I know that it is hard to believe that any book on Lincoln could be more unbelievable than Thomas DiLorenzo's book on Lincoln, but that just shows the limits of our imaginations. With "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," I think you have to admit that the author has outdone DiLorenzo, though perhaps only marginally.
There is a new genre in which classics are rewritten as horror novels. For example there is the book, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" a rewrite of the Jane Austen novel. You can read about it here.
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1889075,00.html
or this article:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-zombies4-2009apr04,0,4685367.story
Evidently the book is selling quite well and there is a bidding war for the movie rights. (Or a movie may be already be forthcoming since the above article was published.) So the author of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," Seth Grahame-Smith, wrote another book, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" which is selling well and its going to be made into a movie.
This is the "Los Angeles Times" article on it.
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/03/05/abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter/
The following URL is for an article about it being made into a movie.
http://www.movieweb.com/news/NExeLO9wCkfzAF
Evidently 20th Century Fox is scheduled to release the film June 22, 2012.
There is something hilarious about how this pseudo-history that is so fantastic and unbelievable. Perhaps Seth Grahame-Smith was inspired by reading neo-Confederate accounts of black Confederates and realized that the sky is the limit for invented history. After all if it can be claimed that Stonewall Jackson had two black battalions why not have Abraham Lincoln be a vampire hunter?
The book is evidently selling quite well and there is actually a trailer for the movie that is in the works. On Youtube it has had over 400,000 viewers. The URL is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X58RPS665V0. The YouTube version is larger than what I can fit into this blog.
In the book and the movie the Confederates are on the side of the vampires. Someone should alert the Sons of Confederate Veterans that there is a heritage violation.
It should be observed that this book is no more fantastical or outlandish than the claim put forth by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans that Abraham Lincoln was part of a communist conspiracy. I quote them here in another blog at this URL: http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2010/01/was-lincoln-communist-scv-neo.html
So Seth Grahame-Smith is only marginally, if at all, more fantastical than the Sons of Confederate Veterans writings of black Confederates, claims of a Communist Lincoln, and of course the usual claim that the Confederates didn't secede over slavery.
Happy Halloween, don't eat too many marshmallow pumpkins.
Update: This web page covers the other "Monster Mashups" of the classics and the horror genre. The titles are a hoot to read, such as "Little Women and Werewolves."
http://fremontlibraries.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/13-book-monster-mash-up-type-things/
Watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZVE5uF24Q
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Bruce Levine demolishes myth of Black Confederate soldiers in the "Washington Post"
Bruce Levine, demolishes the myth of Black Confederate soldiers in an article in the Washington Post and you can read it at this link:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-opinions/2010/10/the_myth_of_the_black_confeder.html
It will be in the print version of the Post tomorrow, Sunday, 10/30/10.
Bruce Levine is the author of "Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves During the Civil War," pub. Oxford University Press. It is an excellent book.
This is the link to it at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Confederate-Emancipation-Southern-Slaves-during/dp/0195147626/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1288487996&sr=1-1
The Sons of Confederate Veterans had a book review by Cassie A. Barrow criticizing the book in the Confederate Veteran, Sept./Oct. 2006, page 46. I sent a copy to Bruce Levine who was greatly amused by it.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-opinions/2010/10/the_myth_of_the_black_confeder.html
It will be in the print version of the Post tomorrow, Sunday, 10/30/10.
Bruce Levine is the author of "Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves During the Civil War," pub. Oxford University Press. It is an excellent book.
This is the link to it at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Confederate-Emancipation-Southern-Slaves-during/dp/0195147626/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1288487996&sr=1-1
The Sons of Confederate Veterans had a book review by Cassie A. Barrow criticizing the book in the Confederate Veteran, Sept./Oct. 2006, page 46. I sent a copy to Bruce Levine who was greatly amused by it.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Commercial Sponsors of the Council of Conservative Citizens
These are the sponsors in the newspaper of the Council of Conservative Citizens, www.cofcc.com.
