April 6, 2024 - The Political Cesspool - James Edwards
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You're listening to the Liberty News Radio Network, and this is the Political Cesspool.
The Political Cesspool, known across the South and worldwide as the South's foremost populist conservative radio program.
And here to guide you through the murky waters of the political cesspool is your host, James Edwards.
And with that, ladies and gentlemen, with that, and right now at this very moment, Confederate History Month 2024 kicks off here on TPC.
And I couldn't be more delighted to welcome our first guest to kick off this series, which will continue to run throughout the rest of the month of April, which is officially Confederate History and Heritage Month, Michael Gatti.
He is a columnist, a constitutional scholar, longtime friend, founding member of the Minuteman Project, a veteran, an Army veteran of Vietnam Grenada in Beirut.
And he's back on tonight to talk about not just his Confederate heritage and birthright, but so much more.
Mike, great to have you.
How are you doing tonight?
And happy Confederate Heritage Month.
And the same to you, my friend.
And thank you so very much for inviting me on.
And, you know, I'm doing a similar tribute to our ancestors in the wonderful Confederacy on my program.
And I was just telling you, I spent three hours tonight disassembling Abraham Lincoln.
You know, we mentioned Sam Dixon a lot on this program.
He has a little booklet called Shattering the Icon of Lincoln that was published by Mark Weber's IHR.
That is a topic that we need to get into and that we will throughout the rest of this month.
But right now, I got to say, first of all, good work.
And we're going to plug all of your outlets.
Mike is everywhere.
He's written for Lou Rockwell.
You can find him all over the place.
But he's currently got a radio program in his own right.
And we'll give you all the information about that in just a moment.
But you were listening to The Last Hour with Keith, and you reminded me of something that I always knew, but I had never actually reconciled and connected.
We were talking about the fact that in April of 2005, we had done this thing with Al Sharpton and stopped Al Sharpton and offered opposition to Al Sharpton and the renaming of the Confederate Park, which they eventually got years later.
But there was nobody on the ground doing anything in 05 except for us.
And I was like, where are all these Southern heritage groups?
What's going on here?
But nevertheless, also happening simultaneously while we were doing that in April of 2005, what else were we doing, Mike?
You reminded me of this.
I mean, I knew it, but again, I never put two and two together.
That was a very busy month for us.
Oh, well, big time, buddy.
And I'll never forget our good friend, Michael Goza.
He hooked me.
He hooked me up, and he knew I was one of the leaders of the Minuteman Project, and he knew I was going to be on the border in Arizona.
And he contacted me and he said, hey, he said, you know, I'm listening to James Edwards on this program, the political cesspool.
Would you be willing to give him a report from the border?
And I said, I'd love to.
And so back then, you know, I didn't, I had a cell phone, but it didn't work that well, especially in southern Arizona.
And so I went to a payphone every weekday night.
You were doing the program every week.
Five nights a week back in those days.
Yes, that's right.
Not until 2008 did we go to the weekly format.
So I went to a payphone at the Palominas Trading Post every evening while your program was on, and I called in to give you a report from the border.
Listen, let me tell you what, how busy we were back then, five nights a week, not just one.
And in addition to battling Alice Sharpton on the streets, we were on the air with Michael Gaddy, who was calling in from a payphone on the American-Mexico border with updates from the Minutemen Project.
So along with the great American hero, now in his 90s, but still fighting, Joe McCutcheon.
That was just, I mean, talk about cutting your teeth and coming of age.
Those were wonderful, wonderful early memories in the run of this program.
Started in October of 2004, as you know, now in our 20th year, but there in the spring of 2005, just mere weeks, really, after we first went on the air, doing all of that.
And we haven't let up since.
And so I thank you for those memories and the fact that we're still together and doing this here tonight.
We got a lot to cover.
Oh, yeah.
What a pleasure.
And James, just for reference's sake, the telephone booth that I was calling you from, from the Palominas Trading Post, I could throw a rock into Mexico.
So it doesn't get any more on the scene than that, does it not?
Ladies and gentlemen, we report from the scene.
We were literally there right there on the ground.
And I still remember, even after all these years and all these shows and all these radio hours, I still remember those shows and how special they were.
And not long after those programs, you and Joe actually made it all the way to Memphis for an in-studio interview.
Oh, wow.
I remember that.
We did a little recap in the studio and not just on the phone.
And having you there at the station that night was also very special.
But anyway, every time you're on, I like to go down memory lane.
