;)
The Conversation -- December 28, 2023
** Jenna Russell & Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "Maine's top election official on Thursday barred Donald J. Trump from the state's primary election ballot ... based on claims that his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election rendered him ineligible. In a written decision, the official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said that Mr. Trump did not qualify for the ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, agreeing with a handful of citizens who claimed that he had incited an insurrection and was thus barred from seeking the presidency again under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. 'I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection,' Ms. Bellows, a Democrat, wrote.... Maine's decision adds urgency to calls for the U.S. Supreme Court to insert itself into the politically explosive dispute over his eligibility." CNN's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: We learned from Nikki Haley yesterday that the Civil War was about, well, something besides slavery, and the best those of us who went to school in the South could surmise was that that the "something" must have been states' rights. Now, many of the Supremes are more-or-less "Tenthers": that is, those who to believe the Constitution's Tenth Amendment severely limits the reach of the federal government. So let's see how they feel about states that have laws permitting, by one means or another, to kick a certain Republican off the ballot. It's well-established that we don't have a true federal elections system; rather, we have 50 state elections systems, each with unique laws and rules governing federal elections. BTW, Trump is not the first prominent GOP candidate whom Bellows kicked off this year's GOP primary ballot: she determined that Chris Christie had not met the state's requirement for voter petitions and would not put him on the ballot. A Maine court later upheld her ruling.
** Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "Two days before the January 6 insurrection, the Trump campaign's plan to use fake electors to block President-elect Joe Biden from taking office faced a potentially crippling hiccup: The fake elector certificates from two critical battleground states were stuck in the mail. So, Trump campaign operatives scrambled to fly copies of the phony certificates from Michigan and Wisconsin to the nation's capital, relying on a haphazard chain of couriers, as well as help from two Republicans in Congress, to try to get the documents to then-Vice President Mike Pence while he presided over the Electoral College certification. The operatives even considered chartering a jet to ensure the files reached Washington, DC, in time for the January 6, 2021, proceeding, according to emails and recordings obtained by CNN.... These details largely come from pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who was an architect of the fake electors plot...." Includes audio of Chesebro's testimony.
Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "A House Ethics panel announced Wednesday that it will investigate whether Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) violated campaign finance laws and failed to file required disclosure forms last year as she ran in a special election for her seat and sought reelection months later." Politico's story is here.
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A full-time employee of the Trump administration appears to have taken part in the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a new analysis. USA Today reported that Oliver Krvaric, who was working at the time as a 'confidential assistant' for the Office of Personnel Management, can be seen in photos and videos crossing the threshold of the west door of the upper west terrace of the U.S. Capitol immediately ahead of far-right influencer 'Baked Alaska.' 'I was not in the Capitol,' Krvaric told the newspaper. 'I did not go into any offices, I didn't wander the halls. I was not on the premises.'... He stopped responding to [a reporter's] texts when sent a surveillance video appearing to show him inside the building.... A spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management confirmed that Krvaric, who led the College Republicans while at San Diego State University, was employed by the department from November 2020 to January 2021, on a Trump executive order seeking to rid federal agencies of diversity and inclusion training."
It Was All Biden's Fault. Jonathan Weisman & Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times: "Nikki Haley ... on Thursday walked back her stumbling answer about the cause of the Civil War, telling a New Hampshire interviewer, 'Of course the Civil War was about slavery.'... But she also insinuated that the question had come not from a Republican voter but from a political detractor, accusing President Biden and Democrats of 'sending plants' to her town-hall events.... Late Wednesday night, even Mr. Biden rebuked [Haley's] answer: 'It was about slavery,' he wrote on social media." Politico's story is here. Related stories linked below; also a video of Haley's not-slavery not-answer to the Biden plant's question. And plenty of commentary in today's thread from people who would not have found the question as tough as Haley complained it was. ~~~
~~~ See today's Comments for the raison d'être of this video:
Nell Scovell, once a writer on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," writes a lovely -- and realistic -- eulogy to Tom Smothers in the New York Times. "Tom Smothers came across as lighthearted and simple onstage. In real life, he thought and felt deeply about the creative process and social justice." ~~~
~~~ Here's video of the Cass Elliot/Tom Smothers sketch Scovell mentions.
