Upon the 153rd Anniversary of the Battle of Resaca

DISCLAIMER: Shitepoke.com blog attempts to authenticate its content. Disclosure of substantive errors is solicited and will be acknowledged. Accordingly, readers are encouraged to explore and enjoy this content, in its own right, but to always obtain additional sources for historical or academic research.

My grandmother was Mary Esther Nance Nations (1900-1986). She grew up at Nance’s Spring, barely over the county line in Whitfield County — one of nine children of Charles Robert (Grandaddy) Nance [1856-1934] — and Bertie Stroud (Mig Mama) Nance [1878-1964].

Charles Robert — or Bob as everybody called him — grew up in Whitfield County. His father James Nance (1825-1904), had been deployed by the Confederate army in the Civil War and sent into battle a half dozen times, each time being sent home to recover from bouts of chronic asthma. His wife Matilda Clemie Hayes Nance (1824-1886), barely a year older, was also a local girl.

When Sherman marched through Whitfield County en route to Resaca, James was once again away with his company in Alabama, leaving his wife Clemie alone with their six children.

Eight-year-old Bob’s memory of the Civil War, at the age of eight, was sufficiently lucid that the epithet Blue Belly — given to the brutal Federal Troops dressed in blue uniforms — was annealed in his mind as the Waffen-SS Troops were to Ann Frank.

On Tuesday morning, May 10, 1864, Clemie, aware of the progress of the Federal army, under the command of William Tecumseh Sherman, awoke to the distinct cracks of artillery fire to the north. Within an hour, mounted Federal reconnaissance troops had made their way past the Nance’s meager farmstead, heartbreakingly bearing the flag of the United States — until mere months ago their very own symbol of unity and security.

Indeed being attacked by your own government was an experience writ so extravagantly large in the minds of the rank and file Southerner, that it canonized the mistrust of authority — all authority — a visceral vein of conservatism shot through the political mindset to this very day, much to the chagrin of pluralists who fancy ceding the levers of power to an all-benevolent state.

Clemie gathered the children, bade them dress quickly, flung the windows and doors of their house wide open, caught and harnessed their pair of mules and hitched them to a plow, untied the docile milk cow and threw rocks at her in an attempt to shoo her out of sight into the woods.

She solemnly ushered the whole lot into the steamy dew-drenched field where they feigned the routine of working the early summer cotton crop, an attempt to signal their defiance — that home and personal effects (indeed nations and governments) were utterly disposable — that only life and land spoke truth to power.

When the first dusty wave of cavalry came into focus, Clemie and the kids stoically watched as troops dismounted and bounded up the steps to the front porch of their shotgun house, so-called owing to the unobstructed central hall that bisected the structure, front door to back door —figuratively allowing a shotgun to be fired straight through without hitting a thing.

They watched as precious kitchen provisions were hauled out, as bed linens and blankets were stuffed into toe sacks, as the precious few yardbirds were picked off with minié balls and strung up by the feet for provisions. As the troops surveyed their loot, the milk cow, her udder painfully swelled from want of her morning milking, ambled out of the underbrush in hopes of relief. She was ruthlessly felled, bled, and quartered.

Clemie silently prayed that the ransacking bunch of war criminals would not set fire to the house. With that, the constabulary head paused for long moments and surveyed the pitiful Nance family who stood paralyzed in sheer terror, the stunning silence broken only by the sweaty mules pawing, snorting, and swishing the horseflies with their brushy tails.

Whether by some atavistic compunction or by sardonic depravity, he gallantly tipped his hat to the Nance tableau and signaled his charges to mount and depart.

Young Bob snubbed wet tears of fear as phalanx after phalanx of Federal infantrymen marched by, the final company passing well into the afternoon. Only under cover of darkness did Clemie and the kids return to the defiled house, praising sweet Jesus, if only for their very lives and an intact roof.

On Friday — May 13, 1864 — the 98,000 Union troops of the selfsame General Sherman that had defiled Clemie Nance's meager homestead would square off — 5-miles' south —with 60,000 Confederate troops under the command of Joseph E. Johnson — in the the historic Battle of Resaca. The lopsided carnage lasted the better part of three days. 

When Sherman's troops crossed the Oostanaula River,  Johnson's troops were forced to withdraw — ceding victory to the Union — clearing the way for Sherman's advance to Adairsville — and ultimately to the storied incineration Atlanta.

At the last, some 5,000 combatants lay wounded — untold many of whom would ultimately die from mortal systemic infections — with utterly no medical attention — and some some 3,000 American fathers, sons, and nephews lay dead — mutilated and dismembered in the red clay dirt of North Georgia. 

