Saturday, January 18, 2020

January 18, 2020

MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

Normals v. Insaniacs:

The Struggle for our Country Intensifies and Will Become even Worse at Election 2020

Friends,

I’m not a “conspiracy nut,” and by that I mean I don’t usually view opponents as gathering clandestinely in a heavily-guarded smoke-filled room in some secluded mountain aerie (a la James Bond) to plot secretly the take-over of the world, or at least not of North Carolina, and, good Heavens, not of Raleigh. I think such supposed summits, whether of “the Elders of Zion,” or maybe of the Bilderbergers, are a bit overblown and now discredited historically.

But palpably there has been and is something going on in the United States and in Europe which, if not a kind of traditional “conspiracy against God and Man,” certainly combines the more salient aspects of such activity, an activity which is more programmed and instinctive, and more general and diffused among its votaries. There is a sharing and commonality of thought and perception, a common use of the same language and the same memes, such that almost every newscaster in every media outlet—and every Democrat (and many a Republican) pol—uses the same expressions and descriptions, distinguishes the same enemies, supports the same “Deep State” administrative policies and positions, and makes certain that “friends” are protected. It is as if thoughts and positions on a multitude of issues are telegraphed telepathically, and every minion of the Progressivist Left somehow “gets it” and understands what to think and say and then do…and the Established Opposition, “conservatism inc.” goes along with the general lineaments and parameters, lest its proponents be thought “extremist.”

And thus a daunting unanimity of view and purpose, an iron phalanx, is born and revealed. You dissent from at it at your own peril.

Let me ask: after dozens of states voted against same sex marriage several years ago by overwhelming majorities (here in North Carolina, for example, the citizens voted against it by a 61% to 39% margin back in 2012), but then the Supreme Court decided to legitimize it nationally by a 5 to 4 vote in its Obergefell v. Hodges decision (June 26, 2014), how many so-called “conservatives” came forth and demanded a constitutional amendment which at a minimum would have returned such decisions to the respective states? Indeed, how many Republicans and Establishment conservatives take seriously the effort to reverse Roe v. Wade (1973), which legalized infant murder in the womb (and maybe outside it, as well, as we now know).

Oh, sure, there are voices demanding the amelioration of its effects and the limitation of abortion in certain cases. But who amongst our supposed political elites stands forthrightly for overturning Roe v. Wade…while for the past half century our news media, our political class, and most egregiously, Hollywood, have done their damnedest to inculcate into us and our children that “abortion is a woman’s right” and that it is completely “natural”? Where are the salient Republican and conservative voices not only demanding reversal but doing something about it?

Prayer in the schools? Remember that issue and the 1962 decision of the Supreme Court, Engel v. Vitale, where the court opined by an 8 to 1 margin essentially decreeing that organized prayer “is largely banned from public elementary, middle and high schools.” I recall when I was working with Dr. Russell Kirk in Michigan (1971-1972) that he wrote about the issue and worked closely with a zealous Catholic priest (whose name I forget) to have the issue put forward in a constitutional amendment allowing it at least on the state level.

It got nowhere, and the supposed voices of opposition to the court’s destruction of constant practice and American tradition—those self-same “conservatives” and Republicans (and a few Democrats)—were soon stilled, retreating on to other questions.

And now the latest issue which confronts us, and bids well to soon become established policy, considered undebatable and beyond legitimate discussion: you know, one of those new foundations of “conservatism inc.”: the rightness and complete acceptance of transgenderism. And thus everywhere, in the workplace, in the armed services, in our churches, and, most ominously, in our schools and colleges, the new transgender dogmatism finds fertile ground. Elementary children are now instructed on the finer points of same sex titillation and “gender fluidity.” After all, say the experts, we should let our children “choose what sex they wish to be.” Natural law be damned.

The sanctity of transgenderism has become the newest “undeniable tenet” not only of Progressivism but also of the Established conservatives. Consider “conservative” youth leader Charlie Kirk embracing prominent transgenders and their cause—fully accepting the latest and most recent Progressivist conquest. With defenders like that, we are lost.

Robert Lewis Dabney, the brilliant post-War Between the States Southern philosopher and essayist, one hundred and forty years ago described this brand of “conservative opposition” to Progressivism:

This is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is to-day one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will to-morrow be forced upon its timidity, and will be succeeded by some third revolution, to be denounced and then adopted in its turn.

American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt hath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it he salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious, for the sake of the truth, and has no idea of being guilty of the folly of martyrdom. It always—when about to enter a protest—very blandly informs the wild beast whose path it essays to stop, that its ‘bark is worse than its bite,’ and that it only means to save its manners by enacting its decent rôle of resistance.

The only practical purpose which it now subserves in American politics is to give enough exercise to Radicalism to keep it ‘in wind,’ and to prevent its becoming pursy and lazy from having nothing to whip. No doubt, after a few years, when women's suffrage shall have become an accomplished fact, conservatism will tacitly admit it into its creed, and thenceforward plume itself upon its wise firmness in opposing with similar weapons the extreme of baby suffrage; and when that too shall have been won, it will be heard declaring that the integrity of the American Constitution requires at least the refusal of suffrage to asses. There it will assume, with great dignity, its final position. [“Womens’ Rights Women,” Discussions, vol. IV, Secular Discussions.]

