Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Song of the South

Don't listen to what other say about you - just by your actions show your true self.

Southern Republicans - especially South Carolina Rethuglicans - are nothing but racist, sexist, homophobic, redneck, uneducated reactionaries. Right?

Sure, this is old news - but I wanted to go there anyway.
Voters in South Carolina nominated a black Republican lawmaker for an open congressional seat Tuesday, rejecting a legendary political name and adding diversity to the national party.

State Rep. Tim Scott defeated Paul Thurmond, an attorney who is son of the one-time segregationist U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond. Scott, who won the runoff with 69 percent of the vote, is now poised to become the nation's first black GOP congressman since 2003.

Scott, 44, owns an insurance business and became the first black Republican in the South Carolina Legislature in more than a century when elected two years ago. Before that, he served 13 years on Charleston County Council and was elected chairman four times.

He's now the favorite in the coastal 1st District, which has elected a Republican congressman for three decades.
... and to make it even better ...
Indian Americans are making waves in politics. Nikki Haley won a runoff election yesterday as the South Carolina Republican governor nominee with 65% of the vote. She is favored to take the Governor seat in November. If Nikki Haley wins, she would be South Carolina’s first woman governor and the first Indian-American woman in the country to win such a post. She’ll join Bobby Jindal of Louisiana as the second Indian-American governor in the US. Her backers include the “tea party” movement and Sarah Palin. Let’s see what happens in November.
... and to go with our RC Cola, Slim Jim, and Moonpie of a glorious feast ... we have a little banana cream pudd'n to go with it.

Read
Dylan Matthew's jewel over at Ezra Klein's place - it points out something that hit me like a bolt the after living in the Northeast a few years ... and one of the reasons I will never go back.

It starts with a question.
What states experience the highest racial achievement gap and how is has that changed over the course of history?
... and turns your biases on their heads.
On math, for example, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois and Connecticut immediately follow, topping southern states where legally enforced school segregation was a more recent phenomenon. Among southern states, the deep South, where one might expect to see the largest gaps, does not stand out, with Alabama and Mississippi doing roughly as well as the Carolinas or Tennessee. Hawaii and West Virginia report the smallest gaps in both surveys. Both have notably small black populations, which provide less opportunity for de facto school segregation.
Perfect? No, but we've come a long way. If the South's critics would take some time to get out of their glass houses in NYC and LA they would know it. Spend a week in Charleston and Savannah or let me take you through the central spine of FL some day. The sharp among you would have also noticed that both of these Southerners are Gen X.

So - ya'll hater-Yankees and race-hustling poverty pimps; kiss my grits.

88 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cdr - you really don't know what you're talking about. Race here in the South is still a huge issue. Racial equality does not exist. I live here 2nd stint, first being in Charleston while in the yards, second as a civilian about 20 years later in the Upstate. Race bias is well and good up here. It's certainly better than 20 years ago but Charleston and Savannah are definitely bastions of liberalism compared to Columbia, Spartanburg, etc.

You forgot to mention the state senator who called the Republican candidate for governor "Raghead".

What this does represent is a change in the Republican party as opposed to a reflection of the overall societal change.

This state is so fricking backwards compared to others I've lived / worked in such as Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, etc.

Byron said...

"Kiss my grits"...don't forget the hush puppies, fried catfish and cornbread ;)  A good ol' boy does not live by grits alone!

(And grits are a major reason why I eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel when I'm on the road, I can get them at any Cracker Barrel!)

butch said...

I notice that whenever the late Strom Thurmond (R) is mentioned, the "former segregationist" label is ALWAYS applied.  But "former KKK Kleagle" is never applied to the late Robert Byrd (D).

Couldn't possibly be due to their respsective politcal affiliations.

butch said...

BTW, I'm a Yankee, spent several years living in GA & SC, currently in FL.  I never want to move back to the Northeast.

AW1 Tim said...

Hey....

   I'd love to move out of Maine and down south. If anyone has a large truck and some cash to spare to help that idea take hold, let me know...  :)

  Seriously, I keep trying to save up, and the (D)-bag legisltors and Governor keep raising taxes, fees, and it's like running in sand.

