Thursday, February 8, 2018
Now graveyards are not acceptable places for Confederate monuments.
Yes, give me a land with a grave in each spot
And names in the graves that shall not be forgot;
Yes, give me the land of the wreck and the tomb–
There is grandeur in graves–there is glory in gloom[1]
And names in the graves that shall not be forgot;
Yes, give me the land of the wreck and the tomb–
There is grandeur in graves–there is glory in gloom[1]
The new Kulturekampf, having already eyed and attacked the more visible elements of Dixie identity in prominent places across the South, feels its appetite growing. The long talons, sharpened on their success in removing public praise for the leaders of the South, now clawingly reach further and further into the quiet places of Southern repose. They rail and wail and attempt to rend any fond remaining sentiment to pieces. Take, for instance, the recent debacle which has disturbed Forest Hill Cemetery of Madison, Wisconsin.
During the War, Southern prisoners were held in nearby Camp Randall before being deposited into that Chicagoan horror, Camp Douglas. While at Camp Randall, some of the men succumbed to illness and injury, ultimately ending their whittled and weakened days in that sad spot in Wisconsin. These one hundred forty Southerners never returned home. Their graves grace a small, green field upon which they had never warred, but only died.
In addition to the bodies of the fallen, the graveyard contained, until recently, two small memorials lauding their sacrifices. One has been removed and likely will not return as, it was said, it offered “no historical value.”[2] The other, according to the options on the table, will be altered, removed, or joined by another display to negate the monument’s message.
A message is inadvertently being made just by these moribund maneuvers. It proclaims clearly to every Southerner: your dead are not worthy to be praised. They should, if a person has decency, be derided and hated. The names of the interred should only serve as emblems of infamy.
The laughable accusations leveled against the poor men who fell so far from home are as inane as they are insane. Prime among them is the idea that they were somehow traitors. A union of states such as the present was built upon the idea of casting off oppressors. If treason, so called, is the litmus test of removal from remembrance, then the Founders must likewise fall. For they, after all, dared raise their hands against the authority of King George and Parliament, both of which had a stronger case for legitimacy than that of the Lincoln administration in 1861. But the word treason merely masks an attempt to destroy an alternate culture in opposition to the all-consuming maw that is the present-day United States. The oft-sounded tirades against our forefathers are but bludgeons to serve this end.
This sad event, which disturbs not only the sleeping soldiers in their graves, but also the minds of decent people everywhere, serves to show the end these people desire. Confederate statues along the streets of once-proud cities are toppled in the name of progress, because, it was stated, their place in the public eye was too prominent for the men’s worth. Now we see the natural extension of the same hatred, for an appetite once fed becomes insatiable. The quiet of a graveyard is thus disturbed because, lest someone stumble inadvertently upon some marker lauding Southern valour, they succumb to the message therein. The shady silence that is proper to tomb-plots will, for a time, ring with Northern machinery affecting the removal of a this reminder of Southern spirit.
The great Poet-priest of the South, Father Abram J. Ryan, once remarked that “only the dead are the free.” [3] It is a damning day when one must even question that.
[1] Ryan, Abram J., Father Ryan’s Poems (Mobile: Jno. L. Rapier & Co., 1879), pg 54
[2] Mosiman, Dean, “City to Decide Fate of Two Confederate Monuments in Madison Cemetery,” Wisconsin State Journal, 29th of January, 2018.
[3] Ryan, pg 74
Former FBI Agent Jonathan Gilliam: Bureau’s Top Brass Climb Ladder by Ideology, Not Merit
“Go in and think like a liberal” was the advice two FBI agents gave Jonathan Gilliam prior to his taking an FBI entrance exam. Gilliam shared his anecdote during a Wednesday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with co-hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.
Gilliam, a retired Navy SEAL and former FBI special agent, spoke of left-wing political corruption across the federal government, specifically identifying the CIA and FBI.Gilliam recalled that two FBI agents advised him to “think like a liberal” during his FBI entrance exam. “I was told by two FBI agents that did not know each other – I was told, ‘Do not go in and take that test as though you are thinking like a SEAL.’ In other words, ‘If this happened, this is the way it should be done because this is the way a team works, and this is the way an investigation should be carried out.’ They said, ‘Don’t do that, you’ll fail. Go in and think like a liberal.’ And that’s what I did, and I passed.”
More @ Breitbart
Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 jihadists detained including foreigners
Authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan said Tuesday they had detained some 4,000 suspected members of the Islamic State jihadist group, including foreigners, in recent years.
They include around 1,000 jihadists who surrendered during the battle for Hawija, the last IS urban stronghold in Iraq until its fall late last year, Iraqi Kurdish official Dindar Zibari told reporters.
He said 350 people detained in northern Iraq who admitted to belonging to IS had been transferred from the city of Kirkuk, retaken by federal forces in October, to Kurdish-run prisons.