And it's important to remember.
It's important to remember the things and the friends and the battles and who we are and what we are.
And we always do that, Mike.
But anyway, with regard to tonight, what you're on for tonight, Confederate History Month, and I've got to ask you this.
Why do we still revere and celebrate these men?
I mean, because you look at it, and it was a short chapter, unfortunately, in American history, 1861 to 1865.
There are certainly good men, good, robust white men that existed prior to 1861, and at least a handful that existed prior to 1865.
But that four-year period specifically, why is so much of an emphasis, from our point of view, directed to that point in our story?
Well, James, if I may answer that from my point of view, the thing I will never forget is my grandfather lived to be 100 years old.
The last six years of his life, he lived with me.
And we talked frequently, and I wasn't aware that his father was a captain in the 37th North Carolina Infantry.
And I wasn't aware that he had an uncle, his mother's brother, who was in the North Carolina, I think it was the 18th North Carolina.
And as a young man, he was born in 1883.
As a young man, he spent a lot of time talking with both of them.
And the education that I was able to get from him, that he related to me firsthand stories over and over and over again.
And we talked about it so many times.
And then in his latter years, when he was 97, I was able to take him to where the Battle of Second Manassas took place, where his uncle was.
And I was able to take him to other battlefield sites.
And we talked about this.
And the stories that came from my ancestors that were related to me by my grandfather were just were so, I don't know, it was real.
And I knew what they were fighting for because they told my grandfather what they were fighting for.
And, you know, I made the comment on my program tonight when we were disassembling Lincoln.
I said, for any idiot in this country who believes that 90% of the people, 90% of the Confederate soldiers didn't own a slave.
Most of them couldn't afford one.
And so for anyone to believe that these people left their families, left their farms, left their livelihood, and that they would go off to fight a war so somebody they didn't know could own a slave is absolutely preposterous.
Let's talk a little bit more.
And we're going to get into the issue of slavery at the end of this hour.
We're going to touch on it at least.
There's other things we've got to touch on.
But I want to just, well, let's see.
I'm looking at the clock here in the studio, and we've got a little less than two minutes before our first break, which we've got to take.
I just want to give you that opportunity, Mike, in the first two minutes, because you are proud of this, and you should be.
We all are.
Your personal Confederate lineage, your personal Confederate ancestors, give us a minute and a half take on who they were and what they did.
There's 17 of them.
I don't think I can cover it in that length of time.
But I had one relative who was killed at Sharpsburg, or as the Yankees call it Antietam.
His name, believe it or not, was George Washington Gaddy.
And he had left North Carolina and had gone to the Atlanta area to become a wheelwright.
And while he was there, the war broke out, and so he joined the 38th Georgia.
And then, you know, there was my uncle, the two that I mentioned before, and then there's other ones.
I had one with the 6th North Carolina, 6th North Carolina Calgary.
I tell you this.
Hey, I did Mike a disservice.
I didn't know we were that close to the museum.
We've got to take a break.
You wrote an article about it, though.
It's not your flag, Yankee bastard.
We're going to post it to our website this week.
It talks about his ancestors, and you're going to want to read it.
Stay tuned.
Hello, TPC family.
It's James, and I've got to tell you that I sleep better at night knowing that there are organizations like the Conservative Citizens Foundation.
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I've worked with the good people at the Conservative Citizens Foundation for many years, and their work comes with my complete endorsement.
For more information and to keep up with all the latest conservative news headlines, please check out their website, MericaFirst.com.
That's M-E-R-I-C-A-1-S-T.com.
MericaFirst.com.
You know where the solution can be found, Mr. President?
In churches, in wedding chapels, in maternity wards across the country and around the world.
More babies will mean forward-looking adults, the sort we need to tackle long-term, large-scale problems.
American babies, in particular, are likely going to be wealthier, better educated, and more conservation-minded than children raised in still industrializing countries.
As economist Tyler Cowan recently wrote, quote, by having more children, you're making your nation more populous, thus boosting its capacity to solve climate change.
The planet does not need for us to think globally and act locally so much as it needs us to think family and act personally.
The solution to so many of our problems, at all times and in all places, is to fall in love, get married, and have some kids.
Allow me to get to the point, sir.
I have been authorized by President Lincoln himself, with the full blessing of the War Department, to offer you full command of the Army with the rank of Major General.
This army being raised to quell this rebellion, and of course, to preserve the Union.