   Ah well....... I'll get there in time.

DeltaBravo said...

With lots of butter, salt and cracked black pepper! 

DeltaBravo said...

Funny... there is much to the old saw about how in the North they love blacks as a race but hate them as individuals and in the South they hate them as a race but love them as individuals. 

I remember when the vile libtard from Vermont moved out of the house across the street and took his worthless family with him.  I was so happy when the nice black family moved in.... because they were from the Carolinas!  Yay!  We spent all our time watering our lawns and talking about the Virginia Piedmont countryside and the Carolinas and making fun of Texas for being impossible to grow stuff in.  Lucky them... they got to move back where the gardening is easy.  I still miss them. 

It ain't the color of your skin... it's whether your soul is black or white that matters to most thinking people..  I still miss my old neighbors.  They felt like being around family. 

And as for voters, color and competence are not mutually exclusive properties.  Get a clue.

ewok40k said...

All it took was listening to Lee's advice and free the slaves first and secede second. Manpower doubled or even tripled, with additional bonus of better chance of getting UK/France to intervene.
We'd have probably very different history of the XX century, with North possibly in alliance with Germany in one or maybe both world wars...

Byron said...

Don't forget the mustards and collards with vinegar and hot peppers !

Jay said...

Butch -- Yeah, but no... practically every story I heard after Sen Byrd died included a mention (at least) of the KKK connection.

As a Yankee -- I am alway saddened when I see stories of segregated High School Proms in the South.  Really?  Still!?!?  Especially when fully supported/funded by the parents (on both sides).  Shameful.

Until those stories disappear -- well, the South still has some work to do, doesn't it?

xformed said...

Sad, yes.  A reason to keep says "the South" is racist?  I'm betting out of 300M residents of this nation, there are stories of racism from sea to shining sea, and from Mexico to Canada, and even in Hawaii.

To find a story or two in any state of region, and then hold it up like it's a daily, regular, and conscious process is disingenuous.

Anyone, anywhere, with an attitude like that needs to do some work.  These days, it seems on both sides of the equaltion(s).

AW1 Tim said...

"respective political affiliations"

  you mean like (D)-bag ?  ;)

AW1 Tim said...

You want to see racism loud and proud? Move to Maine, or better still, Boston, and listen to the racist jokes, the paternalistic attitudes and condescending treatment that the locals give to anyone less than lilly-white of skin.

C-dore 14 said...

But Robert Byrd was really, really sorry about it... ;)

C-dore 14 said...

Jay, I'm with Tim having grown up in a town in the SF Bay Area where the "token family" was Chinese because the realtors conspired not to sell property to black families.  Boston hasn't changed much since the anti-busing riots of the mid-70s.  And then there's Seattle...

Byron said...

My high school prom (1969) had a white queen and a black king, Noah Jackson (who played many years for the Bears) and Candy Sutton, the swim coach's daughter and head cheerleader. The principal said under no circumstances was this going to happen. We explained to him it was our money and our prom, kiss our ass, thank you very much. The danced one dance and went to their respective dates.

Jay, please fork over the proof that there are still segregated proms down here in the South. Ohterwise, add yourself to the ranks of race-baiters.

Tim: Yankees for all their talk have always been more racists than Southeners.

Therapist1 said...

In less important news....here is a pic of Ms. Haley.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://im.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/05first1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/05uspoll18.htm&h=400&w=323&sz=21&tbnid=d-WeTyka610q7M:&tbnh=250&tbnw=202&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnikki%2Bhaley%2Bpics&hl=en&usg=__8KyzG_LesmWjJqOADJ4qVfuEANE=&sa=X&ei=1nMzTJ-3HcP-8AbAvPHICw&ved=0CBkQ9QEwAQ

UltimaRatioRegis said...

C'mon, guys.

Generalizing about "Yankees" is just as short-sighted as generalizing about "Southerners".  I spent about 11 years in the South, which seems more than most of you spent in the North.  The North seems to let the far-left communist University types dominate the microphone, but that doesn't necessarily represent the entire of the population.  NYC, Boston, and Philly all have very strong military traditions, as strong as any southern cities.  They have their prejudices, too, just ask the Irish. 