~~~~~~~~~~
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans said Wednesday they were investigating whether President Biden was involved in his son Hunter Biden's decision to defy a congressional subpoena in their latest attempt to link the White House to accusations against the president's son.... 'In light of an official statement from the White House that President Biden was aware in advance that his son, Hunter Biden, would knowingly defy two congressional subpoenas, we are compelled to examine as part of our impeachment inquiry whether the president engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct a proceeding of Congress,' Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan wrote in their letter [to White House counsel Ed Siskel]." (Also linked yesterday.) A CBS News story is here.
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to keep ... Donald J. Trump and his lawyers from claiming to the jury in his upcoming election interference trial that the case had been brought against him as a partisan attack by the Biden administration. The move by the prosecutors was designed to keep Mr. Trump from overtly politicizing his trial and from distracting the jury with unfounded political arguments that he has often made on both the campaign trail and in court papers related to the case. Ever since Mr. Trump was charged this summer with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, he and his lawyers have sought to frame the indictment as a retaliatory strike against him by President Biden. Mr. Trump has also placed such claims at the heart of his presidential campaign even though the charges were initially returned by a federal grand jury and are being overseen by an independent special counsel, Jack Smith." (Also linked yesterday.) An NBC News story is here.
Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump on Tuesday fired off a new attack against Representative Debbie Dingell, the widow of John D. Dingell Jr., the longest-serving member of Congress in American history, calling her a 'loser' and suggesting that she had not been grateful for funeral honors granted by Mr. Trump for her husband. The salvo from Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, followed an appearance by Ms. Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, on CNN earlier on Tuesday in which she criticized Mr. Trump's increasingly incendiary language on social media.... Ms. Dingell had been reacting to a grievance-filled Christmas message on Truth Social from Mr. Trump. Referring to his political opponents as 'deranged' and 'thugs' and accusing them of trying to destroy the country, he wrote, 'MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!'" (Also linked yesterday.)~~~
~~~ Marie: For every person who has behaved badly in public, for every person who chafes under criticism that s/he is ill-mannered, there is a potential Trump voter, a person who feels vindicated knowing that a person who is even more boorish than s/he can be president*. Trump is indeed their retribution.
Isaac Arnsdorf & Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump incorrectly said a U.S. soldier died in recent days, appearing to exaggerate the injuries from an attack in northern Iraq on Monday as he sought to criticize President Biden. The attack left one U.S. service member in critical condition and two others injured, according to a statement released by U.S. military officials Monday night. The United States responded with retaliatory airstrikes against an Iran-backed armed group.... 'Last night, a young soldier was killed, U.S., and the two were very, very badly hurt and nobody even talks about it,' Trump said, describing the assault two nights prior. 'It's not even believable.' [MB: No, it's not.]... In the interview, Trump falsely claimed that the attacks had gone completely unanswered. 'We don't even do anything about it,' he said."
No Slight Is Too Small to Refute with a Braggadocious Lie. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump hit back at 'Home Alone' and 'Home Alone 2' Director Chris Columbus on Wednesday, refuting claims he bullied his way into the film and declaring his cameo is the reason the film was a hit. '30 years ago (how time flies!), Director Chris Columbus, and others, were begging me to make a cameo appearance in Home Alone 2. They rented the Plaza Hotel in New York, which I owned at the time. I was very busy, and didn't want to do it.... I agreed, and the rest is history! That little cameo took off like a rocket, and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time,' Trump wrote on Truth Social...[.] The GOP frontrunner's screed came days after Columbus told Business Insider that Trump pushed his way into the film. 'We paid the fee, but he also said, "The only way you can use the Plaza is if I'm in the movie,"' Columbus said of renting the hotel for the film. 'So we agreed to put him in the movie.'... Notably, the first 'Home Alone' was a massive hit with audiences taking in over $476 million worldwide in 1990 -- without a cameo from Trump."