Witnesses say that Camp Creek (today just west of I-75 Exit 320) ran quite literally red with human blood — only yards before the swiftly flowing Oostanaula River diluted its life-draining fluids into history.

This weekend — untold hundreds of people will participate in — or witness — the re-enactment and re-creation of the Battle of Resaca — trivializing the human carnage — and romanticizing the atrocity, death and destruction of war. They will dress-up in period regalia — buy cheesy souvenirs — and down sugary funnel cakes and Co-Colas. They will bring their children — and inculcate the legacy of commemorating the Confederacy as their honorable and godly birthright.

Most will not tell their children what the Confederacy stood for: the establishment of a fascist state —  promoting the buying and selling of human beings like livestock. 

I instinctively wonder what my great-great- grandmother Clemie Nance would think about this.

Calhoun GA 05/21/2017

The Fight is On

NEW YEAR'S EVE 2017

The day after election day – I declared myself too old and beaten-down to participate in the shit-show that served-up Donald Trump – the bullying racist ignoramus –– in hope that he might emerge as a pragmatic chief executive willing to staff-out the heavy lifting to competent experts.

The nemesis of such hopes lies not only in Trump's mind-numbing hubris – his megalomaniacal notion that he is the smartest person on earth, with zero evidence – but in his selection of Mike Pence as his vice president. 

You see Pence is a specially virulent combination of stupid and dangerous: stupid, in that he is a Biblical literalist who subscribes to the talking snake version of creation, along with other Iron Age injunctions by which he reasons that God hates the same people he does; dangerous, in that theocracy is his political stock-and-trade. Remember: this is the governor who paralyzed Indiana with punishing economic backlash over arguably the most homophobic law on state books, on his conviction that Bible-banging Indianians were by-god entitled, under public law, to treat their gay neighbors like shit-under-foot.

For that, Trump rewarded the preening unrepentant Pence with the veep-stakes. Why, you ask?  – of course, to reel-in the bottom-feeding evangelical theocrats whom he needed to flesh-out his Republican bona fides. Accordingly, the religious right – in an act of suffocating hypocrisy – fell for it – "grab 'em by the pussy" and all. 

Consequently – 53-days' after the election, it is incontrovertibly apparent that Trump – abetted by Pence – fully intends to dismantle (a) 85-years’ of legislative and judicial activism which has sought to level the economic, political, and social playing field for all Americans, and (b) 50-years’ of iconic cabinet-level institutions painstakingly constructed – brick-by-brick – administration-by-administration – allowing our government to confront and oversee the big obstacles before us – firmly rooted in the principles of wisdom, cutting-edge science, fair trade, social justice, and national security – entrusted to top-flight career public servants.

Think: defense, state, law, environment, education, food and drug, energy, labor, agriculture, health and human services, transportation, commerce. Then, contemplate the rogues' gallery he has nominated to head these departments – not just ignorant cyphers (think Texas governor Rick Perry – Energy) – but proactive ideological vandals (think Jefferson Beauregard Sessions – Attorney General) –– all licking their political chops to delegitimize the institutions to which they have been granted custody.

Shockingly, radical Republican luddites now have a chief executive stooge who will apparently sign any bill into public law – however grotesque – shoved across his desk. Worse than that – the self-important little institutional nihilist, Paul Ryan (who went to college on his daddy's Social Security survivor benefits), is trotted-out as the moderate spectrum of their party – placing bedrock institutions as Medicare, Social Security, and public health on the ideological chopping-block – without a scintilla of economic or social justification.

But the ultimate assault on the wisdom, justice, and moderation of the United States of America – will be a full-frontal assault on our architectonic cornerstone: The Supreme Court. Make no mistake about it – the greatness of a nation lies in the independence of its judiciary. Autocrats and dictators invariably foment a weak judiciary – a band of partisan toadies that will rubber-stamp any majoritarian or party dogma – however anti-democratic or anti-egalitarian. Trumpism slathers its lips for a weak cronied-out judiciary.

The sudden death of right-wing lightening rod Justice Antonin Scalia spearheaded a heretofore unprecedented partisan backlash and Constitutional crisis – the virtual larceny of a Supreme Court appointee – the meme propagated by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Wait until after the 2016 election and let the people decide." That the American people 'decided' Barack Obama ought to make this appointment by a majority of 5 million popular votes and an even more lopsided electoral college victory of 332-206 – meant nothing to this obstructionist demagogue – who will regain his gavel come January.

