The Stainless Banner March/April 2011

="I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that is not the guide in expounding it, there may be no security."
--James Madison, letter to Henry Lee, 1824
========

March/April 2011

Appomattox - A Soldier Remembers
Page 16
========

Lee's Surrender, By My Great Grandfather, April 9, 1865, 146 Years Ago

========
The Stainless Banner March/April 2011

Birth certificate released: Did Donald Trump just school President Obama?

"The Fed is in a bind. No matter which way it turns, utter failure is a risk. Putting more money into the system risks no less than the dollar itself. Stopping quantitative easing (QE) risks plunging the economy and financial system into another period of turbulent decline."
--Chris Martenson
========
Photos from the Staten Island Advance

Did Donald Trump just outmaneuver President Obama on the so-called “birther” issue? It sure looks that way at first glance. In interviews Trump for weeks has been musing about whether the nation’s chief executive was really born in America. Now Obama has released a detailed Hawaii birth certificate in an effort to end such questions.

In politics, anytime you force an opponent to react to you, as opposed to talk about what they want to talk about, you’ve often scored a point. “Winning!” as that unemployed former sitcom actor would say. So in that sense – which admittedly is pretty narrow – Trump may have managed to do something none of the other GOP presidential hopefuls have yet accomplished.

Day By Day

The Marxist in the mirror

Illustration:Obamarx
by Alexander Hunter
for The Washington Times

It’s official. President Obama has declared war on capitalism, which is funny because he never officially declared war on Libya. But our fearless Marxist-in-chief reserves a special brand of hatred for capitalism, entrepreneurship and rich people. Just days ago, Mr. Obama publicly blamed “speculators” for the rising price of gas. Mr. Obama publicly announced a war on speculators and speculation, imposing the Justice Department, government lawyers, Cabinet heads and the whole Big Brother kitchen sink on this “evil” bunch of capitalists.

Well I have news for you, Mr. Obama. You better go after many other Americans, too: home buyers, stock buyers, gold buyers, art buyers, classic-car buyers, wholesalers, small-business owners and investors. Because everyone who risks money to buy things and attempts to resell later at a profit is a speculator.

By going after oil speculators, Mr. Obama is setting the stage to go after every businessman and woman in America, seeking to redefine profits as either immoral or criminal, and targeting, demonizing and punishing the people who invest in America, courageously take financial risk and create most new jobs.

Why is Mr. Obama engaging in class warfare? Because A) he has to blame and demonize someone for his failures; B) he has to distract American consumers and voters from a failing economy and $5 per gallon gas; and C) most investors and speculators are fiscal conservatives, many of whom contribute to Mr. Obama’s political opposition.

Rhino Outdoors® Lid Cam Compact Action Video Camera

$124.99

SWEET INSPIRATION: FORMER SUGAR PLANTATION GETS A TASTEFUL REMAKE

"The rain fell through the canopy of oaks as I drove down the dirt road along the bayou toward my house. During the summer it rains almost every afternoon in southern Louisiana. From my gallery, around three o'clock, you could watch the clouds build high and dark as mountains . . ."

The words belong to Dave Robicheaux, the Louisiana detective created by crime novelist James Lee Burke. But they could just as easily belong to Hunt Slonem, the celebrated New York artist who now owns Albania Plantation on Bayou Teche and who declares that sitting on its rear gallery is "as good as it gets on the planet."

The Slonem era at Albania, in Jeanerette (Iberia Parish), began several years ago when he bought the Greek Revival house and 10 acres of grounds after its longtime mistress, Emily Cyr Bridges, passed away.

Slonem credits his studies at Tulane University, in the early 1970s under renowned architectural historian Sam Wilson, with beginning his love affair with old Louisiana buildings. His feelings increased over the years as he made many trips to New Orleans to exhibit his artwork in local galleries. On one visit, he got a lead on buying a plantation.

"I got off the plane and my Realtor said, 'We're going to Albania tomorrow, ' " Slonem recalled. "It was love at first sight. The house was everything I craved, right down to the falling plaster. I didn't know how I was going to pay for it, and it needed so much work. But after my first offer was rejected, we eventually worked it out."

By the time Slonem took possession, the storied home's contents -- 50 years worth of Bridges family artwork, antiques and curiosities -- had been auctioned off.

