Just think … the day after tomorrow will see the Flaggers (and their friends) gather in Lexington to restore the honor and change hearts and minds. This presumes the presence of honor, hearts, and minds among the protesters.
- It appears that the Virginia Flaggers will be joined by a number of white nationalists/supremacists as they venture to Lexington to march and pose for pictures (sometimes with said white supremacists/nationalists).
- Although the Virginia Flaggers are well aware of this post (the Flaggers’ Facebook page contains a call to “Expose these haters and their despicable attempts to malign anyone who has the nerve to disagree with them…”), Susan Hathaway has failed to repudiate the folks at The First Freedom. It’s Skeered Silent Susan once more. You would think she’d follow her own group’s demand to “expose these haters.” Practice what you preach, Susan. Or will you simply pretend that you don’t read the posts to which you respond? That would make you look like Skeered Stupid Silent Susan.
- After listening to Karen Cooper of the Virginia Flaggers speak in this interview (she finally shows up at 26:00), we are reminded of the claim that she wrote the introduction to this book.
- Waiting to see the drone in action to defend Confederate heritage.
- Over the years Connie Chastain has jumped from one name to another as she writes about Confederate heritage. Among those names were Connie Ward and Connie Reb (how cute!). Perhaps her decision to entitle one of her books Storm Surge was influenced by her popularity with one poster at the neo-Nazi white supremacist Stormfront discussion board. Authors are always on the lookout for readers, although they can’t choose them.
- On the other hand, it is interesting to see from her blog (no link provided) that she’s on a first-name basis with the editor of The First Freedom, Olaf Childress. Guess they are old friends. They sure seem to go back aways. Let’s see her deny that.
- By the way, the West Florida Flaggers (sic) made several more appearances on the sidewalks of Pensacola (otherwise we’d have more Photoshopped pictures of fellow Flaggers). Finally someone showed up long enough to be photographed. How exciting. I was anticipating Patrick Stewart.
- Carl Roden shows in this exchange his version of southern manhood:
Yup, quite a man. A Southern Man. A little confused about gender, but then we expected as much.
We are sure to be flooded by pictures from Friday and Saturday, in part because for once there will be more Flaggers than flags. For Flagging is flagging outside the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where flags outnumber protesters.
Crossroads 
Well wouldn’t you know it? If you type in the screenname of the Stormfront user (Alsace Hebert) that linked to ol’ Connie Reb into a search engine, among the returned results are this story:
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-30/david-duke-returns-to-haunt-the-gop-house-whip
Apparently Alsace Hebert was an instrumental piece of the ongoing news story over House Whip Steve Scalise, who allegedly spoke to a group of White Supremacists headed by David Duke. Anyone have any ideas who this Alsace Hebert is?
Hmm… in this Dec 30, 2014 story Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Don Black refers to him as “our long departed friend Alsace”:
http://postonpolitics.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2014/12/30/the-inevitable-florida-connection-to-scalise-controversy/
Here is the post that started the firestorm over Scalise and which originally revealed the same Stormfront user as the source of the info:
http://cenlamar.com/2014/12/28/house-majority-whip-steve-scalise-was-reportedly-an-honored-guest-at-2002-international-white-supremacist-convention/
Just yesterday the SPLC posted an update on this story about David Dukes absurd, revisionist history claim that he’s not now, and never was a White Supremacist. Unfortunately, this tactic isn’t working for Duke, and it’s not working for Hathaway and the Virginia Flaggers either (including their “unofficial mouthpiece” Chastain).:
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2015/01/13/david-duke-again-takes-advantage-of-media-airtime-to-lie-and-mislead/
I have always wondered why these so-called “heritage groups” get upset with anyone who is offended by confederate imagery like the battle flag, but are stone cold silent when it comes to people who use these same emblems for bigoted purposes. It’s just wildly illogical and counterproductive if your stated goal is heritage and not hate.
Just think about it! Two people are standing on the street under a flagpole with the confederate battle flag flying from it. One person is offended and the other is screaming “white power”. … The Heritage folks get upset with the one offended.
I’m perplexed.
“The Heritage folks get upset with the one offended.”
That’s pretty much how it works. They always focus their ire on the person who calls them out on dumb, offensive, or ridiculous behavior, rather than on the person who actually did the dumb, offensive, or ridiculous thing.
By the way, what exactly is the Sons of Confederate Veterans Mechanized Calvary? I fail to grasp the historical connection to the Confederacy.
It’s a motorcycle club formed of SCV members.
aka “biker gang”
Well now this is rich. Olaf Childress, the editor of The First Freedom apparently authored this “Press Release” on 1-13-01, and in it he calls Connie Chastain (Ward) “a friend”.:
http://lists.topica.com/lists/SouthernHeritage/read/message.html?sort=t&mid=1605947506
“PRESS RELEASE — 1/13/01
So much for tolerance
By Olaf Childress
home-@gulftel.com”
“Some efficiency. Walking past their line and then accepting all those love
leaflets poked at us, we met a couple more friends in the lobby, one of them
Connie Ward of Southern News Service, and took our seats in the auditorium.
