--- Gautam Mukunda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> The> South is part of the United States. and went on to screech at me that I am a bigoted so and so. I made it very clear that my "Confederacy" statements were metaphorical, but nevertheless the facts are as they are. A clear majority of the American people voted AGAINST George W Bush, the first in this century to not even have a plurality. He won only because rural states get a huge electoral college bonus. And because in those states Gerrymandering and electoral cheating have risen from subtle art to outrageously open theft. Have the people of those regions shown the slightest sheepishness over the way urban and coastal America was disenfranchised? Not a bit. They have crowed relentlessly over their "victory". The cries of "culture war" have emanated from the South especially. SO DON'T YOU FOR EVEN A MOMENT TRY TO SAY I STARTED THIS. The brand of "kick-ass" neoconservatism that we are seeing is totally different from older conservatisms precisely because it is EXACTLY the conservatism of the old Dixiecrats... the southern democrats who obstructed civil rights and pushed us into Vietnam... ... as they are pushing us into Iraq. Gautam's mud-slinging at me -- calling me a bigot -- is the reflex of one who is losing an argument based on policy. In fact, there are no levels in which the evolution from Confederacy to Dixiecrat to modern neocon GOP is not smooth and clear as day. Just follow the drift of Strom Thurmond and Stennis all the way to spittle flinging Zel Miller. They claim their party left them behind by veering left. But other than Hillary's Health Care bill, there HAVE BEEN NO LEFTWARD POLICY SHIFTS BY THE DEMOCRATS. NONE! No, the shift was simple and natural. A drift of the GOP into its new home. Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Barry Goldwater are spinning. Are there wonderful people in the South. Tolerant, modern, eccentric and loyal to the Union? Hell yes! (Every southern state but S.Carolina sent regiments of volunteers to the Union Army.) But those people have been gerrymandered into futility in today's south. So take your 'bigot' ravings and stuff em, Gautam. This is a legitimate topic. It is about a political phenomenon that's very old. Moreover, it is precisely the reason why the present horror will finally end. When people in the Union truly wake up to what's happened, they will marginalize the phenomenon, the way the Dixiecrats were marginalized in DC from 1880 to 1933. The sad thing is the pain felt by old-style american conservatives. The libertarian style conservatives. They are being dragged into a whole world of lunacy. I really feel for them. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