"When I got the house, everything was gone, including the chandeliers. There was nothing but bare light bulbs, three of Miss Emily's dresses hanging in a closet and loads of trash that took 10 truck loads to haul away, " he said.

Via Jerry, Belle Grove

U.S. vs. C.S. Constitution, Confederation, and War

Wendy King
GUT 271: Government
Mr. Roberts
Information Retrieval Paper


U.S. vs. C.S.
Constitution, Confederation, and War

....That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. (Declaration of Independence – last paragraph).

From the inception of the Declaration of Independence, the United States had been a collection of “free and independent states.” This is reflected in the wording of the United States Constitution regarding taxes: “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union” (U.S. Constitution, Art. I S 2).

Although the end result of the American Civil War was to make this loose collection of states one of the largest and most respected countries in the world, the Federal Government then turned a blind eye to rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution and waged war upon it’s own citizens. As we face the diminishment of our rights under The Patriot Act, it would do well to heed British Statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, who said “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

Among the rights in the United States Constitution that were granted, two recognized slave ownership; Article I called for the cessation of slave importation in 1808:

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. (Art.I S 9)

No Person held to Service or Labour [sic] in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. (Art.IV S 2)

The U.S. Constitution also gave states and individuals certain non-enumerated rights: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people (Amendment IX).” “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” (Amendment X).

All of these Constitutional articles formed the basis for the War Between the States. The North’s primary source of income was industry. The South’s primary source of income was farming; a human labor intensive occupation that necessitated the use of slaves. From 1820 onward, the economic needs and political outlooks of the two areas continued to differ, widening into a chasm (Funk, Wilfred 1744; Andrews 6). Federal taxes meant to protect Northern businesses from competition by European businesses which imported their cotton from the Southern states caused price of cotton in the South to drop and the costs of manufactured goods to go up (Wikipedia, Tariff).

Taxes continued to grow along with the country and the Federal government. The rights of states to make their own laws regarding slavery were questioned. The issues continued to create divisiveness between the Northern and the Southern states. In November of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President to an already feuding United States (Funk. 1744).

Lincoln’s election caused further fractures between the North and the South. The eleven Southern states, (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee) seeing their Constitutional rights being challenged, called on their perceived states rights to leave the union of the United States, created their own Confederacy, and formed their own Constitution of the Confederate States of America (Funk.1745; Library of Congress 909-924).

During “Mr. Lincoln’s War,” as it was sometimes called (Wikipedia, Naming), the rights of individuals guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution were trampled. Homes in the South were taken over by Federal soldiers for use as quarters. Amendment III of the U.S. Constitution states that “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” Federal soldiers often searched through houses taken over by them, removing anything they deemed suspicious, destroying personal belongings, and keeping certain items as trophies; clearly violating Amendment IV of the U.S. Constitution: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,....” Yet the Federal army at the time seemed to have forgotten that particular section of the Bill of Rights when they took Martinsburg (then) Virginia. Belle Boyd was present in Martinsburg when the Federal Army took over. On July fourth of 1861 she wrote:

The Yankees were in undisputed possession of Martinsburg; the village was at their mercy, and consequently entitled to their forbearance; and it would at least have been more dignified in them had they been content to enjoy their almost bloodless conquest with moderation; but, whatever might have been the intentions of the officers, they had not the inclination, or they lacked the authority, to control the turbulence of their men (Boyd 63).

The doors of our houses were dashed in; our rooms were forcibly entered by soldiers who might literally be termed "mad drunk," for I can think of no other expression so applicable to their condition. Glass and fragile property of all kinds was wantonly destroyed. They found our homes scenes of comfort, in some cases even of luxury; they left them mere wrecks, utterly despoiled and mutilated. Shots were fired through the windows; chairs and tables were hurled into the street (65).