Presidential Race 2024
Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Wednesday demanded the Maine secretary of state recuse herself from her upcoming decision on the former president's ballot eligibility under the 14th Amendment, citing her past statements about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.... In response to three petitions challenging Trump's ballot eligibility, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, is set to issue a decision in the coming days. On Wednesday, Trump's lawyers wrote Bellows a letter demanding she disqualify herself over three tweets she previously issued referencing Jan. 6, including those in which she described the attack as an insurrection."
Julie Bosman, et al., of the New York Times: "The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday gave Donald J. Trump an important victory in the legal battle over his eligibility to return to the White House by allowing the former president to appear on the state's primary ballot in February. But in a narrow ruling, the court left the door open for a new challenge to bar Mr. Trump from the general election ballot in the key battleground state over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The decision was the latest in the high-stakes efforts to block Mr. Trump from returning to power." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Several teevee commentators have noted that in Michigan, the political parties choose the candidates on their slates, and the parties are not required to put forward candidates who meet the qualifications for the offices they seek. Ron Fein, the legal director for the group that filed the suit told the Times, "The Michigan Supreme Court did not rule out that the question of Donald Trump's disqualification for engaging in insurrection against the U.S. Constitution may be resolved at a later stage."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Colorado Republican Party said it had asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear an appeal of the bombshell decision from the Colorado Supreme Court ordering ... Donald J. Trump's removal from the state's primary ballot. The state court ruled that he was ineligible to hold office because he had engaged in insurrection. The justices are likely to agree to hear the case, given the importance of the question it presents and the need for a nationwide answer to it." CNN's story is here.
Another GOP candidate who should be deemed ineligible to be president of anything more important than the Daughters of the Confederacy ~~~
~~~ Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times: "Nikki Haley..., who for years has wrestled with how to approach issues of race, slavery and the Confederacy, found herself again confronted with those subjects at a town hall event on Wednesday in New Hampshire.... Her answer to a simple yet loaded question by an audience member in the city of Berlin -- 'What was the cause of the United States Civil War?' -- showed just how much she continues to struggle with such topics. 'I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,' she said eventually, arguing that government should not tell people how to live their lives or 'what you can and can't do.... I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people,' she said. 'It was never meant to be all things to all people.'... Ms. Haley, who governed a state at the heart of the Confederacy, has a particularly complicated record on issues of race." Politico's story is here. See also NiskyGuy's comment on an unrelated Haley ad at the end of yesterday's thread, and my response at the top of today's. ~~~
Michael Grynbaum & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement on Wednesday.... The Times is the first major American media organization to sue the companies, the creators of ChatGPT and other popular A.I. platforms, over copyright issues associated with its written works. The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, contends that millions of articles published by The Times were used to train automated chatbots that now compete with the news outlet as a source of reliable information. The suit ... says the defendants should be held responsible for 'billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages' related to the 'unlawful copying and use of The Times's uniquely valuable works.' It also calls for the companies to destroy any chatbot models and training data that use copyrighted material from The Times." CNN's story is here.
Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Herbert H. Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat who kept watch over federal budgets in four terms as a United States senator, but as the die-hard owner of the National Basketball Association's often mediocre Milwaukee Bucks spent lavishly to keep the team afloat in his hometown, died on Wednesday afternoon at his home in Milwaukee. He was 88.... Herbert and his three siblings were born and raised in [Milwaukee], scions of a family that in one generation had built an empire of Kohl's stores across the Upper Midwest." The AP's obituary is here.
