So much for unity and healing
Kari Chisholm
It's chock-full of four-letter words, but it's just too good a rant to pass up. If you're offended by language, though, you'll not want to visit FuckTheSouth.com. (Not sure who the anonymous author is, but man is he/she mad...)
Meanwhile, a couple of maps for your viewing pleasure. The first is the 2004 election results. The second, a map of pre-Civil War free and slave states and territories.
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2:00 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
Oh man, are you going to catch hell for this one.
While we're posting fun maps, check out these, from three U Michigan profs.
Nov 9, '04
I guess bigots are just humorists if their politics is correct??
Nov 9, '04
We're still fighting the civil war. Or, more accurately, the South is still fighting the civil war and the north is oblivious.
The religious conservatives are fighting a culture war that liberals try hard to pretend doesn't exist or doesn't matter as much as pocket book issues.
It's time for people to get their heads out of the sand and engage in the culture war head on, rather than try to avoid it by focusing on other issues.
2:44 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
Gordie, would you care to expand further? I'm not sure what you mean.
Setting aside the FTS guy's obvious anger, he's got some interesting points. They're similar to the ones made in the book What's the Matter with Kansas? in which Thomas Frank asks the key question - why would states that have a net gain from the federal govt be so anti-federal? As Jon Stewart has been asking lately, why is it that New Yorkers - attacked by terrorists and surrounded by gay people - are not as afraid of terrorists and gay people as folks in middle America who haven't been attacked and have fewer numbers of gay Americans in their midst?
Look, I'm just pointing folks to the sentiments out there, not endorsing them -- but there's some compelling thoughts in there, once you get past all the rage.
Nov 9, '04
he/she may be a bigot, but he/she has some good points...i know some who think we should have let the South go when they seceded -- it would have saved us a ton of grief.
Nov 9, '04
This is much the same, but with even more rage and without capital letters:
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/bos/47780164.html
Nov 9, '04
Gordie, you have a problem with facts?
3:39 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
Turns out the red-staters want a divorce, too:
Unfortunately, Blue Oregon wasn't included. We're part of the vastly expanded dixie!
Interestingly, here's the author's definition of the two Americas:
("Is predominantly white..." You think he shows his hand in this analysis, or is it just me?)
3:45 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Ohio have been clamoring for inclusion among the expelled on Daily Kos.
4:38 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Ohio have been clamoring for inclusion among the expelled on Daily Kos.
Well they shoulda thought of that before they swung red! Jeez. They can stay with the other red states. Teach 'em a lesson. ;-)
As for FTS guy (and he's a guy - most women wouldn't call an entire populous "bitch," lol.): He's not a biggot, he's just pissed. Like Kari said, if you can see past the cursing, he's got some great points. Perhaps he should write a g-rated version for the easily offended.
As for the new "modest proposal:"
Of the states with poverty levels above the national median, all but two (and DC) are red states. There's no way they could make it on their own. It'd be interesting to see what percentage of the GNP comes from red vs. blue states. I'm guessing blue ranks higher. States with more money pay more for the welfare (lowercase "w") of poorer states. They could not survive without our money or our constant check-and-balance to attempt to protect their civil liberties. They just couldn't. One cannot survive on oil and tobacco alone...
They want us out? They think they can make it on their own? Heh, let 'em try. I'd be much happier if I were not ruled by the laws of a second Bush term.
I also think it'd be funny to have to have a passport to go to Las Vegas, but other than that...
OOOh and think of how many ports the blues would control compared to the reds. heheheh. The entire Pacific Coast and every harbor north of the Mason-Dixon... can we say tarrifs? hehehe. Takes a long time to ship stuff to China via the Atlantic. We would also control a majority of the US/Canadian Border. Now... if we can just infiltrate North Dakota (who are still very upset about their lack of tourism and wanting to change their name to simply "Dakota") and they come with us, the only way to Canada from a red state without going through a blue state is Montana... I really think we could get Montana eventaully, too. Then we'd pretty much have a strangle-hold on 'em financially and trade-wise. They obviously haven't thought this through and I'm getting a little too excited about something that's never gonna happen.