More @ AFP
The 'Black Sheep' of the Pacific War in color: Legendary fighter squadron who shot down 203 Japanese planes in WW2 are brought to life in colorized photos
Via David
Fascinating pictures of America's famous
WW2 Black Sheep Squadron whose efforts helped win the war in the Pacific
have been released in vibrant color.
The
series shows the squadron's commanding officer, Colonel Gregory 'Pappy'
Boyington who received the Medal of Honour and the Navy Cross, briefing
his men on strategy and tactics before the 17 October 1943 attack on
Kahili airdrome at Bougainville island, Papua New Guinea.
In
this raid 'Pappy' and 24 fighters circled the field where 60 enemy
aircraft were based to goad them into sending a large force. In the
ensuing air battle, 20 enemy aircraft were shot down and the Black Sheep
(VMF-214) squadron suffered no losses.
More @ Daily Mail
The uncomfortable truths of reconstruction
Via Mike
I am a Republican and have been a Republican County Chairman in two states, but if the Republican Party is going to be the party of the people, it must be the party of truth. We must avoid whitewashed versions of history. The first test of all politics should be truth.
I am a Republican and have been a Republican County Chairman in two states, but if the Republican Party is going to be the party of the people, it must be the party of truth. We must avoid whitewashed versions of history. The first test of all politics should be truth.
The South was as devastated by the Un-Civil War of
1861 to 1865 as much as any nation in the annals of warfare. By the end
of the war one out of every four white men had been killed or died of
wounds or disease. Over 40 percent of private property including homes,
businesses livestock, and crops had been destroyed.
In South Carolina,
where Sherman’s men had burned the capitol city of Columbia, over 50
percent of private property was destroyed. Most of this property damage
was deliberately inflicted on the civilian population to deny the
Confederate Army the logistical means of resistance, but also to
demoralize their families and supporters at home. It was ordered in cold
calculation by Northern political and military leadership, but often
executed with self-righteous religious zeal or criminal abandon. At the
end of the war at least 50,000 homeless and displaced refugees, mostly
former slaves, died of famine and disease. Neither Christian teachings
nor modern Geneva Conventions condone such total war. Reconstruction was
an extension of that total war by political means.
More @ The Tribune
$outhern Poverty Law Center Adds Itself To List Of Hate Groups
Via R
In an update Wednesday to its Hatewatch blog, the Southern
Poverty Law Center announced the newest addition to its authoritative
list of hate groups: the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“We have identified an organization with a clear history of rank
intolerance toward faith communities based solely upon their sincerely
held religious convictions,” the statement reads. “This organization has
encouraged ostracism and threats toward people, politicians, and
businesses that do not adhere to its rigid progressive agenda. It has
existed and operated right under our noses for years. It is known as the
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).”
More @ The Babylon Bee
FBI Withheld Notes From Their Interviews With Christopher Steele From Senate Judiciary Committee
Via Billy
According to the Senate Judiciary criminal referral, Steele lied to
the FBI about his contacts with the media such as Yahoo News and Mother
Jones. Steele previously told the FBI that he had not spoken to the
media.
Grassley reveals the FBI KNEW Steele lied about his contact with media outlets, yet they DID NOT disclose this very pertinent information to the FISA court.
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
Very interesting footnote in unredacted Grassley memo:
"The FBI has failed to provide the Committee the 1023s documenting all of Mr. Steele's statements to the FBI, so the Committee is relying on the accuracy of the FBI's representation to the FISC regarding those statements."
"The FBI has failed to provide the Committee the 1023s documenting all of Mr. Steele's statements to the FBI, so the Committee is relying on the accuracy of the FBI's representation to the FISC regarding those statements."
On Tuesday, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a “much-less redacted,” version of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s criminal referral of dossier author Christopher Steele.
Comey is in hot water. The unredacted memo reveals the FBI misled the FISA court about Christopher Steele’s contacts with media outlets.
Grassley reveals the FBI KNEW Steele lied about his contact with media outlets, yet they DID NOT disclose this very pertinent information to the FISA court.
More @ The Gateway Pundit
Linkfest
>>
And not just for her.
Hang.
Leave to rot.
Mount the desiccated remains at the entrance to the DNC
as a lesson to the next ten generations of Democrats.
Patrick J. Buchanan: Trump–Middle American Radical
Via Frank
President Trump is the leader of America’s conservative party.
Yet not even his allies would describe him as a conservative in the tradition of Robert Taft, Russell Kirk or William F. Buckley.
In the primaries of 2016, all his rivals claimed the mantle of Mr. Conservative, Ronald Reagan. Yet Trump captured the party’s heart.
Who, then, and what is Donald Trump?
In a Federalist essay, “Trump Isn’t a Conservative–And That’s a Good Thing,” Frank Cannon comes close to the mark.