What will be the next stage of this “long march” through the fabric of millennia-old Divine Positive Law and Natural Law by the diabolical Progressivists and their bedfellows (no pun actually intended) in the conservative movement? What will be their next assault on Western Christian civilization, indeed, the only civilization we have? You name the most bizarre and extreme project, the most radical idea, and assuredly it has been thought of and is, either now or soon to be, advanced by the well-organized and powerful forces that occupy the positions of authority—and control—in this country and in Western Europe.

And the opposition to this advance? As Dabney declares, Establishment conservatism is nearly worthless, or, to quote a great uncle of mine, about as valuable as “tits on a boar hog.”

In short, Establishment Conservatism—“conservativism inc.”—must be undone and overthrown. It is no real opposition to this attack of the Insaniacs. Donald Trump, whether he intended to or not, opened the door—cracked it open just a wee bit. And now in such fine journals as Chronicles magazine, or via such Web presences as LewRockwell.com, The Agonist, Takimag, Intellectual Takeout, The New English Review, VDare.com, The Dissident Mama, and (for Southerners especially) The Abbeville Institute and Reckonin.com, and other venues, there is real opposition to the Progressivist panzers.

This year 2020, with its impeachment charade and looming national election this coming November, will decide our fate: whether we slide into the morass and slavery of total subjugation by the Progressivist contagion, or whether we in some way continue to fight back. Either way—let me say that again, either way there will be tremendous upheaval and probable violence of one sort or another. And thus our opposition must be forthright and genuine: the faux right which still dominates the “conservative movement” must be displaced.

Our very future is at stake. Keep your powder dry and your guns at the ready.

Monday, January 13, 2020

January 13, 2020

MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

As Year 2020 Begins

Southerners Take Stock

Friends,

Back on January 2nd I remitted some general thoughts on this New Year, 2020. It was an introduction to a much longer essay by “The Dissident Mama,” which followed. Subsequently, I reworked my introduction into a stand-alone essay with a focus on the Southland and our gravely endangered heritage and traditions. That essay was published today by The Abbeville Institute, and I pass it along to you now:

-----------------------------------

ABBLLE INSTITUTE

As the Year 2020 Begins–Southerners Take Stock

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/as-the-year-2020-begins-southerners-take-stock/

By Boyd D. Cathey

As 2020 commences it is perhaps appropriate that we take stock—that we take a look globally at just where we are, politically, culturally, religiously.

All our basic and fundamental social institutions are under tremendous stress, if not outright attack, not just legally and politically, but far more insidiously, in how they are defined and how they affect us. Our very language is altered to reflect this radical transformation: words and phrases are banned, old words are recast and redefined, implicit (and often explicit) speech codes have more effect than anything that the older “less free” society of our grandfathers experienced. And this linguistic terrorism—for that is what it is—is inculcated into our young from the very beginning, in the primary grades, via television and Hollywood, by unthinking parents, by friends.

And the family? Has not our society redefined that also? Any two people who “love” each other for a while and who cohabitate (shack up) for a time, with or without children? No matter what sex, or any “intermediate” sexual orientation. No permanency, and certainly nothing sacred or sacramental. Very little sense of responsibility: if a fetus happens because the necessary birth control didn’t work, very simply abort it. No problem; nothing must stand in the way of the pleasure, the sexually stimulated moment. How many tens of millions of lives has our society, in its lust for pleasure, snuffed out since 1972?

All the nations of Western Europe protest proudly how “democratic” they are. In the United States we never cease talking about how precious “our democracy” is (just witness the ceaseless verbiage spewed forth during the recent impeachment hearings). In the rest of the world no country ever boasts of being an authoritarian state: when was the last time we heard a nation’s leaders waxing eloquent about how totalitarian they were? Even the most autocratic Islamic state now declares itself “democratic.”

Has not that word lost its savor and meaning altogether?

Democracy—the rule by the populace, as defined by the ancient philosophers—does not exist anywhere, save perhaps still in a few Swiss cantons, or on the lowest levels of governance in some faraway communities in Wyoming or Idaho. The rest is fraudulent, bought and paid for by major financial interests and lobbies, and on a supra-national level by the likes of globalists such as George Soros, whose Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) now reach into nearly American city and county of any size, handsomely funding candidates who will do his bidding. Just ask the voters of Virginia.

The established church—at least in America and Western Europe—seems to have surrendered to the most diabolical and anti-Christian forces: the major Protestant denominations have all joined in the mad rush to become more “woke” and more revolutionary, adopting the slogans and platforms of the Progressivists who seek nothing less than the abolition of historic Christianity and the civilization which is based on it.

In large part, the visible Catholic Church—once the stalwart opponent and beacon of Christian counter-revolution against demonic Progressivism—has followed the leftist course mapped out at the Second Vatican Council, with its present supposed head acting as a cheer-leader for revolutionary change on every level. Opposition to his lunacy is rising, but the formal elements of power are now in the hands of Progressivists.

