Ben Jones, a candidate for Congress in southern Virginia and the actor who played "Cooter" on the television show "Dukes of Hazzard," said the Confederate groups told Warner that they do not believe their history is a symbol of hate and bigotry.
But I suppose reparations, afirmative action, black history month, MLK day etc. will help bridge these divisions. LOL!
He is a typical DemocRAT. Say anything to get in the office then do what you want.
Watch you taxes folks, they are going to go up like a rocket.
Regards,
Wow! Does that mean he will issue a proclamation marking April as a month of "War of Northern Aggression" remembrance? Even better!
CHICKENSH*T
nobody in VA is!
'Old times there are not forgotten' by the true sons of the South
April 6, 2002 1:46 am
IREAD WITH great revulsion the comments by John Goolrick ["Gray ghosts: Let them lie," March 23], who agrees with Gov. Mark Warner's decision not to proclaim April Confederate Heritage Month.
He touted his lofty credentials of former political reporter and present aide to U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis. He expounded on how his father had written extensively about the "Civil War" (as he calls the War Between The States).
He set the stage further by mentioning a close friend who is a local historian. Then he began his present-day politically correct rubbish on why he agreed with Gov. Warner.
I'll start right off by saying that I don't have any credentials to hype.
I'm just an old country boy who was taught to honor my ancestors. Since an early age I have had an intense interest in history. All of my great-granddads were Confederates. Like Goolrick's ancestors, mine owned no slaves. The wealthiest one, according to the 1860 census, owned an 81-dollar farm in Floyd County.
Goolrick derided these men for being part of a nation that lasted only five years and fought to per-petuate slavery. How could any thinking person come to the conclusion that a poor Southern dirt farmer would volunteer to fight a war to perpetuate slavery?
Only 5 percent of the Southern population owned slaves. It is preposterous to think that the common soldier wanted to fight and die to perpetuate a situation that benefited him in no way. The laws of the United States of America sheltered slavery. Why then would Southerners secede and fight?
From the time of our Revolution against King George there was a struggle between those who favored a strong central government and those favoring a republic of sovereign states. This struggle came to a head when the Republicans, who favored centralization, gained power with the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
Mr. Lincoln's War bequeathed to us the federal monstrosity that we have for a government today and destroyed the intentions of our Founding Fathers. Our Confederate forefathers fought to keep state sovereignty alive.
Goolrick says that we don't need a month to celebrate our Confederate heritage. He then quotes Gov. Warner: "Over the past few years, the proclamation of a Confederate History Month has been a lightning rod. My belief is urging such a proclamation would not advance the healing process."
That is precisely why we do need the proclamation. Over the past few years, those who extort us by being perpetually offended have declared they will obliterate our Southern heritage. Goolrick and Warner have jumped on the PC bandwagon to demonize all things Southern.
Warner has called Lee-Jackson Day "divisive." I have written three letters asking the governor to explain why he made that statement, and I have yet to receive an answer.
Members of the NAACP are speciously and outrageously comparing the St. Andrews Cross--the Confederate battle flag--to the Nazi swastika. We need a Confederate History and Heritage Month to keep the truth alive.
Goolrick says, "Virginia has many pressing needs and can do without the distraction sure to arise if the month were to be designated again." In other words, he is urging us to reward extortion by surrendering to those who malodorously deceive, prevaricate, and distort the very heritage that the month was intended to honor. That is incredible doublespeak even by today's standards!
Blundering along, Goolrick suggests that we need a Virginia History Month to "teach all aspects of Old Dominion history." I think every month of the year should be Virginia History Month. Our Confederate heroes were a big part of that history. Their history didn't begin in 1861 and end in 1865. Robert E. Lee, for example, served in the Mexican War and as Commandant of West Point. He was the only cadet ever to graduate from West Point without a single demerit.
President Davis was also a Mexican War hero, served in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and was secretary of war under President Franklin Pierce.
Tragically, the lives of too many of Virginia's best ended during that period. I wonder what great accomplishments were never realized because of the terrible toll of Virginia lives snuffed out
in the heroic effort to thwart the Yankee invaders. What will future generations of Virginians have to endure if the truth is allowed to die out now?DUANE MITCHELL lives in Spotsylvania County.
Copyright 2001 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.