instantly, and vampires, monsters that are irredeemably malicious, such as the indoctrination centers we call public schools, and Hollywood.


Finally, Ray McBerry, a Republican candidate for governor of Georgia, brought the house down with his call for action and renewal. People who don't live in Georgia can look with hope to a campaign based on States' Rights and local sovereignty, because a victory in Georgia will reverberate throughout the tottering Empire. Americans see all too clearly the system is fundamentally broken, and that the sovereign States are our only hope from restraining an out-of-control Federal government. In the insane and bankrupt system we're struggling under today, DC takes our money, puts us into burdensome debt, and sets rules for reclaiming some of it. No wonder, said Ray, that 30 States have passed sovereignty resolutions to put DC on notice that its power over us is not unlimited.

Ray seconded Dennis Fusaro's point that the right to bear arms must be defended at the State and local level, and related an incident at a forum he recently attended where the other Republican candidates responded to a question about Federal limitations on that right with timid assurances. All of them but McBerry said a law-abiding citizen would be restricted from carrying his gun in the State capital. Ray, however, assured the citizens at the forum they had the right to defend themselves anywhere, and the only limitation he'd impose would be on Federal agents while in the State capital. He was cheered at the forum, and when he related that story to us.

He underlined the importance of his campaign by reporting on the interest expressed by politicians in other States. A legislator in Colorado, for example, wants to introduce bills supporting McBerry's issues in his own State, re-emphasizing the ripple effects a States' Rights victory will have for the cause of liberty throughout the country. The standing ovation Ray received was as long as it was loud.

You'll want to order the tapes of this exciting and historic conference when they're offered on Dixienet so you can share the event and its message with others.