The League of the South appears to be leading the media defense of the Confederate flag. Tonight I watched the South Carolina LoS chairman Pat Hines try to defend the Confederate flag on CNN (I’ll get video when I can).
"We think it's a memorial to our ancestors who fought to stop an invasion." Pat Hines, SC League of the South pic.twitter.com/dvt9IDeRtP
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) June 23, 2015
At one point near the end, Hines wondered why another guest (a South Carolina state legislator) was working for the “cultural genocide” of the Southern people by advocating removal of the Confederate flag. The incredulous response of the guests and host Don Lemon was the same as mine. You (Hines) can’t be serious. A symbol of slavery does not represent any good thing about anyone’s culture.
It was surreal seeing a representative of the League of the South as a guest on CNN. The leader of the League of the South. Michael Hill, has warned African-Americans about a race war and wants the Southern states to secede and become a homeland for whites. He has no problem being known as a white supremacist. His most recent rant is unhinged.
On another front, it has been surreal for a couple of years to know that members of the League of the South are leaders of a self-described effort to educate students and the public about the Constitution. Regular readers know I am talking about the Institute on the Constitution. Founder and director Michael Peroutka is a former board member of the League. David Whitney, IOTC senior instructor, is currently listed as chaplain of the Maryland/Virginia branch of the League (see image below).
At a news conference prior the Peroutka’s election to the Anne Arundel County Council, Peroutka defended the League, calling it “a Christian free-market group.” Peroutka said he quit the group but his Senior Instructor (Whitney) is a leader in the state branch and Peroutka has never denounced the League. Peroutka has also said he didn’t know any racists in the League but that stretches belief.
