Bigotry

[pat]

I have seen this link making the rounds. My answer, as a transplanted Southerner?

Fuck you, too.

Jimmy Carter is a Southerner. As are Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Edwards.

On the other side, Orrin Hatch is from Utah. Arlen Specter and the notoriously homophobic Rick Santorum are from Pennsylvania, which last time I checked was above the Mason-Dixon line. The anti-choice zealot Henry Hyde is from Illinois. Alan Keyes may or may not be from Illinois, but he's not from the South in any case. John McCain, who whatever you think of him supported Bush in his reelection, is from Arizona. One of Bush's most vocal fans this fall was Rudy Guiliani, former mayor of New York. And as for the Governator, who spoke at the Republican National Convention.... well, you know. And as can be seen from this map, Republicans hold sway far and wide outside Dixie.

Bigotry based on geography is bigotry nonetheless. I think geekchick said it best: "Make no mistake, those of you ranting about moronic Southerners are every bit as bigoted and intolerant as anyone painting you as a "liberal, elitist, babykilling traitor", so get the f*ck down off your high horse."

Oh, and for anyone saying "lighten up, it's all in fun"? Let me ask you, would you ever make a racist joke to a person of color, and tell them to lighten up if they objected to it? If the answer to that question is "no," you have no business telling me likewise.

Comments

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Living outside the US I generally only see things on the national stage. I don't know how things differ when it comes to state politics. The impression I have is that state and national parties can be very different. This might well apply on civil rights issues, with the national party being punished but state parties not being seen as part of the issue.

I think it is very interesting that state governers, of whatever party, tend to do better in presidential elections than members of congress. Was Kennedy the last senator to become president, or was that Nixon? Are there any democratic state governers with enough gravitas to make a run in 2008?

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

I don't know if he would be successful, but I'd love to see Howard Dean run again.

The last senator to be President -- in fact, barring the elder Bush, the last non-governor to be elected -- was Nixon. LBJ had been a senator, as well.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Pardon my ignorance... where was Dean governor?

The lack of senators winning the presidency in recent years would suggest that the democrats should be looking outside the senate. Maybe Hilary should aim for VP in 2008, and only go for the big job in 2016, since it seems that senators now have to be VP before they can be P...

[geekchick]

Dean was governor of Vermont for five terms.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Thanks!