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Monday, 25 September 2006
A separate reality
Whoa, what just happened? I felt a disturbance in the universe, an unraveling of the very logic that keeps the celestial spheres spinning. Suddenly, nothing makes sense! What could it...
Oh, yeah. I mentioned the Confederate flag on the State House grounds, and I did so in terms that were almost dismissive rather than worshipful. In the universe in which the Flag is a Big Deal, certain concepts such as proportional response do not exist. It's sort of like drawing cartoons of Mohammad -- expect something that has little to do with what you said or did.
I was reminded of that by this comment on a recent post:
Mr Warthen,
Would you please provide a picture of yourself for my blog. I am in the habit of crediting those who trash the Confederate Flag for my readers, and I'd love to make you my newest entry!
http://aint-no-4-letter-word.blogspot.com/
Thanks & God BlessPosted by: Billy Bearden | Sep 22, 2006 8:43:19 AM
OK, fine, credit away -- but what does this have to do with me? Wait -- are you suggesting that what I said somehow "trashed" the flag? I suppose if I said the sun went down last night, I'd be disrespecting old Sol, and could expect protests from outraged sun-worshipers.
Talk about missing the point. But I should know to expect this. After having written about the flag hundreds of times (just not so much lately), I should actually feel the shape of space-time shifting around me as I re-enter the atmo of that loony world.
But hey -- a reader request is a reader request. Rather than making poor Billy use that "mean" face above, as suggested by bill, I'll provide something more directly tailored to the purpose. It's just as mean, but has more of a period look. In fact, in this picture I was deliberately trying to affect a "Civil War general" scowl. You know how, back in the 19th century, getting your picture taken was such a big deal, and you had to be so still, that people always looked like they were constipated or something? That's what I was going for.
Anyway, I thought anybody that much into Confederate memorabilia would prefer this gag picture to the other gag picture.
I would have made it sepiatone, but I had some trouble with PhotoShop.
Don't thank me. I'm all about service.
Posted by Brad Warthen at 05:13 PM in Blogosphere, History, South Carolina
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Comments
Don't thank me.
Don't worry.
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Sep 25, 2006 5:24:16 PM
I still prefer thestate.com Editorial Writer's BW mug, circa 1985.
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Sep 25, 2006 5:26:36 PM
I just went to Billy's blog and scrolled through it, and it occurs to me that if three of y'all go there and each leave a comment, that would bring his total comments in the past month up to ... let's see, ummm ... three!
So don't.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Sep 25, 2006 5:35:49 PM
Then of course we could also go to some other blogs and the comments they get on just one thread would equal an entire month's worth on this blog.
Clearly quantity doesn't equal quality.
I'm not a fan of the confederate flag and I haven't even looked at that guy's blog but something needed to be said about that snarky comment of yours. Maybe if that guy had the luxury of a link directly from the state's largest newspaper and a big publicity push at its startup, his comments would be more numerous as well. In other words, your blog is what it is -- very minor in the grand scheme of blogs -- but probably wouldn't even be that without big daddy The State.
Posted by: LexWolf | Sep 25, 2006 7:44:57 PM
I love the Elie Wiesel quote under"Confederate Ain't No 4 Letter Word."Talk about a separate reality.It is kinda sad he ain't gettin' many hits,but like Carlos said:
"Once a man learns how to "see" he finds himself alone in the world with nothing but folly."
Posted by: bill | Sep 25, 2006 8:06:36 PM
The NAACP conjured up the Confederate Flag Issue as a smokescreen from the scandal, where there leadership, right here in Columbia, looted the treasury and received prison terms.
Donations plummeted, and they needed something to divert attention from the corruption, and refill the coffers.
Hmmmm. How about teaming up with white liberal newspaper folk who need to suck up to their big cousins at the Philadelphia Enquirer and Washington Post, and divert all political attention from real issues into a phony one that is just what the Yankee media will lap up and run with?
Posted by: Lee | Sep 25, 2006 8:23:27 PM
In other words, your blog is what it is -- very minor in the grand scheme of blogs - Lex
I think someone's still pouting about having a whole threaddedicated to his childishness.
Lee, nice parrotting. Was this from Rush's Friday show?
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Sep 25, 2006 9:17:33 PM
Pouting? Heh. That was an honor because it took only 2 or 3 weeks to get the lefties to run to Mommy.
Posted by: LexWolf | Sep 25, 2006 11:01:33 PM
And "Mommy" spanked you like the naughtly little boy you acted like.