Perhaps only in Eastern Europe and in Russia do we see a coherent resistance, religiously and politically, to the madness that afflicts us. Ironically, it was the separation from America and from Western Europe—the Iron Curtain—that in a way saved those countries from the poisonous infections coming from our nation which was dominated in large part by the victors of 1861-1865, and which had become the “Typhoid Mary” of Progressivism.

For the defeat of the Southern Confederacy on the field of battle was not just a military reverse; it signaled the defeat of a major outpost of Western civilization and its vision of society which was distinctly connected to and annealed by 1,500 years of traditional Christianity. This was the realization of thousands of European volunteers to the Confederate cause—from Naples, from Spain, and from other countries of the old continent. What they saw in the Confederate crusade was a continuation of the struggle against liberalism which raged throughout the nineteenth century. The Southern cause was the cause of legitimacy, of tradition, of the old established order, of the survival of a Christian inheritance vouchsafed to those warriors at Manassas and Gettysburg.

And now, after more than 150 years of subjugation and indoctrination by the scions of the Yankee victors, there is perhaps “a light coming from the East,” a message of resistance telegraphed to the descendants of the heroes of Chancellorsville. Hope exists always as long as there are men standing forthrightly for it, willing to go to battle, willing to teach others, willing to pass it on. As the Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno once wrote: “our life is a hope which is continually converting itself into memory and memory in turn begets hope.”

Thus, when the yoke of Communism was lifted in Eastern Europe, it was to the wellsprings of national identity, to national heritage, to pre-Communist religious faith, that many of these nations turned. They had largely escaped the forty-five years of “Americanism”—in the worst cultural sense—that Germany, France, and Italy had experienced.

Yet, it is this same narrative, this same globalist “Americanism” that today’s conservative movement—Neoconservativism—continues to push on the rest of the world, just like their uncomfortable bedfellows a bit further to the Left. Both the Establishment conservatives AND the open Left share the same postulates and objectives, differing only in degree and expression.

As Southerners the lessons we glean, then, may come from Eastern Europe and from Russia, and they remind us of who we were as a people, of the inheritance which in so many cases we have discarded. Those former Eastern Bloc nations, in particular Russia and Hungary, stand as “signs of contradiction,” and offer to us lessons, if we would only examine them.

Despite the Swamp and the Deep State—despite the future technological tyranny which stares at us in the face—despite the assaults in every aspect of our lives—despite it all there is Hope and the vague but very real awareness that we are human, creatures made by God, and that our role is to stay the course, remain true to the faith and to our inheritance.

My favorite Psalm is number 26, in particular these words (vs.3): “Si consistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum. Si exurgat adversum me praelium, in hoc sperabo”: Even if entrenched armies were to stand against me, my heart would not fear. If a battle would rise against me, I would have hope….

A very happy and blessed New Year in the Hope that never dies!

About Boyd Cathey

Boyd D. Cathey holds a doctorate in European history from the Catholic University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, where he was a Richard Weaver Fellow, and an MA in intellectual history from the University of Virginia (as a Jefferson Fellow). He was assistant to conservative author and philosopher the late Russell Kirk. In more recent years he served as State Registrar of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History. He has published in French, Spanish, and English, on historical subjects as well as classical music and opera. He is active in the Sons of Confederate Veterans and various historical, archival, and genealogical organizations.

Friday, January 10, 2020

January 10, 2020

MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

My Latest Column at LEW ROCKWELL – Crisis in the Middle East

Friends,

I pass on my latest essay reprinted by LewRockwell.com (January 9, 2020):

LewRockwell.com anti-state•anti-war•pro-market

Another Crisis in the Middle East – When Will We Ever Learn?

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/01/no_author/another-crisis-in-the-middle-east-when-will-we-ever-learn/

By Boyd D. Cathey My Corner January 9, 2020

Qasem Soleimani is dead, his life snuffed out by missiles shot from American drones which targeted his convoy near Bagdad International Airport. By all accounts this man, in many ways the second most important figure in Iran, was the mastermind of numerous violent actions—we call them “terrorist” acts—throughout the Middle East, and very likely was indirectly (maybe directly) responsible for the deaths of dozens of Americans in the region, at least if we can believe our discredited intelligence agencies (it’s ironic that most of those who rightly indict these agencies for their anti-constitutional attempts to “take out” President Trump, now enthusiastically embrace the assessments of those very same agencies when it comes to Iran).

And now the Iranians have reacted directly by firing ground-to-ground missiles aimed at Iraqi army bases; from reports no Americans, military or civilian, were killed or injured in these attacks. That may or may not indicate a particular strategic calculation on the part of the Iranians. Indeed, if this should be the only major response to Soleimani’s death it may—underline “may”—indicate an implicit desire to lower the level of high stakes hostilities…and a realization that the United States under President Trump is unlike previous American administrations. After all, Soleimani was arguably the most powerful and most significant military leader in Iran; the Iranians, given his death, had to react. As our leaders recognized, that was certain, and the attacks by the Iranians did not come as a surprise.

But now that this is done, multiple questions arise.

Watching “Fox & Friends” this morning there appeared former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and newscaster Brian Kilmeade, all a-twitter—almost in a frenzy—talking about “regime change” in Iran, about a “future strategy” to “take out” the regime in Tehran, about a Middle East strategy of total American involvement which takes hardly any account of the fall of Soviet Russia or the sorry record of repeated American disaster in that region of the world (e.g. Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, etc.).

