I spent about 2 hours today tutoring Jonathan in math and English. The rest of the day was laid back. Tomorrow is very busy with physio and meetings at my mother's care facility. I'll see her for a few minutes between meetings but that will be it.
Short Takes
The Atlantic — This afternoon, in announcing her support for removing the Confederate flag from the capitol grounds, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley asserted that killer Dylann Roof had “a sick and twisted view of the flag” which did not reflect “the people in our state who respect and in many ways revere it.” If the governor meant that very few of the flag’s supporters believe in mass murder, she is surely right. But on the question of whose view of the Confederate Flag is more twisted, she is almost certainly wrong.
Roof’s belief that black life had no purpose beyond subjugation is “sick and twisted” in the exact same manner as the beliefs of those who created the Confederate flag were “sick and twisted.” The Confederate flag is directly tied to the Confederate cause, and the Confederate cause was white supremacy. This claim is not the result of revisionism. It does not require reading between the lines. It is the plain meaning of the words of those who bore the Confederate flag across history. These words must never be forgotten. …
It was in South Carolina that the Civil War began, when the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter. The state’s casus belli was neither vague nor hard to comprehend:
…A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted with the administration of the common Government, because he has declared that that “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free,” and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction. This sectional combination for the submersion of the Constitution, has been aided in some of the States by elevating to citizenship, persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are incapable of becoming citizens; and their votes have been used to inaugurate a new policy, hostile to the South, and destructive of its beliefs and safety.
… As the Late Unpleasantness stretched from the predicted months into years, the very reason for the Confederacy’s existence came to threaten its diplomatic efforts. Fighting for slavery presented problems abroad, and so Confederate diplomats came up with the notion of emphasizing “states rights” over “slavery”…
Click through for this long but interesting piece from June 2015. Too many times, I have heard dyed-in-the-wool southerners say that the Civil War was fought over states' rights. Around the time this article was written, Republican politicians in South Carolina and elsewhere were beating that states' rights drum. But here are historical records that make clear that the Civil War, from the South's perspective, was indeed about the retention and expansion of slavery. Further it was about white supremacy.
Raw Story — From the files of "Well that just happened!"
Two men with mirrors and a wooden cross interrupted a campaign event in Raymond, New Hampshire to perform an exorcism on Ted Cruz on Monday, saying that the Republican presidential candidate was “possessed by a demon.”
According to The Dallas Morning News, Cruz had just finished his stump speech when the men began shouting at the candidate.
“Ted Cruz look in the mirror and let the evil spirit depart!” one man exclaimed. “He’s possessed by a demon!”
Click through for the rest and a short video. I don't think the exorcism worked because Cruz is still a nasty piece of work.
Foreign Policy — That could be good news for Democrats and a serious threat to Republican efforts to hold the Senate. Even without Trump and Cruz, Republicans faced an unfavorable electoral map in 2016: They hold only a four-seat majority as they defend 24 seats, many of which Obama won in 2012, versus Democrats’ 10. It’s almost a mirror image of what Democrats faced in the 2014 midterms, …
But even former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu, who has known Ayotte for more than a dozen years and campaigned for her first Senate bid in 2010, was pessimistic. “I don’t think anybody’s going to have an easy victory this time around,” he told FP. …
Ayotte doesn’t seem to have much patience with that Trump-style of campaigning, where rhetoric and gimmick replaces substance on national security and bipartisanship is a dirty word. Asked whether she can run on non-partisanship in this hyper-partisan climate, she said, “The resounding answer is going to be yes.”
“And I’m afraid that if a Donald Trump or a Cruz is at the top of the ticket, Republicans will lose a lot of seats, and it will make Kelly’s race extremely tough.”
With the Senate Republican majority at stake in November and two presidential hopefuls that may mean chaos in New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte has her work cut out for her. Of course, I support the Democrat, Hassan.
My Universe — h/t Ted W and Carol B, Care2
5 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 08/02/2016”
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The Atlantic: Good article. The Civil War was about slavery.The South depended on slave labor. For more than the 180,000 African Americans who served in the CW, emancipation was their goal. The Confederate flag represents slavery, racial discrimination, hate, and yes, white supremacy. The KKK embraced this banner.
RW: Well played!! This is pure delight, shame they couldn't exorcise his bantering! LOL
My Universe: Kitty looks quite upset, kind of like a disgruntled teenager.
Enjoy your day, Thanks, Lynn.
Good luck with a busy day tomorrow, Lynn. I hope your mother will not be asleep during those few minutes you can see her.
The Atlantic: Thanks for this interesting article, Lynn, it furthered my education on this subject. I've heard the term "revisionism" used often by those that claim that the Confederate flag had nothing to do with slavery or white supremacy. As so often is the case this revisionism did not come from Democrats and in our own time, but happened as soon as the war started in South Carolina and its politicians met with resistance abroad against the content of the declaration of war. For the sake of diplomacy and – no doubt – trade, the Confederates revised their declaration to be about state rights and keeping slavery sub rosa for the outside world. So typical for Republicans to accuse the opposition of something they were responsible for themselves.
Raw story: Those men were wrong to think Cruz is possessed by a demon that could be exorcized, Cruz IS a demon, all of him. You don't think a demon would want to share that body with something like Cruz's ego, do you?
Foreign Policy: May the best candidate, Democrat Hassan, win in New Hampshire, setting an example for all the other elections for the senate this year. Let the GOP finally learn what enabling this Clown Car means to their candidates for Congress.
My Universe: I've never seen a cat doing anything it's ordered to do, so even going up to its room because it "wants to" would be a first 😉
Atlantic – The scary thing for today is that Republicans are not just beating the "states rights" drum in public speeches, but they are getting it into textbooks to indoctrinate a generation. Further, it is these "states rights" Republicans who want, for instance, to overturn any state or local ordinance that requires labeling of foods which contain GMOs. And any state or local ordinances which legalizes the possession and use of marijuana, medical or otherwise. And any state or local ordinance which authorizes marriages without regard to the sex of the couple. There are, of course , many other things they do not want states doing that they disagree with, but these three loom large at the moment. Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican.
Raw Story – FOMCROFLMAOAPMPYSST! No, dears, he is not possessed of a demon. If he were, he would appear a lot more acceptable than he does. Demons are smarter than that. No, he's just evil. But it's a fun gig.
Foreign Policy – Well, a historical first for me – I hope Sununu is right. Maggie Hassan has been New Hampshire's governor and has a good record. I certainly wish her the best!
Universe – Yeah. Right. Whatever. Just be quiet about it.
More kudos to you!
Republicans may not own black people. However, that does not apply to my inalianable Biblical right to own a Canadian!
I bet the poor demon was overjoyed to escape from Uranus Inspector.
i expect Democats to take the Senate and Republicans to hold onto the House, but Republicans will lose their supermajority there.
You tell them, Tux!! Send them to their room!!
"You know, the funny thing…usually Lefties don't believe in God," he said, and had a semblance of a self-satisfied smile on his face. So, did God tell him that these were Lefites? Maybe they were crazed Evangelicals. They made no comment about his politics. PS: what the hell does he know about Lefties, anyway? Many Lefties believe in a magical man upstairs. Beats me!
That "…geographcal line" is a stunningly clear statement about the South's position, and, indeed, has nothing to do with state's rights, which has previously been declared revisionist BS.
Tom, I hope your prediction is spot-on!