It became clear Mr. Dees wasn’t particularly interested in the college
students
lured there in exchange for extra credits, they making up less than a fifth
of the
250 in attendance.”
Charming story.
Also, it really does look like Alsace Hebert had a thing for Connie as this person posted links to Conniereb.com and 180 Degrees True South.:
https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t244627-40/
Just notice all the grey hair on the flaggers and SCV folks. Fadin’ into the past along with their past that never was.
Of course tomorrow all kinds of claims will be made about the vast show of support the flaggers received while ignoring that about half of that support was from racists in the League of the South and KKK. Pictures and video will be quite interesting because once they get posted the howls of denial will be rolling in. Pictures of scenes with more flags than people. Pictures of flaggers standing side by side with white nationalists.
You know what we will not see? Pictures of flaggers who give a damn about kidnapped kids. P
Instead we will see pictures of people who aid and abet kidnappers.
http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/1232607/1
I will give $1,000 in confederate bonds to anyone who can produce a photograph of themselves out flagging with the flaggers this Saturday and carrying this flag from The Southern Store: http://tinyurl.com/Thesouthernstore
Well it seems that the questions being raised really are striking a deep nerve with Chastain.
“I suspect Childress thought the last phrase of the definition applied — that the article never had copyright protection, and was thus in the public domain. But only he knows for sure, meaning all of Jacques’ sleuthing doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.
She notes that the VaFlaggers’ blog displays a copyright notice, so presumably she thinks Childress should have known he needed permission to reprint it. See, this is what happens when people learn a few things on the Internet, but remain ignorant of others. The Sticks and Stones essay was posted numerous places — on Facebook, where it was shared a bunch of times, and on other blogs that may or may not display a copyright notice. Unless he’s asked and says so, there’s no way of knowing where he got it.”
I suspect that Chastain will never be accused of being the smartest tool in the shed. Perhaps just a tool.
According to the Federal Government:
“When is my work protected?
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”
copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what
That’s right folks. Regardless of where the work was copied from, it was copyrighted to Susan Hathaway (assuming she was the original creator) the very moment she created it. Susan Hathaway is the copyright holder and any and all use by anyone else should be cleared by her first. It doesn’t have to be, but it should. Hathaway’s silence over the use of her work without her permission is in effect giving Childress and The First Freedom implied consent to re-publish her work.
“Implied consent is consent which is not expressly granted by a person, but rather inferred from a person’s actions and the facts and circumstances of a particular situation (or in some cases, by a person’s silence or inaction).”
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implied_consent
As was said before, you say it best, when you say nothing at all.
It does seem as if Chastain’s becoming ever more shrill. Just wait until the Pensacola media notices her. They’ll be able to evaluate her in context.
I think now is an appropriate time to remind everyone that a one year subscription to The First Freedom can be purchased for $25 a year. I wonder what the money is used for and by whom?
Also, if you try to unsubscribe Mr. Childress will graciously publish your name, contact info, and a retort in his letters-to-the-editor section. It’s like Connie always says: no publicity is bad publicity!
It probably just keeps Olaf in pepperoni and Bud heavy throughout the year.
Or maybe he is also looking into getting a toy drone.
I noticed the man in the middle is wearing a Redskins jacket. Wonder if that’s his favorite team or is he trying to make a statement?
My guess is that the money is re-invested in printing more and future issues of The First Freedom, which by the way is clearly not racist or hateful. You won’t find any Holocaust denial, Anti-Semitism, or denigration and stereotyping of peoples of color at all!
Just look at the nice things that were printed this month. Here are three examples:
1) An article/advertisement attributed to Richard Hardwood titled, “Did Six Million Really Die?”. It asks you to send $12 to Ingrid Rimland Zundel ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Rimland ) for a copy of a pamphlet with the same title which addresses “Revisionism”, which is the way racists describe Holocaust denial. Holocaust deniers frequently cite the number 6 million when questioning the Holocaust and also frequently use the number mockingly to poke fun at the reality of the Holocaust, such as when they refer to one another as “anaziwhowantstokillsixmillionjews”. (A tactic apparently popularized by Robert Whitaker and his “BUGSers”, I’m not linking to their tripe) Page 3
2) An earlier mentioned advertisement for the Soldiers of the Cross Training Institute, aka “Klan Kamp”, which apparently serves the purpose of indoctrinating children as young as 16 to Far Right ideology. The Kamp is run by Klansman Thomas Robb along with well known Neo-Nazis Billy Roper and Paul Fromm. Page 5
3) The issue includes many photos of African American protesters in the wake of announcements of no indictments in two cases in which unarmed Black men were killed by police, followed by captions that read for example:
“Here we have a strange monkey-man thinking he is a Native warrior, or something of the sort. According to media, it goes by the name of “Tarzm Congo.” Judging by the blue hands, he may have just attacked a Smurf.” Page 7
“How stupid can these Blacks possibly be? Oh, wait. I forgot that the average IQ of the African is in the clinically retarded category.” Page 15
“Blatant illiteracy of the Pavement Ape still obvious. The cautiously “White man” in the center must have mental or identity issues.” Page 18
(The captions are unattributed to any individual)
(Note: The First Freedom includes a disclaimer on it’s website that reads: “The First Freedom Isn’t Copyrighted USE THIS INFO”. The paper includes this disclaimer: “Except for copyrighted articles, anyone may reprint or quote The First Freedom in whole or part; just give full credit and address.”)