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Sep 25, 2006 11:14:39 PM
Randy, are you now fabricating a story about Rush Limbaugh addressing the phony Confederate flag issue? Why do you have such a difficult time with joining adult discussions? Are you totally unfamiliar with the NAACP embezzlement scandal which precipitated the flag smokescreen?
Posted by: Lee | Sep 26, 2006 7:34:47 AM
I just went to Billy's blog and scrolled through it, and it occurs to me that if three of y'all go there and each leave a comment, that would bring his total comments in the past month up to ... let's see, ummm ... three!
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Sep 25, 2006 3:35:49 PM
Which answers the age-old question: What do Mike Cakora's and Billy Bearden's blog have in common?
Thanks, folks, I'll be here all night. Drinks are in the back.
Posted by: Capital A | Sep 26, 2006 7:41:49 AM
Lee, I thought the NAACP was busy pushing to "legalize child molestation" because they are "liberals". They sure are busy out there.
BTW, I don't think I need to fabricate stories to make Rush look bad.
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Sep 26, 2006 9:10:30 AM
Dang. I threw "atmo" in there hoping to generate a "Firefly" thread. Maybe I should have been more obvious. Maybe I should have said "'verse" in the first line.
After all, the analogies are there so that such a thread would be relevant to the ostensible subject. "Firefly" is set in a future post-"Civil War" galaxy, with Captain Mal and crew playing the part of former Rebs wandering the frontier on the edges of the law. This show should have been a huge hit down in our part of the country, with its theme of free-spirited former "Browncoats" constantly outwitting the priggish, snooty "Federals." And the formula gave folks with a conscience permission to enjoy it, by establishing that Mal hates slavery and all those who deal in it. (I refer to his picking a barroom brawl with interplanetary slavers at the start of one of the episodes -- or was it in the movie? I forget.)
And yet, it lasted less than a season. I own the DVD set, and I have episodes -- good ones -- that never aired. Such a shame.
Posted by: Brad Warthen | Sep 26, 2006 9:42:37 AM
Talk about a separate reality:
IDon'tBelieveTheState actually said something (sorta) nice about a State columnist.
Judge for yourself here.
Posted by: c | Sep 26, 2006 11:38:49 AM
The South was right about everything except slavery. Unfortunately, that's the worst sin to be in the wrong concerning. It's the worm that rots the apple to its core.
Yes, I know conditions in the north weren't much better. I know the war wasn't mainly about slavery. The north has played its propaganda expertly in the time since, though. We lost on all fronts and completely. Current Confederate flag worshipers certainly don't help matters.
Digressing, if you want good Firefly/Serenity t-shirts (to show your support), check out jinx.com . I may not be able to proudly wear Confed gray, but I'll always be a Browncoat, and I aim to misbehave!
If you're a Joss Whedon fan, jump on his Astonishing X-Men run now. It's more emotionally complex and riveting stuff than Firefly. Certainly better than the last "blockbuster" of a movie...
He's also going to become the regular writer on his self-admitted favorite comic book, Runaways, with issue number 26. The prevailing themes in that book are pretty parallel to those in Firefly/Serenity.
You're blessed in Columbia with two of the better comic book shops I've seen. Make use of them. Let the inner child out. Get to readin', gorammit!
Posted by: Capital A | Sep 26, 2006 11:57:23 AM
You kids do live in an entertainment world.
Posted by: Lee | Sep 26, 2006 12:47:52 PM
And we wholly appreciate the entertainment you do provide...
Posted by: Capital A | Sep 26, 2006 12:56:09 PM
I'll bet you appreciate the real world we provide, too: the private economy and the government handouts it sustains.
Posted by: Lee | Sep 26, 2006 1:02:37 PM
The following story shows why issues regarding the flag are of some importance. Personally I have no interest in where (or even if) the Confederate flag flys. But the fact that this is even discussed underscores a grim reality. Racism still exists in 2006. That's why people like George Allen, a so-called "family values" guy continue to get re-elected.
Sept. 24, 2006 | WASHINGTON -- Three former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s.
"Allen said he came to Virginia because he wanted to play football in a place where 'blacks knew their place,'" said Dr. Ken Shelton, a white radiologist in North Carolina who played tight end for the University of Virginia football team when Allen was quarterback. "He used the N-word on a regular basis back then."
Posted by: bud | Sep 26, 2006 3:18:19 PM
I'll bet you appreciate the real world we provide, too: the private economy and the government handouts it sustains.