I assume this arm is to be used to invade those areas, to eliminate the rebellion by force.
Yes, sir, the federal government has been challenged by these rebels who have been most effective in changing the sentiments of various state legislatures, challenging our Constitution and challenging our central government.
The attack on Fort Sumter cannot be ignored.
General, my home is right there across the Potomac, where you can see Arlington House from your front door.
My family is spread all over this part of Virginia.
If you invade the South, your enemy territory will be there right across that river.
Well, sir, there is no great outcry for secession in Virginia.
It's not a foregone conclusion that Virginia or Tennessee, Arkansas, or Kentucky will join the rebellion.
My friend, may I humbly submit that you're mistaken about Virginia.
As you know, the legislature is convening in Richmond this very day to discuss the very issue of secession.
Now, perhaps you know their mind better than they themselves.
And I regret to say the President's hasty calling up of 75,000 volunteers to subdue the rebellion in the cotton states has done nothing to ameliorate the crisis.
It has only deepened it.
I trust you're not being too hasty yourself, Colonel.
This is a great opportunity for you to serve your country.
My country, Mr. Blair?
I never thought I lived to see the day that the President of the United States would raise an army to invade his own country.
No, Mr. Blair, I cannot lead it.
I will not lead it.
I'm sorry to hear you say that, sir.
I fear you're making a most dreadful mistake.
Would you please convey my deepest sense of honor and gratitude to the president, but I must decline his offer.
Please tell him, please be clear, I have never taken my duties lightly, but I have no greater duty than to my home, to Virginia.
All right.
That, of course, is a clip from the movie Gods and Generals.
I think we've played it for at least 10, maybe 15 years here, every Confederate History Month.
That is a dramatization of the scene in real life where then Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States Army turns down command from Abraham Lincoln's man, Mr. Blair there, and instead chooses to fight for Virginia.
Of course, he would then become General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate States Army and the rest is history.
That was a Warner Brothers movie, Gods and Generals.
I saw it at the theater in the early 2000s.
It's hard to believe that a movie like that would have been made even then.
And in 2011, Warner Brothers contacted me because they knew we had a pretty big audience and were on that side.
And even as late as 2011, Warner Brothers asked if we would partner with them to promote the re-release of the movie on Blu-ray and DVD in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the war, 1861 to 2011.
It's a good movie, and it's a star-studded cast.
That was Robert Duvall playing Robert E. Lee there in that clip you just heard.
And with that, back to Michael Gaddy.
Mike, let's talk about the nobility of men like Robert E. Lee.
I say this at the risk of sounding blasphemous a week after Easter, but I always say that Robert E. Lee was probably the most Christ-like man who ever trod the soil.
Well, you are spot on with that.
And not only that, but he was a man of character.
And he was a man of honor, and he was a man of integrity.
And he made his decision based on those features of his own character.
And he was not going to fight against, because he did.
He had family spread all over Northern Virginia, even down to central Virginia.
And there was no way, no way that he was going to lead an army against his country.
Now, back then, people didn't realize that people like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall referred to Virginia as their country.
And they believed that and they stood by it.
And, of course, in that play, and just to throw out, did you know that there's now a director's cut of that movie, which is about an hour longer?
I've got it.
So that means it's about six hours long because that was a long movie to begin with.
But I've got it.
I've got it.
Yes, I do.
And it is very, very good.
And from time to time, James, I've got to confess, I just have to sit and watch it again.
And I've got to tell you, you know, I'm not a young fella anymore, but I don't think I've ever watched that movie that it didn't bring tears to my eyes.
I'm glad I'm not the only one.
I've got to say, and this is a full confession, and I don't care.
If it doesn't pull at your heartstrings, there's something dead in you.
These are your ancestors.
These are our heroes.
And you look at the sacrifice.
How many people, Mike, in this degenerate day and age would have turned down command of the world's most powerful army for duty and for honor?
I mean, you know, can you imagine our titans of industry and of politics today turning down an advancement or a promotion, looking after the collective instead of number one?
That is why Robert E. Lee is our hero.
So for many reasons, but you're right.
I mean, back then, how could he raise his sword against his people in his country, as you said, as he called it, and as you call it, as it was called then, Virginia?
How could he raise his sword against Virginia for the benefit of Unitarians and people in New York and Massachusetts?
I mean, it was just not going to happen.
Back then, I mean, you know, in medieval times, people really never left more than a few miles from where they were born.