1. Peoples Bank & Trust Co., North Carrolton, Mississippi.
2. All American Realty & Insurance, Rupert E. Dunkum, Webster, Florida.
3. Harry Sanders Grocery & Market, North Carrolton, Mississippi.
4. Hudson Flower Shop, Calhoun City, Mississippi.
5. Gaines B. Smith, Jewelers Inc. Batesville, Mississippi.
6. Swiney's Barber Shop, St. Ann, Missouri.
7. A.J. Barker Window and Siding Company, Clemmons, NC.
8. The Crystal Grill, Greenwood, Mississippi.
9. Q-Ball's Bar-B-Que, Indianola, Mississippi.
10. Stanford's Farm & Feed, Carrolton, Mississippi.
11. Christopher JM Cummins, MD, Ripley, Mississippi.
1. Peoples Bank & Trust Co., North Carrolton, Mississippi.
2. All American Realty & Insurance, Rupert E. Dunkum, Webster, Florida.
3. Harry Sanders Grocery & Market, North Carrolton, Mississippi.
4. Hudson Flower Shop, Calhoun City, Mississippi.
5. Gaines B. Smith, Jewelers Inc. Batesville, Mississippi.
6. Swiney's Barber Shop, St. Ann, Missouri.
7. A.J. Barker Window and Siding Company, Clemmons, NC.
8. The Crystal Grill, Greenwood, Mississippi.
9. Q-Ball's Bar-B-Que, Indianola, Mississippi.
10. Stanford's Farm & Feed, Carrolton, Mississippi.
11. Christopher JM Cummins, MD, Ripley, Mississippi.
The delusions of the Council of Conservative Citizens and genetics.
With the sequencing of the nuclear chromosomes and the genetic material of the mitochondria science has gained a lot of information on the relatedness of peoples and species and a window back in time. In the pages of Science magazine, the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of which I have been a subscriber to for 20 years at least, the new revelations of genetic sequencing have come to light. Also, in Scientific American, another prestigious publication, the discoveries of genetic sequencing have been reported.
Some of the genetic material in us isn't very critical and seems to be along for the ride, and some of the other material is of course critical and if mutated is the cause for so many diseases. Though exactly what isn't really critical continues to be a subject of discovery and further investigations. Then there is epigenetics which is a whole other level of complexity.
The mitochondria are inherited from the mother, though there was some discussion whether in rare occasions a mitochondria might come from the father, but I never did read what the end of that discussion was. This DNA can be sequenced, it exists in a circle in the mitochondria, and since it isn't involved in reshuffling in sexual reproduction from two sources it is a great source of information to trace evolutionary relatedness.
Changes in this mitochondrial DNA is solely through mutations and the variations in the non-critical parts changes over time. You can thus with sequences map the relatedness of the human species. Of course scientists understanding that they could do so did so and what they found was that in the scheme of things everyone outside of Africa were part of a sub-sub group, I am not sure how many subdivisions down, of one of the African groups. Africans are divided into three groups with a lot of mitochondiral differences. Out of Africa is a scientific reality.
A scientific question over the years has been whether Neanderthals and modern humans ever interbred and the debate has gone back and forth. DNA sequencing a piece of tissue left from a Neanderthal would help resolve this. However, there are real problems in doing so. As the DNA is older it is degraded and results less clear. Also, you have to make sure that the sample isn't contaminated by human DNA such as the dead skin cells people are shedding all the time.
However, recently one researcher has done an analysis, reportedly successfully in the scientific press, and has come up with 4%. This is a very interesting result, but needs some replication since it is just one sample and one analysis. Once we have three or four analyses and similar numbers we can start to perceive this as result which more confidence can be placed.
