Sunday, May 5, 2013
Senator Joseph Lane of Oregon, Speech in the United States Senate, March 2, 1861
Senator
Joseph Lane (1801-1881) was born in North Carolina, moved early in life
with his family to Kentucky, then to Indiana where he served from
1821-1846 intermittently as a State legislator. A colonel of the Second
Indiana Volunteer Regiment in the Mexican War, he rose to the rank of
brigadier-general. In 1849, President James Polk appointed him Governor
of the Territory of Oregon; upon the admission of Oregon to the Union
he served in the US Senate from 1859-1861. He was nominated for Vice
President on the Democratic ticket of John Breckinridge and Lane.
Senator Lane pleaded to his colleagues, “In God’s name, let us have
peace.” The following are brief excerpts from his Senate speech.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Senator Joseph Lane of Oregon, Speech in the United States Senate, March 2, 1861:
Mr.
President….I am for the Union upon the principles of the Constitution,
and not a traitor. None but a coward will even think me a traitor; and
if anybody thinks I am, let him test me. [The South] will go out of this
Union and into one of their own; forming a great, homogeneous, and
glorious Southern confederacy. And it has been, Senators, in your power
to prevent this; it is and has been for you to say….whether the Union
should be saved or not.
If
a people of a State, believing themselves oppressed, undertake to
establish a Government, independent of which they formerly owed
allegiance, and the latter interferes with the movement, and employs
force to prevent such a consummation, no one who acknowledges the great
truth that the basis of free government is the “consent of the
governed,” will deny that such interference is an act of usurpation and
tyranny.
One
of the framers of the Constitution….has left on record his views of the
injustice, impracticability, and inefficiency of force as a means of
coercing States into obedience to Federal authority. The subject being
under consideration in the convention which framed the Constitution:
“Mr.
Madison observed, that the more he reflected on the use of force, the
more he doubted the practicability, the justice, and the efficiency of
it, when applied collectively, and not individually. A Union of the
States containing such an ingredient, seemed to provide for its own
destruction. The use of force against a State would look more like a
declaration of war than an infliction of punishment, and would probably
be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous
compacts by which it might be bound. He hoped that such a system would
be framed as might render this resource unnecessary; and moved that the
clause be postponed.” (Madison Papers, Debates in the Federal
Convention, vol. 5, p. 140)
Among
the statesmen of the Revolution – those who participated in the
formation of our Government – there was no one who had such exalted
notions of the power and dignity of the Federal Government, as the great
[Alexander] Hamilton. He was a consolidationist. The advocates of
coercion might expect to obtain “aid and comfort” from the recorded
declarations of one of his political faith. But an examination of his
writings will show….[that] he was the advocate of leniency and
conciliation towards refractory States, and deprecated a resort to force
as madness and folly. He said, in a debate on this subject:
“It
has been observed, to coerce the States is one of the maddest projects
that was ever devised. A failure of compliance will never be confined to
a single State. This being the case, can we suppose it wise to hazard a
civil war? Suppose Massachusetts, or any large State, should refuse
and Congress should attempt to compel them, would they not have
influence to procure assistance, especially from those States which are
in the same situation as themselves? What picture does this idea
represent to our view? A complying State at war with a non-complying
State; Congress marching the troops of one State into the bosom of
another….Here is a nation at war with itself. Can any reasonable man be
well disposed towards a Government which makes war and carnage the only
means of supporting itself – a Government which can exist only by the
sword? Every such war must involve the innocent with the guilty. This
single consideration should be sufficient to dispose every peaceable
citizen against such a Government.” (Elliot’s Debates, vol. 2, p. 233)
(The Politics of Dissolution, Marshall L. DeRosa, editor, Transaction Publishers, 1998, pp. 308; 314-315)
GRNC Alert 5-5-13 Push Again for Restaurant/Campus Carry
Stop prosecutions of "accidental felons" like Johnston Co. Eagle Scout
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The
floor vote for House Bill 937 has been rescheduled for tomorrow night
(5/6/13). As you recall, it contains restaurant carry, provisions for
guns in locked vehicles on college campuses and state properties, carry
in assemblies for which admission is charged, and a "cleanup" of parks
carry language. Although the bill isn't everything we want, it is a good
start.