But the South is not without its prejudices, either.  In my time in Beaufort, SC, I once had the bad manners to ask someone where I could find a Catholic church.  The woman stared for a few seconds, and walked away.  Just to make sure I hadn't imagined it, I asked the wife of an Officer I was serving with where there might be a Catholic congregation.  To my surprise, she informed me in no uncertain terms, that I should try Savannah, because that's where the IRISH were, fairly spitting out the words.

UltimaRatioRegis said...

Yowzah.  Put her, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and Marsha Blackburn in Congress, with Michele Malkin, Laura Ingram, and Peggy Noonan reporting, and I would watch C-Span non-stop.

Oh by the way, the lovely Helen "Judenreim" Thomas?  Born in Kentucky.

DeltaBravo said...

Ouch!

DeltaBravo said...

Yeah, yeah... uneducated and easily led stupid southerners.  But we're smart enough to know a jerk when we see one.

DeltaBravo said...

Peggy can go sit with the Obama fans.  She's destroyed her credibility with me.

Alpha Check said...

Nice to see that you're cordial as always Ma'am.

DeltaBravo said...

Alpha, you come here to be disagreeable.  I don't know what you expected when you equated red states with being a moron?  Praise?  A pat on the back?  Well, here's cordial:  "Bless your heart, Alpha! I'm sure your momma would be proud of you."

;)

Grumpy Old Ham said...

I was about to add the "Bless his heart" but it sounds better coming from a lady.

Jay said...

Alpha has a point -- what good is recognizing a gap (as a data point) when -- all the scores are pretty darn low?  But, sure -- "jerk" is a good rebuttal. 

In the South... ;)

UltimaRatioRegis said...

Peggy doesn't actually have to SAY anything....

And if Ann Coulter put on 20 pounds, she would be welcome too.

Jay said...

Where and who do you hang out with, Tim?

I never heard the same on Georgetown Island...and while I heard some trash-talk in Worcester -- certainly not by the folks I eventually chose to associate with (truth in lending -- grandparents are a different story -- they were certainly set in their ways, and those attitudes have died with them...).

Alpha Check said...

DB- data are data.  If you think I'm wrong, feel free to say so.  It isn't my data.  If you just want to attack the messenger, I guess that's to be expected.

My mother is quite proud of me, thanks for asking.  I'm sure that was meant in the nicest of ways.  Have a great day!

Jay said...

Byron -- hook yourself into HBO.  Great documentary on same -- Morgan Freeman offered to pay for a prom in his home town -- as long as it was the only prom -- and was rebuffed 10 years ago (by both sets of parents).  In 2008 -- the kids took him up on it -- and then the white parents still turned around & had a separate prom.

Also -- Sunday NYT did a story about same in Georgia, just a year ago.

The proof is there.  You don't have to look very hard (or long -- try google).  The folks who support it want to keep it quiet -- and I wonder why that is?!

UltimaRatioRegis said...

So, we should let the Ivy League choose our elected officials?  That is the logical conclusion of your arguments.

Well, being in an Ivy League institution for quite some time, I would venture that their testable intellect does not equate, or even does so inversely, with common sense and fairness.  97% of the campus across the river voted for one candidate in the last election. 

I heard one professor explain his incredulity that Nixon was elected in '72 because he personally knew NOBODY who voted for him.

Yep, let us have the Ivy Leaguers decide.

Jay said...

And............since I am in an agreeable mood (after the Fourth celebrations...) -- URR is exaclty correct.  No one wins the "you are more racist than us" argument.  Anecdotal evidence of nastiness on both sides, in the North and the South.

However -- when you see it -- what have you done about it?  Spoken out?  Or nothing?

Without totally highjacking the thread (sorry CDR S) -- it seems to me the parents who still support separate proms really have some soul searching to do.  Especially the example they set for their kids.  Okies, enough finger wagging from me.

DeltaBravo said...