However, the goofologists at the Conservative Citizens Council at the following link see this one scientific result as the basis of delusional claims. http://cofcc.org/2010/10/new-discoveries-disprove-out-of-africa-myth/
"The “Out of Africa” theory was not created by actual scientists. It was cooked up by left-wing college administrators and forced onto the science departments. It was a myth designed to promote the left-wing agenda on multiculturalism. Every new discovery in the fields of anthropology and genetics continue to completely disprove this left-wing fantasy. Europeans and Asians have substantial amounts of Neanderthal ancestry, while Sub-Saharan Africans do not. Further, the Neanderthal genome project has revived the groups placement as “proto-Caucasian.” Neanderthal can be divided into at least three regional sub-groups. Some Neanderthal, at least those living in Europe had members with fair skin and red hair."
First there is the denial of years of scientific research and publication, with the claim that the conclusion of this research was "cooked up by left-wing college administrators." Then there is the claim of "substantial amounts of Neanderthal ancestry," instead of mentioning it is just 4%.
The mitochondrial evidence is real and not subject to hysterical delusion and exists as scientific evidence independent from nuclear genetic material.
However, these http://www.cofcc.org/ posts just show that what passes for scientific thinking among the members of that organization's membership is actually some type of crazed racism grasping for straws and has no understanding of the underlying science involved.
Update: It occurs to me that it is somewhat ironic that the Council of Conservative Citizens which is hysterically aghast over interracial relations, regards very positively interspecies or perhaps it might be called intersubspecies relations.
Some of the genetic material in us isn't very critical and seems to be along for the ride, and some of the other material is of course critical and if mutated is the cause for so many diseases. Though exactly what isn't really critical continues to be a subject of discovery and further investigations. Then there is epigenetics which is a whole other level of complexity.
The mitochondria are inherited from the mother, though there was some discussion whether in rare occasions a mitochondria might come from the father, but I never did read what the end of that discussion was. This DNA can be sequenced, it exists in a circle in the mitochondria, and since it isn't involved in reshuffling in sexual reproduction from two sources it is a great source of information to trace evolutionary relatedness.
Changes in this mitochondrial DNA is solely through mutations and the variations in the non-critical parts changes over time. You can thus with sequences map the relatedness of the human species. Of course scientists understanding that they could do so did so and what they found was that in the scheme of things everyone outside of Africa were part of a sub-sub group, I am not sure how many subdivisions down, of one of the African groups. Africans are divided into three groups with a lot of mitochondiral differences. Out of Africa is a scientific reality.
A scientific question over the years has been whether Neanderthals and modern humans ever interbred and the debate has gone back and forth. DNA sequencing a piece of tissue left from a Neanderthal would help resolve this. However, there are real problems in doing so. As the DNA is older it is degraded and results less clear. Also, you have to make sure that the sample isn't contaminated by human DNA such as the dead skin cells people are shedding all the time.
However, recently one researcher has done an analysis, reportedly successfully in the scientific press, and has come up with 4%. This is a very interesting result, but needs some replication since it is just one sample and one analysis. Once we have three or four analyses and similar numbers we can start to perceive this as result which more confidence can be placed.
However, the goofologists at the Conservative Citizens Council at the following link see this one scientific result as the basis of delusional claims. http://cofcc.org/2010/10/new-discoveries-disprove-out-of-africa-myth/
"The “Out of Africa” theory was not created by actual scientists. It was cooked up by left-wing college administrators and forced onto the science departments. It was a myth designed to promote the left-wing agenda on multiculturalism. Every new discovery in the fields of anthropology and genetics continue to completely disprove this left-wing fantasy. Europeans and Asians have substantial amounts of Neanderthal ancestry, while Sub-Saharan Africans do not. Further, the Neanderthal genome project has revived the groups placement as “proto-Caucasian.” Neanderthal can be divided into at least three regional sub-groups. Some Neanderthal, at least those living in Europe had members with fair skin and red hair."
