Southern Discomfort

I am sick, sick, sick to death of the South being the red-headed stepchild of this country. In movies, TV, politics, and the media, the Southerners are still being portrayed as backwoods hillbillies. If the author wants to talk about people not changing, then he need only look in the mirror. It is people like him who perpetuate the old stereotypes of Southerners being close-minded and racist. Why do people continue to assimilate the word "racism" with white people only? No one race has a monopoly on that word. It runs equal in all races. I think we have all come a long way. Also, why did the author (and most journalists/media) seem to try their best to pick out the most obvious, old-school thinking characters when they do a story? I know the merchant in the story that runs the Civil War shop. He is not the epitome of what Southerners are like and I am offended that the author sought to pick out a representative of the South that so many people still believe we are all similar to. As far as Barack Obama goes, I am a white Southerner and I have listened to his stands/ideas/discussions and I plan to vote accordingly. I also want to say, I never hear any black people acknowledge the fact that Obama was raised by a white mother and white grandparents. If blacks want whites to embrace the fact that Obama is black and be accepting of that, then they need to also embrace the fact that he is half white and be accepting of that. If, as the author says, the South needs to turn the page on the old history, then other pages need to be turned as well, like the old Southern stereotypes that I still hear being thrown upon people of the South.

First time I'v heard the civil war mentioned in while. Bet some of those slave owners were Democrats.

I am from the deep South and there's no doubt in my mind that I will vote Republican.

To all viewers and bloggers on this board -

I draw your attention to a vulgar, crass, probably pornographic spew by a ranter who has been credited with being an Obama ???blog hero??? by one of the socialite Obama supporters.

I tend to refer to that ranter as ???hardlyhere???, in an attempt to bring his screen name closer to reality.

His offensive, denigrating spews, although not posted on this board yet, are visible on three other boards - 1 -???Obama Abroad,??? 2 - ???Obama???s Celebrity Cred.??? & 3 -???Analysis: McCain tries to sow doubts about Obama.???

On the third board, they can be found at his posting times of ???08/02/2008 4:14:16 PM, & 08/03/2008 19:10:37.???

I regard that ranter???s intellectual capacity, to use a cardplayer???s terminology, as being several hands shy of a deck.

He has tried to goad me by his tantrums into replying to his rant to answer his poorly stated questions, but I have avoided doing so because he appears to be unable to comprehend rational facts, thought, and discourse.

If you do review his crass belligerent spew, please post your comments regarding his actions, state of ???mind??? (if that really exists here), and whether he is just a typical obamabot.

Is this an example of the kind of change that ???the Great Unifier??? wants to implement?

I wonder whether any obamabots will bother to voice their opinions in this matter, and whether they will throw this spewer under the bus to join the numerous other unsavory characters associated with Obama.

Or, on second thought, maybe they???ll elevate him to displace Hillary Clinton as the key-note guest speaker at the DNC convention, due to a high-regard appreciation of his disgraceful sense of humour (for lack of a better word).

Your comments will be considered!

What the hell does Christopher Dickey know about the south. It is presumtious of him in his Latest writing to tell us what the Cival War was about . Most southernes know that States rights was the cause and that most slaves in the south had been freed . The very Idea tha "Obama" could unify the south is stupid. It is probable that Dr Rice could have. Mr Obama is without experence and direction.His views on the Economy are without merrett and his out loook on oil is without any idea of the world. When The mini cooper D gets 72 miles per gal and he and others are no screaming to get it in to this country. Wjhen one has 135 documents to fill out to licence a solar or wind farm...noone is serious about alternative fuels. We may not spell well but we sure as hell know what is going on

I am Southern born and breed and I am so tired of this crap!!! If the southern votes do not go to Obama it's not because we are all "redneck, uneducated, racists". Do you really not see what is going on here? Race,sex, religion, and political party should not even matter! Who is the right man for the job should be only issue! Most of the time is just the lesser of two evils. The political agenda here is to make you feel guilty about being a southern, white American so they can force your vote!

For you people who hate McCain because of Bush-you are so uninformed. I wouldn't say that Bush is a good president, but most of his time in the presidential seat has been damage control. Some of the issues we are facing now ( for example) the housing problems were all because of President Clinton. Programs where put into place by Clinton and now the effects of that bad decision have to be dealt with. Also, before Bush was even sitting behind the presidential desk , 911 happened. If you recall the American public wanted blood and some ones head for that-you got what you wanted!

