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First Southern National Congress a Resounding Sucess
SNV News Service ^ | 1/9/09 | SNC News Service

Posted on 01/09/2009 7:34:08 AM PST by BnBlFlag

Friday, January 9, 2009

For Immediate Release First Southern National Congress a Resounding Success

SNC News Service

Marion, VA; December 11, 2008 – Over one hundred Southern men and women, from all walks of life and from fourteen States, gathered near Hendersonville, NC December 5 through December 7 to convene the First Southern National Congress (SNC). This historic meeting at the Kanuga Conference Center in the shadow of the Blue Ridge was the first all-South congress since 1861. It was a “resounding success,” according to Thomas Moore of Charlottesville, VA, who was elected Chairman.

Delegates attended from the following States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

The SNC is a representative assembly of citizens of the Southern States, providing an alternative, legitimate forum to express Southern grievances and advance Southern interests in a way that is no longer possible through today’s political process or the major political parties.

Eminent historian and South Carolina Delegate Dr. Clyde Wilson said, “The SNC will reclaim the political legacy of great Southerners like Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John C. Calhoun. That legacy is individual liberty and a small central government limited to its enumerated powers; and which is the creation, the servant, and the agent of the sovereign people acting through their respective States. But these principles enacted in the Constitution of 1789 have been violated. The Federal Government today is engaged in ‘a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evincing a design to reduce us under absolute Despotism,’ to borrow the words of Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.”

In his opening Charge to the Delegates, Chairman Thomas Moore observed, “We Southerners are well acquainted with the attacks on our symbols, our heroes, our heritage. This is bad enough, but it only highlights the deeper attack on our liberty, our prosperity, and our very identity as a People. An authentic Southern voice is suppressed by a hostile culture, and our elected leaders have either failed us or actively betrayed us. The U.S. Government no longer represents the people’s interests; it represents the interests of the highest bidder, the big corporations and money power. We Southerners have been among the most loyal and patriotic Americans, but in sadness we must acknowledge that Washington, DC has forfeited its moral authority by its folly and its unlawful acts. Now the people of the South who still love liberty and justice have no choice but to withdraw their consent from this corrupt Regime. However, withdrawing our consent is not enough. We must have alternative, legitimate institutions to which we can transfer our consent. This is the principle behind the SNC.”

Chairman Moore explained that when the duly elected or appointed “magistrates” fail in their sworn duty to uphold the law and safeguard liberty, then any People worthy of the name will bring forth new leaders to act on their behalf. Political sovereignty resides in the whole People under a sovereign God. When oppressed, the People have the right to organize the collective means to defend their interests. Such means derive their legitimacy from a commitment to the welfare of the community. This is a constant theme in Western history and a hallowed principle in English common law. Not only does this right have support in history and politics, it also has theological sanction in the Christian doctrine of “interposition of the lesser magistrate.” That is, when then higher magistrates fail or betray their public trust, lesser magistrates must step forward and “interpose” themselves between the People and the abuses of despotism. This is the basis on which the SNC rightfully claims its moral authority.

A proven, historical model for the SNC comes from America’s own history – the First Continental Congress. The Crown-authorized governors and colonial assemblies were still the “legal” governments at the time. But they represented the exploitative interests of the British ruling class, not the interests of the American people. Colonial Committees of Correspondence appointed delegates to an alternative forum, and delegates met in Philadelphia in April 1774 to represent their States’ interests and voice their grievances.

In keeping with its mission to speak for Southern interests, the SNC debated and passed a number of resolutions called “Remonstrances and Petitions for the Redress of Grievances.” These resolutions petitioned the Federal Government to cease its abuses, usurpations, and unlawful acts in the following areas:

Failure to secure the borders and promoting of mass immigration that threatens to overwhelm our communities;

Just law, protection of liberty, and the threat of rogue government;

Just war and lawful defense, including proper (Constitutional) declaration of war;

Southern agriculture and the rights of smallholders vs. corporate agribusiness;

Sound money, economic policy, and Government crimes against our livelihoods;

States’ sovereignty over their natural resources, especially along the Gulf Coast;

The individual citizen’s unalienable right of armed self-defense.