First there is the denial of years of scientific research and publication, with the claim that the conclusion of this research was "cooked up by left-wing college administrators." Then there is the claim of "substantial amounts of Neanderthal ancestry," instead of mentioning it is just 4%.
The mitochondrial evidence is real and not subject to hysterical delusion and exists as scientific evidence independent from nuclear genetic material.
However, these http://www.cofcc.org/ posts just show that what passes for scientific thinking among the members of that organization's membership is actually some type of crazed racism grasping for straws and has no understanding of the underlying science involved.
Update: It occurs to me that it is somewhat ironic that the Council of Conservative Citizens which is hysterically aghast over interracial relations, regards very positively interspecies or perhaps it might be called intersubspecies relations.
Friday, October 22, 2010
James Loewen on National Public Radio on the myth of Black Confederates
Jim was on NPR this morning on the topic of the bogus Black Confederate claim being in a school text book.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130744788
The Confederates were fairly hostile to the idea of any African American troops until the last few weeks of the Civil War when they were really desperate.
Charles Kelly Barrow is so pathetic when he says, "Some people just don't like the truth." Would that include Robert E. Lee? Robert E. Lee towards the very end of the Civil War wrote a letter endorsing the idea of Afro-Confederate troops saying that it would be better for the Confederacy if they freed slaves under their terms than the Union doing so.
Was Robert E. Lee a liar and there were thousands of African American troops all along? Or was Robert E. Lee a heritage violator and wanted to defame the Confederacy? Or was Robert E. Lee out of touch?
Mr. Barrow would that include the Confederate Veteran magazine of 1893 to 1932? In more than one article, the Confederate Veteran discusses the issue of Black Confederate troops and the opposition to them and how they weren't adopted until the very end. Was the Confederate Veteran not liking the truth about Confederate history? Were the individual Confederate veterans heritage violators?
Though, this constant claim of Afro-Confederate troops has a good benefit. It discredits the neo-Confederates generally as being deluded and bogus.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130744788
The Confederates were fairly hostile to the idea of any African American troops until the last few weeks of the Civil War when they were really desperate.
Charles Kelly Barrow is so pathetic when he says, "Some people just don't like the truth." Would that include Robert E. Lee? Robert E. Lee towards the very end of the Civil War wrote a letter endorsing the idea of Afro-Confederate troops saying that it would be better for the Confederacy if they freed slaves under their terms than the Union doing so.
Was Robert E. Lee a liar and there were thousands of African American troops all along? Or was Robert E. Lee a heritage violator and wanted to defame the Confederacy? Or was Robert E. Lee out of touch?
Mr. Barrow would that include the Confederate Veteran magazine of 1893 to 1932? In more than one article, the Confederate Veteran discusses the issue of Black Confederate troops and the opposition to them and how they weren't adopted until the very end. Was the Confederate Veteran not liking the truth about Confederate history? Were the individual Confederate veterans heritage violators?
Though, this constant claim of Afro-Confederate troops has a good benefit. It discredits the neo-Confederates generally as being deluded and bogus.
Monday, October 18, 2010
James Loewen and the Filson Historical Conference on Secession in the "Louisville Courier-Journal"
The Louisville Courier-Journal has a lengthy article about the Filson Historical Conference on secession and James Loewen at this link.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101018/FEATURES06/310180021
From the article:
"Loewen will give the opening address of the three-day conference, which begins Thursday at the Filson Historical Society.
The conference topic, “Secessions: From the American Revolution to the Civil War,” coincides with the 150th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the Union and will explore moments in U.S. history when Americans threatened or acted upon a perceived right to secede from state or national authorities."
"In true Loewenesque fashion, the University of Vermont professor's address is titled “Lies My Teacher Told Me About Secession.”
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101018/FEATURES06/310180021
From the article:
"Loewen will give the opening address of the three-day conference, which begins Thursday at the Filson Historical Society.
