3/27/16
(Easter), “Revolution”
Columbia
Metropolitan Airport, South Carolina (CAE)
My time in
South Carolina has come to an end, and I am already thinking about when I can
plan a trip to Alabama, which would be the last state in the South where I
haven’t properly visited yet (I had breakfast there one morning when I was 16 as part
of our Tennessee trip). I love the
South. I really do. “Backwards” the liberals back home call
it. There is nothing backwards about
this part of the country. It is just a
simpler part of the country, with a simpler way of living, with simpler
values. It is a place where the dreams
of our Founding Fathers still live.
I
will discuss more the idea of the Revolution (and the Rebellion) in my
reflective entry from the plane, but today was spent almost entirely exploring
Revolutionary War battle sites. It was a
rush to fit all three in and make it to the airport in time. The absolute latest I could have left the
hotel was 7:30 AM if I wanted any reasonable chance of making all three sites
and getting back to the airport in time for my flight. I had hoped to be on the road by 6:30 AM,
though. That didn’t happen. I almost fell asleep at the cigar store last
night, and he didn’t kick me out, letting me finish my cigar while he cleaned
up. I took an Uber back to the hotel,
ate my cannoli, and collapsed.
I woke up
a little before 6 AM, which was too early.
I couldn’t get back to sleep. I
finally got out of bed around 7 AM, and I was still exhausted from last
night. I was still full from my large
and late meal last night. I would not be
stopping at the Waffle House. I think it
was 7:40 AM when I left the hotel. Fuck. I was also dead tired, almost falling asleep
at the wheel. I had lit up a Centurion
for the ride, and after I ditched it, I stopped at a gas station to rest my
eyes for a bit and get some coffee, having forgotten to take the free coffee
from the hotel this morning. That
helped.
I got to the first site, Kings
Mountain National Military Park a little before 10 AM. I could work with that schedule. I’d have half an hour at each site, and 4
hours of driving, which would get me to the airport at before 3:30 PM for my
4:35 PM flight, assuming everything went right.
I told the ranger my plan, and he seemed doubtful I could do that. I’ve heard that before. I will refer my readers to a Google search
for the details of these battles, but the battle at Kings Mountain was an
important victory for the American Patriots against the British Loyalist
forces. I lit up a Fratello for the work
around the battlegrounds and took my ceremonial pictures.
I then headed to the next battlefield,
Cowpens National Battlefield. That was
an even more important victory for the Patriots, and it lead to the end of the
British control of the South. I walked
around a bit, continued my cigar, and took my ceremonial pictures, the same
thing I do at every NPS. I had been to
244 of them by that point. Then I was
starting to get hungry, and I was running low on gas. The timing was tight, but I was still on
schedule. I stopped at a Citgo to get
gas, along with a corn dog, chips, and a Diet Coke. It was raining on and off all day, and I
wasn’t really in the mood for a cigar for the drive.
I got to the last site, Ninety-Six National
Historic Site a little before 1:30 PM.
It would be an hour and a quarter to the airport from there, which meant
I could spend half an hour at the site, and I would be at the airport at 3:15
PM, assuming everything went right. I
did my business in the VC and started walking the trail, lighting up the Cohiba
my sister-in-law had gotten me from her trip to Cuba. This was it.
It was the last NPS in South Carolina for me. The Patriots lost the battles here, but it
had set the seeds for their later victories at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, and
we won the war. All’s well that ends well,
I guess. When I got to the main field, I
took my ceremonial picture, and announced, “South Carolina, wait for it,”
pausing to take an Official sip of water, “Complete.” Then asking myself (out loud) how and when I
could go to Alabama.
I got back to my
car a few minutes after 2 PM. It was
just over an hour to the airport. I was
on schedule to get to the airport right at 3:15 PM, assuming everything went
right. Alright, enough with the
suspense, everything went right, I got to the airport right on schedule. I dropped off the car and checked in. I then headed out to the smoking bench, where
I had some marshmallow Peeps (four bunnies), lit up a L’Atelier, and proceeded
to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can head through security
and to the gate. I will do the reflective
entry and properly close out this trip on the plane.
Aboard DL
5569, En route CAE-LGA
The American
Revolution was not about tea, no more than Civil War was about slavery. Everyone gets the first part of that, they
understand it was about wanting our independence? Or was it?
No, it was not. The American
Revolution was about us wanting representation in British Parliament. “No taxation without representation.” Remember that? It wasn’t, “No taxation.” It wasn’t, “Free tea for everyone.” It was, “No Taxation WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION.” That is why it is
inaccurate to talk about how we fought off the British or the misquote, “The
British are coming!” The colonists were
British.
That is why the terms Patriots
and Loyalists are more accurate. One
side, the Patriots, wanted their independence, after other methods had failed,
and the other side wanted to remain loyal to the Crown. This had nothing to do with tea. The tax was a small tax to finance, I
believe, the French-Indian War that was fought to protect British
colonists. The colonists just wanted to
have representation in Parliament to make sure their tax was fair. That was it.
They didn’t get it. They went to
war. If they could have remained part of
the British Empire (like Canada did), they would have, so long as they could
have had representation in parliament.
The Civil War, likewise, was not about slavery. President Lincoln himself said he would have
been okay with letting slavery continue if it meant peacefully holding the
country together. “A house divided
against itself cannot stand.” That was
the problem. Slavery was too divisive of
an issue for our country to remain whole, half slave, half free. There was no solution. We are seeing a similar division now, but it
is not a geographical division. It is,
for the most part, an urban vs. rural distinction. The biggest difference between the so-called
red states and blue states is that the blue states have larger urban
populations. Atlanta is much more a blue
area than upstate New York.
