Blues and the South
Engaging article by Clyde Wilson that pithily recounts the South's conservatism and the whines from the Blues that they'd like to secede from the Union in light of the 2004 elections. LINK. Closing excerpt:
There have been grave mistakes in the course of Southern history, apart from the original one of going naïvely into a Union with bad people. There was Bragg commanding the Army of Tennessee and Longstreet fumbling at Gettysburg. In the same class is the decision of Southern leaders, when they were kicked out of the Democratic Party, to join the Republicans rather than form our own party. As a result we are powerless. It was probably inevitable but nevertheless a great loss. Today there are no Southerners in Congress or in governors' chairs ”“ only Republicans and Democrats.
But we still have something the Yankees don't have and have never had. There are still people writing books and poems and songs about Dixie. There is, despite all, a real Southern culture left. If you want to put secession on the table, let's consider the only part of the United States that really could be its own country. A true culture is the best basis for a viable country. Compared to that, all the Blue state talk of secession amounts to nothing but an adolescent tantrum at not having everything exactly their own way.
