The rebirth of the Free State

By MDMyMaryland

 

A renewed interest in small government at the northernmost end of Dixie

Contrary to the beliefs of some commentators on certain low-ratings national “news” agencies, the “Free State” didn’t earn its second nickname by being pro-Lincoln. Quite the contrary, Lincoln recieved less than 3,000 votes in the entire State, which voted for Breckinridge, and the nickname originated from a newspaper editor who called it so in response to Marylanders being called traitors for refusing to enforce prohibition at the State level. Yep that’s right folks, up until 35 years ago, Maryland was a reliable State’s rights zone. Today, so many Yankees have migrated to the central portion of Maryland that many don’t even identify with the rest of the State as “Southerners,” let alone hold a positive view of the League of the South or secession movements sponsored by other regions of the State. But despite multiple organisational setbacks, the Maryland Division League of the South has seen a recent boom in State-wide interest. Just two months into the year, the division has made appearances on radio, and been defended by various local newspapers. This year’s first meeting was held at the end of January in La Plata, MD. While there was much lament over the state of affairs in Montgomery county, a virtual cancerous extension of Washington, D.C., the major activist planning revolved around bumper stickers and supporting businesses that serve sweet tea and display proper manners. Both important to the preservation of our culture, but hardly means by themselves for the resurrection of a sovereignty movement.

When Thomas DiLorenzo, economics professor at Loyola University in Baltimore, was viciously attacked by a Missouri congressman for being tied to a “hate group,” a front page story in the Baltimore Sun raised many an eyebrow across the Old Line State. Even more shocking than the front page mention of the organisation, was the unbiased reporting normally lacking from the left-leaning news source. Members of the League of the South reported outsiders holding conversations about the article with positive reviews for the group and Ron Paul’s defense of it. For the first time in the history of the Maryland League, the League was publically on the offensive, and the detractors looked like the poverty pimps they are. Even Loyola University, which said it would certainly investigate any ties to “confirmed hate groups” by member professors, issued statements saying that the web site for the League of the South did not to their knowledge have anything hateful about race; in fact, the “free thinking” society called for an open debate and the issues the League claimed to represent were appropriate for discussion. Finally, consistency. The effect was that a large amount of Marylanders who had never before heard of the League were now introduced to it. Before they could be brainwashed into dismissing it as a hate group, such claims were already discounted. A barrier that often impedes even groups in the deep South was, at least temporarily, pushed aside. The time to advertise official positions of the Maryland League had come.
Most bills in Maryland have two facts in common. First, it’s all about the dollar in Annapolis. Second, if it’s a liberal bill, it is generally only supported in the D.C. metro area. The reason for this second observation is because while Maryland’s counties may be very conservative overall, over half of the residents live in the counties surrounding the Washington region. Case in point: Montgomery county. Just 50 years ago, the county was reliably conservative, and one of the largest businesses in the county was tobacco farming. Fast-forward 50 years later, and the amount of Yankee (mostly New England) transplants to Montgomery county alone has increased 2,600%. Yes, you read that right. For every Yankee living in the county 50 years ago, there resides 26 more today. And what could possibly draw so many Yankees to an area of Dixie that is well inland of the beaches and not exactly “endless summer” territory? Government jobs. And government workers almost always vote their paychecks. So not only did they bring their humanistic worldview, but their big-government voting paterns as well.

There are the areas such as northern Prince George’s county (also adjacent Washington, D.C.) and Baltimore City, which have a majority black population, historically democratic. But it is the gerrymandering that prevents a lot of these areas from being competitive politically. When a black man such as Charles Lollar, a conservative who proved he could hang out in the Confederate flag-waving bars of St. Mary’s county for a half hour and walk out with $5000 in donations just by showing who he really represented, can win three quarters of his district by county and lose because of an area stretching out 15 miles from Washington, thereby losing the election, it is hard to see any real change. The result of such politics is areas like Solomon’s Island, with it’s pleasant Southron people and even a welcome sign reading “Welcome Y’all,” being “represented” by “men” like Hoyer who have no respect for the South as a whole, let alone his own district.

The fact of the matter is, if the entire eastern shore of Maryland, one third of the State’s landmass, all of western Maryland, all of Southern Maryland, and even the central portions excluding those two counties by D.C. and the city of Baltimore votes reliably conservative on every issue, there is still usually a good chance they don’t get their way. The only logical solution is secession. Not only from the United States federal regime, but from the corrupt State government as well. Counties have pushed for it in the past. A decade ago, several eastern shore congressmen pushed for the secession of all 9 eastern shore counties. Just last year the commissioners of Frederick county in western MD considered a resolution to explore the ramifications of becoming their own State. But until now there has not been a unifying issue to push the eastern, southern and western portions to move on their threats together.

With the economy tanking and the stability of the entire federal empire on the brink, the state legislature in Annapolis has decided it is a good time to tackle two primary issues: changing the State’s law defining marriage, and raising the tax on fuel at a time when $5.00 regular unleaded is being threatened for 2011. While the world focuses on the liberals in Wisconsin complaining about what the government may no longer give them, Annapolis is getting jammed daily with truck drivers and protestors afoot, taking a stand against a fuel tax that could increase as much as 13% in an already overtaxed State. This act by the legislature only serves as an attention getter to those otherwise sleeping throughout the land, screaming the need for a more permanent solution. And of course, the Maryland League of the South is here with solutions, advertising in the local and city papers and weekly services. The other bill, redifining marriage to be, for all intents and purposes, between anyone other than a man and his goat, may not even make it to the governor. The House of Delegates, otherwise more liberal of the two chambers, wrestles with how to vote for a “law” that even much of their constituents in the D.C. area (many of whom are either black or Catholic) are opposed to. The Senate president has already vowed that if the law is signed, he will personally see to it that there is a referendum on the 2012 ballot. Should the law be passed, don’t expect the news media to report on the possibility of a referendum until just before the election next year. They know once it is given to the people, it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Miami. With this issue, the Maryland League of the South has even gained permission from some of the top talk radio stations in the State to run pro-traditional Southern values commercials during peak listening time. These commercials are running, and even advertise Dixienet.org and the Maryland League of the South by name.

The fight here, just below the Mason-Dixon line, is not so much one to prove our postion, as it is to unify the people under one banner against all overbearing government. In Maryland, we can take several examples. The first being just how corrupt a State government, even in the South, can become when enough outsiders with hostile views inhabit one area. It is a warning States like Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia should heed sooner, rather than later. But the second example is how fast a foothold can be gained when people decide they have been pushed too far.

It is time all Southrons stand up and decide they have reached this point. Some of us are worse off, and some of us have yet to have our lives altered by this beast. But we all must take a stand for the cause of our independence. The sun is setting on this day and rising on a new one. It’s too late to be apathetic. It’s never too late to stand for the truth.