Before you all get mad at me let me clarify what I am saying. For every rock you throw in the water there is a ripple(cause and effect). For every president we have had, Democratic and Republican alike, there have been bad decisions made and effects from those decisions we have had to deal with far beyond the current president. These two men need to be considered on their own merit! Everyone needs to step back and take the race,sex, religion, name, origin and party out of the equation and hold these two candidates at what they as individuals can offer this country. The sad truth is we don't do that and we know that most of the time they all lie and tell us what we want to hear or bully us to get our vote! I don't know yet whom I will vote for but I pray we all make the right choice.

I ask everyone here to go to the link below and read this ASAP. I know it is long but please
read it all the way through. This is enough to scare anybody.

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


Barack Obama's Lost Years (the Weekly Standard web site)
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

Damn Yankees never have understood the South and from the comments I've read here, they never will.

Racism is far more alive and well in the rest of the country outside the South than it is in Dixie. I know - I don't live in the South and I was raised in a northern Urban area but I have deep Southern roots.

the young will vote Obama, the "black vote " will go to Obama( 90 plus %), the older vote will go to McCain..........the closer we get to the election, the closer the vote gets......

The South will not change. . They would rather stay poor and ignorant rather than vote for a YANKEE or a BLACK. Giving up a big Pick-Up Truck with the Rebel Flag is worse than death to some of them. The Conservatives in the South and the North hate blacks or anyone else that does not conform to their lo wsense of worth. I know because I worked all over the South from 1960 thru 1990 , I traveled all over as a Pipefitter.

I think even if Obama doesn't win, his candidacy should be inspiration for lot of people especially for those who think that they are limited on what they can acomplisth because of their sex, race or class. This country may not be perfect, but if you dream big and work hard, anything is possible.

Nice article! Very interesting and insightful. Had no idea about that awful Moore's Ford reenactment of a mass lynching, sounds absolutely hideous. I hope that over time, the South changes and morphs into something a lot more diverse. I live in Texas and I'm a yankee, and although I don't often get a glimpse of Southern old fashioned "hospitality," a family member of mine received a nasty typed letter in his mailbox, likely from one of his neighbors, in response to a recent published editorial piece in the local city paper - the neighbor's letter was a rant and rave against Obama, saying "You hate Republicans, you want to elect a foreigner to lead this country, Obama is a muslim, etc." The editorial piece was a rebuttal of a recent op ed by an appointee of the Bush Administration. So tensions and emotions are very high, even among the mid-to-upper middle class in the major metropolitan areas in the South!

My friends are mostly white, but not all - I have Black and Hispanic and foreign friends. Most of the latter are pro-Obama. Many of the whites I know are pro-Obama too. But there are some in the high tech business here who feel that a vote for McCain is going to help their businesses thrive (outsourcing). One of this group was even married to an Egyptian national, yet she still maintains that conservative stance.

Thank you Christopher Dickey for beginning to scratch the surface of the truth about the South. As a native of the South, I can attest that most Southerners are not able or willing to look truthfully at the social and political problems that still burden the region. I totally agree that the prosperity of the past 40 years (which was only possible after the successes of the Civil Rights movement) has only served as a diversion and a band-aid for deep festering wounds. Many White Southerners have never reconciled with the past. They do not fully comprehend the seriousness of the crimes against humanity that were perpetrated on Southern soil. As much as I love the South and all its charms, there is an ugly spiteful side of the Southern psyche that still needs healing. The whole region needs collective psychotherapy, but Southern pride and prejudice has prevented this from occurring for many individuals, families, and whole communities. I spent some years studying in Germany, and I find the Southerners who glorify the Civil War and collect memorabilia just a creepy as the Neo-Nazis who collect Nazi memorabilia and cannot admit the crimes against humanity committed by the Third Reich. Can you imagine still flying the Nazi flag over public building in Germany or using the Nazi flag as a bumper sticker or a symbol of German ???pride???? Of course not! But many Southerners don???t understand the parallels here. This is due to ignorance. When I went to public school in the South during the 70s and 80s, they didn't teach us anything about the Civil Rights movement or modern history. And the Civil War...oh, that was really all just about State rights... (Never mind that the biggest State rights issue was the issue of slavery!) Many Southerners are incredibly ignorant of their own history and the legacy of their ancestors' crimes. If we really wanted to heal as a nation we would first need to acknowledge the truth. Sadly, 150 years after the Civil War, many people are still romanticizing the past and unaware of the ghosts that not only still haunt us but frighten people into making poor choices for themselves and our country.