And even though we had horse and carriage, you know, by the 1860s, most people lived within the same area.
We didn't have airplanes and we didn't have interstates.
We didn't have cars where people could be transient and they move all over the country willy-nilly.
Back then, if you, you know, the people in your state were your living flesh and blood.
They were your actual relatives.
So, yeah, and he said, no, I cannot lead it.
I will not lead it.
Right.
And he said, please be clear.
He wanted that message delivered to Lincoln.
Please be clear.
And I love the way that they put that together.
Ron Maxwell did such a fantastic job with that because even the address that follows that, the address at the Virginia Assembly, where they voted to secede, even at that one, he had the verbiage word for word correct.
They didn't take any poetic license to change the wording.
And it was just absolutely a fantastic job.
And James, if I may, I've kind of written something as you and I were talking earlier today by text, but I kind of wrote something and it's fairly short.
May I read that, please?
Please do.
Okay.
When your father, your brother, your son, your husband goes off to defend your home and never returns, and you have no idea what happened to them or where they are for the rest of your life, you will then begin to understand why we Confederates love our monuments and our memorials.
Mike, I got to say this.
Last year, I mean, today's the anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh.
All right.
My Confederate ancestor was at Shiloh, one of them, one of them was at Shiloh.
He marched from Corinth, where he was born, where my grandparents were born on my dad's side.
They were born in Corinth.
My mom's side was born in Pontotock, Mississippi, Thaxton, Mississippi, population like 10.
But he marched from Corinth to Shiloh to defend the South.
And we went to Shiloh a year ago.
And there's a monument there.
The last monument there at Shiloh that was erected was from the state of Mississippi because Mississippi's always been so poor since the war.
It was the last one that they was able to have the funds to erect a monument.
And it had 100% casualty rate at this part of the Shiloh battlefield, 100% casualty rate.
And there was something so profoundly inspiring in that sacrifice that they fought and they gave the last full measure.
And that even a little bit of that could be depicted in a movie that came out as late as the early 2000s.
As you said, I mean, people can pick apart this movie and say, well, I didn't like this about it.
Yeah, you could always find things to fall.
But there's a reason we play clips from this movie every year.
And the sacrifice was real.
The sacrifice in terms of, yes, flesh and blood and bone and life.
Sacrifice Robert E. Lee.
Nobody would make that.
I say nobody.
Not people associated with this program.
Not me, not you, not our guest, not our audience.
Imagine a Titan of Industry or a political leader sacrificing that like Robert E. Lee did.
And that really happened.
And that was from a movie.
That was how it was.
He did that.
And there's no doubt about it.
Oh, I don't think there's any doubt whatsoever.
And one of the things that we did with our children, James, is our children visited every major or every, not just major, every single Civil War battlefield in this country, all the way from Arizona to Virginia.
Amen.
Amen.
We got to take a quick break.
That's the way to do it, ladies and gentlemen.
We'll be back with Mike Daddy.
Best of the best, right after this.
Your daily Liberty Newswire.
You're listening to Liberty News Radio. News.
I'm Laura Winters.
Shake, rattle, and roll.
Aftershocks still being felt after that rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake hitting the northeast.
The epicenter in the town of Lebanon, New Jersey, that's about 50 miles away from New York City.
For a period of time on Friday, ground stops at the New York area airports, including Newark, New Jersey, LaGuardia, and JFK, as runways were inspected for cracks, more than 600 flights delayed, more than 30 canceled.
Dave Collins has more.
You cannot plan for this.
There's no early warnings.
There's no weather service that can tell you an earthquake is imminent.
The U.S. Geological Survey confirms a 4.8 magnitude earthquake occurred with the Epicenter in Lebanon, New Jersey.
Social media posts started popping up from folks feeling the shake from New York City to Long Island, upstate New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
I'm Dave Collins.
A historic event taking place on Monday, but now the possibility of cloud cover remains a concern along the path of totality for Monday's total solar eclipse.
USA's John Schaefer says Mother Nature may mess up your viewing.
Here's his report.
According to the latest information from the National Weather Service, individuals from Texas through Arkansas and potentially in Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, and western New York may experience obstacles in viewing the eclipse.
Northern New England and the region stretching from southern Missouri to central Indiana have been identified as areas with the most favorable conditions for clear viewing.
Turning now to sports, the final four semifinal games tonight in Glendale, Arizona.
First up the game between Purdue and NC State at 6.09 Eastern.