This latest
campaign cycle and the issues I have addressed earlier have been more divisive
than anything since the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. As I mentioned yesterday, this new liberal
agenda, calling people bigots on a prima facie basis, is as divisive as
anything done by the right. Slavery has
ended, and we have full equal protection under the law for all minorities. The liberals now want to set their sights on
racist thoughts, having successfully banned racist acts. While I fully condemn racist acts, and I do
not condone racist thoughts, I either more strongly condemn what the left is
doing right now.
The spirit of
revolution lives on in the South, and to call someone a bigot without fully
understanding them or where they come from or why they think the way the way
they do is as prejudiced as what the liberals are condemning. The spirit of rebellion lives on in the
South, too and I am seriously concerned where our country is heading. Since we do not neatly fit into
geographically-based ideologies, there could not be a civil war, but if the
actions we have recently seen in Nevada and Oregon are any indication, we are
heading towards a very bad place. I fear
that Mr. Trump has gotten much more right than he got wrong.
Progress can only be built on
cooperation. It cannot be built on
division. Progress cannot come about by
using terms like “bigot” and “homophobe” to condemn anyone with whom you
disagree. We are moving backwards in
this regard. Our Founding Fathers had it
right, and those on the left would do well to better follow their
examples. Otherwise, we may very well
see another revolution, and not the type of revolution that Senator Sanders
mentions. That is not a revolution. That is tyranny in sheep’s clothing. I will briefly pause now to have my in-flight
snack before I do my more personal reflections on the trip and the South in
general.
I have been
to 49 states. Of those, I have slept at
least one night in, I believe, 46 of them.
The exceptions being Alabama, Oklahoma, and West Virginia if memory
serves me right. I have been to every
region of the country, other than, of course, Hawaii. I have thoroughly explored every region of
the country. From sea to shining sea, I
have seen America the beautiful. Why
then does the liberal media in the Northeast think it is completely appropriate
to denigrate one or more of those regions?
Reader, the feeling is mutual.
That is why Senator Cruz knew it would be an effective campaign tactic
in some parts of this country to criticize Mr. Trump for having “New York
values.”
The South is one of my favorite
regions, though I do prefer the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and I’m
kind of fond of all the states that border Canada, actually. If you work in a newsroom in a big tower in
Manhattan and have never driven through the country roads south of the Mason-Dixon
Line, you don’t get to criticize the values that Mr. Trump’s supporters in this
region hold. You just don’t. I love driving those country roads, seeing
the tiny houses on the big plots of land.
It reminds me of a simpler time, and, with simpler times, come simpler
values.
I have been light on the
domestic travel of late. Since the Last
Great Summer Road Trip adventure I took with my mother in July, I believe I
have only been on five domestic trips, oh, six, my brother’s wedding
Oregon. The other trips were two in the
Northeast with my friends, both of which were driving trips starting in New
York, one to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the other to Connecticut and Rhode
Island. All blue states, all as liberal
as they get. I then took trips to Atlanta,
not leaving the city, the very blue city, and South Florida, again, very
blue.
Reader, do you see where I am
going with this? Not since Montana over
8 months ago have I been somewhere that votes red. That’s a long time to be surrounded by
liberals. My values are mostly
conservative, so it bothers me to see liberals attack conservatives as brutally
as bigots attack minorities. Why are the
attacks instigated by the liberals condoned?
Well, having been in blue areas for the past 8 months, I never gave it
much thought. Now I am starting to
realize the irony. Next weekend will
take me to the thoroughly purple state of New Mexico. After that, my domestic travels will bring me
to Philadelphia and perhaps Maine in June.
I will go to Texas with my mother in October, and I do not know when I
would go to Alabama, but it would not be before then. That means it’ll be 6 months before I set
foot in a red state again. That’s a long
time. I have an exciting summer of
international travel ahead, including Rio and Rome. It’s just a shame that I am running out of
domestic sites to visit. When I set out
to see the world, I guess I knew I’d very quickly run out of domestic destinations.
Okay, so, um, I almost missed my flight. After I closed, I figured I could smoke until
4:05 PM and then head to my gate. Well,
I meandered, and I stopped at the gift shop, and security took longer than I
expected, even though there was almost no line.
It was like 4:18 PM when I finally cleared security. They close the gate 15 minutes before
departure time. That meant I had two
minutes to get to my gate. It was a tiny
airport, so that was no problem. I went to
the board, and my flight’s gate was not listed.
Uhhhh. I figured it was delayed
or something. I went to check out the
airside gift shop. Then I heard it. They were announcing the final boarding call
for my flight, at Gate 8. I ran to the
gate, and they asked me if I was Margolin.
I told them that I was. They said
they had put someone else in my seat and could give me the exit row, which had
two open seats. Perfect.
Well, almost perfect. Someone did wind up taking the other seat,
but the exit row gives me more legroom, and I have an aisle seat, so it was
more comfortable than the cramped seat from the outbound flight. As soon as we were airborne, I proceeded to
write my entry, which I will now close, along with closing out this trip. Next stop: New Mexico with Uncle Frankie to
see the Trinity Missile site, along with some other National Park Sites. It’ll be a fun trip.
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