It is also interesting to note that there seems to be no complaint by people who supposedly seek to “Restore the honor” to the South and especially it’s symbols (such as the CBF), over the co-opting of the CBF by The First Freedom in promoting it’s special blend of peace, love, and inclusion. Not one peep. On it’s homepage, you will find not one, but two CBF’s. Inside this months issue, a CBF is displayed prominently at the very top of the paper. What a great way to “Restore the honor”. Yet you will find the same people gearing up for a weekend of rallying alongside White Nationalists in Lexington, VA. There is sure to be a ton of “restoration” taking place this weekend!
I’m pretty sure they don’t walk through life entirely with blinders on:
“coldsouthernsteelJanuary 15, 2015 at 8:20 AM
This post supports what I have been saying about First Freedom. I have read nothing there that is racist. One or two articles that Childress posted was at one time on Yahoo News.
Childress supports the white race, so what??? Name one racial group that doesn’t have someone promoting a racial agenda. Tell me one person that will truthfully say they want their race culture wiped out.”
“Connie Chastain January 15, 2015 at 9:55 AM
Calling the Ferguson, Mo., unrest a “chimpout” … references like “Jew media” … “Blacks and other mud people” … and the tone of blaming Jews for the world’s evils…”
Then again…:
“In a Monday column on her blog, Connie Chastain, who describes herself as a “Southern nationalist,” lamented the “radicalization” of the League of the South. In the post, she complains:”
( http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2013/08/07/the-radicalization-of-the-league-of-the-south/ )
She is in not alone:
“When asked in a December 2012 RT interview if he considered himself a White nationalist, Heimbach said he identifies as a Southern nationalist and supports secession.”
( http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Heimbach#cite_note-88 )
Chastain has a habit of tripping over her own words. Take her position on whether or not she’s the de facto spokesperson for the Virginia Flaggers (that she performs other tasks for them is beyond doubt). If she is, she’s don’t a poor job of it. If she isn’t, her ranting is besides the point, because Skeered Susan remains Silent, and Hathaway’s the only one who can tell us what she thinks. She’s declined to do so.
I like chastain’s reply to George Purvis you pasted because she knows what she sees, but caaaan’t quite bring herself to use the word “racist” to describe her buddy Olaf’s captions.
Check out Chastain’s Google Plus page:
https://plus.google.com/app/basic/100661474431476464148
Is anyone surprised that Gregory Kay is one of eight in her “Circle”. I know. You’re wondering who Gregory Kay is. Gregory Kay, according to this bio at Amazon ( http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-Kay/e/B0037LL4VS ):
“Politically he is a Southern Nationalist, and has held state-level office in the League of the South, and state- and national-level positions with the Southern Party/Southern National Committee.”
“His fiction and non-fiction have been widely published in a variety of internet and hard-copy publications, including The First Freedom monthly newspaper, for which he is the West Virginia correspondent.”
Amazon recommended to me that if I like Gregory Kay’s work, I’m really going to love the work of Billy Roper, Harold A. Covington and Ward Kendall.
Chastain is also friended with Kay on Facebook. Another person she is friended with on Facebook is Valerie Protopapas, who according to The First Freedom is on the papers Editorial faculty along with Ingrid Rimland Zundel, wife of infamous Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Zündel
Here is more on that pamphlet The First Freedom is pushing in it’s pages:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Did_Six_Million_Really_Die%3F
So let’s recap:
Chastain is on a first name basis with Olaf Childress, the publisher of The First Freedom, who called her a friend in a press release, and she’s friends apparently with a correspondent for the paper and a member of the Editorial faculty. No word from Chastain on if she agrees with all of the garbage coming out of the paper, but she certainly isn’t denouncing it, nor is she denouncing her friends in the VA Flaggers plans to rally this weekend with White Nationalists, and neither are they. Chastain, Matthew Heimbach, and Gregory Kay all are, or were Southern Nationalists. Southern Nationalism is White Nationalism predominantly being pushed by the League of the South who’s members announced on the VA Flaggers Facebook event page that they were planning on attending this weekends festivities which are being spearheaded by the VA Flaggers under the leadership of Silent Susan Hathaway.
