Tofu Wieners

"How liberal is the University of Colorado at Boulder? The campus hot-dog stand sells tofu wieners. A recent pro-marijuana rally drew a crowd of 10,000, roughly a third the size of the student body. And according to one professor’s analysis of voter registration, the 800-strong faculty includes just 32 Republicans. Chancellor G.P. 'Bud' Peterson surveys this landscape with unease. A college that champions diversity, he believes, must think beyond courses in gay literature, Chicano studies and feminist theory. 'We should also talk about intellectual diversity,' he says."

Uh, yeah.

Does anyone wonder why most Americans look at academia and scratch their heads? Full story here.

Enough is Enough

Ok, enough is enough. The current "oil crisis" has become a serious national security issue and the failure of both Congress and the President to act prudently and quit playing politics borders on treason. I cannot believe "our" government has allowed the situation to come to this. God help us.

We Southerners Stick Together

This is a fascinating NPR interview with Senate Staffer, Bertie H. Bowman, an African-American who has just written a book about his years on Capitol Hill. Mr. Bowman is 77 years old and is still working on Capitol Hill. The title of Mr. Bowman's book is Step by Step ~ A Memoir of Hope, Friendship, Perseverance, and Living the American Dream. In this interview, he tries to get the obviously incredulous NPR interviewer to believe and understand that a black man could be friends with men like Strom Thurmond and J. William Fulbright who were, at the time, die-hard segregationists. Blacks and whites who grew up in the South understand how this is possible, but many from outside the region cannot (or will not try to) understand. Perhaps Mr. Bowman will be able to explain this complicated and bitter-sweet relationship in his book better than I did in mine. I have purchased Mr. Bowman's book and look forward to reading it.

At one point, Mr. Bowman says of his relationship with these Senators, "we just became friends." The NPR interviewer responds cynically, "Friends is the right word?" To which Mr. Bowman replies, "I would say friends, yeah, or one Southerner to another Southerner helping a Southerner out." The interviewer pressed the friendship issue further, but Mr. Bowman would not back down. I'm very familiar with this interviewer's cynical attitude.

The interview is worth listening to and is illustrative of the total disconnect that most non-Southerners have with our region; especially those in the mainstream media, Washington political types, and many in academia. Mr. Bowman credits his ability to make friends with these men to his mother's admonitions.

"We Southerners, we stick together." ~ Bertie Bowman

Recommended Link

My hometown. I was born in a hospital which sat upon the Battle of Waynesboro battlefield. I had two great-great grandfathers (Morris Coffey and John McGann) who fought for the South at this battle. Much of the land they were fighting over would eventually come to be owned by John McGann's son - Charles McGann. I spent many summers in that old house and as my father used to say, "was haunted by the memories of those brave men who fought so valiantly for their homes."

John McGann is the gentleman to the far right of the photograph in the header of my blog. He's standing in front of the original homeplace (not the one in Waynesboro) in Nelson County which lies just below Wintergreen ski resort. The 200+ acre tract is still owned by his descendants and that structure still stands and is used today as a hunt camp. (We still cling to our guns and religion in western Virginia. Before we eat the 'possum, we bow our heads and say grace over the meal.)

The image shown here is of the Waynesboro Heritage Museum. I'd highly recommend a visit if you're ever in the area. I must confess that I'm proud that the WHM displays this hometown boy's book about Stonewall Jackson in their front window.

Recommended Civil War Site

Hunter's Raid. Click here.

A Happy Customer

I recently received the following email from one of the men who participated in my recent tour of historic Lexington, Virginia:
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"I just wanted to thank you for putting together the tour for our group. It was a fascinating experience. The tour exemplified the historical essence of Virginia. As a history teacher, such an experience adds a whole new dimension to the material I teach. That genuine of a look into our nation’s history is very much needed today. Once again, thank you and God bless."

Travis Satterfield

(Mr. Satterfield teaches history at Heritage Christian School in Northern Virginia.)

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If your group would like to plan a trip to Lexington, please consider the services of Virginia Heritage Tours.

I Need Your Vote - They're Gaining On Me!

No, not for public office - I have some self-respect left. Please visit this link and vote for my story - "He Being Dead, Yet Speaketh" - if you believe it's worthy. If I win, my story will be turned into an animated spot on Circa's website - thanks!!

If you feel inclined, please support my story.

Gasoline For 25 Cents A Gallon?

Why are politicians and the media ignoring this amazing story? They won't be able to if everyone shares this story with 10 others, and they share it with 10 others, and so on . . .

A Thing of Beauty

I lost my old Kershaw pocket-knife recently, so I'm using part of my stimulus package refund to purchase this little beauty. The rest of the money will be spent on gas - thanks to the clowns in Washington.

Buy A Horse

When will the idiots in Washington allow new oil drilling and refineries in America - when gas hits $8 - $10 a gallon? This is sheer lunacy and economic suicide!

What would President Williams do?