Accordingly – Donald J. Trump – by only reciting the oath of office – will be the beneficiary of a free SCOTUS pick – with the ability to tip the balance to the nose-bleed right on day-one. He'll certainly get another pick his first term: 83-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and probably a second: 80-year-old Anthony Kennedy. The resulting 6-3 hard right plurality could endure for another 20-years – enshrining another Golden Age of corporate oligarchy – and instituting fascism as the governing social policy. Think: Roe v Wade, Obergerfell v Hodges, and Citizens United v FEC.

Resisting this 'regnum horribilis' – will require (a) every moderate Republican on deck; and (b) EVERY Democrat engaged – like NEVER BEFORE. We have capable leaders in Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Unfortunately many – if not most – of us live in a gerrymandered and majoritarian Republican-represented world.

For that – we must nevertheless 'lay-into' each-and-every party shill – at every turn – sending them an unambiguous message that we-the-opposition are also primary voters. Additionally – it is crucial that we stand-behind Democratic leadership – in thought, word, and deed. With 48 Senate votes – and solidarity – we can stand our ground on virtually every critical issue. 

I will do my utmost to keep us current. Never before has our civic activism been more crucial. We cannot let our children and grandchildren look back and say – we let Trumpism go down in America

Calhoun GA, 12/31/16

Post Script: To my friends who voted for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Look – I don't know if you are a racist and a homophobe.

Nonetheless, you voted for an unrepentant racist – a man who trolled for his political base, peddling retail 'birtherism' – in an effort to delegitimize the first African American President. And you voted for an unambiguous anti-gay bigot – a  governor who signed the most anti-gay state law in history. 

For that – you are asking me to give you the benefit of the doubt – that you ARE NETHER a racist, NOR a homophobe. That, my friends, entails a very tedious conversation. Please forgive me if I don't have the fortitude to engage each of you on these separate – yet inextricably – complementary issues.   

Homework

Racist Birther-in-Chief Donald J. Trump

Anti-gay bigot Governor Mike Pence

Homina. Homina. Paul Ryan's famous 2012 budget interview meltdown on Fox

The Donald Trump Constituency – a Unique American Tapestry

DISCLAIMER: Shitepoke.com blog attempts to authenticate its content. Disclosure of substantive errors is solicited and will be acknowledged. Accordingly, readers are encouraged to explore and enjoy this content, in its own right, but to always obtain additional sources for historical or academic research.

The modern Republican Party – over the past forty-some-odd years – has created the phenomenon of the Donald Trump constituency – out of whole cloth.

Serial adulterer Donald J. Trump – unabashedly mugs under the banner of the cross to the adoring 'family values' crowd who view the thrice-married casino owner as vastly more preferable than the reviled Hillary Clinton. 

First dismissed by pundits and intellectuals alike – today the prospect of a Trump presidency has reared its ugly head – as an existential threat to our democracy. For that, it is essential to examine the components of his constituency for their singular and collective import:

1. White Southern Racists: old school secular self-identified racists, bigots, and segregationists who are partisan Republican descendants of former so-called Dixiecrats in the Southeast.

A right-of-passage for a lower class of rural white Southerns, the unfurling of the Confederate Battle Flag is widely regarded as a proud display of heritage. While most – if not all – fully realize it is act of politically-incorrect defiance – their vaunted Constitutional RIGHT TO OFFEND black Americans - and even more reviled 'lib'-rul' white Southerners – who see it as an brazen symbol of white supremacy. This cultural subset is anthropological evidence that – while it is not THEORETICALLY impossible to overcome one's upbringing – it is indeed PRACTICALLY impossible – for all intents and purposes.   

2. Christian Dominionists: fundamentalist nut jobs who have convinced themselves that God hates the same people that they do – and believe it is the role of government to enforce their denominational dogma through public law.

Perennial presidential hopeful – and self-proclaimed dominionist – Mike Huckabee and legions of acolytes – consider it their divine injunction to impose their pinched version of the gospel of Jesus Christ on all Americans. Here Huckabee aggrandizes the jailing and release – in a public media spectacle – of anti-gay bigot Kentucky county clerk-of-court Kim Davis – for defying the Supreme Court of the United States by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Republican Kentucky legislature subsequently attempted to nullify the selfsame SCOTUS ruling by legislating changes to Davis' job description – thereby relieving her of her public duty to serve gay Kentuckians. 

3. Sociopaths: selfish sociopathic assholes who self-identify with Trump because he is a fellow selfish sociopathic asshole.