President Trump ran for office on a platform of strategic disengagement from many areas of the world, the draw-down of American troops, including from the immense and complex quagmire of the Fertile Crescent.

The fall of Communism in late 1991 as a world threat radically altered global politics. Winston Churchill once described Soviet Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”; if that was the case with Communist Russia, it certainly describes tenfold the situation in places like Iraq or Syria.

Arguably, when we were dependent on Persian Gulf oil and were facing Soviet expansionism—when we feared the emergence of Soviet power as a hegemon in the area—a position of massive involvement was at least intellectually debatable. It is, however, no longer tenable and no longer in the interest of the United States or, a “Make America Great Again” policy.

The major challenge that President Trump confronts is, in fact, that many of the foreign policy advisers he has surrounded himself with are persons—Neoconservatives—with views diametrically opposite to the vision he enunciated during the 2016 campaign and won him the presidency. Those individuals—echoing the sentiments of Gingrich and Kilmeade—are positively giddy over the prospect of a shooting war with Iran. Remember the late unlamented John McCain’s little ditty caught on a microphone: “Bomb, bomb, bomb…bomb, bomb Iran” (set to popular rock tune “Barbara Ann”)? Recall the threats and designs to assert “American suzerainty” over the entire region? And the pink elephant in the room that almost no one talks about: defending Israel’s right flank against Iranian-supported terror attacks, mostly from Hezbollah in Lebanon? (Israel can take care of itself.)

But American interests in this case do not coincide with the interests of either Israel or with the Neocons policy wonks who zealously continue to push what they call “democratic regime change” (at the price of thousands of dead Americans). Since 1991 that has been attempted too many times with horrendous results. It is not in the interest of the United States.

No; we have made our point in Iraq. We need now to find a way to withdraw our troops from that nation whose parliament just asked us to leave (Iraq is, after all, a sovereign nation). Our invasion and toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, while presented as necessary by the G. H. W. Bush administration was a tragic mistake, based on faulty and contrived intelligence. Yes, he was a cruel dictator, but he was a Sunni Muslim (who favored Iraq’s large Christian population) and a staunch opponent of Iran. What we “achieved” by that invasion was rule by a fanatical Shi’a majority, favorable to Iran…just the reverse that those think-tank ensconced Neocon “experts” and advisers promised us. And with dozens of body bags on their way back to American shores.

Let us hope that America will now finally come to its senses. Let us pray that President Trump will honor his campaign promises. We do not seek regime change; we seek to make America great. We don’t have to prove how strong we are—under this president others know it.

Time to lower the volume, time to—through third parties, if possible—once again go to the table, maybe not right away, but within the year. Yes, Iran is a bad negotiating partner. But a first good step would be if we were to announce that we were exiting Syria and Iraq, not with our tails tucked in behind us, but because it does not serve our strategic interest. Not for political reasons—as witness the hysterical (and bogus) response by Democrats—but for national strategic reasons. In other words: to live up to the slogan—“Make America Great Again.”

*****

Today’s Pat Buchanan column addresses some of these issues.

Reprinted from My Corner by Boyd Cathey.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

January 8, 2020

MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

Another Crisis in the Middle East –

When Will We Ever Learn?

Friends,

But now that this is done, multiple questions arise.

The fall of Communism in late 1991 as a world threat radically altered global politics. Winst0n Churchill once described Soviet Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"; if that was the case with Communist Russia, it certainly describes tenfold the situation in places like Iraq or Syria.

*****

I pass on a good column by Pat Buchanan which addresses some of these issues.

If Baghdad Wants Us Out, Let's Go!

https://buchanan.org/blog/if-baghdad-wants-us-out-lets-go-137979

By Patrick J. Buchanan Tuesday - January 7, 2019

Fifteen years after the U.S. invaded Iraq to turn Saddam Hussein's dictatorship into a beacon of democracy, Iraq's Parliament, amid shouts of "Death to America!" voted to expel all U.S. troops from the country. Though nonbinding, the expulsion vote came after mobs trashed the U.S. embassy in an assault that recalled Tehran 1979.

What provoked Iraq's Parliament into demanding the ouster of all U.S. troops?

First, the five December U.S. strikes on Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces in retaliation for a dozen Kataib Hezbollah rocket attacks on U.S. bases, which killed a contractor and wounded four U.S. soldiers. Then came President Donald Trump's decision to launch a drone-strike and kill Iranian General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport. Killed in the same strike was the Shiite Iraqi leader of Kataib Hezbollah.

During his return flight to Washington Sunday, Trump warned Iraq: Follow through on your demand that all U.S. troops get out, and we will insist that Baghdad repay the money we just spent on a major air base.

Moreover, said Trump, if Iraqis expel U.S. troops, then we will impose upon them "sanctions like they've never seen before, ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame."

Where do we stand now in Iraq? Though Sunnis and Kurds abstained, the Iraqi parliament has voted to expel all our troops. The State Department has urged U.S. civilians to flee Iraq. 82nd Airborne units have moved into the region to protect the U.S. embassy. U.S. troops fighting ISIS alongside Iraqi troops have separated themselves and stood down. In Iraq, the war on terrorism is on hold.