URR, thanks for bringing up the fact that there are different intelligences and some are more easily measurable than others.  For instance, there is social intelligence, which would keep a polite Southern boy from walking into a room and listening to the conversation for a few minutes and then insulting all the people in the room or picking a fight.  Most are smart enough to keep their mouths shut if they profoundly disagree.  But that kind of smarts (that keeps you alive and healthy longer than knowing how to graph quadratic equations) isn't easily measured on those high-falutin' IQ tests.   

DeltaBravo said...

But Jay, whether one group is more or less racist than another is one thing.  However, one group is a whole lot more smug and sanctimonious about their "virtue" when it comes to racism. 

Alpha Check said...

Ivy League?  I didn't bring it up, let alone conclude it.  I merely pointed out what the data say.  Draw your own conclusions.  If you want to use data from 4th graders as a proxy for "common sense" or "fairness" then go ahead.  I'm not sure what Ivy League has to do with the math and reading scores of 4th graders.  In fact, I'm not sure that the math and reading have to do with racism, sexism, homophobia, or education level (CDR Sal's intro) of the south.  There are plenty of smart bigoted, homophobic, racist, rednecks.   It isn't my data, and I didn't make those connections (I'm sure CDR Salamander can defend his connections/conclusions).  

I merely pointed out that I thought it was interesting that when sorted by score based on black or white certain states stayed in the bottom 10, and the political nature of the states mimicked the education level of the scores. Draw your own conclusions.  Some drew the conclusion that the data reflect poorly on me, I'm not sure where that comes from in the data, but it's ok.

If you think poorly of Ivy League institutions, and you have been in one "for quite some time", perhaps you should think about that, or were you using your Ivy League connection to bolster your position and give credence to your criticism, while simultaneously denigrating the Ivy League to appear folksy?  Interesting approach.

Jay said...

I think I'd rather worry more about continuing practices that should be treated (at the best) with disgust than smugness...(wait, didn't I just stay enough finger wagging?  DOH...)

Jay said...

URR -- okies, now you used up your quota of happy from me...lol

You jumped to yet another illogical conclusion.  There are many reasons to look at low education scores -- low taxes spent on education, lack of adequate family emphasis on education, and perhaps even the time a lot of poor have to spend on education (when working one/two or even three jobs).  However -- jumping to a bleating perceived vimctimhood -- that pointing out data -- automatically becomes a smear -- especially when you put the incinderary words -- that weren't there at all -- is just silly.  Bravo.

DeltaBravo said...

See, URR, no one ever told Einstein there that correlation is not causation in every case.  (Or in most.)  Otherwise the rooster thinks crowing makes the sun come up. 

Maybe the blue states and their high IQs (or whatever those tests really measure) just go to prove that the ability to detect a snake-oil salesman is in inverse proportion to tested IQ.   Or that "dumb southerners" don't necessarily go for a political party that will insult their values and then take their money away from them and give it to another state (which isn't dumb as far as I'm concerned... but that's just me.) 

I just see all the Einsteins of America were overly impressed with the likes of John Edwards, Nancy Pelosi, Jawn Kerry, Algore, and Teh Obama.  (Bubba's in a case all his own, and he played to his home court advantage, so we'll exclude him.)  These charlatans all marketed themselves to that crowd by exclaiming how only smart people would vote for them.  Now, I'm just a dumb redneck hick, but anyone who falls for THAT kind of silly flattery has "moron" written all over him.  His is a pocket to be picked while the carny barker has his attention.

usna21412 said...

And Dana Perino

usna21412 said...

Let's now look at the state budget balance sheets of blue states vs red states.  Let's assume, as AC and Jay do, that blue states are better educated with better test scores than red states.  Fully acknowledging that all states are hurting right now in a poor economy, some states are in significantly worse shape than others.  So what to make of the bankruptcy ratios in states like California, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Minnesota, Maine.  Oh, there are a few red states in the top ten, but it sure looks like the inverse of the math score data.  So the big liberal brains are especially responsible, intelligent people?

UltimaRatioRegis said...

You're preachin' to the choir about test scores, Jay-o-matic. 