1. Declare an economic National Emergency and tell Congress to stuff it.
2. Make total energy independence a goal that all Americans (at least the ones with brains) could rally behind as we did in the race to the moon in the 1960's - thanks to President Kennedy. Target date for total energy independence would be 2020.
   
3. By Executive Order, begin immediate drilling in Anwr, order new drilling and exploration off the Gulf Coast (China is drilling there now), and a relaxing of regulations governing the construction of new refineries and nuclear plants.
   
4. Impose a 10% tax on all NEW oil revenues with the funds to be used exclusively for the development of alternate energy sources, i.e. solar. Offer a $1 billion dollar reward to any person/organization who comes up with a realistic alternative to oil.
   
5. Require all government owned vehicles to get at least 35 mpg and all elected officials to use mass transit instead of private jets or limousines. Let's see if they really believe their own rhetoric. Hint: they believe it for YOU, but not for them.
   

Otherwise, buy a horse and shut up about the price of fuel. Pull up a chair and watch as the greatest economic engine in world history grinds to a halt. Its only going to get worse.

145 Years Ago Today

The wounding of Stonewall Jackson.

The Southern Cross

Fellow CW blogger and author, Michael Aubrecht just sent me a signed copy of his most recent book: The Southern Cross - A Civil War Devotional. This is a great book to introduce someone to this most tragic era of our Nation's history and the impact faith had on the individuals involved. I would also recommend it to use in personal and family devotions as its stories are inspirational and remind us of the Providence of God not only in the history of the United States, but also in the lives of her citizens. Michael has granted me permission to post the foreword I wrote for the book . . .

The twenty year-old Confederate soldier swallowed hard as the noose was tightened around his tense neck. His heart felt as though it would pound out of his chest, yet he faced the last enemy with exemplary bravery for one so young. It was 14 October 1864 and there was a chill in the air. The events that had brought him to such a fate whirled through his mind’s last moments as the bright autumn sun warmed his youthful face. Though his body was flooded with adrenalin, a calm peace slowly settled over his spirit and soul. Even his executioners looked on with admiration.

Albert Gallatin Willis had been serving with Confederate Colonel John Singleton Mosby’s rangers for several months. He relished the daring deeds of Mosby’s raids and already had experienced several brushes with death. Earlier in the year, on February 18, Willis and James Foley Kemper had jumped from the 2nd-story window of Parson Thaddeus Herndon's house barely escaping capture by Federals.

Though born into a wealthy Virginia family, Willis had chosen to pursue a life of gospel ministry and was, at the time the war broke out, studying to be a Baptist preacher. Willis’s thoughts drifted back to those days of studying New Testament Greek when he had looked forward to the day he would be able to shepherd a small flock somewhere in the Virginia countryside or, perhaps, a larger city church in Richmond or Winchester. Though he had not completed his studies, he thought how thankful he was now to know the God whom he would soon be facing.

Earlier in the day, Willis had been looking forward to seeing his home as he headed toward Culpeper. The brightly colored autumn leaves in the Virginia countryside made the trip even more enjoyable. Mosby’s men enjoyed frequent furloughs as their rapid hit and run missions allowed them to return to their homes and farms often. But Willis’s horse came up lame near Flint Hill, forcing him to stop at the local farrier’s shop at Gaine’s Crossroad. Suddenly, Willis and an unnamed companion were surrounded by troops of the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry. Taken prisoner, the two soon learned of their fate. One of them would be hanged. That order had come from General Ulysses S. Grant as retribution for Federals Mosby had killed: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Grant’s order required that one Confederate be “hung without trial” for each yankee killed by Mosby’s men.

Speaking with the two young men separately, Colonel William H. Powell informed them they were to draw straws to determine which man would die. Powell also informed Willis that he could claim a Chaplain’s exemption, if he so chose. Willis had not yet been ordained and knew he deserved no such consideration. He refused Powell’s offer. The two prisoners were brought back together and ordered to draw straws. At first, providence seemed to have chosen Willis’s unnamed companion to die. He burst into tears crying, “I have a wife and children, I am not a Christian and am afraid to die!”

Upon hearing those words, Willis spoke up: “I have no family, I am a Christian, and not afraid to die.” Due to Willis’s willingness to stand in his stead, the unconverted man was released. Within moments, after praying for his executioners, Albert Gallatin Willis was hanged and his limp body swung silently from a nearby poplar tree; the only sound heard being that of the hemp rope as it strained against the bark of the tree. After they were sure he was dead, the Federals rode off, leaving Willis’s lifeless body hanging from the tree—a solemn warning to the rest of Mosby’s men. As evening fell, three locals: William Bowling, Robert Deatherage, and John P. Rickets, cut down Willis’s corpse and took it to the Deatherage home. There, his body was prepared and given a Christian burial. Today his remains rest inside a white picket fence in the tiny graveyard of Flint Hill Baptist Church in Flint Hill, Virginia.