Susan Hathaway is also friended on Facebook with Valerie Protopapas (of The First Freedom’s Editorial faculty), as are many of the Flagger family, including Connie Chastain, Barry Isenhour, Carl Roden, Lani Burnette Rinkel, Karen Cooper, Grayson Jennings, Sidney Lester, Billy Bearden… so why is that? Do they like to hear what she has to say? Do they like to keep in touch?
No wonder Susan isn’t making a statement against The First Freedom printing her material.
So what does Val say? Here’s a sampling from Dunford’s blog, where she courts Jerry as cassandra41, artist’s muse (self-identified as Val P):
Keep that in mind when Chastain says, “the VaFlaggers have no racist connections that I’m aware of.” (Chatterbox, 17 Jan 15, 10:12 PM)
And Susan Hathaway says nothing.
Note: I also posted this in the newest post, but I felt I should re-post here as it makes a nice bookend to the discussion and emphasizes the obvious cover the Flaggers seem to be giving to racists:
Let’s compare and contrast the reaction from Silent Susan, Carpin’ Connie, and the rest of the VA Flaggers peanut gallery like Georgie Porgie (who can’t find any racism at all in the pages of The First Freedom to save his life), and that of less radical, more mainstream groups like the SC Tea Party Coalition and the RNC (both faced with similar but perhaps less troubling revelations). Now on the one hand you have the silence of Susan, and the excuses we’ve all come to know and love from “Heavy Hitting” Chastain, and on the other hand you have this:
“After an Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights expose that was picked up by the popular website Raw Story, South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention organizers hastily removed all references to white nationalist leader, Roan Garcia-Quintana, from the coalition’s website.”
https://www.irehr.org/issue-areas/tea-party-nationalism/tea-party-news-and-analysis/627-south-carolina-tea-party-coalition-scrubs-white-nationalist-from-website
“Less than nineteen hours after the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR) exposed the bigoted background of Jake MacAulay and the Institute for the Constitution, South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention organizers once again hastily removed MacAulay’s photo from the front page of the convention website and removed his biography from the page of speaker bios.”
http://www.irehr.org/about-irehr/irehr-impact/634-second-troublesome-speaker-scrubbed-from-south-carolina-tea-party-convention
“Dave Agema, a member of the Republican National Committee from Michigan, republished an essay by the white nationalist publication American Renaissance in a New Year’s Eve Facebook post. The racist article, par for the course for American Renaissance, said “blacks are different by almost any measure to all other people. They cannot reason as well. They cannot communicate as well. They cannot control their impulses as well. They are a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike.””
“Update: The RNC voted yesterday to censure its member Dave Agema for posting material on social media that is insensitive to gays, Muslims and African Americans. Ironically, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus is working closing with a group, American Family Association, that could be described in the exact same way.”
http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2015/01/14/as-rnc-gathers-more-prominent-gop-members-in-bed-with-extremists/
No comparison!
Just think, in only a few short hours White Nationalists and Confederate Heritage types might stand side by side in Lexington, VA, helping one another “Restore the honor”.
The Flaggers have been pretty lucky that no real journalists care about anything they are doing, but sooner or later I think they’re going to face serious scrutiny, and once they do, look out!
Is that a Quantrill flag in the upper right of the top photo?
If so, do you think they know what he did to unarmed civilians?
Can someone explain to me why the POW-MIA flag is conjoined to the CBF?
Is that for all who went missing in Elmira & Point Comfort?
Or were Galvinized?
“Is that for all who went missing in Elmira & Point Comfort?”
Short answer is, yes. It’s another example of how modern political/cultural issues, in this case Vietnam-era PoWs/MIAs — get retroactively fitted to the Civil War context. That’s what a huge part of “heritage” is, modern-day issues superficially clothed in historical trimmings. One well-known Confederate flag advocate recently explained that understands what it was like to be a slave in the antebellum South, because she has deductions made from her paycheck every two weeks.
There’s another flag variant here, but it’s not as common probably because it’s not as immediately recognizable:
*Face palm*
Thanks, Andy….I think!
The other thing to know is that the particular variant of the flag in the second picture at top is that that pattern is becoming more common in “heritage” circles. It’s based on the now-defunct Georgia state flag, that had the state seal on a blue vertical band at the hoist, and other two-thirds was a CBF. They’ve mongrelized, Confederate-ized, lots of other state flags that way (including that of Texas) to show their un-reconstructedness. It’s disrespectful foolishness anyway, but especially from people who supposedly are all about the integrity of their own symbols.