The conference topic, “Secessions: From the American Revolution to the Civil War,” coincides with the 150th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the Union and will explore moments in U.S. history when Americans threatened or acted upon a perceived right to secede from state or national authorities."
"In true Loewenesque fashion, the University of Vermont professor's address is titled “Lies My Teacher Told Me About Secession.”
Friday, October 15, 2010
Questionnaire for the 2012 Presidential Candidates
This is the questionnaire for the 2012 Presidential Candidates. The results will be posted online. We are writing up briefing papers about the questions in the questionnaire, a briefing paper on the neo-Confederate movement, and a briefing paper on the presidents and the Confederacy starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt to the present.
Of course there is a question, #8, about sending a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument.
The question about secession may seem a little crazy, but we already have the Governor Rick Perry talking about secession and a Minnesota Republican Congressional district convention passed a resolution that a state had a right to secede. Secession is back as an issue in politics.
There were other questions we might have asked, but we wanted the questionnaire to be short. Also, these twelve questions will give a fairly good indication where a candidate stands in general regarding the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy.
We will likely start sending out the questionnaires after the November elections.
The questionnaire is as follows:
2012 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NEO-CONFEDERACY QUESTIONNAIRE
INTRODUCTION:
The questions are divided into two sections. The first section pertains to how neo-Confederacy impacts policy; the second seciton contains cultural questions in which the issue is who we are.
POLICY:
1. Do you support the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in its entirety?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other
2. Do you think that nullification is a legitimate action?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other
3. Do you think a state has a right to secede?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other
4. As President would you nominate or appoint a person who is a member of a neo-Confederate organization such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, or Council of Conservative Citizens to any position in the Federal government or judiciary?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
If Yes, to what positions might you appoint or nominate a neo-Confederate?
5. As President would you oppose the involvement of neo-Confederate organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizen in the Reserve Officer Training Corps or the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
6. As President would you oppose the U.S. military participation in the activities of neo-Confederate organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizens?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
CULTURAL
7. Are you a member, regular, associate, honorary, or otherwise of a neo-Confederate organization such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizens?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
8. As President would you send a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
9. As President would you fly or display the Confederate flag at the White House or elsewhere?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
10. As President would you declare a day, week, or a month of Confederate memorialization?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
11. As President would you participate in a celebration, observance, or ceremony to honor, memorialize, or celebrate the Confederacy or a member of the Confederacy or send a representative to do so?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
12. As President would you support having Civil War battlefield parks explain the role of slavery in the Civil War?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
Of course there is a question, #8, about sending a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument.
The question about secession may seem a little crazy, but we already have the Governor Rick Perry talking about secession and a Minnesota Republican Congressional district convention passed a resolution that a state had a right to secede. Secession is back as an issue in politics.
There were other questions we might have asked, but we wanted the questionnaire to be short. Also, these twelve questions will give a fairly good indication where a candidate stands in general regarding the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy.
We will likely start sending out the questionnaires after the November elections.
The questionnaire is as follows:
2012 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NEO-CONFEDERACY QUESTIONNAIRE
INTRODUCTION:
The questions are divided into two sections. The first section pertains to how neo-Confederacy impacts policy; the second seciton contains cultural questions in which the issue is who we are.
POLICY:
1. Do you support the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in its entirety?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other
2. Do you think that nullification is a legitimate action?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other
3. Do you think a state has a right to secede?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other
4. As President would you nominate or appoint a person who is a member of a neo-Confederate organization such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, or Council of Conservative Citizens to any position in the Federal government or judiciary?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
If Yes, to what positions might you appoint or nominate a neo-Confederate?