** William Grimes of the New York Times: "Tom Smothers, the older half of the comic folk duo the Smothers Brothers, whose skits and songs on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' in the late 1960s brought political satire and a spirit of youthful irreverence to network television, paving the way for shows like 'Saturday Night Live' and 'The Daily Show,' died on Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., a city in Sonoma County. He was 86." The Hollywood Reporter's obituary is here. Thanks to RAS for the lead. Read Tommy's obituary for what the CBS suits did to smother the Smothers brothers. Much of this Tommy & Dickie made public contemporaneous to the suits' censor pencils. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
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Colorado Congressional Races. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Representative Lauren Boebert, a far-right House Republican, announced on Wednesday that she would run in a more conservative district in Colorado -- seeking to increase her chances after a strong primary challenger emerged in her district. The move -- from the Third Congressional District to the Fourth -- will thrust Ms. Boebert into a crowded primary to replace Representative Ken Buck, a conservative who is not seeking re-election.... A primary challenger has since emerged with significant backers among prominent former Republican officials in the state. Jeff Hurd, a 44-year-old lawyer from Grand Junction, has been endorsed by former Gov. Bill Owens and former Senator Hank Brown.... Ms. Boebert barely won re-election that year, pulling ahead of her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch, with roughly 500 votes.Mr. Frisch, who is running again in the Third District....: A Colorado Public Radio report is here.
Florida. Yan Zhuang of the New York Times: "A Confederate monument was taken down in Jacksonville, Fla., on Wednesday, after an order by the city's mayor ended years of debate, as officials around the United States reckon with memorials on public property that commemorate the Confederacy. Donna Deegan, the Democratic mayor of Jacksonville, ordered the removal of two statues that were part of the 'Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy' monument in Springfield Park. In the early hours of Wednesday morning a crowd watched a construction crew use a crane to remove one statue, depicting a woman in robes carrying a Confederate flag, from the roof of the gazebo that housed the monument. A second statue, depicting a woman reading to two children, was then taken off a pedestal inside the gazebo. The removal was livestreamed on social media. Ms. Deegan said in a statement on Wednesday that the monument had been erected as part of a campaign to promote discriminatory Jim Crow laws and intimidate Black people." Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The story does not address what will happen to the statue. Maybe send it to nearby South Carolina so Nikki Haley can put it in her front yard.
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Israel/Palestine. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Israel said it was expanding combat operations in Gaza Strip refugee camps Wednesday. A hospital director said the toll from a strike on a residential block in central Gaza's Maghazi camp had risen to 80. Tit-for-tat strikes along the Israel-Lebanon border continue to escalate regional tensions: This week, Hezbollah has launched scores of rockets and drones into Israel, including at a Greek Orthodox church, wounding two Israeli Christians.... At the White House, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, held talks with Ron Dermer, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about 'the transition to a different phase of the war to maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets' as well as 'governance and security in Gaza' after the war, an official said." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here. CNN's live updates are here.
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Reader Comments (24)
@NiskyGuy was compelled to watch a Nikki Haley ad last night, in which she announced that Joe Biden was "just too old" and when she is president (ha ha), she will "defeat China and restore our economy." For some reason, NiskyGuy has no idea what she means by "defeat China," and he was wondering just what Nikki would do to "restore our economy."
I am not the Oracle of Delphi, but I can predict not only the future but also the imaginary future -- the one where Nikki Haley is president. In this hypothetical scenario, I know exactly what Nikki will do. She will "restore our economy" by lowering taxes on the rich.
It's like I'm a spectacular goddess with supernatural powers.
Dear Nikki: Perhaps you are not aware that the United States is a
member of NATO. It is comprised of 31 member nations, mostly in
Europe.
We don't unilaterally declare war on China. That would make us a
rogue nation, along the lines of Russia.
You should read Article 5 which we signed with the 30 other nations:
"If an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it shall be
considered an attack against all members, and other members shall
assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary."
I suggest you turn off Fox News and read a few books.
You're welcome.
Causes of the American Civil War.
Jazmine Ulloa summarizes, and then nikki haley is quoted:
"...arguing that government should not tell people how to live their lives or 'what you can and can’t do.... I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people,' she said."
I dare nh to say that to the a woman who can't get treatment for a miscarriage, or a pregnancy with a fatal outcome for the fetus and possibly the mother. The government in some states is absolutely telling people what they can and cannot do, contrary to medical expert advice and any sense of humanity.