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Accidental felons
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Every
day, thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens become "accidental
felons" when they unwittingly carry firearms across what they might not
even know is "educational property." Such is the case of Cole Withrow,
the 18-year-old Princeton High School student who unknowingly brought a
shotgun he had left in his truck to school. When he called his mother
to ask what to do, others overheard the call and had him arrested. This
Eagle Scout, honor student and model citizen now faces felony
prosecution. Although HB 937 wouldn't prevent the prosecution of
Withrow, since the incident wasn't on a college campus, it will
undoubtedly prevent untold lives from being ruined. The message to
deliver to House Republicans today is: "Help prevent 'accidental felons': Pass HB 937 without weakening amendments".
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Left-wing connections to UNC President Tom Ross
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On Friday, the Civitas Institute
highlighted the relationship between UNC President Tom Ross, who spoke
out against HB 937, and the ultra-liberal Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Said Civitas:
"UNC system President Tom Ross has weighed into the gun debate. Ross wants a provision in House Bill 937, that allows concealed carry permit holder to have a weapon in a locked vehicles on a college campus. to be removed.
"This should come as no surprise to anyone. Ross, as head of the liberal Z Smith Reynolds Foundation, funded the Anti-Gun group NC Against Gun Violence (NCAGV). NCAGV also happens to be an original member of BluePrintNC the group that supports “eviscerating & crippling” conservative state leaders."
We should also note that UNC Chapel Hill is under investigation
by the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights for
deliberately under-reporting campus sexual assaults. With thirty-five
(and perhaps more, considering under-reporting) forcible sexual assaults
between 2008 and 2010, one source notes that the UNC Chapel Hill rate of forcible sexual assault is 50.1% higher than the national average for college campuses.
When
Ross demanded campus gun storage be removed from HB 937, he claimed the
bill would hinder UNC's ability to "protect" students. Is rape the sort
of "protection" he has in mind? Using the copy-and-paste list below,
please deliver the following message to all UNC chancellors: "Not a dime for UNC until you stop attacking our rights." Below is the latest open letter from GRNC President Paul Valone to Ross.
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Benghazi: "A misinformation campaign at best, and a cover-up at worst."
Rep. Darrell Issa of California charged on Sunday that the Obama administration made a political decision to deny that terrorists were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
"We can't find a classified reason for it. We can't find a diplomatic reason for it," said the Republican, appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Issa’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will begin hearings on Wednesday to find out whether there was a cover-up by the Obama administration of the attack that resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Gregory Hicks, who was second in command at the Benghazi mission, will testify along with Mark Thompson, acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism, and Eric Nordstrom, diplomatic security officer and former regional security officer in Libya.
"I thought is was a terrorist attack from the get-go," Hicks was quoted as telling investigators. "I think everybody in the mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning.
More @ Newsmax
Safetalker reports.........
Well guys and gals this year's first NC PATCON is now
becoming history. Those who attended will carry back to their groups and
family a lot of memories, frost bite, and combat medical knowledge
gained here.
Wish you were there! The taste of the properly prepared
North Carolina barbecue is still in our memories, clothes, and the
beards of us few who brought one. The smells and textures of the inside
of our sleeping bags will soon dissipate as those we left at home get
them out into the garage or garbage as they feel is necessary for a
return to home serenity.
The trick will be to re-learn the ability to sleep without the sounds of the great outdoors ( buzz saw soring, the incessant log trucks passing by on the road, and that darn Peacock who after three of these NCPATCONS has learned to move about and always scream from a different location every hour or so. Probably to protect itself from flying objects it can't identify or consume. Wish you were there.
The local county is still upset that AVORDVET didn't attend. They added three or four full time firemen for the period in case one of his 30 foot tall 200 yard camp fires got out of hand this year and, he stayed home. Well he can try again in the fall.
I want to thank Brock for risking his neighborhood reputation for sponsoring the NCPATCON and opening his ancestral home to this many known Home grown Patriots (errr... according to Big O and Eric (I lost those weapons in the garage) Holder "Terrorist"). Allowing this many people into the backyard in America usually gets you a warrant or a DHS Raid so lets all give Brock a big hand.
I look forward to the next PATCON. Come on down!