Across the Middle East, U.S. diplomats, soldiers and civilians are on alert. The acting prime minister of Iraq, in an echo of Tehran and radical Shiites, is demanding that all 5,200 U.S. soldiers in Iraq depart. How can our troops, detested by the PMF militias and their thousands of fighters, unwanted by the Iraqi Parliament majority, the acting prime minister, and much of the Shiite majority, remain safely inside the capital city of Baghdad or the country?

What a difference a presidential decision can make.

Two months ago, crowds were in the streets of Iraq protesting Iran's dominance of their politics. Crowds were in the streets of Iran cursing that regime for squandering the nation's resources on imperial adventures in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen. Things were going America's way.

Now it is the Americans who are the targets of protests.

Over three days, crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands and even millions have packed Iraqi and Iranian streets and squares to pay tribute to Soleimani and to curse the Americans who killed him. As emotions are running high and America's friends in the region are mute, the twin goals of Iran and its militia allies appear clear:

Tehran wants to avoid a war with the United States, but to direct the passions of the moment toward forcing an expulsion of the Americans from the Middle East, beginning with their ouster from Iraq.

Thus, Tehran has signaled that its retaliation, its revenge for the death of Soleimani, a military man, will be proportionate. Tehran is telegraphing an attack on the U.S. military. Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah in Lebanon, has called on his followers not to attack innocent Americans in the region but to zero in on U.S. military targets.

Oddly, what the America-haters of the Middle East seek is what Soleimani wanted, and what Trump promised in his campaign of 2016 — an end to U.S. involvement in the forever wars of the Middle East.

Perhaps, rather than sending troops into Iraq and Kuwait to defend U.S. troops already there, we should accede to the local nationalist demands, start bringing our troops home, and let Iranians, Iraqis, Libyans, Syrians, Yemenis and Afghans settle their quarrels.

Despite the rage in Iran over the killing of Soleimani, the political imperatives that existed before last Friday's drone strike remain. Iran does not want war with the United States. And Trump wants no war with Iran.

But Iran made a mistake in its extrapolation from that truth. Assuming that because Trump did not want war, he would recoil from a fight, Soleimani believed he could kill Americans with impunity, as long as his fingerprints were not on the murder weapon.

Killing Soleimani was just. But what is just is not always wise. Yet, his killing restores Trump's credibility as a Jacksonian who avoids wars but who, wounded, will stab the enemy who cut him.

Trump has a red line. It is not shooting at American drones but shooting at American soldiers, the drawing of American blood.

The message the rulers of Iran should have received?

If they retaliate for Soleimani by killing American soldiers, diplomats or civilians, using either Iranian troops or proxy militias, Trump will retaliate against Iran itself. Otherwise, "Come Home, America," George McGovern's slogan from the 1972 presidential campaign, has rarely seemed more relevant.

Monday, January 6, 2020

January 6, 2020

MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

Ronald Kennedy Writes – The Revolutionary Long March through Southern Institutions

Friends,

First, let me wish each of you a most blessed Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord (in the Latin calendar) and also a holy and joyous Feast of the Nativity (tomorrow, January 7, in the Orthodox calendar). Indeed, the traditional “Twelve Days” of Christmas reach a fitting conclusion in these feast days celebrating the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the Epiphany commemorates principally the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles. And thus the promise of Salvation to all mankind.

Today I want to pass along an essay by James Ronald “Ron” Kennedy which parallels very much the points and arguments that I have been making for some time. Ron Kennedy and his brother Walter Donald “Don” Kennedy are two of the modern South’s most fearless champions of our heritage and have, collectively, authored dozens of books and essays that merit examination and consideration:

The Left’s March Through Southern Institutions

https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/the-lefts-march-through-southern-institutions/

By James Ronald Kennedy on Jan 6, 2020

A photograph of the University of Mississippi Majorettes graced the cover of the September 24, 1962, issue of the popular national magazine, Sports Illustrated. This national magazine thought nothing of showing college majorettes wearing gray, quasi Confederate, uniforms while carrying numerous Confederate Battle flags.[1] In 1964 the Louisiana State Archives in conjunction with the State Superintendent of Public Education and WBRZ-TV published a book titled Heritage of Valor: The Picture Story of Louisiana in the Confederacy. The book’s cover has two Confederate Battle flags plus a battle scene with Confederate soldiers defending their Battle Flag. The book’s dedication proudly declares the purpose to be, “That Louisianans May Be Worthy Of Their Heritage.” The term “War for Southern Independence” is used in the book’s preface. The book describes the Confederate Battle flag as being “…conceived on the field of battle, lived on the field of battle, and was borne on every field from Manassas to Appomattox.” Local editors from several Louisiana newspapers and university professors assisted in the preparation of the book. Similar books were written in other Southern states during the celebration of the “Civil War” centennial. To honor her sons who wore the gray, Georgia, in 1958, added the Confederate St. Andrews Cross to their state flag. But things have changed! Recently, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, monopolistic newspaper refused to accept a paid advertisement defending the honor of the men who wore the gray in the War for Southern Independence and those who dare defend their Confederate ancestors.[2] Georgia removed the St. Andrews Cross from their state flag, and Ole Miss is no longer the “Rebels.” Why the change? Who is responsible for such a dramatic change? Did we the people of Dixie freely consent to this radical change?