But Judge W Arthur Garrity (thank you, LBJ) made not one but SEVERAL statements to the effect that black kids in Greater Boston could not get a good education unless they were forced in with white kids in Greater Boston. 

I still remember my Mother watching the news standing with dish towel in hand, remarking "What a terrible thing to say!"

Yet, we had busing in Boston.  Unconstitutional as the day is long.  They should dig Garrity up and put his cadaver in jail for that whole episode.  And it was all based on the same kind of bigotry that gives us Diversity Directorates and racial promotion/accession quotas, the NNOA, and this or that history month.

UltimaRatioRegis said...

Good call, USNA, good call.

DeltaBravo said...

Either that or nobody taught them that -0 on a balance sheet was a bad thing in those big fancy schools they went to.  They may have learned how to subtract positive numbers from negative numbers, but it seems nobody put that in a practical context for them to understand.

The Cabal said...

So a data point of one constitutes a region (of 13 states)? Sorry to hear that, I thought you were better educated than that.

LT B said...

I met her and had a picture taken w/ Ms Perino.  Yes, she IS lovely in person!  :)

xformed said...

I'd say that approach is pretty *prejudicial* myself, but who am I to judge Jay's sincere belief the entire South is a bunch o racists with but one report?

xformed said...

POINT! USNA 21412

Alpha Check said...

I didn't assume anything USNA, I just went with the data provided in the link.  If you have a better source, I'd be interested to see it.

If you look at some of the recession data, it is interesting to see which states have the largest deficits, by percentage of prior year budget, per capita, etc.  The data I found were:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=711

I haven't paired it to education level, but that might be interesting.  Might not want to go with 4th grade education as a proxy though.  If you find something, or have a source, I'd be interested.  Looks like almost every state has an issue.

xformed said...

"<span>However -- when you see it -- what have you done about it?  Spoken out?  Or nothing?"</span>

So, let's begin where you began:  If anyone does it, then by default everyone in the area condones it, and automatically, we're still racist becuase, while never having been a party to a segregated prom, we are still guilty.

As noted below, pre-juding.  Isn't that what you are saying we shouldn't do?  So how is it that you can pull it off, and wag your finger at those who say "Yes, it's wrong, but don't brand me like that, because it's not me."?

racism=prejudice.  Which side are you taking, or are you willing to find out who people are and see if you have allies in stamping out the last vestiges of racism, anywhere, before you drop in and proclaim "all ya all defending the South as not a wholesale racially charged part of the nation as racists!" and instantly build a barrier to building a relatioship with people...as individuals?

It's easy to be prejudiced.  You can get a half a sentance of the headline of a news report and then tell us you know it all.  Arrogant?  Oh, yes.

Hey, and thanks for prejuding me, along with the many here.  Good show.

You've put plenty of unfounded accusations in this thread, and, after being pushed back, you still presume we sit around and yuk it up at such situations.

Do you even have a clue as to our backgrounds?

Anonymous said...

The inner circle of that particular hell (racism, xenophobia - actually) is SE Michigan. But it doesn't stop at the color line, it goes deep into european language vs language foolishness...for some.

The cure? A good job.
Folks who have a job they want to hold soft pedal their pet  grudges to get the job done, and cooperate and get along on the job. 

If nobody cooperated, the plant wouldn't get a single widget shipped.
.

MissBirdlegs in AL said...

Tim, I don't have a truck or any spare cash, but I have a ton of empty boxes.  You'd also have to furnish the tape to reconstruct them.  :-P

USAF Mike said...

Not surprised to see Nebraska on there...the state itself is fairly normal when it comes to race relations (although there are some issues with hispanic folks in the towns with a meatpacking presence), but Omaha is a clusterfuck.  The town has de facto socioeconomic segregation in that pretty much everyone who lives in North Omaha is poor and black.  The schools that serve this area are widely acknowledged as the worst in the state...it's a problem that's been going on for decades (pretty much since the race riots that followed the lynching that occurred in 1919) and I don't know if there will ever really be a solution.

MR T's Haircut said...

Bless his heart...

Jay said...

