Election 2000: Time for a Divorce
Between Madonna & Merle
by Dr. Michael Hill - - Posted:11.15.00

As I watched the national election results coming in on the evening of 7 November, I heard one of the countless TV pundits remark that the "country music" states were all going for Bush. After looking closely at the electoral map-Red for Bush, Blue of Gore-I couldn't help noticing that this fellow was right on the money. I also ascertained that the "Madonna-MTV" states were lining up solidly for Gore. In light of the closeness of the tally and the subsequent crisis it has produced, I think it's time to seriously talk of a divorce between Merle Haggard and Madonna. The same house can't hold them any longer. Let me explain why.

Now, we know that, as Alabama Governor George C. Wallace once said, there's not a dime's worth of difference between the jackasses and pachyderms; however, most Americans who voted in this recent election apparently still think that there is enough difference between the Democrats and Republicans to warrant a long wait in line to cast a ballot. And in this case, perception may be as important as reality.

Generally speaking, most Americans (including Southerners) still equate "conservative" with "Republican" and "liberal" with "Democrat." Voting on that assumption (and a faulty assumption it is), the voters told us much. On the one hand, the "conservative" Bush carried the "fly-over" states in whose dark and dangerous recesses dwell the majority of the common folks who still revere "God, Guts, and Guns," much to the dismay of their social and cultural betters in Hollywood and Manhattan. This includes the Deep South, the Upper South, Texas, some of the Midwestern states with a Copperhead and agrarian tradition (Ohio and Indiana), and the Mountain and Great Plains states of the west. On the other, Gore carried the elitist states of New England (excluding New Hampshire), New York, Pennsylvania, the Maryland-DC area, some of the old line liberal-populist states such as Minnesota and Iowa, heavily unionized Michigan, and the Left Coast fruit and nut satrapies of California and Washington state.

As I write, the whole issue hangs in the balance in Florida. What we have here is a microcosm of what transpired nationwide. There is no longer one Florida; rather, there are now several based on a demographic trend that has transformed south Florida into a bastion controlled largely by Latinos and transplanted Yankees, both Jew and Gentile. Much of the Gulf Coast northward to Tampa-St. Petersburg remains traditionally conservative, but the truly Southern areas are found from Pensacola eastward across the Panhandle to Jacksonville in the east and southward through the orange groves to Orlando (excepting only the liberal fever swamps of Tallahassee and Gainesville). Florida turned out to be the battleground state simply because of its demographic diversity.

Even the usually imperceptive national pundits were sharp enough to catch the meaning of the colors on both the national and Florida state maps on Tuesday evening. Several talking heads noted that a "culture war" was being waged in this election. What becomes clear by looking at the electoral map is that there indeed are two clearly defined sides widely divided by worldviews. The question begs itself: How long can a shaky peace between them hold? In such a close and hotly contested race, neither side's supporters are likely to accept defeat graciously. It is now evident that glaring irregularities and outright voter fraud was rampant all across the country. Now, both sides threaten more recounts and lawsuits that will gum up the process further for weeks or even months. Perhaps the entire system will be brought crashing down. Out of all this confusion one salient fact shines through: the American Empire can no longer manage its affairs in an orderly manner. For that reason, it should be dismantled as soon as possible.

In a recent editorial, syndicated columnist Walter Williams observed that there are basically two sorts of folks in America today: those who wish to be left alone and those who wish to tell everyone else how to live. Putting aside the real natures of the Democrat and Republican parties (they both are secular, centralizing organizations who see salvation in power politics), the Bush voters generally fall into the first category and the Gore supporters into the second. Moreover, the Bush constituency is mainly made up of white European stock that favors gun ownership, Christian morality, less government, fewer programs for minority "victim" groups, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Gore constituency -the elites and their various minority clients-favor gun control, big government, more programs, high taxes, the normalization of deviant behavior, a secular notion of human rights, and a very loose construction of a living and evolving Constitution. In other words, they are polar opposites in many respects. There is no room for compromise.

Would not a friendly separation now be preferable to a bloody conflict later? It is past time that Merle and Madonna part company.

Dr. Michael Hill
President
The League of the South

Published at both The League of the South National Website ( www.dixienet.org ) and Sierra Times ( www.SierraTimes.com ).