And then number one Yukon and number four Alabama play at 8.49 p.m.
Monday night is the national championship game starting at 9.20 Eastern.
And I'm Laura Winters, USA News.
Hey, here's a question.
After you wear your clothes, you toss them in the washing machine, right?
Nobody wants to wear dirty clothes.
So how do we don't throw your shoes at the washing machine when they get dirty?
I mean, come on, your shoes are touching the filthy ground all day long.
Growth.
Well, with sketches, you can.
Because most sketches are machine-washable.
That's right.
Sketches are specially made so you can toss them right in the washing machine and keep them clean and looking new.
And when they look new, you can confidently wear them longer.
That's less shoes you're going to want to throw away, which means less waste.
And it'll save you tons of dough.
I love that.
Plus, machine-washable sketchers are for the whole family.
Men, women, and kids.
So when your kids get their shoes dirty, oh, and we know they will, just wash them.
Brilliant.
And even our latest technology, new hands-free sketcher slip-ins are washable.
You just step right in and go without bending down or even touching your shoes.
So give your sketches the same treatment you give your clothes.
Just toss them in the washing machine and keep them looking brand spanking new.
Find machine washable sketchers at a skecher store, sketches.com, or wherever stylish footwear happens to be sold.
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General Stewart, if I had my way, we would show no quarter to the enemy.
No more than the Redskins showed your troopers.
The black flag, sir.
If the North triumphs, it is not alone the destruction of our property.
It is the prelude to anarchy, infidelity, the ultimate loss of free and responsible government on this continent.
It is the triumph of commerce, the banks, factories.
We should meet the federal invader on the outer verge of just and right defense and raise at once the black flag.
No quarter to the violators of our homes and firesides.
Our political leadership in Richmond is too timid to face the reality of this coming war.
They should look to the Bible.
It is full of such wars.
That again, a clip from the movie Gods and Generals.
And if you watch one movie in April of 2024, folks, let it be Gods and Generals.
Almost any movie now you can find at YouTube.
You just pay a rental fee of $2 or $3 and you can stream it directly or you can buy it or whatever you need to do.
I can remember Warner Brothers, executive Warner Brothers reaching out to me in 2011.
They may regret it now or denounce me or whatever they need to do, but we certainly helped to move a few more units of that film and I'm glad to have partnered with them at least to that extent.
And that is a scene there where Stonewall Jackson, played by the actor Stephen Lang, and more on him in just a minute, is interacting with Jeb Stewart in 1861.
Raise the black flag.
Only that will bring the Yankees quick to their senses and end the war.
You had a commentary recently, Mike, on Stonewall Jackson, one of the greatest of our heroes, a hero of heroes.
And what could have happened, perhaps, if only Jefferson Davis had listened to him.
Mike?
Well, James, his statement there was spot on.
Our leadership is too timid.
And there was another part of that movie where Stonewall was talking with his aide, Sandy Pendleton, one of the most classic lines.
And that was, he said, Mr. Pendleton, if the Yankees lose their little war, they'll go back to Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, rich on their war profits.
Mr. Pendleton, if we lose this war, we lose our independence.
We lose our country.
We lose it all.
Let me ask you this, Mike.
Number one, do you agree?
I think I know the answer, obviously.
But also that and what would happen, what would be the future of life on this continent if the Yankees had won, in which they did, the triumph of the banks and the factories and so on and so forth.
He was right about it all.
So precious.
Yes.
Yeah.
And it was amazing.
And, you know, I think when we look at this entire situation, I think we have to be honest with ourselves.
We have to look at our strengths.
We have to look at our weaknesses.
And I think Stonewall nailed it right there when he said that the leadership was just too timid.
And then if we go back to after the Battle of First Manassas, Stonewall wanted to follow the Yankee army, which was thoroughly routed and defeated.
He wanted to follow them right on into Washington, D.C., and sue for peace.
But he was stopped by the Confederate leadership.
Let me ask you this.
This is a question I ask everybody.
Had we, at that first battle there, pursued our advance, had we pursued our advantage?
How does history change?
Does it change?
You sack Washington that day.
There's no doubt you sack Washington.
Yeah, and then they would have had to sue for peace because that was the capital.
You know, they might have moved their capital.
They might have wanted to do something.
But, James, if we look at it militarily, Lincoln thought the war was going to be over in 90 days.
He had no idea what he was up against.
Always outfought, always outmanned, always outsupplied, but never outfought were we, the men of the North.