@D in MD: Maybe Nikki had the same high-school textbook I did, which listed the six causes of the Civil War. No mention of slavery whatsoevah. We impressionable youths then had to regurgitate those six not-slavery causes in an essay test.
Then we all broke out in a rousing rendition of Florida's official state song, "Swanee Ribber." Oh, darkies, how muh heart grows weary.
Marie,
Growing up in segregated public schools in Virginia, we sang the state song like this:
Carry me back to Ole Virginny,
ders where de cotton and de corn and taters grow,
Ders where de birds warble sweet in de springtime,
Ders where dis ole darkies heart am long to go.
Ders where I labored so hod for ole massa,
day after day in de field of yella corn,
No place on earth do I love mo sincerely,
den Ole Virginie, de place where I was bone.
Massa and Missus has long gone befo me,
soon we will meet on dat bright golden sho,
Der we'll be happy and free from all sorrow,
der we will meet and nebber part no mo."
Some of us were cynical enough to wonder if de ole darkie was gonna kick ole massa's butt for him. But no, I'm sure they're all sitting out on the veranda, sipping their mint juleps.
Of course, if the ole darkie has to pee, he'll need to go off in the woods, can't be allowed in the house to do that. And they'll have separate glassware, missus lips mustn't touch anything the ole darkie's has.
But they be happy. I guess.
Red states still don't want to teach a full history.
AP News
"A conservative-led Missouri school board has voted to drop elective courses on Black history and literature, five months after the same board rescinded an anti-discrimination policy adopted in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.
The Francis Howell School Board voted 5-2 Thursday night to stop offering Black History and Black Literature."
What seems more believable…
A. That Home Alone 2 director Chris Columbus got on his knees to beg a smirking asshole to please, please, pretty please with an underage naked girl on top, to be in his movie so it would be a hit?
Or…
B. A narcissistic asshole who never loses an opportunity at self promotion and self aggrandizement forced his way into the movie as ransom for allowing producers to shoot a couple of scenes at the Plaza hotel, which he owned at the time?
Add to the A claim, the assertion that the film was a hit only because Trump shoved his fat face in front of the camera.
First, Home Alone 2 was not nearly as successful as the first, picking up a box office of $120 million LESS than the first one.
Second, the idea that Columbus desperately needed Trump in order to make a hit movie. Without Trump, Chris Columbus made films that pulled in over $3 billion. Oh yeah, and leave us not forget that stable genius Trump overpaid for the Plaza, and after screwing it up, had to sell it at a loss of hundreds of millions.
But okay, Fatty showing up for 20 seconds “made” the movie.
Ready class? All together now:
Enn Pee* Dee!
*Not to be confused with his later media appearance in Vladimir Putin’s “The Moscow Pee-Pee Tape”.
Nikki does have a B.S. degree, but in her case I don't think that
stands for Bachelor of Science. Just sayin'.
The cause(s) of the Civil War, in a word:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNYGNqLKWrg
We often hear it was primarily "states' rights" but, actually, for most secessionists that meant a state's right to perpetuate slavery, and in the case of territories, to introduce slavery and keep it after a state plebiscite.
"Slavery it is, sir!"
An ally of Putin falls from window and dies. Maybe that should be
former ally.
When vacationing in Russia, always wear a parachute, unless you can
find a basement apartment.
https://democraticunderground.com/100218557753
So funny (and not in a ha-ha way) to see PoT charlatans like Nikki Haley (in truth, all of them) try to hippity-hop around the topic of slavery as the single biggest reason for the Civil War. It’s like trying to talk about mathematics without mentioning addition and subtraction.
Also interesting to hear a leader of a party set on authoritarian control mewl on about how she’s all for “freedom” from government interfering in people’s lives. The Republican Party is all about surveillance and control.
@D in MD: I did not know the lyrics or the history of your lovely state song. It's too bad you and the other kiddies could not have sung Ray Charles' elegiac version, which makes ole Virginny seem like a place to escape from via the highway to heaven. Video above.