Wow...feeling...guilty?  No unfounded accusations at all.  Pointing out some uncomfortable truths.  Your reaction to it says a lot. 

Jay said...

Please...you are getting silly.  There are at least two instances since 2008 that are easily identifed.  However, I don't recall, ever, of hearing of a segregated high school prom in the North.  If you want to prove me wrong on that -- rock on -- I bet if you dig hard enough -- pre 1970, you might find something...

But I would be willing to bet certainly not in the last 40 years.

So, if anyone (South or North) is really upset over data that speaks for itself -- then do yourself a favor & do some research and present it.  Otherwise -- your indignation (mock or otherwise) rings hollow.  I would think there are some decent websites out there that might have the data -- although I strongly suspect -- that the communities who still engage in scornful practices prob keep it pretty darn quiet.

AW1 Tim said...

Jay,

   There are good and great people all through Maine. however, in the Bath/Brunswick area and up through Lewiston, and even through Portland, the area is still rife with bigotry.  In the mid 80's to early 90's it tapered off a lot, but it's come back strong in the past 10 years, and the correlation with that has been a LARGE increase in the Somali immigrant community, and the inroads that Muslims have been making up here.  It's especially true in the blue-collar bars and neighborhoods.

   I know it isn't what you want to hear, but I see/hear it every week.

DeltaBravo said...

Jay, I suspect most people here lead by example, going about their daily lives treating everyone with dignity and respect regardless of race, creed or color or gender.  I'm personally not going to travel to Georgia and picket some school because of its notion of prom.  What exactly do you expect us to do about high school proms here?  I mean... the local high school here actually cancelled its homecoming because of badly behaved teenagers.  So I'm really not concerned with someone else's prom.  I didn't know you were so worried about proms, Jay.  I mean... does it bring back bad memories?  Did your high school have a crappy prom for Jay and another really good prom for Everyone Who Was Not Jay?  As for me, I've searched my soul on the subject of proms and quite frankly, I got nothin' for ya.  No guilt at all.  Here...I know...  I'll boycott all my local high school proms from now on.  Okay?  Happy?  I won't ever go to another prom!  There.  Now I feel smug too.

DeltaBravo said...

Jay, let me tell you how they segregate in some areas and make it very subtle... no fingerprints....  they send their kids to tony private expensive high schools.   And voila' -- de facto segregation.  They close the money gate on minorities.  That's how they segregate themselves off from others.  It's effective and appears innocent.  No bad press.  So quit playing like you don't know how the real world works.  Those stuck in the public school system have ways of drawing school boundary lines to make their schools a certain way. 

Byron said...

More to the point, do you have any idea of the ethnic backgrounds of the people that post here. And maybe you could come up with a news report of the discrimation that you claim happened. All we have now is your word and a movie with Morgan Freeman in it. Was it a real, true to life movie, or a "based on" movie? Or is it simply that you find our discussions so cruel to your little liberal soul that you feel you have to come here just to rile everyone up? Here's another question: did you ever play with minorities when you were a child? Were you told by your parents to treat blacks with the same respect you would a white? Was the "N" word ever spoken in your home growing up? Using it in mine was good for the Ivory Soap treatment, and this was in New Orleans in the 50's.

Personnaly, I'm about fed up with your condescending tone of moral superiority. In my nearly 59 years of life, your type of moral superiors are like standing on a pool of quicksand: easy to talk the talk, but if you have to walk the walk, you'd sink in a hurry. I know this because you post here with only one acceptable viewpoint: yours.

Anonymous said...

You should read some of Harry Turtledoves alternate fiction. He covers an alternate civil war that the south wins, leading to an alternate first world war, then an alternate second world war. Quite well done. 

sid said...

Growing up, I was nearly always the darkest person in the room (easy to spot there in my more tender years), during the times when race relations were at their most tumultuous.

And yes, I dealt with more than a little racism because of my color...

The worst place though was Middletown Rhode Island.

That was way worse that "Alll-binny" Georgia ever was.

DeltaBravo said...

