Charlottesville: Observations from My Armchair

As the title infers, I watched the Unite the Right (UTR) Charlottesville events from the comfort of my home, not that I did not want to attend but logistically it was an impossibility. Had I attended, I would have been going to defend the Southern monuments, for they are a most valuable part of our society, not just ours, but for civilization itself. Destroying things of beauty is the labor of savages. 

So, my observations are just from what I observed from a few live steamers and news accounts. 

Like many on the Right, those that had hope in the Constitution’s rights and privileges, I looked on with anticipation for the events of that day. We knew there would be opposition, that was apparent from the chatter that came from the communists, sexual deviants, the historically deficient, and Yankees that had migrated to the Old Dominion, destructive invasive species all of them. However, the chaos that erupted that day caught most of us off guard. 

The night before the (legally permitted) UTR rally was something to behold. It was a brilliant and inspiring moment. Dozens of neatly dressed White men appeared without warning, catching the leftist opposition unprepared. With lights of passion held high in the dark, dissidents marched and chanted in a nonviolent act of civil disobedience, reminiscent of marches I had seen in my youth. Honestly, this old man teared up a little, as these youths gave me hope, thinking perhaps there were still men (and women) that carried the torch of liberty like their ancestors before them. They were stepping to the drum beat of freedom’s cause, resurrecting the ghosts that had fought two campaigns of independence, one successful and the other temporarily paused. 

The next day was something very different. Through the streams that I could see, and a podcast or two that had gone live, I watched and listened as the day unfolded. I could feel something was about to turn. What should have been a display of free speech from both sides collapsed into complete mayhem. I won’t try to establish a timeline, Anne Wilson Smith does an excellent job in her book Charlottesville Untold: Inside Unite The Right, as does Padraig Martin in his recollections

I watched as the speakers and attendees tried to assemble, although being redirected by the authorities directly into the path of their foes. I saw familiar faces on the live streams, and fresh faces ready to stand their ground. I cannot recall if the violence started before the event was deemed unlawful by the Virginia governor, or if leftist violence was the trigger to the approved plan of the state government. Regardless, disorder broke out, and I was sickened by the acts of law enforcement, something that was repulsive to my Boomer soul. I was always taught that the police were there to protect the rights of all citizens. I learned to be wary of the complicit “thin blue line” that fateful day.

There were many potential spots of encouragement, however. Many rightwing groups and those adjacent took part, some like the 3%ers and the Oath Keepers appeared to be less than useful, others melted away under the pressure. Nevertheless, just like those men whose statues they had come to defend, our Southern defenders held their ground against the antifa horde, black nationalists, and other miscreants. With shields in hand, the League of the South made us all proud. They were well trained and disciplined. It showed as the event spiraled further out of control. 

I watched as much as was available for the next few hours, heard about the police helicopter crash, a fatal traffic accident, and a few other occurrences. It all blurred together in the end. I absolutely hoped the rally would have been peaceful, and never wished for any of the lawfare waged against our fellow travelers. I understand the Hand of Providence that moved not just those that were there, but the greater Southern Nationalist movement. Whatever your conclusions, this had to happen; our people had to see that all the forces of those in power were against us. Once again, proud men (and some women) in Virginia had been destroyed but not defeated.

This has been an early but critical skirmish; cultural battles would continue in the coming years. 

I also believe the tide is turning, and the events in Charlottesville that day, when the history books are written by our grandchildren, will be the pivotal moment that inspired the coming victory. 

Deo Vindice!

God Save The South!

5 comments

  1. I just lost one of my closest lifelong friends to complications related to cancer, so, please forgive the nature of this comment.

    My wife and I went to visit our friend literally ten minutes before he expired. I had been away from home, but kept telling him in phone conversations for two weeks that as soon as I got back, we would come visit him; a promise I thankfully fulfilled on that fateful day in question. Our mutual friends have been commending us all week long for “being there” at the moment of his death. At first, I thought this was kind of strange, since being there at the moment of his death was sort of coincidental from our perspective. It wasn’t until the pastor preaching the funeral added context to their commendations that I finally understood: he (the pastor) related the story told him by my friend’s primary caregiver only a day before. It seems that merely an hour before we arrived for our promised visit, our friend was ‘talking up a storm’ about the angels surrounding him and singing hymns to the Lord, and vocally wondering why no one else could hear them. According to the second-hand story of these events the pastor told, it was just as our friend stopped talking about the angels and their hymnals that the caregiver heard a knock on the door, only to discover it was my wife & I come to fulfill my promise to visit our dear and loyal friend for (unbeknownst to us) the last time. No more than ten minutes later, he had gone to be with his Lord. I personally confirmed the exact time of his death @ 10:15am, Sunday, August 6, 2023.

    I told that story because (1) it relates to the point of your article, and (2) I should like it known that my personal “Loyalty to Lost Causes,” even when I believe or strongly suspect they’re lost beforehand, is undaunted. I knew, e.g., that my friend’s cause (to defeat cancer) was certainly lost way before his actual, untimely death. As is the case with all us mortals. The cause we’re now fighting together for Southern Independence is most likely already lost, but this is just reason, and all the more of it, to remain loyal to the Lost Cause before us:

    https://orthosphere.wordpress.com/2018/12/08/on-loyalty-to-lost-causes/

    1. An inspired comment all of us needed to hear and a great article by JM Smith. Thank you!

      I especially liked:

      “History is not a discriminating connoisseur carefully selecting the best. It is a swine plowing the muck in eager expectation of a cabbage stalk or a wizened potato, and grunting with irritation whenever it bumps its snout against a Venus de Milo.

      If loyalty to lost causes has a thesis, it is that human history has been a story of pearls cast before swine.”

      It all put me further in mind of Richard Weaver’s similar observations in his essay “Up from Liberalism””.

    2. Fitting tribute to your friend, thank you for blessing us with these words.

      Our glory does not rest in the outcome of the battle, that is in the hands of providence, our glory is our engagement in the fight.

      Lost or not , we carry ourselves well, to those in the past and in the future.

      Deo Vindice!

    3. Just read your article about lost causes. Seems I have been fighting for them most of my life. Most causes I have fought for seem to be lost somewhere along the line, though I fought for them when I was able and still believe them to be right. I put an article up on my blog https://revisedhistory.wordpress.com just this morning about how I feel the election of 2024 will also be lost (stolen) by those that want China Joe to remain in office.

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