5. As President would you oppose the involvement of neo-Confederate organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizen in the Reserve Officer Training Corps or the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
6. As President would you oppose the U.S. military participation in the activities of neo-Confederate organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizens?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
CULTURAL
7. Are you a member, regular, associate, honorary, or otherwise of a neo-Confederate organization such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizens?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
8. As President would you send a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
9. As President would you fly or display the Confederate flag at the White House or elsewhere?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
10. As President would you declare a day, week, or a month of Confederate memorialization?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
11. As President would you participate in a celebration, observance, or ceremony to honor, memorialize, or celebrate the Confederacy or a member of the Confederacy or send a representative to do so?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
12. As President would you support having Civil War battlefield parks explain the role of slavery in the Civil War?
Yes, No, Undecided, Other.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
"A Talk With James Loewen" on Univ. Press of Miss. Video Website
"A Talk with James Loewen" is at this link.
http://vimeo.com/15789951
James Loewen discusses our new book, "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The 'Great Truth' About the 'Lost Cause'" in this video.
http://vimeo.com/15789951
James Loewen discusses our new book, "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The 'Great Truth' About the 'Lost Cause'" in this video.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
A historical group of Nazi re-enactors, claim not to be pro-Nazi
It turns out that one of the GOP's congressional candidates is a member of a group that does re-enactments of Nazi's and white washes their history.
The link is here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-house-candidate-dressed-as-a-nazi/64319/
Read the article. Does it remind you of any "heritage" groups that you know?
The link is here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-house-candidate-dressed-as-a-nazi/64319/
Read the article. Does it remind you of any "heritage" groups that you know?
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Questionnaire for the 2012 Presidential Candidates
The Committee Against Neo-Confederacy will be sending out a questionnaire on neo-Confederacy to the 2012 Presidential candidates. Of course there will be a question about the Arlington Confederate Monument and wreath sending, but there will be eleven other questions for a total of twelve questions.
The cover letter has been written and the questions have been defined. We started with 20 or so and whittled them down to twelve questions. These questions may not cover every issue, but I think that answers to the questionnaire will give a person a fairly good picture as to where the candidate stands.
What isn't complete is the briefing and background information papers which will go to journalists. We are still working on these papers. We will want to have a brief paper on what neo-Confederacy is, I don't expect reporters to want to read a book. We need to write up a back ground for each question. We are also going to have a paper with background information on the presidents and the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy from Franklin D. Roosevelt to the present. I have accumulated materials over the years and have some interesting materials.
The questionnaire is about where America is heading and about what direction the presidential candidate would take America if elected. It isn't about debating the 19th century or the president's interpretations or understanding of 19th century history. It is about who we are and where we are going which is something everyone is interested in.
So we have the questions in two sections, one section concerns policy, and the other concerns national identity, what type of nation we think we are. Once a nation has an idea of who they think they are and what type of nation they should be, politics, policy, actions are largely derivitive actions.
I think we have fairly good chances of getting a response to our questionnaire. There are a great many candidates for the presidency on the Republican side and I think one or two would be interested in answering our questionnaire, if only to differentiate themselves from the pack. Republican candidates for South Carolina governor met with a neo-Confederate front group to be video taped as to their views on the Confederacy among other topics. The South Carolina presidential primary is a critical gate in the primary season for presidential candidate and after New Hampshire, an opportunity for a candidate to gain the lead. George W. Bush derailed John McCain's presidential aspirations in 2000 by having a pro-Confederate flag front group attack McCain. Huckabee when campaigning there in the 2008 presidential primary wanted to make sure that voters knew that he supported the Confederate flag. I suspect that neo-Confederate groups are already planning a questionnaire or video interviews to screen the presidential candidates as they did the candidates for governor of South Carolina.
On the Democratic side, there well may be some other candidates besides President Obama in the next primary cycle and who might want to answer the questionnaire.
We are working on all the papers to have them ready by Nov. 2010. The campaign for the presidency I think really starts in January 2011. The mid-term elections will be over, the holidays will be over, and the new congress in session.
We will post the questionnaire later.
The cover letter has been written and the questions have been defined. We started with 20 or so and whittled them down to twelve questions. These questions may not cover every issue, but I think that answers to the questionnaire will give a person a fairly good picture as to where the candidate stands.