Sid... you mean... they let you sit at the table with them?  With linens and candles?  In the SOUTH?  Gosh!  Don't post this picture.  You might make Jay's head explode.  (You were so cute!)

sid said...

Actually, that pic was aboard the Coral Sea in Alameda...

Out there I was initially pegged as the class sp[hispanic]ck at school...

that is until I engaged in the -by then- obligatory schoolyard scrap to let any xenophobes know, that no matter what else they may have thought I was, I was a crazy bastard best left alone.

Judging by the demographics in the link above from that old alama mater, which is surprisingly unchanged, those kinds of issues have resolved themselves naturally over time. 

Just goes to show the irrelevance of all this "Diversity" crap.

xformed said...

Well, I can see logic isn't your strong suit.  It would be nice if you could admit you wandered in and deemed many in here a bunch of racists.  In a discussion, the other person gets to talk, too, unless you deem them inferior in wisdom, knowledge and experience to question your unfounded assumptions (yeah, based on a report of a segregated prom!)

Yeah, what's not to like about that from a liberal who has all the answers.

Dude, you're a moron.  You have no idea what my skin color is, where I grew up, who I associated with, what I've seen, what I've heard or what I've said, but...you can pass judgment from afar, which was my entire point:  You're the one subscribing to prejudice.

Care to try to write my bio so you can prove your point, and your lack of understanding?

I'd figure it's more like you're projecting your faults on us, to make up for your own insecurity and guilt.  You know a study of psychology says that's a guess that isn't out in left field.  It would, however, be rude of me to accuse you of this with out you engaging in a debate.

Maybe you could roll out your superior, "I'm not a racist" credentials so we can know of your moral authority above us all.

Sounds laughable, right?  Check the mirror.

If me engaing you in a discussion offends your sensibilities, "life's tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid!" (John Wayne, Sands of Iwo Jima)

Grumpy Old Ham said...

Excellent observation.  BTW, it also makes one wonder about the opposition to school vouchers from those on the left who claim to fear "government money being used to support, gasp, schools run by religious organizations"...perhaps the real fear is that "those people" will infiltrate their private domains.

As an aside, we're up to 50 comments and I'm a little surprised no one's yet made a comment about the obvious racial overtones of this post's title...that title selection alone must be some kind of indicator or secret sign about the prevailing opinions here, dontcha know...

(as with many of my comments, this one contains a measured amount of sarcasm, in case your detector is impaired)

spek said...

Oh please.  For every feel good story coming out of the south, you get three of these:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20004740-503544.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

or even worse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn14RwuJJRg&feature=player_embedded

Who knew Alabamans shed so much blood to end slavery, and who knew they hold Abe in such high regard?....

sid said...

Spek...

The Civil War ended a century and half ago...

You won. Be happy.

Get over it.

When was the last time you were in Alabama anyway?

Alpha Check said...

GOH, if you can't beat up on the gays, who is left to alienate?  We all know easy leadership is based on us vs them.  Who's the them without the gays?

DeltaBravo said...

Alabama thanks you for staying away.

spek said...

I didn't win anything - I'm half Mexican from San Diego.  But yes, I spent a year one week in Birmingham in 2006.  Not exaclty a hotbed of diversity, integration, or critical thinking....

sid said...

Well Alpha...

Several generations  of my family are from there.

I learned manners from them.

sid said...

yeah so?

I'm half black...And have spent plenty of time in Birmingham.

WTF does that have to with anything these days?

Alpha Check said...

Sid, then it sounds like you have a good reason to go to Alabama.

Alpha Check said...

DB, That's a really ironic intro considering where the rest of the post went:

<span>"I suspect most people here lead by example, going about their daily lives treating everyone with dignity and respect regardless of race, creed or color or gender."</span>

Stay classy!

sid said...

Well...

Tried to be accomodating...

But, as we can see. spek and Alpha are no better than this.

Anybody who lives in ths south knows how you have to handle the problem....

And, alpha,,,as you very obviously have no clue about "Bloody Barin", I am officially calling you out as a pissant poseur.

You are talking about the stretch where I learned to fly....

Alpha Check said...

