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First, he ascribes meanings on what you did which were conjured from thin air. He states that we somehow claimed a victory, when no where did we ever do that, nor did we ever hope that such a thing would happen. SP News Editor, Greg Kay Next, he claims that we supported the Governor's election, which is a gross oversimplification of what happened. Finally, he boasts of how his party is the only hope for liberty in the South today. The HPA does the same thing everywhere: we play politics in the highest circles, for the defense of Southern heritage and the preservation of our culture. We do not now, nor will we ever be a separatist group or use demagogic platitudes to invigorate the population. The vast majority of people today are much too sophisticated to believe in such banter anyway, and it is that majority we seek to influence. If the Southern party or any other new party ever actually achieves any power, they will then learn the reality of the world; rules which were laid down by Machiavelli centuries ago: your choices are diplomacy or war, and I mean the shooting kind, not the euphemistic kind these men spout. In real language, you either be nice or you beat hell out of the other guy. These are your only choices for moving forward to victory. If all you do is bitch and moan and call people names, you will be ridiculed, despised and marginalized. You have no hope to do anything positive. Real leadership is not the kind of thing that can be re-invented. The rules are fixed. What y'all did was great. I remember reading about the 1861 meeting Alexander Stephens? committee had with Lincoln. They knew that they would not convince him to withdraw his troops from Virginia (duh!), they hoped to be spurned, to show the Southern people that we were willing to talk, but they were the bull-headed party. Even to this day we use that meeting to show an undeniable truth. What y'all did was the same. Warner can no longer claim to be inclusive or to represent all of the people. He can no longer boast of multiculturalism. You had to go directly to him and be spurned. It gives us more in the diplomatic arena. Thanks. It will be very useful in future debates and lobbying efforts. As for the theory that we supported the Governor's election, here's the truth (without platitudes): we worked for Hager's election because he offered to continue Confederate Heritage Month and do other things. He was opposed in the Republican primary by Early, who was a member of the NAACP and was openly hostile to Southern heritage. Early won by playing the race card, so to punish him, we asked people to not vote for him, but to continue to support Katzen for Lt. Governor. In this complicated situation, we asked for the Southern Party to help. I asked Mr. Baxley personally at a meeting in Louisiana. He refused, stating that he intended to run for Governor himself. So the Southern Party spent all of its effort on Baxley's quixotic effort. We could have elected Katzen as Lt. Governor with a little more help and insured that the next Governor would re-instate our Month. However, he lost by a narrow margin. This is a fact. The Baxley campaign was an embarrassment. Even Ross Perot was able to get on the ballot. The Southern Party didn't even try. Why? I can't say, but it is a lot of hard work and takes a long time. I truly hope it was not a simple ego-play by the Chairman. That would be a sad testament to an otherwise good idea for a political party. We will continue meeting with political leaders in all states and localities, both friend and foe, as we have done a hundred times. We will do so because that is the ancient way of diplomacy. Even the NAACP knows that, and meets regularly with leaders. Y'all did good. Keep it up. P. Charles Lunsford, President Heritage Preservation Association PS: Feel free to circulate this.
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