As Americans woke up on the morning of December 16 and turned out their televisions or turned on their computers to see what was going on in the world, they learned that just hours before a group of Taliban gunmen had swept into a school in Pakistan and slaughtered at least 145 people, mostly schoolchildren, with at least a hundred more wounded. It will be some time before we can determine the final death toll inflicted by these terrorist gunmen.
People across the world were horrified by this news. It was a horrible, unimaginable, terrorist act.
Well, wait a moment. Remember who could imagine just such an act being committed in the name of southern nationalism?
That’s right … Pat Hines uttered just such a sentiment some two years ago.
Where might you find Pat Hines now? Alongside Michael Hill, president of the League of the South.
That’s Mr. Hines in the sportscoat.
No word from Dr. Hill as to whether the League of the South endorses Mr. Hines’s proposal or why Dr. Hill would stand proudly beside a person who uttered such horrible thoughts. But then Dr. Hill likes all sorts of people.
Perhaps he learned something from the mealy-mouthed commentary of another southern nationalist when I reported Mr. Hines’s declaration.
It’s a heritage of hate, folks … and with fantasies of murder. My, where have we seen that pattern before? Really? Yes, really.
Crossroads 
Well, when Connie says you’re nuts, you are a certified screewball! I believe this guy is all bluster. But, to even talk about committing such heinous acts deserves condemnation, and I’m glad you put the spotlight on him. While he is not inciting to immediate action and, thus, his speech is protected, he does bear watching by the FBI in case I’m wrong about him being all bluster.
Hines isn’t likely to do anything that would interfere with collecting his federal employee retirement pension. But that casual talk of violence and killing and executing people nonetheless creates an environment that feeds paranoia and violent tendencies in others. Before the LoS slinked off into the shadows and closed their Facebook page, Hines and others were giving advice to some kid, maybe 14 years old, on how he should be arming himself in the fight for the “Free South” — very specific advice about weapons, ammunition, and so on. Hines himself isn’t likely to pull the trigger on someone, but it’s rhetoric like his that’s fueled violence from the Oklahoma City Bombing to Eric Rudolph to the guy who shot up buildings in downtown Austin the other day. There may not be a criminal culpability there, but there’s certainly a moral one.
I am surprised he is not hosting a radio show.
Enter Connie Chastain to make excuses for Mr. Hines (just as she makes excuses for everyone else who talks about violence, including herself). She declares that Michael Hill had expressed his disapproval of Mr. Hines’s tactics to her over two years ago but does not explain why Dr. Hill would then sidle up to Mr. Hines. Of course, she enjoys an on-again off-again heritage dalliance with Dr. Hill, so who knows whether Hill was being direct or simply brushing her off.
As Chastain admits, the League of the South had radicalized since then, so even she would have to admit that her information from 2012 may no longer hold. That would explain a 2014 picture of Hill and Hines. But she says she still rubs shoulders with them, so perhaps she needs to ask Hill why Hines is okay in light of what Hines said. Or is it always going to be the case with these people that they never really mean what they say? Good to know.
As the Chastain method is to deny that people mean what they say, we now know she doesn’t mean anything she says. Meanwhile, where are the Gulf Coast Flaggers?
You highlight violent threats, and Connie Chastain dismisses them. You highlight a kidnapping, and Connie Chastain brushes it aside. And so it goes in Pensacola.
Thanks, Andy and Brooks, for further clarification of the tangled web that is the heritage movement of the unreconstructed rebels of the late insurrection. As “luck” would have it, I will be in Pensacola early in the new year. What specifically should I check out? I wouldn’t want to miss out on any CSA heritage tourist attractions. 😉
P.S. This will be my first time back to Pensacola since I was stationed there when on active duty in the U.S. Navy.
Near the top of my list would be Fort Pickens and the National Naval Aviation Museum.
Thanks for the suggestions. I don’t suspect I’ll run into any CBFs at the Naval Aviation Museum, but I’ll be sure to watch out for the CSA drones! 😉
Chastain is actively trivializing Lilly Baumann’s tragedy, using poor arguments to claim she is presumably safe. She is in fact campaigning against concern for the missing girl.
Chastain simply doesn’t give a damn about Lilly Baumann. Neither do the Virginia Flaggers.