Sid, I once left the gear down halfway across Mobile bay.. She didn't climb very good in the gear down configuration, but you're entitled to your opinion, wrong as it may be.

DeltaBravo said...

Now, Alpha, I never said they didn't discriminate against boors and rude people.  I said "race, creed, color or gender."

spek said...

You said I won the civil war.  I'm not a yankee.  1n 1865 my family was in Copenhagen/Oaxaca... ;)

Jay said...

Oh Byron...

"All we have now is your word and a movie"...

You asked for proof -- and you got it and you still complain. 

Byron just being...Byron...

Byron said...

What proof? Your word? You got a  link, tovarisch? Otherwise, you ain't got squat. And yes, I'm always going to be me, who won't believe anything a liberal tells me until I see the proof of it. And the only proof you've offered is a description.

So what is it? You making things up to match your convictions, or do you have the proof to match it?

sid said...

<span>Sid, I once left the gear down halfway across Mobile bay.. She didn't climb very good in the gear down configuration</span>

(wanted to make sure you didn't delete any of your remarks that may be getting responded to alpha. makes it hard to follow the thread...)

So. You left your gear down out of MOB to half way across the bay?

Well. Assuming thats true... And your now deleted remarks...which said something to the effect that, there is no good reason to be in Alabama unlless you are flying from Pensacola to Mobile to do touch and go's -you did say "Mobile" and not "Brookley"- then my opinion of you has changed.

Along with being a troll, then you are one sloppy pilot.

Even out of BFM, there would be little excuse.

(and I'm betting you have no clue which field is which)

DeltaBravo said...

Zippidy do-dah, zippidy-ay... my oh my what a wonderful day!

Alpha Check said...

No reason to leave all the hostile comments sitting around.  I'd rather delete them myself than continue to argue with people that choose to be personally insulting. The egos around here are impressive, and the judgments are impressively flawed.

I'm surprised you'd think a pilot would use the moniker "Alpha Check." Do you know what Alpha Check means, or did you just go with Tumbleweed?  I guess I shouldn't feel bad about the IP that encouraged the use of the tube over Alabama "because we can."  I'm glad I shared an embarrassing moment with someone that I thought could identify.  If you haven't done something dumb in a plane, you weren't really trying.  BTW: Your India is sour, you might want to recycle your gadget before continuing with the nastiness. Your call.

Having family in Alabama would be a good reason to go.  Other than that, I stand by the assessment that touch and go's, driving to New Orleans, and military orders as the only good reasons to go to Alabama.  You offered no better suggestions, just insults.  

Have a good day, Sir.

sid said...

<span>No reason to leave all the hostile comments sitting around.  I'd rather delete them myself than continue to argue with people that choose to be personally insulting. The egos around here are impressive, and the judgments are impressively flawed. </span>

Saved for posterity.

As you don't have the courage to let your derisive comments stand.

<span>If you haven't done something dumb in a plane, you weren't really trying.  BTW: Your India is sour, you might want to recycle your gadget before continuing with the nastiness. Your call. 
</span>

Feel free to strangle your parrot and go zip lip on the way out the door alpha, as services (acting as foil to your troll tripe) are terminated....

Alpha Check said...

Thanks for living up to my expectations.

sid said...

.

Alpha Check said...

Back to a closed group where even the slightest glimpse of a different perspective is both attacked and told to leave.  Wouldn't want diversity of opinion getting in your way.  The horror. Far better to self-reinforce erroneous conclusions.  Pleasure, as always.

sid said...

<span>Back to a closed group where even the slightest glimpse of a different perspective is both attacked and told to leave.  Wouldn't want diversity of opinion getting in your way.</span>
<span></span>
<span>Just wanted to make sure your remarks stand there alpha...</span>
<span></span>
<span>Before you begin to feign your BS superior moral tone after deleting your decidedly offensive remarks.</span>
<span></span>

<span></span>
<span>Oh...and this isn't about you alpha...so don't bother to respond </span>
<span>(unless you decide to be civil)</span>
<span></span>
<span>Here is one quite good reason to head to Alabama </span>
<span></span>