Zell Miller, Last Dixiecrat?

Zell Miller, Confederate?
Watching Zell Miller's speech (the part of it I could stomach, that is), made me think about how much he has in common with the leadership of the Republican party, and for that matter, with those Southern Democrats from the 1940s, 50s and 60s who did their best to prevent integration. For the most part, these Democrats became the present day Republican leadership. He sort of reminds me of the Southern Democrats at the time of the Civil War, for that matter. This got me thinking, Zell Miller and the ascendancy of the present day Republican leadership since 1968 seems to signify to me that perhaps the South didn't really lose the Civil War. Let's face it, many Southern princples from the Civil War era have reappeared in the form of the Republican party today. Excessive emphasis on states rights, opposition to a strong central government that works for the welfare of the nation, allowing of segregation (if the majority accepts, of course), repression of individual rights (especially when you consider that most states seeking to imprison people for what they do in their own bedroom are Southern states), heavy militarisation of society (Zell did say that the military is who we should thank for freedom of speech, not the press - notice how free speech and the press was who he took a shot at for an applause line), ending the separation of church and state, suspicion of science if it conflicts with religious beliefs (do we have to fight the Scopes Monkey Trial all over again?).All in all, when you look at the judges that Bush wants to appoint, the beliefs he expresses, his worldview, the statements of the leadership of his party, and you take out slavery, you might as well be looking at the old confederacy. Maybe the North's victory was a "catastrophic victory" for freedom that we have regretted ever since. Is there any way we can renegotiate the South's demands and let them secede afterall?