The South will rise again.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Howdy, ya'll. Just passing through. I hope all of you are doing your blessed best in these difficult times.

Just wanted to give a shoutout to some old friends like Yankee, and PiT, and fhtagn. Thanks for looking out for me. I appreciate the invites to return, but life's sorta been in the way in a good way.

God bless each and every one of you!

Nice to see you! It's been a while....

[Goldwater]

Despite everything, seeing this thread again makes me weirdly nostalgic.

[Wisconsin+17]

"Two hundred, twoscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. We have been engaged in a great social war, testing whether this nation, or any nation so conceived may long endure.

As our forefather Jefferson remarked, to preserve a government among men that it was necessary to water the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

A good man, Abraham Lincoln, gave his life in defense of this nation and the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In his eyes, it was preferable that a nation in liberty remain united in liberty, against those who wished to suborn liberty under selfish desires for the dominion of man.

That time has now passed. Those who claimed to be the vanguard of liberty, have, in the last 20 years engaged themselves in all manners of tyrannical acts. They have deprived our citizens of their property, their ability to speak and express themselves, their ability to attend the church and the services of their choice, their ability to raise their children in a peaceable environment. These tyrants have deprived our citizens of their ability to work without fear of dismissal for exercise of their God-given rights.

And for what rationale have they suborned our people's rights to liberty? For the cause of security, safety and the preservation of the Union.

If the Union no longer serves the purpose for which it was created, then the individual states have the option, nay, the duty to dissolve the union for the preservation of the rights of man.

This nation was not founded on the principles of collectivism, be it in the grouping of people by class or in the notion of collective security. It was formed for one purpose, that of liberty, and the preservation of these rights from the great body of men seeking to deprive them of these rights.

Many men, women and children fled their homes to seek a better life overseas, to escape the  bonds of the King of England, and their own homes elsewhere suffering under the great toils of oppression.

As was once remarked by other seekers of freedom, "there is no where else". Should the bright light of liberty fade here, these patriots could not flee to another country, the light of liberty would dim throughout the world.

These are the stakes. I am greatly heartened to see that the People of our beloved South have chosen to go their own way in the preservation of liberty and the rights of men throughout our blessed lands.

I will implore those, on both sides to not seek immediate redress of former grievances. The federal behemoth of the state of Atlasia will be deprived of the labours of the people of the South, and so many will seek to bring the South forceably back into an unwanted and unwilling union between our two peoples. Let us have peace that we might be a beacon of hope and light to all the people of Atlasia, that one day the rest of the Union might be free.

For as it was Lincoln himself who also said, "it will become all one thing or all the other". Liberty will not be confined to the South, but will spread throughout the nation of Atlasia, north as well as south. We have great hopes for the people being left behind that they too will someday cast off their shackles.

God bless all of you. I did not expect that I would see this day.

I myself, will not be returning to the great battleground. I have served my time, and I have duties and responsibilities to my own family. But all will be welcome in the Ranch and I will be delighted to host each and every one of you. It is a small token of my gratitude to this great people that have given me so much.

Godspeed. Let us go forth and create a mighty nation that will shake the world.