Trump, he writes, “would more accurately be described as a ‘radical anti-progressive'” who is “at war with the progressives who have co-opted American civil society.” Moreover, Trump “is willing to go further than any other previous conservative to defeat them.”
President Trump is the leader of America’s conservative party.
Yet not even his allies would describe him as a conservative in the tradition of Robert Taft, Russell Kirk or William F. Buckley.
In the primaries of 2016, all his rivals claimed the mantle of Mr. Conservative, Ronald Reagan. Yet Trump captured the party’s heart.
Who, then, and what is Donald Trump?
In a Federalist essay, “Trump Isn’t a Conservative–And That’s a Good Thing,” Frank Cannon comes close to the mark.
Trump, he writes, “would more accurately be described as a ‘radical anti-progressive'” who is “at war with the progressives who have co-opted American civil society.” Moreover, Trump “is willing to go further than any other previous conservative to defeat them.”
More @ V DARE
US-Led Coalition Bombs Syrian Forces Following Israeli Strike Near Damascus
Via Billy
Furthermore, CNN reported late Thursday that US forces are now investigating whether Russian contractors were involved in the initial attack against the SDF, after a US official told the news outlet that the possibility could not be ruled out.
The retaliatory airstrikes are said to have occurred 8km (5 miles) east of the Euphrates River, while no U.S. troops embedded with the local fighters at their headquarters are believed to have been wounded or killed in the attack on the headquarters, reports Reuters.
The US-led coalition did not say whether any pro-Syrian forces were killed in the retaliatory strike.
Syrian President Bashara al-Assad has repeatedly stated that the presence of the US-led coalition on Syrian soil is an act of aggression and a violation of Syrian sovereignty. Officially, Russian and Syrian air forces are the only military allowed to operate in SyriaA US-led coalition has conducted several "defensive" airstrikes against Syrian forces allied with President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday in Syria's Deir al-Zor province, in retaliation for what the coalition said was an "unprovoked" attack on the US-backed left-wing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) headquarters.
Furthermore, CNN reported late Thursday that US forces are now investigating whether Russian contractors were involved in the initial attack against the SDF, after a US official told the news outlet that the possibility could not be ruled out.
The retaliatory airstrikes are said to have occurred 8km (5 miles) east of the Euphrates River, while no U.S. troops embedded with the local fighters at their headquarters are believed to have been wounded or killed in the attack on the headquarters, reports Reuters.
The US-led coalition did not say whether any pro-Syrian forces were killed in the retaliatory strike.
More @ Zero Hedge
Trump has a stronger approval rating (48%) today than President Barack Obama (44%) did in 2010 on this same day. +
Rep. Matt Gaetz: Adam Schiff should step aside from leadership role in House Intel's Russia probe
Schiff has spearheaded the Democratic opposition to the Republican memo from the committee, released to the public last week, which details allegations of surveillance abuse by the U.S. government.
Gaetz says the California Democrat should back away because he allegedly sought damaging information about President Trump from what he thought was a Ukrainian politician and because he appeared on Kremlin-funded RT back in 2013.
"Here you've got Adam Schiff engaging with Ukrainians trying to dig up dirt on the president with seemingly no interest in whether or not the information is true or false or doctored," Gaetz told Fox News' Tucker Carlson on Wednesday. "If you use the same standard applied that's been applied to Republicans to Adam Schiff he should have no role on the intelligence committee as a lead on this issue."
More @ Washington Examiner
It Can Happen Here
Via Billy
We remain embroiled in a debate over the nature and extent of our own government’s spying on us. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was enacted in 1978 as a response to the unlawful government spying of the Watergate era, was a lawful means for the government to engage in foreign surveillance on U.S. soil, but it has morphed into unchecked government spying on ordinary Americans.
The journey that domestic spying has taken in 40 years has been one long steady march of massive increase in size and scope.
We remain embroiled in a debate over the nature and extent of our own government’s spying on us. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was enacted in 1978 as a response to the unlawful government spying of the Watergate era, was a lawful means for the government to engage in foreign surveillance on U.S. soil, but it has morphed into unchecked government spying on ordinary Americans.
The journey that domestic spying has taken in 40 years has been one long steady march of massive increase in size and scope.
More @ LRC
Byron York: What explains the FBI's deep faith in Trump dossier author Christopher Steele?
Via Billy
FBI officials did not want to admit that Steele had lied to them, in part because if they did, their prized informant would be in legal jeopardy, instead of the investigation's real target, Donald Trump.One of the most remarkable takeaways from the new documents released in the Trump-Russia investigation is the degree to which FBI officials were determined to believe dossier author Christopher Steele — even after it became clear he had lied to them. In their drive to win a warrant to wiretap sometime Trump volunteer Carter Page — along with Paul Manafort, one of only two Trump figures known to be wiretapped in the investigation — the bureau rested most of its case on Steele's information, and the officials who filed the warrant application seemed resolved to believe Steele even after his credibility came into question.
More @ Washington Examiner
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