What isn't complete is the briefing and background information papers which will go to journalists. We are still working on these papers. We will want to have a brief paper on what neo-Confederacy is, I don't expect reporters to want to read a book. We need to write up a back ground for each question. We are also going to have a paper with background information on the presidents and the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy from Franklin D. Roosevelt to the present. I have accumulated materials over the years and have some interesting materials.
The questionnaire is about where America is heading and about what direction the presidential candidate would take America if elected. It isn't about debating the 19th century or the president's interpretations or understanding of 19th century history. It is about who we are and where we are going which is something everyone is interested in.
So we have the questions in two sections, one section concerns policy, and the other concerns national identity, what type of nation we think we are. Once a nation has an idea of who they think they are and what type of nation they should be, politics, policy, actions are largely derivitive actions.
I think we have fairly good chances of getting a response to our questionnaire. There are a great many candidates for the presidency on the Republican side and I think one or two would be interested in answering our questionnaire, if only to differentiate themselves from the pack. Republican candidates for South Carolina governor met with a neo-Confederate front group to be video taped as to their views on the Confederacy among other topics. The South Carolina presidential primary is a critical gate in the primary season for presidential candidate and after New Hampshire, an opportunity for a candidate to gain the lead. George W. Bush derailed John McCain's presidential aspirations in 2000 by having a pro-Confederate flag front group attack McCain. Huckabee when campaigning there in the 2008 presidential primary wanted to make sure that voters knew that he supported the Confederate flag. I suspect that neo-Confederate groups are already planning a questionnaire or video interviews to screen the presidential candidates as they did the candidates for governor of South Carolina.
On the Democratic side, there well may be some other candidates besides President Obama in the next primary cycle and who might want to answer the questionnaire.
We are working on all the papers to have them ready by Nov. 2010. The campaign for the presidency I think really starts in January 2011. The mid-term elections will be over, the holidays will be over, and the new congress in session.
We will post the questionnaire later.
2011 Letter to the President concerning the Arlington Confederate Monument
There will be a letter in 2011 to the President concerning the Arlington Confederate Monument.
This blog will keep you updated as things develop.
http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/
Also, at this blog you can read the letters of 2009 and 2010, or you can read them at the History News Network.
I think in 2011 we will be able to garner a great many more signatures for a variety of factors. The second book is out and a great many people are reading it. I have two new web sites for scholars and students to use as a research resource. It means when I "cold call" for a signature, it is going to be much easier to get a dialog going and get support.
This blog will keep you updated as things develop.
http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/
Also, at this blog you can read the letters of 2009 and 2010, or you can read them at the History News Network.
I think in 2011 we will be able to garner a great many more signatures for a variety of factors. The second book is out and a great many people are reading it. I have two new web sites for scholars and students to use as a research resource. It means when I "cold call" for a signature, it is going to be much easier to get a dialog going and get support.
Giving up Neo-Confederacy by the Virginia GOP
This very interesting article in in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/02/AR2010100203167.html
Governor McDonnell and former Gov. George Allen publicly reject Confederate History Month. However, it is not clear whether State Attorney General Cuccinelli has given up Confederate History Month.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/02/AR2010100203167.html
Governor McDonnell and former Gov. George Allen publicly reject Confederate History Month. However, it is not clear whether State Attorney General Cuccinelli has given up Confederate History Month.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
James Loewen signs "Reader" at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi
James Loewen will be signing copies of "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" and doing a reading, at Lemuria Books in Jackson, MS, Oct. 11, 2010.
The event notice is here:
http://www.lemuriabooks.com/index.php?show=events&id=1351
Some of James Loewen's engagements can be viewed at his website: http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/
The event notice is here:
http://www.lemuriabooks.com/index.php?show=events&id=1351
Some of James Loewen's engagements can be viewed at his website: http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/
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