Trump primary rallies were rife with bullying and naked pugilism – suborned by Trump himself – who – on more than one occasion – incited conveners to assault protesters – offering to bond them out of jail and pay their legal defense. Under the rubric of 'politically incorrect' – shorthand for totally lacking in empathy for other Americans – Trump has emboldened a subculture of sociopaths, passionate to get even with the effete 'politically correct' pussies who have long inhibited their limbic-brained impulses to level the political playing field by brute force.  

4. Paranoid schizophrenics: craven paranoids who will fall for any demagogue – who tells them whom to fear and whom to blame (AKA the ‘Chicken Little’ syndrome).

Oblivious to the fact that Republican George W. Bush – in invading and destabilizing Iraq – including disbanding Sadam Hussein's Sunni Army – created ISIS out of whole cloth – deeply aggrieved and paranoid partisans are convinced that the putative Muslim Obama has emboldened ISIS to strike the United States. To them – this existential threat can ONLY be countered by Trump's empty bloviation to 'declare war on ISIS' – an asymmetric military impossibility. 

5. Fascists: text book fascists who long for a dictatorial strongman to dispense with democracy and the constitution – and purge the country of the "other" people who don't look, think, act, and worship as they do.

While the institution of the Western Liberal Democracy has long been the bedrock of the American political commonweal, the seeds of text book fascism easily germinate in the incendiary climate of inflamed political rhetoric – demonizing the "other" for all ills. Donald Trump laid the groundwork for this as far back as 2008 – when he assumed the mantle of 'birther-in-chief' in a disgraceful media circus vowing to delegitimize the presidency of Barack Obama by unearthing his foreign-born and Muslim provenance. While his quixotic gambit yielded nothing but mockery among the main stream media, the diehard 'birther' community anointed him as a true patriot.        

6. Oligarchs: corporate royalists and oligarchs who view the acquisition of government as the ultimate two-fold license: (a) to neuter organized labor and (b) to plunder the public treasury through the tax code.

In 2010 when the five-member Republican Supreme Court plurality pulled the Citizens United ruling out of thin air – it laid the foundation of a Neo-Gilded Age – rendering obsolete the retail market of the corporate lobbyist – subsuming it with the wholesale market of purchasing public officials directly from multinational corporate treasuries. Multi-billionaires Charles and David Koch (above) are the self-identified poster children of American oligarchs – dispensing untold millions of dollars into the wholesale electoral process – instantly creating bought-and-paid-for toadies subservient to their every legislative  hand-out. This political larceny also includes governorships – such as Wisconsin's Scott Walker – and even local city councils.      

7. NRA Crowd: a particularly virulent paranoid American subculture – and its political enablers – which views the unfettered, unaccountable, and unregulated ownership and acquisition of firearms – in civilian hands – as the civic antidote to the existential threat of evil, particularly as manifested in government.

From its bosky sportsman roots in the 1960s – the National Rifle Association (NRA) has metastasized into a take-no-prisoners affinity group – hired and paid-for by the munitions industry – a particularly virulent civilian subset of the military industrial complex. This civilian outreach has succeeded in creating retail  political constituency – dedicated to the unbridled militarization of the civilian populace. Fueled by the neo-religious baseless fiction that the Second Amendment mandates fealty to armaments in civilian hands – as a backstop to an ever-present tyrannical government – this subculture has proved itself implacable to the very idea of any regulation whatsoever – even in the face of perfectly legal military assault weapons in the hands the sociopath who mutilated twenty first graders in Newtown, CT. Indeed, the Republican party has time-and-again chosen the NRA and its adherents over the mandate of the American people – in regard to common sense gun laws.        

8. Low Information White Voters: low information, poorly educated, anti-intellectual, and often defiantly ignorant working class white people who are readily propagandized to believe the Republican party has actually advocated for their interests – despite practically zero objective evidence over the past forty years.

Legions of white American voters – variously categorized as Reagan Democrats – have been propagandized to believe the Democratic Party wants to take away their freedom, confiscate their paycheck, give it to shiftless minorities, and institute the tyranny of an all-powerful  collectivist government. The objective evidence reveals quite the opposite – that Republican administrations have consistently expanded government, started unwinable wars, drowned us in public debt, and gridlocked our economy. Inexplicably – despite virtually zero record to run on – bought-and-paid-for Republican apparatchiks manage to resurrect the belief that THEY ALONE can save us from our selves. Donald Trump has proved himself uniquely qualified to shill to this constituency.

And there you have it. Indeed, America is in the crosshairs of political crisis. To deny the existential threat of a Trump presidency is an exercise in sheer sophistry. Whether or not our collective community can weather this test remains to be seen. 

Calhoun Georgia
07/31/2016