And I mean four years of, and there's no participation trophy for finishing in second place, but it could have happened.
It could have happened.
There are many people who are Confederates, myself among them, who say we never lost that war.
We just wore ourselves out fighting foreigners in Yankee uniforms.
Now you're talking about the Irish.
You're talking about what was going on in New York, how they continued to conscript and all of that.
I mean, they had the factories.
They could outmunition us, but they never outfought us.
I mean, look at all the battles Forrest won.
I don't want to, you know, we'll talk about Forrest later this month.
But, I mean, you're winning unwinnable battles time after time after time.
But yes, I always fantasize, always wonder if we'd have pursued our advantage at the first Manassas.
Well, let's not forget that Hank Jr. said if the South would have won, we'd have had it, mate.
We'll play that song before the end of the month.
That I guarantee you.
But I got to tell you this, just a little bit of background on that clip we just played between, obviously, a dramatization of 1861 meeting between Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stewart.
And by the way, I got to say, I have had business in Washington over the years, and sometimes I choose to drive instead of fly just so I can take that detour into Lexington, Virginia, this picturesque little town.
And literally right across the street from one another are buried Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson together in life, together in the grave and in heaven, no doubt.
But the Lee Chapel, you know, I was there when they still had the flags up, and all of that has changed.
And then the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, where still to this day, good southerners give him lemons because he loved them so.
And they're buried right across the street.
This is a beautiful town.
It's moving, such a moving experience to stand at their final resting place and just reflect on their lives and to try in our poor ways to emulate them.
But that clip we played, Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stewart.
Stonewall Jackson in that movie, Mike, I don't know if even you know this, but you probably do.
But for the benefit of anyone who doesn't, Stonewall Jackson in the movie Gods and Generals was portrayed by Stephen Lang, a Jew born in New York, Jewish actor born in New York, and he played Stonewall Jackson so well.
I couldn't even imagine the original to be even more authentic.
And Stephen Lang, Jewish guy from New York, playing Stonewall Jackson in this movie, he said he studied up on Stonewall Jackson in preparation for this part.
And he came to agree with his positions, and he went on and on and on about his character and about his honor and about his dignity.
And the actor Stephen Lang, great character actor, probably known best for his roles in the movie Avatar.
But he lauded Stonewall Jackson after learning about him and then portraying him in this movie.
And I thought he did a wonderful job.
Now, one more thing.
Stephen Lang also played, if you know the movie Tombstone, this wonderful Western movie from 1993.
Tombstone, he played Ike Clanton in the movie Tombstone.
He was one of the cowboys.
And, you know, interestingly, Ike Clanton's father was a Confederate.
He was a Confederate who fought in the Confederate Army.
And so the Clantons were of Confederate stock.
Doc Holliday, another obvious huge name from that era, from Tombstone and the OK Corral and all of that.
Doc Holliday's father was a Confederate officer, and he was born in Griffin, Georgia, Doc Holliday was.
And so he was there.
Of course, the Earps were Yankees, and Wyatt Earp was too young to fight.
But Virgil Earp was a Unionist and fought for three years.
But anyway, a lot of interesting history there across the board.
But Stephen Lang, the actor playing Stonewall Jackson and Gods in General and Ike Clinton in Tombstone, it was interesting to see him praising Stonewall Jackson to such an extent because he had a lot to lose by doing that.
James, let me tell you something, buddy.
Opinion is if there was any honesty in Hollywood whatsoever, Stephen Lang would have won an Academy Award for that portrayal.
That way, exactly.
I mean, you're talking about a Jewish actor from New York playing the role of, you know, a West, you know, now what would be known as a West Virginian, Stonewall Jackson, and playing him the way he did.
It is probably, I gotta say, and this is another plug for the film.
Watch it if you've never seen it before.
If you've seen it 10 times, watch it again.
It is probably one of the greatest acting performances ever put on film.
Oh, yeah.
Considering who he is and his background versus who he was portraying.
Well, you mentioned Lexington, Virginia.
James, don't forget our son lived there for four years while he attended Virginia Military Institute.
That's right.
That's right.
And one of the things he did, I was so proud of him for this.
There is a cemetery in Lexington called the Green Cemetery.
And it's an all-black cemetery.
And our son led, he was in the pipe and drum corps.
They played bagpipes and drums.
And he got permission from the, which he had to do to go off post.
He got permission for he and several of his band members to march down to the Green Cemetery, which was a black cemetery, because in that cemetery, there is a tombstone of a black man named Levi Miller with the Confederate battle flag on his headstone.
