Happy Robert E. Lee’s Birthday (observed)
(Inspiration for this post was provided by the Mountain Man, who really needs to stop reading this and start his own blog, dammit!)
Today is the day that our Politically Correct enlightened government has decided to honor Dr. Martin Luther King with a holiday commemorating his birthday. Why only Dr. King is honored, rather than all of those who struggled to have the civil rights of all men and women, is something that is beyond my poor ability to comprehend.
The struggle for civil rights is a fight that each and every one of us should be interested in. If we don’t stand up and fight for our rights, expect them to be swiftly removed as our current government marches down the road toward the police state that they seem so desperately to want (protestations from government officials and elected critters aside).
Many years ago, a group of southern states found themselves in a position where they were forced to chose between freedom and subjugation. They chose freedom, and resigned themselves from the United States, forming their own nation, the Confederate States of America. They were promptly invaded by the United States, who sought to force them to “return to the union” at the muzzle of a gun.
Students of history know that the Confederacy lost, and in losing, the first big step toward the nation we find ourselves living in today (as opposed to the Federal government envisioned by the founders) was taken.
One of the military leaders of the Confederacy was Gen. Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. When his state decided to leave the Union, Gen. Lee made the fateful decision that he was a citizen of the sovereign state of Virginia, not of the United States, and took up arms in her defense. For four years, he confounded the Union armies sent against him. In 1865, he was finally forced to surrender his army, beaten but undefeated.
Today, I celebrate the legacy of Gen. Lee, who was a fighter for the civil rights of his people.
Of course, as the winners write the histories, most text books and scholarly articles do not mention this view. Those whom we fight must be demonized, now and always. Failure to do so would lead to questioning of our national motives, which must always be pure. God forbid the people think for themselves.