The problem is simple corruption needs to be stopped beginning with those who have profited for years from corruption. Please look up this individual ---- Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich ---- he was the father in law of Mr. Rockefeller who's family went on to controll the private banks which became the central bank the FED which is a private institution. This individual Nelson came up with the Income Tax and The Central Bank. Follow the money and you will find the corruption behind the problems in society. For 240.00 the Central Bank the Fed can create 1 million dollars then using the IRS they can bilk the public for 1 Million plus interest. Its easy math to see they have the complete control of the US government and even the world. Money is the root of all evil.

I will not vote for Obama, but, COME ON, John McCain, do something to make my vote FOR you and not against Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With all this blogging that I have read on this site so far this afternoon, I have yet to see anywhere, but I could be wrong, any praising of Obama on this day, his BIRTHDAY. LOL. That tells me something how much some of you really know about this guy. Even I knew that he was born today, AUG 4, 1961 as I have done alot of research on him.. He is 37. Anyways, thought I'd let you know. He is celebrating tonite by, yes, you guessed it, by making another speech at yet another fundraiser. LOL.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. O.

Obviously Bush is not a failure. He's the President of the most powerful Nation on Earth. While one can argue whether or not we should have gotten into the Iraqi war, he stuck with it despite the polls. It was an unpopular but correct decision to stay the course. It's what leaders do. While things are still troubling in Iraq they are getting better all the time. The press just doesn't report the good. It's like watching the news at 10. Lots of coverage on robberies, rapes, and murders and very little on the good things that happen every day. Too bad but true.

I is an good ole' suthern boy and i aint voting er that osama feller cuz he dont look like them mens on that there money i aint seen in a long tyme cuz i is ignant and unedicakated like alls u in the north . i is rascist.

Does that about cover what the stupid S.O.B. who wrote this pile of crap thinks about the south? Sorry to burst his bubble but I and most of the people I know wont vote for Obama because he is the most socialist leaning candidate that has ever run for the Presidency, not because he's black. A good portion of us in the south realize the civil war ended a few years ago and we have let it go, but the liberal elitist like to paint us all as stupid white rascist living in a glorious slave world of the past. They love to treat us as irrelevant redneck bigots and marginalize us and talk down to us. You people need to shut the hell up and leave history in the past and stop trying to use it as a wedge in the country.

You must be strong. Bush is a little more then half right. Good judgement on war with Radicals. Good choices for the Supreme Court. Kinda strong with Liberals. Pray that John can get it together enough to save the union. North-South-East-West, there are plenty of God-Loving Patriots who will infiltrate to clean out the trash. The Democraps rush to the bottom.Misery loves misery. Keep your head-up.Pray constantly Smile always.

THE TOM BRADLEY EFFECT.....
Obama simply cannot win. Too much is known about him now, especially the list of all his pals. Despite all of the ultra left-wing socialist weeping and hand wringing, here's EXACTLY what WILL happen on election day (and you know in your heart that it's true): It won't matter one iota what people have told pollsters. It won't matter at all if Obama and his socialist coven, Nancy Lugosi etc., are up by 10% on the last day. The Sheeple smile and tell pollsters what pollsters want to hear because the Sheeple have had PCness pounded into them for the last forty years. But as sure as God made green apples they're going to step into those voting booths and they're going to think about Rev. Wright, Obama's wife, the O.J. trial, Al Sharpton, Marion Barry, the Shabaz Fish Shop, the murders and rapes in cities, and recently near colleges, on the TV news, the behavior of the Katrina crowd when Texas took them in and gave them shelter, the L.A. riots, the Miami riots, Cops, America's Most Wanted, the Bloods, the Crips, Ludicris, not feeling safe when they take their families to the movies at night, and they're going to punch the chad for......McCain. They will prefer bland McCain to Obama and ultra left-wing socialism and the prospect of the USA becoming Haiti in four short years. End of story.