Posted by: Lee | Sep 26, 2006 11:02:37 AM
Lee, who is "we"? I'm contributing to the economy as well as anyone.
We're all in this American experiment together.
Posted by: Capital A | Sep 26, 2006 3:24:36 PM
Lee, I'm working too many hours at my business (the real world) to spend as many hours here as you seem to.
Posted by: Steve Gordy | Sep 26, 2006 4:33:15 PM
This Shelton guy should be ashamed of himself. Allen has run for governor, senator, and other offices and never a peep. Now this Dem activist decides to nail Allen. This stinks like Mapes-Rather right before the 04 election, and the drunk driving judge in Vermont on Bush right before the 00 election. Will the Dems ever get any class? Probably not and that is why most decent people wouldnt vote for these political whores.
Posted by: Dave | Sep 26, 2006 5:11:00 PM
Dave is an apologist for any foul mouthed bully. Ann Coulter says dispicable things, Allen has shown questionable character and Dave sees the democrats behind it all.
Do you honestly believe Allen's stories (PLURAL) about making up the term "macaca" then mistaking it for mohawk? His mother is from Tunisia where "macaca" is a COMMON term and you blame democrats? How about blaming the PUBLIC servant for using such dispicable terminology?
Posted by: Randy Ewart | Sep 26, 2006 6:02:50 PM
Since Brad cut his teeth at a newspaper in Tennessee, I am sure he recalls Al Gore, Jr. and Tipper campaigning in Old South costumes, in a horse-drawn carriage complete with black driver and footmen.
Posted by: Lee | Sep 26, 2006 7:02:55 PM
The stories accusing George Allen of using the N-word continue to look stranger and stranger. Yesterday's revelation that Larry Sabato, Virginia's most well-known political scientist, joined another former Allen classmate, Christopher Taylor, in publicly accusing Allen of using the racial epithet. However, these sourcings have also begun to look rather peculiar. Now Sabato appears to be backing away from his first-person claim, telling Chris Matthews that he was relaying information from other sources and declining to identify them:
Sabato, who made his comments during an interview on Chris Matthews' "Hardball" program on MSNBC, later declined to specifically identify his sources.
"My sources are former classmates who came to me with stories that matched up," Sabato said late Monday night. "I never solicited them. They came to me during the past few months."
Initially, Sabato's claims suggested that Allen used the word around Sabato himself, but the two never spent any time together in college or afterwards, Allen's campaign insisted. In fact, Sabato spent his time after college working for the Democratic Party. Now he feels perfectly comfortable confirming rumors from unidentified sources ... with rumors from other unidentified sources.
Taylor, on the other hand, does insist that he heard the epithet first-hand when he visited Allen's residence in the early 80s. He said that Allen told him that only black people ate the turtles at the pond, but used the N-word to do so. Allen's ex-wife recalls Taylor's visit and completely rejects his story, which seems pretty substantial coming from a former spouse:
The Allen camp released a statement from Allen's first wife refuting Taylor's story. Anne Waddell, who was married to Allen from 1980 to 1984, said she recalled Taylor coming to their home to buy a puppy.
"I can say with absolute certainty that his recollection that George said anything at all that could be considered racially insensitive is completely false," she said. "He would never utter such a word."
Waddell said, "I was the one who fished for the turtles in our pond because they were eating the young goslings. The person who ate the turtles was our neighbor."
The Hampton Times also notes that Taylor also is a political activist who wants to see Allen defeated.
The original source, Ken Shelton, also claimed that Allen put a deer head into the mailbox of Virginia African-Americans while in college, a story repeated by The New Republic's Ryan Lizza in an article helpfully titled "Pond Scum". That sounds like such an outlandish story that one would have difficulty believing that someone could make it up. Fortunately, there was no need to do so. Earlier this year, a North Carolina teenager put deer parts in mailboxes in Hoke County, a story which got good regional coverage.....
Either this is quite the coincidence, or dismembering deers and mailing them to neighbors has the same allure in the South as cow-tipping does here in the Midwest. It certainly sounds like Shelton might have lifted this story and attributed it to Allen as a means of strengthening his allegations against the Senator.
One thing is certain: the only first-hand sources that have gone on the record have political axes to grind against Allen and their stories have fallen apart under close scrutiny. It's a smear campaign, a character assassination in slow motion, and one that should shame James Webb and his campaign. They have yet to distance themselves from these attacks, and one has to conclude that they have no desire to do so.
Posted by: LexWolf | Sep 26, 2006 7:24:40 PM