The answer to the last question, regarding the Southern people’s consent to the radical change, is no we did not consent BUT, as the old expression goes, “silence gives consent.” During the past 60 years Southerners often dispelled their apprehensions about the leftward leanings of American society by declaring, “That will never happen here!” But it (politically correct, leftist, social dominance of Southern institutions and society) has happened here and it is worse than anyone could imagine back in the early 1960s!

While we the people of Dixie were quietly living our lives, raising our families, obeying the law, paying our taxes, and going to church—our enemies established a strategic plan to overthrow all aspects of Western, Christian civilization and replace it with a secular humanist, neo-Marxist, socialist utopia. They have diligently worked their strategy for over 60 years. They specifically set out to make a “long march through the institutions,” capture control of the essential areas of social influence, and use them to overturn traditional values. Who are these enemies who have infiltrated and captured our Southern institutions?

The conservative, Bible-Belt, South’s neo-Marxist enemies are known by numerous labels such as liberal, secular humanist, neo-Marxist, and postmodernist. All have their roots in postmodernism—a heady, 1950s, French, “intellectual” philosophy that aims to destroy traditional Western society and replace it with a Marxist socialist utopia.[3] Marxism is the philosophical source and inspiration for postmodernism.[4] They are in fact neo-Marxists who have rejected Western civilization’s traditional, Christian-based values such as truth, justice, logical and civil discourse. “Offering logical proofs about real matters of fact is thus pointless. And, conversely, it is pointless to expect any amount of factual evidence to add up to a necessary or universal conclusion.”[5] As far as postmodernists are concerned feelings, intent, and irrational acts that promote their socialist utopian vision are more important than mere facts (i.e. truth) especially historical facts. As noted by postmodernist critic Stephen Hicks, “Postmodernism is the first ruthlessly consistent statement of the consequences of rejecting reason… In postmodernism we find…the placing of feelings at the root of all value issues…”[6] This allows neo-Marxists to ignore over 100 million corpses piled up by Marxist governments in the 20^th century, while they (the neo-Marxists) continue pressing onward toward their fanatically held vision of a future socialist utopia of enforced equality. The postmodern American vision has its roots in trendy New England “isms” and “higher law” constitutional theories of the 19^th century. It ultimately produced a dreadful 21^st century vision of an American socialist utopia ruled over by a self-appointed elite who reside figuratively in that City on a Hill.[7]

Neo-Marxists, who detest all things loved by the traditional South, have rejected the Western traditions of reason, logic and civility. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that they would attack Southern conservatives with lies, slander, unfounded accusations, factually disproven allegations and utter hatred. We put ourselves at an extreme disadvantage when we expect unreasonable people to act reasonably. Our enemies have abandoned reason; they have abandoned absolute ethical values; they see slander and violent competition as a natural recourse. From their standpoint—only the most ruthless will survive.[8] And “we the people of Dixie” have been anything except ruthless in defending our honorable heritage—therefore, our survival chances get slimmer with each passing year.

The neo-Marxist concept of “the long march through the institutions” was popularized by the radical, leftwing, German activists Rudi Dutschke in the 1960s.[9] Dutschke (1940-1979) was inspired by an Italian Communist, Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), who advocated the philosophy of cultural Marxism which stressed leftwing efforts to incrementally infiltrate society’s key cultural areas, capture those key areas, and then, use them to overturn traditional, Christian, Western, capitalist, society. Key areas to be targeted are taxpayer funded educational institutions, the church, entertainment, civil service, marriage and the family.[10] Antonio Gramsci’s admirers and critics have described Gramsci as being the most influential Marxist since Karl Marx! The key to Gramsci and Dutschke’s success is that they took the long-view—incremental infiltration of key social areas. They set forth a strategic plan that aimed at ultimate victory—the complete destruction of their enemies. At the beginning of the 21^st century, it is apparent that their efforts to infiltrate, capture, and turn key social areas against our American, but especially, our Southern society has been a complete success.

America’s system of public education is a prime example of how successful the neo-Marxists have been. Since World War II, the inflation adjusted, per pupil, spending on education has increased over 600% but the result has been a dismal failure. The United States ranks well below the international average in Math when judged against other nations and only slightly above average, but below nations such as Portugal, in reading and science.[11] But have no fear, our leftist-dominated Universities are doing a great job in brainwashing America’s youth and turning them into leftwing snowflakes. For example, recent emails from a New Jersey school documented the efforts of teachers to convince their students that President Donald Trump’s travel ban from countries where Islamic extremists were active was illegal and immoral.[12] This past July (2019) a Georgetown University professor slandered the Thirteen Star Betsy Ross American flag by equating it with the Nazi swastika flag.[13] The George Washington High School in San Francisco decided to remove a mural painted in 1936 of George Washington because it is now considered offensive by some.[14] A recent poll of conservative university students demonstrated that 73% self-censor their conservative view to avoid conflicts with professors, radical leftists students, and to prevent retaliation in the form of lowered grades.[15] Southerners, no doubt, will appease their apprehension by thinking that such things are only happening in Northern educational establishments but such is not the case. The neo-Marxist enemies of Western Christian civilization have also infiltrated and captured Southern institutions as well![16]

