Justice Department Impedes on States’ Rights of Texas and South Carolina

http://news.yahoo.com/justice-dept-opposes-texas-voter-id-law-144238429.html

 

I hope the outrageous interference of the Federal government in the States’ affairs is as obvious to you as it is to me and other States’ Rights advocates.

This kind of unconstitutional interference is no different than that faced in the 1850′s. Texas and South Carolina are historically no states to be meddled with.

This issue is so much larger than two states being manipulated and violated by a bureaucratic board in Washington–made up of people who have anything but these states’ best interest in mind. This is the curse of a centralized consolidation of power. Our founding fathers knew this all too well as they witnessed firsthand the problems of colonies ruled by a distant ruler, who believed the colonies existed to serve him. We have the same situation today; the Federal government too often acts as though the states exist to serve them, well the founding fathers believed quite differently. And until 1850, the concept of state sovereignty was implied, understood and not questioned.

The first real threat against the state was when President Andrew Jackson threatened South Carolina with a damaging tariff. South Carolina governor John C. Calhoun refused to abide by it, claiming South Carolina’s state sovereignty and right to refuse federal legislation that damaged the state. Jackson threatened to send federal troops into South Carolina to enforce the tariff. Surprisingly to Jackson, his threat backfired when Calhoun informed him his federal enforcers would be met with musket-bearing South Carolinians at the state border. Jackson backed down to avoid a war.

After much political degradation and increasing progressive sentiments, South Carolina once again found herself between the U.S. Constitution and the President in 1860 when she seceded from the Union. Abraham Lincoln had no regard for the Constitution or desire to free the slaves–anyone who believes he did has obviously never read his speeches or personal letters or any European history. All Europe, the United States and Lincoln’s entire administration knew what he was doing was unconstitutional and far from the title ” noble emancipator” which he is crowned with.

Lincoln is always defended with the phrase: “he wanted to preserve the Union.” Yes, at the point of a bayonet. Lincoln’s beloved goal of “saving the Union” was merely his dream of a centralized, consolidated government that ruled the nation while extinguishing states’ rights and trampling the Constitution.

South Carolina has defended the Constitution with more tenacity and faithfulness than any other state. Texas is certainly not far behind.

May this episode serve as a grave warning to other states that the Federal government could just as easily and willingly violate and impeded their rights as these two states. As this story develops, I hope and pray South Carolina and Texas will rise to the occasion to nullify any Federal interference and stand with the same tenacity as their forefathers did.

 

 

Veterans Day Salute

Today is the 11th of November, originally “Armistice Day” – in memory of the truce ending World War I. Now, the 11th of November is a more general day to remember all United States veterans.

Even though I am not in the military, although I would argue being a color sergeant in the Sons of Confederate Veterans should count for something, I have a great appreciation for the men who put themselves in harm’s way that our citizens may live in safety and peace.

Many men in my family’s history have served, many giving their lives, my country and have secured freedoms I now enjoy. Thanks to my love for history and research tools available, I have been able to discover most of the men’s name who are direct ancestors.

My family’s traceable story begins during the Roman Empire in northern Scotland. Apparently my earliest documented family originated from the Nordic peoples and settled in what was once called “Caledonia,” the ancient Gaelic term for Scotland. Living in the rugged, cold mountains of Scotland, my ancestors of the Gun, MacDonald, Henderson and Stewart clans were descendants of those wild, blue warriors who drove out the Roman invader and made it necessary for Hadrian’s Wall to be erected.  Naturally, I am proud of my heritage. Why not? The main reason many have no pride in theirs is they don’t know it. It is an almost spiritual thing to know that your DNA has been transported down through history on a documented path, which you can trace and study.

Just to paint a historical picture of the way I appreciate the military men in my ancestry, here are some examples of the conflicts they were involved in: they were there when the Romans were driven from northern Scotland, they were present when William Wallace fought and defeated King Edward “Longshanks” at Stirling; they charged the fields of Bannockburn with Robert the Bruce; they made the last highland charge and were butchered at Culloden Moor; they marched with Wellington in the famed Highland regiments battling Napoleon; they charged the Plains of Abraham against the French; they fought the French and Indians as colonial militiamen; they stopped the British at King’s Mountain and Cowpens; they rode with George Washington; they were among the first South Carolinians and Georgians to enlist in the Army of Northern Virginia to defend their homes from the overwhelming Federal invasion; they were at the Stone Wall at Fredericksburg, battling the famed Irish brigade; they were at Gettysburg, Manassas, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania, Sharpsburg, Kennesaw  Mountain and Appomattox; they were doughboys in the trenches of France in World War I; they were wounded at Pearl Harbor and battled the Japanese until the victory was won. While our family has not been a recent military family, it has indeed seen its share of fighting and sacrifice.