Even the home occupied by Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his wife, Mary Custis Lee, was not above appropriation. Immediately following the secession of Virginia in 1861, Federal troops occupied the land and built several forts on it. In 1864, while the war was still on, a requirement was made that the taxes on the property had to be paid in person. Robert was away at war, while barriers to travel (transportation difficulty, as well as the necessity for passes through areas that may or may not be granted at the whim of commanding officers) made the trip impossible for Mary. The property was put on the auction block and purchased by a tax commissioner for “government use, for war, military, charitable and educational purposes.” The cemetery was established by Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs in June of 1864 with the intent to “render the house uninhabitable should the Lee family ever attempt to return.” (In 1870, Lee’s son, George Washington Custis sued the Federal Government for illegal confiscation of property that was rightfully his by inheritance. The Supreme Court agreed in 1882, citing that the property was confiscated without due process. The property was returned to Lee who then sold the property back to the U.S. Government in 1883 for $150,000.) (Arlington National Cemetery website)

Art 4, S3 of the United States Constitution states:

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claimes [sic] of the United States, or of any particular State.

On June 20, 1863, Congress made the decision to take a part of a state (Virginia) and turn it into a new state (West Virginia) without the consent of the legislatures of Virginia and the proposed new state. The method of creation and the issues it raised caused several senators at the time to debate against the formation of the new state on the grounds that the action was unconstitutional and improper (Winston).

Anyone who studies history and government together can easily spot the manipulation of the United States Constitution by the Federal Government during the Civil War. Today that manipulation seems far away and historically quaint; but is it something that we should be more concerned about? There has long been a call to make the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms null and void. The Patriot Act has already taken away some of our rights to privacy under the guise of a “War against Terror.” Indeed, how many more “guaranteed” rights will no longer be guaranteed if we don’t know what they are or how close we are to losing them? We should heed Edmund Burke’s admonishment to know our history, so that we are not destined to repeat it.

Works Cited

Andrews, Matthew Page. The Women of the South in War Times. Baltimore. The Norman, Remington Co. 1920

Arlington National Cemetery website 23-May-06

Boyd, Belle. Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. Vol.1 London. Saunders, Otley and Co. 1865 Rare Book Collection University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1998 23-May-06

Funk, Wilfred, Inc. “Civil War” The Universal Standard Encyclopedia NY. Standard Reference Works Publishing Co, Inc. 1956 and 1957 Library of Congress. 58th Congress, 2d Session Senate Document No. 234.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861—1865 Volume I . Washington Government Printing Office 1904 909-924 27-Apr-06

Wikipedia “Tariff of 1828” 2 May 06

Wikipedia “Naming the American Civil War” 2 May 06

Winston, Shelton Article “Statehood for West Virginia: An Illegal Act?” on West Virginia Division of Culture and History 23-May-06

Investigators land in Arizona for "Gunwalker" probe

Via Sipsey Street Irregulars

CBS News has learned that House and Senate investigators have descended upon Arizona for their probe into the so-called "Gunwalker" scandal. They're gathering interviews from witnesses, including ATF insiders and area gun shop owners. Sources tell CBS News the congressional investigators are frustrated by what they view as across-the-board stonewalling by government agencies which have refused to provide information in the investigation. Government officials have said they won't provide information while their own investigations are ongoing.

"They're investigating themselves," says one source on Capitol Hill, "and then claiming the open investigations preclude them from giving Congress information it needs for independent oversight. It's highly improper."

California Handing out Money for Booze and Cigs: One News Story that sums up the Entire Welfare State Disaster

"California: A beautiful place destroyed by socialism."

I hate to admit this but for the most part, I really don't follow California politics any more. Sure, my Once Golden State is a shining rusted-over and decaying example of what liberalism/progressive policy and the entitlement mentality does to a once-thriving society but the argument against further destruction is a useless enterprise. Their comes a day -- as with the parent of a spoiled child -- where one throws up his hands and says ''to hell with it, he has to learn by his own mistakes!"

It's simply disgusting and even more disgusting is that the fools that inhabit this place want more of it because they have yet to pay the price! Remember, there was only one area of the country that didn't say Hell No! to the Obamanation agenda last November.

And you know what? These people vote -- and outnumber productive earners twofold -- and they send fools to Sacramento that think "assistance" dollars should go to those who don't (and in many cases, choose not to) work and instead opt to live the Life of Riley while you and I and the dwindling percentage (a tad over 30% of the population, according to the 2010 Census) that work here haven't yet fled and pick up the tab with the highest taxes and lowest quality of life to show for it in the entire nation! (sighing as I catch my breath).

Good news, though: The Life of Riley now officially includes a taxpayer-supported buzz:

Via Wolf Files

Black Problems: Crackers, the government, racist white people, police, Confederate commemorations ad infinitum

Via Weasel Zippers