The debates on these measures were marked by an unusual degree of knowledge, insight, dignity, public-spiritedness, and respect for the views of others. And there were dissenting views.

Internationally respected author and President of the Middlebury Institute, Kirkpatrick Sale, was a South Carolina Delegate. Mr. Sale noted that, “It was an audacious move to try to create a new political voice for the South for the first time in a century-and-a-half, but you brought it off, and with dignity and authority.”

Newly elected Vice-Chairman, Mark Thomey of Louisiana, said, “If you believe what you hear in the popular media today, we Southerners are just too backwards to be able to put together a coherent thought, much less assert our rights and govern ourselves. This Congress, and the Southern men and women who instituted it and participated in its debates, have thoroughly exploded that worn-out mythology.”

The SNC is now exploring ways in which it can operate and conduct business between annual plenary sessions through the creation of a secure Internet forum. Southerners wishing to become Delegates to the “Virtual Congress” or to future plenary sessions should apply via the SNC website, www.southernnationalcongress.org.

Qualifications to become a Delegate are as follows:

There are no restrictions based on race, creed, or sex.

A Delegate must be a resident of one of the 14 Southern States cited above.

A Delegate must be 18 years of age on the date.

A Delegate must be willing to affirm the following: I believe that I have a duty to my home State. I believe that the Southern people are a distinct people. I believe in the right of voice, the right of preservation, and the right of recognition, for the South and her people.

News media representatives or Southern citizens seeking information about the SNC should direct their queries to Mr. Terry Compton, SNC Director of Communications: communications@southernnationalcongress.org

SNC Chairman Thomas Moore is available for scheduling radio appearances or other interviews: chairman@southernnationalcongress.org.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: confederacy; secession; southernheritage
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Well, one can always hope.
1 posted on 01/09/2009 7:34:09 AM PST by BnBlFlag
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To: stainlessbanner; wardaddy

Ping


2 posted on 01/09/2009 7:37:57 AM PST by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis "Ya gotta saddle up your boys; Ya gotta draw a hard line")
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To: BnBlFlag

I have studied enough history to be a little curious where this might lead. I’m not sure who participated in this first conference, or how prominent they might be, but there is a real potential for the mainstream to become more interested in regional issues within several parts of the country.


3 posted on 01/09/2009 7:39:14 AM PST by MathDoc (Don't blame me, I voted for Governor Palin and the wrinkly white-haired guy)
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To: BnBlFlag

“Well, one can always hope. “

That they have a good PR team.

And you know why.


4 posted on 01/09/2009 7:39:26 AM PST by VanDeKoik
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To: BnBlFlag
Well, one can always hope.

BUMP!!!!

5 posted on 01/09/2009 7:40:21 AM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts for Super-Rich Bankers! Republicans do!)
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To: BnBlFlag

>>>I believe that the Southern people are a distinct people.

Darn multiculturalists. 8^)


6 posted on 01/09/2009 7:40:37 AM PST by NC28203
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To: BnBlFlag

I see that some border states have joined the confederacy. The outline map at their website also includes West Virginia and what looks like parts of southern New Mexico and Arizona, although I don’t see that they had any delegates in attendance. Is there a flag?


7 posted on 01/09/2009 7:53:34 AM PST by Genoa
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To: BnBlFlag

How do you operate this and put forward the “Southern agrarian” view without looking like neo-confederate neo-KKK racists? So long as Jefferson Davis, Maddox and Wallace arent in your pantheon of heros, you have a start.

Perhaps including a call for true equality of opportunity with no preferences, a la Ward Connerly, would help remove that bad odor.


8 posted on 01/09/2009 7:54:52 AM PST by WOSG (Obama - a born in the USA socialist)
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To: BnBlFlag

They really need to do a better job getting the word out.