It is because of my appreciation of my family veterans, that I am deeply grateful to all men who serve their country and do their duty up and to the end, all for the sake of keeping their people free, their rights protected and their land unsoiled from the foot of an invader.

To you veterans, thank you and God bless.

KW

 

 

The South Carolina Flag: IT IS NOT A HALF MOON!!!!!

I could not help but post this as I have recently heard so many people call the crescent emblem a half moon.

The crescent is actually a “gorget” an old historic piece of ceremonial armor worn below the neck to protect the throat. It is an ancient symbol of honor.

Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue which matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent which reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps. The palmetto tree was added later to represent Moultrie’s heroic defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan’s Island against the attack of the British fleet on June 28, 1776.

Interestingly, the flag above is a period SC flag. Unfortunately, many modern reproductions are not historical SC flags but graphic designer attempts to create more definition in the palmetto leaves on the tree. Note the poor definition in this flag. It is the historical flag.

Also, for the Civil War buffs out there, this our current SC flag is a 100% Confederate flag. After the war, many states had to modify or alter their flags per order of the Federal government. Because of the Red Shirt Rebellion led by Wade Hampton, the Federal government left South Carolina alone and she kept her Confederate flag.

Though I am incredibly biased, I believe she is the most gorgeous state flag to date.

Where did the CSA Battle Flag Come From?

The following content is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America#First_national_flag_.28.22the_Stars_and_Bars.22.29

The Battle Flag

Often referred to as The battle flag of the Confederacy it was the design that was the basis of more than 180 separate Confederate military battle flags.^{[citation needed]}

The Army of Northern Virginia battle flag was usually square, of various sizes for the different branches of the service: 48 inches square for the infantry, 36 inches for the artillery, and 30 inches for the cavalry. It was used in battle beginning in December 1861 until the fall of the Confederacy. The blue color on the saltire in the battle flag was navy blue, as opposed to the much lighter blue of the Naval Jack.

The flag’s stars represented the number of states in the Confederacy. The distance between the stars decreased as the number of states increased, reaching thirteen when the secessionist factions of Kentuckyand Missouri joined in late 1861.^[12]

The Battle Flag of the Confederacy

At the First Battle of Manassas, the similarity between the Stars and Bars and the Stars and Stripes caused confusion and military problems. Regiments carried flags to help commanders observe and assess battles in the warfare of the era. At a distance, the two national flags were hard to tell apart. In addition, Confederate regiments carried many other flags, which added to the possibility of confusion. After the battle, General P.G.T. Beauregard wrote that he was “resolved then to have [our flag] changed if possible, or to adopt for my command a ‘Battle flag’, which would be Entirely different from any State or Federal flag.”^[4] He turned to his aide, who happened to be William Porcher Miles, the former chair of Committee on the Flag and Seal. Miles described his rejected national flag design to Beauregard. Miles also told the Committee on the Flag and Seal about the general’s complaints and request for the national flag to be changed. The committee rejected this idea by a four to one vote, after which Beauregard proposed the idea of having two flags. He described the idea in a letter to his commander General Joseph E. Johnston: “I wrote to [Miles] that we should have two flags—apeace or parade flag, and a war flag to be used only on the field of battle—but congress having adjourned no action will be taken on the matter—How would it do us to address the War Dept. on the subject of Regimental or badge flags made of red with two blue bars crossing each other diagonally on which shall be introduced the stars, … We would then on the field of battle know our friends from our Enemies.”^[4]

Sovereignty or Secession Flag

The flag that Miles had favored when he was chair of the Committee on the Flag and Seal eventually became the battle flag and, ultimately, the most popular flag of the Confederacy. According to historian John Coski, Miles’ design was inspired by one of the many “secessionist flags” flown at the South Carolina secession convention of December, 1860. That flag was a blue St George’s Cross (an upright or Latin cross) on a red field, with 15 white stars on the cross, representing the Confederate States (assumed to be the 15 slave states), and, on the red field, palmetto and crescent symbols. Miles received a variety of feedback on this design, including a critique from Charles Moise, a self-described “Southerner of Jewish persuasion”. Moise liked the design, but asked that “the symbol of a particular religion not be made the symbol of the nation.” Taking this into account, Miles changed his flag, removing the palmetto and crescent, and substituting a heraldic saltire (“X”) for the upright one. The number of stars was changed several times as well. He described these changes and his reasons for making them in early 1861. The diagonal cross was preferable, he wrote, because “it avoided the religious objection about the cross (from the Jews and many Protestant sects), because it did not stand out so conspicuously as if the cross had been placed upright thus.” He also argued that the diagonal cross was “more Heraldric [sic] than Ecclesiastical, it being the ‘saltire’ of Heraldry, and significant of strength and progress.”^[13]