According to a recent news report an Austin, Texas, public school district has dedicated ten thousand dollars to pay for sending public school children to Gay Pride Parades.[17] In Mississippi a professor at Mississippi State University is using exams to denigrate Chick-fil-A for promoting traditional Bible-Belt values and made claims that people who do not support leftist gun control “have blood on their hands.” One student said that if you do not agree with the professor, he will reduce you grade.[18] In December of 2019, a professor at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) called for stronger punishment for students committing acts of microaggression. He advocated giving more power to the school’s “Bias Incident Reporting System.” The Ole Miss professor even suggested that some individuals committing acts of microaggression should face criminal penalties.[19] Bias incident reporting systems are run by leftist (postmodernist) academics and are a cross between the Star Chamber and a Kangaroo Court. The University of Michigan was forced to close its Bias Incident System after being sued for violation of constitutional rights.[20]

Every taxpayer funded University in the South has some form of Bias Incident Reporting systems, departments and/or courses teaching extreme leftist, Gender and or Woman’s Studies, and extra-legal (no due process allowed) departments to enforce affirmative action, judge and punish males accused of sexual aggression or microaggression, and assure an appropriate “safe” environment is maintained by prohibiting certain ideas, flags, and speakers. All the while we the people of Dixie are paying for our children and grandchildren’s neo-Marxist brainwashing in “our” public education system!

A recent study demonstrated how effective the left has been in capturing our educational institutions. An analysis of the Democrat to Republican ratio of professors in fifty-one of the top ranked liberal arts institutions yielded an overall ratio of 10.4:1. In the academic fields of Communications and Anthropology the study found no Republicans.[21] In History the ratio was 17.4:1, while at the lower end the ratio listings, in Chemistry the ratio was 5.2:1 and Engineering it was 1.6:1.[22] The study broke down the Democrat to Republican ratio by regions. As could be expected the New England states had the highest ratio, 26.3:1; the Mid-Atlantic 10.4:1; West 7.4:1; and, South 7.4:1.[23] With America’s universities slouching toward Gomorrah, the results of a recent, non-scientific, survey at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. should come as no surprise. Random students were asked which book is more dangerous, the Bible or the Communist Manifesto. All but one student selected the Bible as the more dangerous book.[24] The social impact of the left’s long march through our institutions has been, as hopefully envisioned by Gramsci and Dutschke, a disaster for our society—a society based upon conservative (Burke vs Rousseau), Bible-based, values.

The social impact of the left’s long march through our educational institutions is routinely demonstrated in headlines and news stories. These reports demonstrate the “downstream” impact that occurs when students are brainwashed in neo-Marxist universities and then move into positions of management and leadership in key social areas. For example, administrators of public libraries across the United States have, as on cue, begun offering Drag Queen and LGBT reading events for children! And of course, these public libraries are funded by taxpayer dollars. Administrators and managers of The Hartford Public Library in Connecticut sponsored a Drag Queen Story Hour for children. The Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon, was embarrassed when photographs appeared on Facebook of children lying on top of drag queens and fondling the drag queen’s false breasts during the Library’s Drag Queen Story Hour.[25]

No doubt, many Christian, conservative, Southerners allay their fears by thinking “that will never happen here!” But think again. In the Houston, Texas, their library system sponsored a Drag Queen Story Hour. The Drag Queen who read to Houston children was convicted in 2008 of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old boy![26] Mangers of large national businesses, all of whom are educated in America’s leftist education system, have also gotten into the act. The Whole Foods Market in Atlanta, Georgia, sponsored a Drag Queen Story Hour.[27]

The drag queen “Big Read” effort is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts.[28] Your federal tax dollars at work! The American Library Association (ALA) is also promoting these Story Hours. The ALA is actively providing support for libraries that come under pressure from reactionary conservatives—those bitter-clingers, deplorables, and smelly Walmart shoppers. As could be expected those who dare to publicly express their opposition are met by virulent hatred and intolerance from the left. In California a city official branded those who opposed LGBT activities as folks holding “white supremacist beliefs.” [29]

Bible-Belt conservatives who so earnestly pledge their allegiance to “One nation under God,” need to ask themselves the disquieting question: Whose god is America now under? Secular humanism is now the unofficial, but federally enforced, religion of America. God is now banned from the public square. Prayer is prohibited in America’s public schools. Our taxpayer-financed public schools have replaced the Bible with instructions for safe sex. Public schools are allowed to have after school club meetings for LGBT groups but Christian groups are not allowed. The left has successfully marched through our key institutions, they now control those institutions, and are now using them to destroy all traditional, moral values based upon the traditions of the Old and New Testaments.