I tell you what, anybody named Levi was a good man.
I have my great-grandmother's father Levi Smith, the only private in the Confederate Army.
I decided he was one of the privates at Shiloh that day.
We'll be right back.
The Honorable Cause, a Free South, is a collection of 12 essays written by Southern National Saw.
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Oh, I'm a good old Rebel now.
That's just what I am.
For this fair land of freedom, I do not care a damn.
I'm glad I fit against it.
I only wish we'd won.
Yeah, that's pretty much where I stand on it, ladies and gentlemen.
Nobody can change where they were born.
If I had been born anywhere else, I hope I would think the way I do now.
But the fact that I was born a Southerner, that I was born into this patrimony of people who fought, fighting men, it makes me proud.
I've got to tell you, it makes me very proud.
And that's why we continue to do this every year here on this program, Confederate History Month.
And it's not to drive a wedge between our brothers in the North in this day and age.
You know, Mike, we don't have the luxury of, and nor would I want to separate ourselves from people who think like us, but just happen to be born late and to be born in the North or in Europe or wherever.
It's not about that.
I welcome, I mean, there's so many people who tune into the show and who are inevitably listening right now that are outside of the old Confederacy who agree with us on every issue.
And I welcome them.
They are no more, no less a brother than anybody who, you know, certainly the people in the South who were born in the South and who have that Confederate ancestry who have repudiated it.
I certainly have more common ground now with people born outside of the South who think like us than people who had Confederate ancestors who spit on their graves.
And there's so many, unfortunately, who do.
But nevertheless, the fact that I had the opportunity to, through God's good grace, to come born southern by the grace of God, as they say, well, I'm going to celebrate that.
We're celebrating that together tonight, are we not, Mike?
And what would you say to those who think like us who just happen to be born over the course of the last 150 plus years outside of the South?
They're brothers too, you know, obviously.
Oh, yes.
Everyone who stands for rightful liberty and who stands for justice and fairness, we are all brothers, and we all should be.
We're all in the same family.
Where we happen to be born should not dictate that, although we in the South have that tradition, and that's something we hang on to.
One of the great Confederates I've ever known, his name was Warren, and he was born in New York, and I met him during the Buchanan campaign.
He's long since passed away, but he was one of the most ardent Confederates I've ever met.
And he was born in New York, and there's a lot of that going around now.
Now, let's talk about the topic of slavery, Mike.
You know, for some, it's an all-or-nothing proposition.
It was either all about slavery, according to the left and those who denigrate the South, or, you know, for some Southern apologists, it was about slavery.
Not at all.
It was a state's rights issue.
It was this.
It was that.
You know, the issue of slavery, wherever you fall on that debate, it became an issue.
Just very quickly, I would say it became an issue, certainly with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Our detractors would point to the cornerstone speech of Alexander Stevens.
They would point to some of the state secession proclamations.
And so then you ask yourself, well, what percentage of the pie did it play?
And I don't know, and I don't care, Mike.
I mean, my position on this is I don't care.
I defend the South.
I defend our ancestors.
They were right.
Look at what southern cities have become now and tell me they weren't right.
And you look, and, you know, Lee, his position on slavery, the fact that mechanization was coming and it would have made slaves obsolete.
You look at the fact that slavery ended all across the globe without nearly a million white men shedding their blood, so on and so forth.
And then, you know, I think any debate about this has to start with the Corinth Amendment.
If it was all about slavery, why didn't the South take the Corrin Amendment and just run with it and then be done with it?
Well, it's very simple, James, and we have to, a couple of things I'd like to rush to get in here.
Let's not forget that on January the 12th of 1848, as a member of Congress on the floor of the House of Representatives, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech on why secession was legal.
And most people are unaware of that.
But then let's go to the fact that once he became president, his first inaugural address, he said that he would not do anything about this, where slavery in the states, he wouldn't do anything about it because he didn't have the authority to do so.
And then he mentioned there is an amendment that, you know, that at that time, that amendment had passed both houses of Congress and had been sent to the states for ratification.
Two states had already ratified the Corwin Amendment.
Now, the thing is, in the 1980s, in a research in Pennsylvania in an archive, they actually found the verification that the Corwin Amendment was in fact written by Abraham Lincoln and it was sent and it was sent to Corwin by the by what was his name?
Steward, Seward.
