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For a little recreation, instead of following the news channels, I put on the Western movie channel and watched Outlaw Joey Wales. I’ve seen it several times before but it is always good for a little recreation and there is a certain amount of truth to it. It was a Western/Southern that Clint Eastwood made back in 1976, I think, and if I am correct, he never made another Western until 1985. I can recall thinking after watching it several years ago that I wonder if Hollyweird warned Eastwood about making anymore movies like it, lest his film career suffer for it. I read the book it was taken from by Forrest Carter. Needless to say the book wasn’t exactly like the movie – but then they seldom are

A couple places in the movie often struck me as not all that far from the truth. One was after the Confederate guerillas surrendered when, after they had been fed, they were just massacred by the Union troops – or as Redleg Jim Lane said in the movie “They were decently fed and decently shot!” It reminded me of what happened when Jesse James answered the federal amnesty and came into surrender to the Yankee troops.

Instead of taking his surrender they shot him! So it would seem that their pleas of amnesty to Southerners were, in many cases, little more than an excuse to get them in pistol range! After that incident Jesse James never surrendered again – and can you blame him?

Another place in the movie that was of interest was when the Cherokee, Lone Watie told Josey Wales about his trip to Washington where they were met by the Secretary of the Interior. The Cherokees in that instance complained about all the land the federal government had stolen off them, which was considerable in real life. In the movie the Interior Secretary’s reply to them was, and I never forgot this, was “Endeavor to persevere.” Which was a polite way of saying “Don’t worry about what we stole from you because you ain’t ever getting it back again!”

This was one of the few movies I have seen over the years that didn’t seek to paint all Southern folks as inhuman, racist monsters, totally addicted to fighting to preserve slavery. In fact slavery was never even mentioned in the movie – and the Kansas Redlegs were actually pictured as what they were – murderers of folks in Missouri they disagree with! I can see why Hollyweird didn’t want too many movies like this that hinted at the truth of what the Kansas Redlegs, of whom Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill were both members, actually did. You are not supposed to know this, as it interferes with the leftist lies about what the War of Northern Aggression was really all about.

Another movie that made it into the theaters for only a brief time was the “Civil War” movie Ride With the Devil directed by Ang Lee, who was originally from Formosa I am told. That being the case, he didn’t have lots of politically correct swill to wade through about the War. He painted a fairly accurate picture of the Northern invasion of Missouri and how the Missourians tried to resist that. You have a hard time finding this movie anymore. It only made it into theaters for about three weeks before Hollyweird realized what they had on their hands and pulled it! They gave Ang Lee another movie to direct that he won an academy award for to pacify him for pulling Ride With The Devil. The movie showed a black man riding with the Confederate guerillas – a definite no-no for today’s movies! In truth, you had whites, blacks, American Indians and Mexicans who were all part of various Confederate units – but you are not supposed to know that! You are supposed to believe that it was only about all whites trying to enslave all blacks and nothing else was ever involved – and that is so much bovine fertilizer! The Deep State doesn’t want you to know the truth about that war and its causes anymore than they want you to know the truth about what happened on January 6, 2021!

Mull that thought over for awhile. Government liars in the 1860s were no different than they are today, except today they are a bit more sophisticated.

March 11, 2023

~ The Author ~
Al Benson Jr. is the editor and publisher of “The Copperhead Chronicle“, a quarterly newsletter that presents history from a pro-Southern and Christian perspective. He has written for several publications over the years. His articles have appeared in “The National Educator,” “The Free Magnolia,” and the “Southern Patriot.” I addition he was the editor of, and wrote for, “The Christian Educator” for several years. In addition to The Copperhead Chronicles, Al also maintains Revised History.

He is currently a member of the Confederate Society of America and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and has, in the past, been a member of the John Birch Society. He is the co-author, along with Walter D. Kennedy, of the book “Lincoln’s Marxists” and he has written for several Internet sites as well as authoring a series of booklets, with tests, dealing with the War of Northern Aggression, for home school students.

Mr. Benson is a highly respected scholar and writer and has graciously allowed the family of Kettle Moraine Publications to publish his works. We are proud to have his involvement with each of our projects.

He and his wife now live in northern Louisiana.