According to Coski, the Saint Andrew’s Cross had no special place in Southern iconography at the time, and if Miles had not been eager to conciliate the Southern Jews his flag would have used the traditional Latin, Saint George’s Cross. A colonel named James B. Walton submitted a battle flag design essentially identical to Miles’ except with an upright Saint George’s cross, but Beauregard chose the diagonal cross design.^[14]

Specifically, the St. Andrew’s Cross is a white saltire on a blue field, as in the national flag of Scotland. The St. Patrick’s Cross, as in the state flag of Alabama, is a red saltire on a white field. The Army of Northern Virginia battle flag has a blue saltire on a red field and is, therefore, neither the St. Andrew’s nor the St. Patrick’s Cross but a saltire as in the proposed but unadopted Second National flag.

Miles’ flag, and all the flag designs up to that point, were rectangular (“oblong”) in shape. General Johnston suggested making it square instead to conserve material. Johnston also specified the various sizes to be used by different types of military units. Generals Beauregard and Johnston and Quartermaster General Cabell approved the design of the 12-star Confederate Battle Flag at the Ratcliffe home, which served briefly as Beauregard’s headquarters, near Fairfax Court House in September 1861. The 12th star represented Missouri. President Jefferson Davis arrived by train at Fairfax Station soon after and was shown the design for the new battle flag at the Ratcliffe House. Hetty Cary and her sister and cousin made prototypes. One such 12-star flag resides in the collection of Richmond’s Museum of the Confederacy and the other is in Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans.

On November 28, 1861, Confederate soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia received the new battle flags in ceremonies at Centreville and Manassas, Virginia, and carried them throughout the Civil War. Beauregard gave a speech encouraging the soldiers to treat this new flag with honor and that it must never be surrendered. Many soldiers wrote home about the ceremony and the impression the flag had upon them, the “fighting colors” boosting morale after the confusion at the Battle of First Manassas. From that point on, the battle flag only grew in its identification with the Confederacy and the South in general.^[15] Later, a 13th star was added for Kentucky.

The Army of Northern Virginia battle flag assumed a prominent place post-war when it was adopted as the copyrighted emblem of the United Confederate Veterans. Its continued use by the UCV and the later Sons of Confederate Veterans led to the assumption that it was, as it has been termed, “the soldier’s flag” or “the Confederate battle flag”.

The flag is also properly known as the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was sometimes called “Beauregard’s flag” or “the Virginia battle flag”. A Virginia Department of Historic Resources marker declaring Fairfax, Virginia, as the birthplace of the Confederate battle flag was dedicated on April 12, 2008, near the intersection of Main and Oak Streets, Fairfax, VA.^[16][17][18]

The Sons of Confederate Veterans consider themselves the direct heirs of their ancestors’ battle flags.

S.C. Plagued By Dirty Politics

Haley blames Bauer for new allegation
By GINA SMITH and JOHN O’CONNOR : “THE STATE”