9 posted on 01/09/2009 8:00:08 AM PST by gitmogrunt
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To: gitmogrunt

No kidding, that was less than 30 miles from my house. I have never heard of this before. Interesting.


10 posted on 01/09/2009 8:03:55 AM PST by momincombatboots (The last experience of the sinner is the horrible enslavement of the freedom he desired. -C.S. Lewis)
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To: WOSG

If you’ll notice in the sixth paragraph from the botton, it states that there are no restrictios as to race, sex, etc.
And I don’t recall Wallace or Mattox being mentioned although Jeff Davis was quoted. So what. Our State of Texas even has a Jeff Davis County and a number of schools named Jefferson Davis, not to mention the Davis Mountains.


11 posted on 01/09/2009 8:03:57 AM PST by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis "Ya gotta saddle up your boys; Ya gotta draw a hard line")
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To: Genoa

Of course West Virginia is included, because it really is a part of Virginia. Check the Constitution: no state may be subdivided without its consent.

West Virginia was formed from Virginia territory during the War, while at the same time the North was claiming that Virginia had not really legally seceded.

They never really figured out whether the Southern States had seceded or not, and have followed a contradictory policy even since.


12 posted on 01/09/2009 8:12:53 AM PST by docbnj
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To: BnBlFlag

MO and MD were invited but not OK? Weird.


13 posted on 01/09/2009 8:13:09 AM PST by AuH2ORepublican (Fred Thompson appears human-sized because he is actually standing a million miles away.)
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To: AuH2ORepublican

It states in the first part of the article that Delegates from both Missouri and Maryland attended the Congress.


14 posted on 01/09/2009 8:18:53 AM PST by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis "Ya gotta saddle up your boys; Ya gotta draw a hard line")
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To: BnBlFlag
...although Jeff Davis was quoted. So what.

Well it makes the rest of the country look at it a little differently. Especially given their belief that "the Southern people are a distinct people."

What exactly does this mean? What counts as a "Southern" person? My dad's parents were born in Pittsburgh, but have lived in Virginia and South Carolina for most of their lives and have kids living in the North and kids living in the South. My other grandfather was born and raised in South Carolina, but has lived in New York most of his life. None of them feel very "distinct" culturally, I don't think.

15 posted on 01/09/2009 8:22:10 AM PST by Arguendo
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To: BnBlFlag

“It states in the first part of the article that Delegates from both Missouri and Maryland attended the Congress.:


I know, that’s how I knew that those states had been invited. But was Oklahoma excluded? OK has a much better claim of being Southern than do MO or MD.


16 posted on 01/09/2009 8:22:11 AM PST by AuH2ORepublican (Fred Thompson appears human-sized because he is actually standing a million miles away.)
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To: docbnj

West Virginia remained loyal to the country, while the rest of Virginia didn’t. I don’t think they needed the consent of the rebels to split off. Even though the Union never recognized that rebellion as legitimate, it obviously was in fact taking place, so it wouldn’t be possible to keep acting (and insisting on legal formalities) as though it weren’t.


17 posted on 01/09/2009 8:27:58 AM PST by Arguendo
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To: AuH2ORepublican

“But was Oklahoma excluded? OK has a much better claim of being Southern than do MO or MD”.
I agree but I can’t answer the question. I don’t know.


18 posted on 01/09/2009 8:37:19 AM PST by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis "Ya gotta saddle up your boys; Ya gotta draw a hard line")
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To: Arguendo

“None of (my family) feel very ‘distinct’ culturally.”
Well, different strokes for different folks!


19 posted on 01/09/2009 8:41:07 AM PST by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis "Ya gotta saddle up your boys; Ya gotta draw a hard line")
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To: AuH2ORepublican

Maybe we could petition them for membership?


20 posted on 01/09/2009 8:45:38 AM PST by pepperdog (The world has gone crazy.)
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