Many would say that Albert Gallatin Willis died in vain. But did he? Is it likely that the freed man ever forgot Willis’s sacrifice and gift? Is it not likely that Willis’s sacrificial death reminded his companion of another’s sacrifice that offers us all another kind of freedom? God only knows what impact Willis’s death had upon that unknown man, his children, his descendants, and the Federal officers who witnessed how well a real Christian dies.

Mostly forgotten by history, this young man’s story of self-sacrifice is but one example of hundreds of similar stories that took place during the time of our Nation’s greatest struggle; stories of unbelievable courage, self-denial, love, and faith in a God. Stories that still amaze and inspire us; stories that remind us of man’s cruelty—as well as his potential for goodness when empowered by the Gospel of Christ.

That, dear reader is what you will find within the pages you now hold in your hands. And author Michael Aubrecht’s superb telling of these stories will cause you, too, to look upon these examples with admiration.

And Speaking of Reagan . . .

The newest arrival in the Williams Klan. Reagan Elizabeth Williams. Grandchild #11 checking in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces, 22 inches long and she's as pretty as her granny.

The Next Ronald Reagan?

Could Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal be the next Ronald Reagan? Could he be the conservative leader to lead conservatives out of the wilderness? Very possibly.

Lexington Tour

This past Saturday, I had the distinct honor of conducting a tour for the men’s group—numbering 33—from Heritage Baptist Church in Woodbridge, Virginia. Many of these men were retired and/or active military. We began our tour at 10:00 am at the Lexington Visitor’s Center and concluded at 3:00 pm at the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. Stops along the way included the Stonewall Jackson House, John Lyle’s bookstore, the Lexington Presbyterian Church, Virginia Military Institute, the Lee-Jackson House, R E Lee Memorial Church, Lee Chapel, and Lee’s home when he served as President of Washington College. The Lord blessed us with an absolutely gorgeous day and it was one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had in a great while!

I had pre-arranged for Colonel Keith Gibson to give us a short talk about Stonewall Jackson when we arrived at VMI. He didn’t do that. Instead, he escorted our group on a special 2 hour tour including Jackson Memorial Hall and museum, various buildings around the Institute, inviting us to a special event in the Courtyard/Quadrangle (it was alumni weekend), lunch in Crozet Hall, and an impromptu lecture at the Lee-Jackson House; as well as one at Lee’s Lexington home. Colonel Gibson has always been most helpful and gracious in sharing his vast knowledge of VMI and Jackson. Thank you Colonel!

A few shots from the tour: Colonel Gibson holding forth and some calling cards that Union General David Hunter left for VMI during his raid in 1864. I’ll post some more images from the tour later this week.

The Scots-Irish Are Coming

According to Michael Hirsh of Newsweek, "Southernism is taking over our national dialogue. Maybe it's time for the North to secede from the Union." He introduces his piece with the following paragraph:


"In the summer of 1863, Robert E. Lee led an ill-advised incursion into Pennsylvania. His army was defeated at Gettysburg, and thence afterward Lee beat a fighting retreat until the South lost the Civil War. One hundred and forty-five years later, the South--or what has become the South-Southwest--has won another kind of Civil War. It has transformed the sensibility of the country. It is setting the agenda for our political, social and religious mores--in Pennsylvania and everywhere else."

And Mr. Hirsh is scared. Read the complete article here. The article, though poorly written, warns readers of the influence of the Scots-Irish. Yes, be afraid, be very afraid. And how about this excerpt of hubris to illustrate snobbish elitism and arrogance at its worse:

". . . the Southern frontiersmen never got over their hatred of the East Coast elites and a belief in the morality and nobility of defying them. Their champion was the Indian-fighter Andrew Jackson. The outcome was that a substantial portion of the new nation developed, over many generations, a rather savage, unsophisticated set of mores. Traditionally, it has been balanced by a more diplomatic, communitarian Yankee sensibility from the Northeast and upper Midwest. But that latter sensibility has been losing ground in population numbers--and cultural weight."

Yeah, right. That's why so many of these more "diplomatic, communitarian sensible Yankees" are fleeing the culturally decaying, high-tax, big government areas of the Northeast for the sunny south. It would seem as though they don't like the universe they've created. This man is not only arrogant, he's delusional.

If he really wants a fright, he should read Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb's book, Born Fighting - How the Scots-Irish Shaped America. Worth quoting from the book: “The Scots-Irish were the cultural antithesis of those who had founded *New England” and “Their answer, then as now, was to tell the Eastern Establishment to go to hell.”

I believe, however, that most Southerners would prefer that the Eastern Establishment simply repent and go to heaven.

Hat tip to Southern Appeal.

*Full disclosure: I am a direct descendant (on my father's side) of New England stock: a 9th generation great-grandson of the Reverend Roger Williams, the founder of the colony of Rhode Island and of the first Baptist Church in America. So my distaste is not for New Englanders--I'm proud of that part of my ancestry--but I abhor the elitist attitude expressed by Hirsh which looks down upon Scots-Irish Southerners, from whom I am also descended.