“…Funny thing is, our current state of affairs in this country is heading in a direction down which those same causes--states rights, protections of one's home and family are becoming ever more visible as our national government continues to suppress representative government, a free market economy and individual rights on a daily basis. Left to its own course, the political forces now at work will do far more than my poor words can do to clearly demonstrate that the Cause, thought to have been lost 140 years ago, has only been dormant; not Lost at all, and may well be dusted off, resurrected and once again make an appearance, but this time in the form of a National Lost Cause.”

Dennis,

Thanks for a very cogent, well-written and heart-felt position statement regarding the Lost Cause as it relates to your family. I really believe that many people, on this board and elsewhere, are pretty much of a similar mind on most of the issues you enumerate above. It remains to be seen what time will bring….

That great old Country classic by Don Williams, “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” speaks of the Lost Cause in its own poetic way:

When I was a kid Uncle Remus he put me to bed
With a picture of Stonewall Jackson above my head
Then daddy came in to kiss his little man
With gin on his breath and a Bible in his hand
He talked about honor and things I should know
Then he'd stagger a little as he went out the door…

CHORUS:

I can still hear the soft Southern winds in the live oak trees
And those Williams boys they still mean a lot to me
Hank and Tennessee
I guess we're all gonna be what we're gonna be
So what do you do with good ole boys like me?

Nothing makes a sound in the night like the wind does
But you ain't afraid if you're washed in the blood like I was
The smell of cape jasmine thru the window screen
John R. and the Wolfman kept me company
By the light of the radio by my bed
With Thomas Wolfe whispering in my head…

REPEAT CHORUS

When I was in school I ran with kid down the street
But I watched him burn himself up on bourbon and speed
But I was smarter than most and I could choose
Learned to talk like the man on the six o'clock news
When I was eighteen, Lord, I hit the road
But it really doesn't matter how far I go…

I can still hear the soft Southern winds in the live oak trees
And those Williams boys they still mean a lot to me
Hank and Tennessee
I guess we're all gonna be what we're gonna be
So what do you do with good ole boys like me?

Nice to hear from you and I hope things are going well for you “deep in the heart of Texas.”

Mike