Since Haley would be considered a R moderate, what does her reluctance/refusal to mention slavery as a (make that "the") cause of the Civil War tell us about the depth snd extent of her party's racism?
Virtually everything, I'd say.
Ken, spot on. I expect that we will survive Trump, but we might not survive those who then let down their guard because they think that when Trump goes, the GOP will become Ed Brooke's party again. Or even that of Christine Todd Whitman. So, it's more important than ever to point out everything GOPers say that Rush Limbaugh would have approved. The GOP was becoming the last refuge of scoundrels long before Trump made his move.
The times they were, and are, a'changing.
I graduated from T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA in 1967. We were the first graduating class from that school, and that was only the second integrated graduating class in Virginia. Until my junior year, I had never had a black teacher or classmate.
Ironically the eponymous Williams, a long time superintendent of Alexandria schools was an ardent segregationist. He denied being a racist, though, rather asserted that because black children "learned differently" they should be educated separately for their own good. Nothing but the best for the little darkies.
The school's name was changed to Alexandria City High School in 2021.
Not impressed with Haley's attempt to sound all knowledgeable about the Civil War and slavery. I mean, "I am from the South" is not reassuring. What did SHE learn in a South Carolina history class?
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/politics/nikki-haley-civil-war-slavery.html
The only thing I remember from my 1970's Texas high school lessons on that war is the admonishment to call it the war between the states. As shocking as it seems, we must have been thoroughly brainwashed to believe that Texas was different from the other states of the confederacy we glimpsed in film, a belief that persisted for me even as we began celebrating Juneteenth.
Abby Livingston and Isabella Zou wrote about the current efforts at censorship in 2021 in the Texas Tribune. "A promotional event for a book examining the role slavery played leading up to the Battle of the Alamo that was scheduled at the Bullock Texas State History Museum on Thursday evening was abruptly canceled three and a half hours before it was scheduled to begin. Authors of the book, titled 'Forget the Alamo,' and the publisher, Penguin Press, say the cancellation of the event, which had 300 RSVPs, amounts to censorship from Republican elected leaders and an overreaction to the book’s examination of racism in Texas history. " The Tribune article also notes that "last month, lawmakers passed a bill that restricts how teachers can discuss current events in the classroom and limits how they can discuss the role of race in America’s history and present." Forget the Alamo
D in MD, was Dana Millbank's description in the Washington Post in 2022 anything like your experience?
No Guilt History
Laura,
Yeah, that was pretty much the picture: darkies working merrily in the fields under the kindly eye of ole massa.
But the whole guilt trip doesn't make much sense to me either. Why should anyone feel guilty about, or for that matter proud of, something they had nothing to do with? None of us chose our ancestors.
Let's just tell the truth, all the truth, about everybody and everything: the good, the bad, the ugly, the sane, the silly, and the damn stupid. There is an abundance of each of those, everywhere on earth, at every moment of history, and to the present day.
“Carry me back to ole Virginny”, sung by a black man, probably referred to the fact that, as a runaway slave, he was hobbled (ankles crushed with a sledge hammer) after being caught, and so had to be carried since walking would no longer be possible.
Great way to celebrate the state. And oh, by the way, the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery.
I graduated from a small rural Florida county high school and took American History in the 10th grade. This was in 1959 and we covered the period 1850 to 1900 inside a week. From statehood in 1845 with the war mentioned as a passing thing, nothing on reconstruction, and on to the Spanish-American war.
I was a voracious reader and had more books on history on my shelves at home than were in the high school library. I've kept the habit all my life.
By the way Laura,
There are some good ol' boys who like to refer to the recent unpleasantness as "The War of Northern Aggression".
So, Drumpf thinks his shit doesn't stick, but it appears that others beg to differ...
Am: grew up in NC and KY and at least in KY, “carry” actually was used to mean “take”, as in “Are y’all gonna carry me to church tomorrow?”