The leftwing “trickle-down” from leftist-dominated public universities now permeates our entire society. Nothing is too extreme or ridiculous. They have declared milk to be a symbol of white racism, the O K hand sign is now labeled as a code sign for white supremacists, a Democratic presidential candidate supports abortion rights for transgender men and none of his opponents dared to point out the absurdity of such a thing, popular children’s cartoon characters are now used to promote the LGBT agenda, neo-Marxist activists have moved from eradicating Confederate monuments to eradicating monuments to president McKinley and Columbus, and liberal activists have prevented the naming of an airport for John Wayne because they claim he was a racist. The federal government has moved illegal aliens into conservative areas in an effort to turn them into liberal voting districts.

While our neo-Marxist enemies set in place a long-term (strategic) plan to destroy us, we have been satisfied with trying to “elect good conservatives,” and hoping they will represent our interests. It has been a dismal failure. Two terms of Mr. Conservative, Ronald Reagan, did not reverse America’s slouch toward Gomorrah and neither will one or two terms of Donald Trump. We don’t need politics-as-usual—we need a revolution! [30]

[1] Photo available at: https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43611/0 accessed 12/26/2019.

[2] See, Ad Too Hot to Print—Progressive Censorship in Action, https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/the-ad-too-hot-to-print-progressive-censorship-in-action/

[3] See, The Truth No Longer Matters, https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/the-truth-no-longer-matters/

[4] Hicks, Stephen R. C., Explaining Postmodernism-Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault 2^nd ed. (Connor Court Publishing, Redland Bay, QLD: 2011), 5.

[5] Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism 2^nd ed., 76.

[6] Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism 2^nd ed., 81.

[7] Bradford, M. E., Against the Barbarians (University of Missouri Press: 1992), 18-19.

[8] Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism 2^nd ed., 82-3.

[9] https://www.conservapedia.com/Long_march_through_the_institutions accessed 12/25/2019.

[10] Ibid.

[11] https://fee.org/articles/the-failure-of-public-schooling-in-one-chart/?fbclid=IwAR0XDMOs4IIpYgxXMrgiJYyrbXFANP8-arBKR0E7VvF83CcAgk4LdIqwbnY accessed 7/23/2019.

[12] https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/07/15/killing-free-speech-documentary-exposes-far-left-propaganda-in-schools/ accessed 7/15/2019.

[13] https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/07/03/michael-eric-dyson-compares-betsy-ross-flag-to-swastika-burning-cross/ accessed 7/4/2019.

[14] https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/06/21/george-washington-high-school-to-erase-offensive-george-washington-mural/ accessed 6/21/2019.

[15] https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/09/05/poll-73-percent-of-gop-students-self-censor-to-protect-grades/ accessed 9/6/2019.

[16] All major Southern institutions have been infiltrated and captured or dramatically influenced by postmodernist/neo-Marxist ideology, especially Bible-Belt churches and local mainline media establishments.

[17] https://www.westernjournal.com/ct/report-school-district-spending-10k-send-kids-gay-pride-parade/ accessed 6/17/2019.

[18] https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/05/28/mississippi-state-professor-uses-exam-to-blast-chick-fil-a-for-promoting-american-values/ accessed 5/29/2019.

[19] https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/12/16/ole-miss-prof-wants-students-kicked-out-of-school-for-microaggressions/ accessed 12/27/2019.

[20] https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/10/30/u-of-michigan-to-eliminate-bias-response-team-as-part-of-free-speech-lawsuit-settlement/ accessed 12/28/2019.

[21] The study reviewed public voter registration records. I admit that “Republican” is a very low bar to use to determine if an individual is a “conservative,” which makes the study even more depressing.

[22] https://www.nas.org/articles/homogenous_political_affiliations_of_elite_liberal accessed 5/18/2019.

[23] Ibid.

[24] https://www.westernjournal.com/leftist-brainwashing-students-convinced-bible-worse-communist-manifesto/ accessed 12/28/2019. The one student who selected the Communist Manifesto as most dangerous was a recent arrival for Venezuela.

[25] https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/07/22/library-deletes-photos-of-children-fondling-drag-queens-during-story-hour/ accessed 7/23/2019.

[26] Ibid.

[27]https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/23/drag-queen-story-hour-for-young-children-celebrated-as-part-of-lgbtq-big-read-event/ accessed 9/24/2019.

[28] Ibid.

[29] Ibid.

[30] See, Kennedy, James Ronald, Dixie Rising: Rules for Rebels (Shotwell Publishing, Columbia, SC: 2018).

About James Ronald Kennedy

Ron and his twin brother Don are the authors of Punished by Poverty, The South Was Right!, Why Not Freedom!, Was Jefferson Davis Right?, and Nullify Tyranny; Ron is the author of Reclaiming Liberty, Nullification: Why and How, and Uncle Seth Fought the Yankees. Ron is past Commander of the Louisiana Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and is a life member of the Louisiana Division and the National Sons of Confederate Veterans. Ron is a frequent speaker at SCV, Southern Heritage and other pro-Liberty groups. Ron received a Masters in Health Administration (MHA) from Tulane University in New Orleans, a Master of Jurisprudence in Healthcare Law (MJ) from Loyola University Chicago, a Bachelor’s degree from Northeast Louisiana University, a certificate in Paralegal Studies from Louisiana State University and holds numerous professional designations in healthcare and insurance Risk Management.