Republican gubernatorial front-runner Nikki Haley said Wednesday that a rival, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, is behind a last-minute attack, raising questions about her marital fidelity in an effort to undermine her campaign. With less than a week before Tuesday’s primary, Bauer’s campaign said in a press release Wednesday that a Bauer political consultant, Larry Marchant, was asked to leave the campaign for “inappropriate conduct not in keeping with the goals of this campaign.” Image taken from Nikki Haley’s recently released TV ad. Marchant, contacted by The State, said the conduct the press release referred to was a one-night sexual encounter that he had with Haley during a June 2008 school-choice convention in Salt Lake City. “I disclosed to Andre Bauer several days ago that I had a one-time indiscretion with Nikki Haley,” said Marchant, an influential and well-known State House lobbyist whose clients include BlueCross BlueShield. “I told him that I didn’t want to do anything to discredit his campaign and that I would resign. He thought that that was in the campaign’s best interest. He appreciated my straightforwardness.” Haley’s campaign denied the claims and said the allegation is proof of how low rival campaigns will go to undermine her candidacy. Recent polls have shown Haley, a state representative from Lexington County, has a double-digit lead over her three rivals, Bauer of Greenville, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett of Westminster and state Attorney General Henry McMaster of Columbia. At a Charleston television debate Wednesday, Haley said Bauer was pushing the infidelity story. “Y’all were fishing the story (Tuesday) night, and you didn’t fire him (Tuesday),” Haley said to Bauer. “It was only when no one was taking the story seriously, because he was a paid consultant, that you decided to fire him.” “The minute I found out that there was something wrong, I said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t want to be associated with it,” Bauer responded. “I haven’t gotten involved in anyone else’s personal relationship.” Marchant’s claim came on the same day the Haley campaign released a new TV ad decrying the “dark side” of politics and prominently featuring her husband, Michael, and the Haleys’ two children. A spokesman with the American Legislative Exchange Council confirmed Wednesday that the organization hosted a school-choice conference in Salt Lake City in June 2008. The group would not say who attended the conference. However, two sources told The State on Wednesday that Haley and Marchant attended. Haley’s campaign disclosure forms show nearly $2,200 in reimbursements in July 2008 for an ALEC conference. Last week, Will Folks, a political blogger and former Gov. Mark Sanford aide, claimed he had an inappropriate physical relationship with Haley in the spring of 2007. Folks has offered telephone records, showing more than 600 phone calls, many long and late at night, with Haley and text messages with Haley’s campaign as evidence. Haley, 37, categorically denied the claim, and bloggers and others have claimed a network of political operatives conspired to sink Haley’s rising campaign. Folks, Marchant and Bauer have had business relationships. Longtime Bauer adviser Rod Shealy hired Folks in 2006 to work for former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel’s campaign. Folks said Wednesday that Marchant also hired him to work on school-choice issues but that work ended in 2005. The political ties between Folks and Marchant make their claims tougher to believe, said Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon. But Huffmon said the claims cannot be dismissed because of motive. Huffmon thinks the accusations likely will motivate Haley’s supporters but could turn off average voters. “More names with no more proof is certainly going to make it look like Nikki Haley is under attack,” Huffmon said. “It’s probably going to end up, in the mind of the public, needing a higher level of proof. “What we have irrefutable evidence of in South Carolina is political incest.” Marchant, who has been paid more than $21,000 by Bauer’s campaign for his consulting work in 2010, said he is speaking out because the truth needs to come out. He also said he was upset by Haley’s statement last week that she has been 100 percent faithful to her husband during their 13-year marriage. Marchant, 47, said Wednesday: “I had to ask myself the question, when I was watching the press statements going back and forth between Ms. Haley and Mr. Folks, I had to ask myself whether I would be able to look at myself in the mirror every day knowing what I know. If I did not say anything, if I stood on the sideline and watched this happen, could I face myself in the mirror every day? And the answer was no.” Marchant, who made headlines in December when he was charged with driving under the influence, said he told his pregnant wife last week about the one-night encounter with Haley. Wednesday, his wife, Jennifer Marchant, told The State that she believes her husband. Marchant said he and Haley have known each other since she first was elected to the House of Representatives in 2004 and the two have worked closely on several issues, including school choice. He said their encounter happened while Haley was a member of a House insurance subcommittee that Marchant lobbies.

Over 40 States Declaring Constitutional Sovereignty: “Come and Make Us Obama!”

http://statesstand.ning.com/

STATE SOVEREIGNTY DECLARATIONS – 40+ States!! (As of 16Mar2010)

LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!!

THIS MAP IS PRINT AND POST QUALITY!! SO PLEASE DO!!

SOUTH CAROLINA NEWEST CONSTITUTIONALLY SOVEREIGN STATE!! READY FOR GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE SOONEST!! YEAH!!

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/cgi-bin/web_bh10.exe?bill1=424&session=118

CONGRATULATIONS WYOMING!! SECOND NEWEST CONSTITUTIONALLY SOVEREIGN STATE!! GOV SIGNED 8MAR2010!! PASSES 3MAR2010 BY UNANIMOUS YAY VOTE – 4 !! WE PROUDLY DISPLAY YOUR STATE FLOWER IN HONORING YOUR ACTIONS!! THE INDIAN PAINTBRUSH!!

http://statesstand.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wyoming-governor-makes

CONGRATULATIONS UTAH! THIRD NEWEST CONSTITUTIONALLY SOVEREIGN STATE 25FEB2010!!!
http://statesstand.ning.com/profiles/blogs/utah-declares-state

ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE 12 NEW STATE SOVEREIGNTY DECLARATIONS IN PROGRESS RIGHT NOW!! THEY INCLUDE ALABAMA. NEBRASKA, RHODE ISLAND, WYOMING, WASHINGTON, INDIANA, KENTUCKY, GEORGIA, KANSAS, MISSOURI, MISSISSIPPI, AND MARYLAND!
http://statesstand.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ten-more-states-energizinghttp://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=11853830

THE UNITED SOVEREIGNTY OF OUR MANY STATES BEING UNENCUMBERED BY UNAPPROVED DEBT WILL STAND!! HENCE, OUR NAME!! WE DO HEREBY CONTEND!!…OUR MISSION STATEMENT!!

THAT WE SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE MANY STATES DECLARING SOVEREIGNTY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!

IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT AS TO SUPPORT FOR THESE MANY STATES THERE SHOULD NOT BE (Minute 4:12 Points 4 and 5)!!