Boycott Georgia!!! Yeah, Michael Moore!!!

I like the old Georgia flag:

It's our heritage! How dare you try to take our heritage!

^ Where the truth doesn't work for ya, I'm glad you can make up something.

Well, technically, Trey Parker and Matt Stone made it up.

A bunch of Southern politicians got told what to do by Washington and, guess what? They passed a gesture of independence that was upheld over the next 50+ years. Unsurprisingly, it was ultimately as futile an expression of states' rights as the Civil War, as misunderstood, and as completely mischaracterized in the same way.

South Park's attempt at political humor? It smacks of beating up on crippled children. The only people that laugh at this stuff at the "in" crowd.

Which sounds pretty noble until you factor in what Washington told them to do that they found so all-fired offensive, at which point it just becomes disgusting.

It'd be great if for once the South would make a stand for 'State's Rights' NOT based on discriminating against some minority.

It's an important principle, one that we could use more of, but thanks to shit like this it's now a punchline.

That's what I mean. These guys got caught up in the right of the state to run their educational system (and they were right, but chose the wrong battlefield) and chose the flag as a symbol of their independence. The parallels to the Civil War are remarkable in that the principles (States' Rights in the first case) were valid. The tipping point issue (slavery in the first case) was what led to the sympathies being against the states.

Here's the ultimate kicker, though. Even though the moral issues were decided correctly in both cases, the governmental issues were decided incorrectly, IMO. As a result of the Civil War, for instance, we got a much stronger federal government and greatly weakened state governments. In the second case, at the very least, we got greatly increased federal involvement / interference in education. At the same time that this involvement has gone up, spending has increased and practically every measure of student progress has declined.

I'm not sure what the alternative would've been. How could we have gotten the good of ending slavery and integrating education without the negatives? I do know that merely ignoring the other issues involved in these periods of history isn't going to help us make good decisions.

Well, there are (depending on the state of course) gun laws, blue laws, speed limits, educational requirements, medical marijuana legalization, etc.
Few of these issue have anything to do with discriminating against minorities.

Yes. They should feel free to make a stand on some of those issues.

What in our lifetimes have any states done to discriminate against minorities?
I can't think of any examples. Even if a state were to put a full-blown rebel battle flag on every and all government buildings it would no doubt offend....
but would it affect any minority? Would it take one dime out of a minority pocket or hinder them in any way?

Look at those state AGs that filed amicus curia briefs in support of Texas in Lawrence v Texas, for a specific example, and their stance towards equal rights for homosexuals in general.

That was pretty much what I was saying about the state flag of Georgia. It had flown for 50+ years (and yes, it was a statement to the Feds) but did it really set any minority back a step? On the other hand, did it really advance any majority (as if there really were a strictly majority white group in the state of Georgia that's as racist as has been portrayed.) A small group of "offended" got the flag changed and the real majority (the ones that didn't care one way or the other) went along just to get on with their lives. It's an interesting question - do we really want our country run that way?

Not familiar with the Texas cases. I can only speak for Georgia, where we have gay pride parades, gay resorts, etc. etc. and nobody really gives a shit. They as a group never seem to be ranting about mistreatment.

But the recent execution is VERY MUCH divided along racial lines, but this is no surprise. Blacks that are glad he was executed are....the conservatives, and yes black conservatives exist, and it's not a "class" thing. All the blacks I know (due to my unique job) make a buttload of money but interestingly enough that does not make them lean towards conservatism, unless they just don't admit to it due to peer pressure from other blacks.

Comments on this post
El Chup disagrees!

I think I've been the victim of a drive-by!