"Southern Partisan" is back, not surprisingly they don't like Obama.

I got a copy of the "Southern Partisan" in the mail yesterday. They are going after Obama, which shouldn't surprise anyone. The major topics are the life of Jabez Curry and and interview with Felicity Allen about her hagiograpy of Jefferson Davis.

A T-shirt sold by the "Southern Partisan" seems truer now than ever.

For a context for this posting read this blog post.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/04/republican-party-becoming-confederate.html

Except for the "Majority" part it seems to be becoming true.

Secession and Patriotism

For a context for this article see this earlier post of the day.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/04/republican-party-becoming-confederate.html

There have been those perplexed by support for secession by Texas Republicans who otherwise have this image of boisterous patriotism. After all seceding from a nation, is hardly patriotic towards the nation you are seceding from.

It isn't as contrary as it might seem. As understood in cultural geography, nations are imagined. We don't know everyone personally in a nation, but we imagine that we have an overarching commonality that makes all of us a part of a group. I think for some, the nation they imagine is a banal white nationalist nation. I explain the concept of banal white nationalism here:
http://www.templeofdemocracy.com/breaking.htm.

I think for a lot of Texas Republicans that they were loyal to a white nationalistic America and not to a multiracial democratic America, and with the election of Obama and with the Democrats in control, they feel at some level, maybe not consciously, that their America no longer exists, but with an independent Texas they could have a white nation. So they are patriotic to their nation as they conceive it, but not to a multiracial America.

Will Obama comment on secession?

See my just previous post for a context for this post. http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/04/republican-party-becoming-confederate.html


Obama briefly made a snide comment about Rush Limbaugh earlier this year to Republicans meeting with him, that they shouldn't allow themselves to be led by Limbaugh. I don't think Obama said it casually, I think it was a comment carefully calculated to sound like a casual off hand remark, but also calculated carefully to make Rush Limbaugh the leading representative figure of Obama's opposition and the Republican party. Obama knew that Limbaugh would jump at the chance no matter how damaging it might be to the Republican party. I think also Obama calculated that the Republicans would either not resist identification with Limbaugh or suffer damage if they did.

All Obama needs to do, to really send conservatism, Talk Radio, and the Republican party into the wasteland is to make some casual sounding comment about secession. Talk Radio would not, could not resist taking the bait. With Talk Radio ranting on secession, even Limbaugh would have to go along. Then the Republican party would stand around, like in the case of Limbaugh, not saying anything to refute secession, like they were unwilling to refute Limbaugh.

Republican Party becoming a Confederate Party?

As regular readers may know, (Do I have any regular readers besides neo-Confederates?) I have been thinking about the question of the Republican party being taken over by radical reactionary elements. I have also considered the question of the Republican party becoming neo-Confederate. See links to some earlier posts below.

Also, Euan Hague and I in our book on Neo-Confederacy, discussed the mainstreaming of neo-Confederacy. http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exhagneo.html

Well recent events have surprised even me. I thought neo-Confederacy in the Republican party would be wearing a mask if it came to be dominating the party, that is, there would be advocacy for neo-Confederate policies but without the overt and recognizable neo-Confederate elements. Then there is Gov. Rick Perry talking about secession:

“When we came into the Union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “My hope is that America, and Washington in particular, pay attention. We’ve got a great Union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that?” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/us/politics/18texas.html?ref=global-home)

Wow! No disguises here. So secession became a polling question with one poll showing that a slight majority of Texas Republicans, 51% versus 47%, approve secession. Though it is a Daily Kos poll. http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/04/texas-republicans-like-perry-o.html
or http://www.dailykos.com/statepoll/2009/4/22/TX/288.

John Shelton Reed, Univ. of North Carolina professor, former editor of "Southern Cultures," sociologist, one of the key founders of the neo-Confederate movement used to include the question of secession in his polls and be encouraged if he got 10-15%. I am sure he is quite excited by these results. He is probably more excited by the fact that secession has become a question for main stream polling, not just a polling question for a covert neo-Confederate poller like himself. Secession has entered politics.

Then there are all these state's rights resolutions, which seem mostly just talk without a real call for action, but one or more call for secession, and even state a trigger, an action, that would initiate secession. The following is an opinion piece where the vote was 43 to 1 in favor of a secession resolution. http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2009/04/16/bookmaned_0416.html

Though it turns out a lot of Georgia State Senators hadn't bothered to read it. It also shows that Democrats, including African American Democratic elected officials are asleep at the entry gate. ( I was going to say "asleep at the switch," but do young people know what that means anymore?)

Still it did get passed.

Well the question of secession has resulted in a blizzard of news articles on it. Just go to Google News.

Where will all this lead? It might be the subject of the week, but be completely over next week. Or it might be go on for months. If the Democrats take a stand against secession, Talk Radio conservatives might reflexively take a stand for it. I haven't really surveyed what the reaction of conservatives has been. However, secession has now gone much more mainstream than it has ever been since 1865.

It will be interesting to see how many more major elected Republican officials start talking about secession. It will be interesting what Rush Limbaugh's position will be.

Links to posts on the Republican party becoming neo-Confederate or taken over by radical elements:

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2007/04/bilboization-of-republican-party-neo.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2007/01/bilboization-of-republican-party-in.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2006/11/fever-swamps-rule-trent-lott-elected.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2008/11/republican-party-becomeing-confederate.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2007/06/possible-implications-of-recent-failure.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2006/11/fever-swamps-rule-trent-lott-elected.html

Links to posts on the Republican party becoming a sectional party.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2008/12/washington-post-columnist-gop-goes.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2008/12/gop-concerned-about-being-too-southern.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2008/11/republican-party-becomeing-confederate.html

Links to related posts

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/02/so-called-state-rebellions-neo.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2008/11/republican-party-becomeing-confederate.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2006/11/dick-armey-is-on-loose.html

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2006/09/texas-us-senator-john-cornyn-to-speak.html