Southern Discomfort

girlfriday1, Obama was raised mostly by his maternal grandparents who were Christians. He was raised a Christian. His mother was also Christian, it was his Kenyan father and grandfather who were Atheist.

I agree with funkdome... The South USED to be a bigoted and racist region...it is not that way any longer... One reporter trying to sum up many peoples' opinions into one is unacceptable... EVERYONE that I know down here admits slavery and racism are VERY WRONG... but that doesn't mean that just because it used to be that way that it still is... how narrow-minded and iditotic this article is... if Dickey truly wanted to report on the ideology of the South, then he should have truly researched... In the South you'll always find open arms and smiling faces toward everyone regardless of race, creed or ethnicity... there are so many things wrong with this article I could write a novel... but what do you expect: a bigoted, liberal publication actually not trying to tell the truth... I think not!

Nice article, but it makes no mention of the periodic surges of conservative radicalism. Just last week, a 58 year old white male (and reader of several conservative talk-show hosts' books--according to police) walked into the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville and killed two people and critically wounded about 5 other people. Also, according to police, his confession letter stated that he was "targeting the liberal movement." In some areas of Appalachia (including Scott County, Tennessee, where "Deliverance" was later filmed), there is a real danger for minorities--including biracial families. Just recently in Scott County, a cross was burrned in the yard of a family that is comprised of bi-racial children. Perhaps more insidious than a bombing (e.g., Eric Rudolph) are the non-inclusive attitudes of the majority population in the South. It is the dangerous combination, an attitude that is made up bits and pieces of xenophobia, racism, religious fundamentalism, separatism, famialism, and tradition, that forms an unseen rift between the newcomers and established old south. This pressure cooker culture needs change. Thus far, Obama appears to be the needed catalyst.

Well said faminchin!

As a person who was born and raised in Alabama, but now living in Ohio........my personal observation is that racism is way worse up north than it is in the south. That's not to say there aren't racist in the south, but at least down south they don't mind letting you know who they are. You see them riding around in their pick-up with the confederate flag in the back window, and you know who they are.

Up north, it's beneath the surface, hidden from plain sight. There are racist up north, I don't think anybody can dispute that........but they are more like a snake, hiding in the tall grass, waiting for the chance to bite and spread their poision.

I am not voting for Obama, but it has nothing to do with the color of his skin! Hell, if Rice were running, I'd get out and knock on doors for her, but not because she is black or a woman..........but because I believe she, hands down, would make a better President than the two clowns we have to choose between now!

It makes me sick to see the media's attempts to play the race card in this election. The only people I hear talking about race are Obama and the Media.....attempting to guilt whites into voting for Obama. It's not about ideas or issues, we are suppose to feel guilty because a bunch of dead people once owned slaves. Get a Life!

I grow weary of the press seaching for stories to hype Obama's run for the presidency. Enough is enough.

This article is bigoted trash. How typical of a hateful and bigoted liberal like Dickey to slander an entire region of a country as being filled with backwards racists. its bad enough that Dickey is enough of an idiot to think that millions of peoples' opinions can be boiled down to a common, simple point of view. What's worse is that this partisan loser thins that he can speak for them after s brief trip through a few states seeking out Civil War re-enactors.

The Newsweek-MSNBC-Washington Post nexus is staffed with a bunch of narrow-minded bigots and this hack piece is a fine illustration of their intolerance.

Mr. Obama is by far the most liberal candidate ever to run for President of the United States. He has
had a long term relationship with William Ayers, the 1960's radical terrorist who bombed the Pentagon,
U.S. Capitol and New York police headquarters among other targets. He has never repented of any of these
acts. As recently as a few years ago there was a picture taken of Mr. Ayers stepping on the American flag.
As for as his terrorism acts, he has been quoted as saying he wish he could have done more.
WE know that his pastor of twenty years, Jeremiah Wright has uttered many "hate-filled" things such as
"G_d damn America" and the "U.S. of KKK". Tony Rezko his long time acquiantence and friend was convicted
recently(in Chicago)of 16 of 24 counts of fraud and money laundering. Over the years, Mr. Obama received
many large campaign contributions from Mr. Rezko. He was also involved in a suspect real-estate deal
with him and his wife.

Jay Stewart, Chicago Better Government Association: "What looks bad about the transaction is the fact that the transaction occurred at all. Tony Rezko was headed for trouble. He was clearly in the crosshairs of the federal government." (NBC's "Nightly News," 1/29/08)

Cindy Canary, Of The Illinois Campaign For Political Reform, Questioned "What Was [Obama] Thinking" For Being Slow To Walk Away From Rezko Despite Clear Warning Signs To Stay Away From Him. Cindy Canary (Illinois Campaign for Political Reform): "So what we're left with is a question of, you know, really, what was he thinking? And the warning signs to stay away were very clear." CBS' Dean Reynolds: "And Obama didn't heed them?" Canary: "Senator Obama was very slow to walk away from Tony Rezko." (CBS's "Evening News," 2/28/08)

Obama the pragmatist?

In the vote to confirm judge Roberts, Obama found himself at odds with 22 Democrats who voted for the chief justice.

Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Max Baucus of Montana, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Ken Salazar of Colorado were among the Democrats casting their votes for Roberts.

The sole exception from a Midwestern battleground state was Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who voted to oppose Roberts. No Republican joined Obama in voting against Roberts.


In the battle over Alito, some Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry, D- Mass., half-heartedly tried to stall a vote on the nomination.

It was clear that Alito???s supporters would win the procedural vote ??? called a ???motion to invoke cloture??? in Senate language ??? and thus would prevent the delay on Alito???s confirmation.

Obama voted ???no??? anyway, joining 24 other Democrats. No Republicans voted with them. Most of the Democrats from battleground states voted for the motion.

For a filibuster

???He not only voted against Alito, but for a filibuster,??? said Nan Aron, of the Alliance for Justice, an advocacy group that led the effort to defeat several Bush judicial nominees.


Wait: Just just in: Obama is now in favor of Alito and Roberts.

Two newspapers,the Hyde Park Herald and the Chicago Defender give us an insight into who Obama
is. In the years 1995 to 2004,they depict a politician who is profoundly race-conscious, exceedingly

liberal, free-spending even in the face of looming state budget deficits, and very partisan.

Read "Barack Obama's Lost Years"(scary)

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/386abhgm.asp?pg=1

The senator's tenure as a state legislator reveals him to be an old-fashioned, big government,

race-conscious liberal.
by Stanley Kurtz
08/11/2008, Volume 013, Issue 45

I've read a lot of psuedo-intellectual drivel in my life and this ranks right up there with the best of it. I can't imagine anyone working so hard to be so ignorant of his or her surroundings as to put their name to this trash. Worse yet it is given the light of day for others to sift through looking for a nugget of sense ... which sadly there is none to find.