Seward actually sent it, took it from Lincoln and sent it to Corwin, and Corwin introduced it.
The Corwin Amendment was written by Abraham Lincoln.
Give us a 30-second cliff version of what the Corbyn Amendment was, just in case anybody doesn't know.
The Corwin Amendment made slavery legal in perpetuity, and it was outside of the parameters of Congress.
Congress couldn't.
And that was an offer made by the United States government even in advance of the war between the states.
Yes.
And if the South, if it had been about slavery, people, if the South, all the South had to do to maintain slavery in perpetuity was to drop their secession and rejoin the Union.
So obviously it wasn't about slavery.
Seems like it's a little bit more about what Stonewall Jackson was saying in the last clip.
Why they decided to fight.
And also, let's not forget in Lincoln's inaugural address, his first inaugural address, he told the people that if there was to be bloodshed, it would be because he would do whatever it was necessary to collect the revenue.
So he said he was a very important thing.
Seems like so many wars throughout history were fought for power and money and resources, not over ideology, which is what the South incidentally was fighting for.
Yes, it was an ideology.
Everybody else was fighting for money.
And all wars are about money.
I don't care, you know, the great Major General Medley Darlington Butler said all wars are about money.
And he was exactly right.
And that, and if we, you know, at some point in time, James, when we have the opportunity, I would like to go into the hazard circular with you because the hazard circular played a huge part.
And the great majority of Americans have never heard about that.
I tell you what we need to do, Mike.
And we've got a busy month this month with great guests lined up for Confederate History Month.
But I don't know if we could do it better than to begin Confederate History Month with you and end Confederate History Month with you the last week of this month, the last hour of the last show of this month.
We'll see what your schedule looks like.
I'm going to be on with you.
And by the way, give people the opportunity to learn from you by tuning into you.
Where can people find out more about your work and your commentary?
You're hosting a show now as well and have been for some time.
On Saturday evening, I have a three-hour show from 4 to 7 p.m. on Republic Broadcasting Network.
You can go to republicbroadcasting.org and you can get the archives.
I would really like for your listeners, if they could, to go to the archives and listen to our three hours tonight.
Our three hours tonight were very, very detailed.
We went into great detail.
We had some great callers and it was just an absolute fantastic program.
And then tomorrow night, from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. Eastern Time, I have a program called The Rebel and the Renegades.
And we go into quite a detail about a lot of different things.
And on the second Tuesday of every month, another friend of mine who happened to be at NSA, National Security Agency, we called it the No Such Agency.
He was there later than I.
We do a program called the Black Ball Spooks.
And how many shows you got?
Well, I got two more, but no reason to go into those at this point.
I got to say this, though, for the point of brevity.
Republic Broadcasting is a great outfit.
We started out, as you know, well, it is.
We started out in 2004, as you know, on the local station here in Memphis.
The first people to pick us up was Republic Broadcasting.
And we were with them for about a year.
And it was through them that I met Sam Bushman.
And when Sam Bushman left to start his own network, I went with him.
And we've been with the Liberty News Radio since 2009.
But Republic Broadcasting is a great network.
And the fact that they're platforming Mike Gaddy, you can't do better than that.
So check him out and listen there.
And Mike, with just a couple of minutes, if even that, maybe 60 seconds, I told you we'd get back to it.
And I want to.
We were co-hosting a show, a live broadcast from Dixie Republic.
DixieRepublic.com.
Celebrate Confederate History Month year-round at DixieRepublic.com.
We were co-hosting a show there a year or two ago.
And I said, what was that article you wrote?
It's not your flag, Yankee bastard.
We're going to post that at our website this week.
Check it out.
You'll learn more about Mike Gaddy's patrimony.
And we look forward to you learning more about that because you should, and we should all remember where we came from and remember our betters.
Mike, I couldn't have.
Yeah, go ahead.
Yeah, we if I may.
Also, I do a sub stack.
It's called michaelgaddy.substack.com.
And I have all kinds of podcasts on there about the atrocities committed by the Union Army throughout the South.
Yeah, we're going to talk about that this month, too.
You know, all of this stuff about this atrocity, that atrocity, Lincoln was worse than your worst nightmare.
And anybody that the United States government presents as an oppressor, as a tyrant, nobody matched up to Lincoln.
That's it.
I mean, that's the truth of it all.
Love you, Mike.
Happy Confederate History Month.
We'll continue next week for German Rudolph, Mike Gaddy, Keith Alexander.