So anyway, to sum up - they want out? they want us out? OK. What petition do I sign to make that happen? lol. As the FTS guy pointed out, we wouldn't be turning our backs on what this country was founded on - we'd be going with them.
5:18 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
I hear you, cc, but it's possible they may have been suppressed, at least in Ohio's case. Everybody else is on the train: Pennsylvania can deport Tom Ridge.
5:19 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
Hold the **** up: Delaware and Maryland were SLAVE states? Could have fooled me.
Nov 9, '04
I linked to a related page, actually written just before the election, but looking at the electoral college split, and the geographic patterns. It is from a liberal perspective and it calls for secession. In the article is a proposed map of the new nations of America (no longer united), and the west coast gets to be independent of both the "Homeland States of America" and the northeast. Hawaii's independence is restored too.
My question is this: If we blue states secede, how do we stop Bush from declaring holy war against us and nuking us to hell?
The article I'm talking about is at:
http://www.irregulartimes.com/secedenow.html
6:12 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
How about a constitutional amendment in Oregon that directs the Governor to secede and negotiate the terms of secession with the United States government? And if we passed successful initiatives in Oregon and Washington, we could have a contiguous land mass that could easily join British Columbia. Canadians are nice, I bet they'd take us.
Nov 9, '04
Walt Kelly's 'Pogo' comic strip, famous for a twist on Comm. Perry which famously came out "We have met the enemy and he is us," was as well known for the strip's muskrat character's plan to get public subsidy for his community, (state?) His plan was: Declare war on the other states, then surrender, then line up for foreign aid and economic development assistance.
<h1></h1>Nov 9, '04
Hi Folks....
Interesting posts. As a libertarian Democrat I have often felt that states need to be more robust in the exercise of independence from federal $$$ and federal regulation.
The numbers are from memory [which isn't much anymore]. Oregon $1,300,000,000 to feds $1,000,000,000 back from feds
Montana $ 1 to feds $ 1.76 back from feds
[sorry, for montana I only know the ratio, not the full numbers]
Given our budget situation perhaps we should consider a ballot measure directing our congressionals to introduce leg that would require no state get more than 105% of its federal tax contribution or less than 95%.
8:40 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
I've thought more about this and realized a few things:
<h1>1 - Ohio can come with us. They make Hondas there. Good industry. I'd also like to take Iowa. The majority of insurance companies (including my employer, so I'm a little biased) are from Iowa, Illinois, Mass., and New Jersey. We would control the life/health/property & casualty insurance markets (one of the largest industries in the country) giving us more bargaining power. Additionally, if we have the market share then we have a much better chance of getting rates to drop. Also excellent farmland in Iowa.</h1> <h1>2 - There is NOTHING that we need that we can't get/make in a blue state (except that pesky oil). To prove the point, I looked at the labels of everything on the table at the restaurant I was at for dinner tonight. Every single thing was made in a blue state - even the salsa, LOL.</h1> <h1>3 - The nuke thing worried me as well. As part of our secession agreement, we should split all nuclear reserves 50/50. After all, we paid for most of 'em. That will level the playing field and make the point moot (or, y'know, start another cold war). The other idea is that we can take the nuclear weapons and they can take the nukular ones. ;-)</h1>As part of that agreement, we'd take the tax revenues and defecit on a per capita basis. Even though we should make Bush take the entire debt with his country, we can use this as an opportunity to prove that we're right and they're wrong and laugh all the way to the bank (and the well-funded schools, etc. etc. etc.). Hey that makes me realized that we'll be taking most of the Ivy League with us, too, won't we. Hehehe. They really shouldn't have pissed us off.
<h1>4 - We should have a two year open emigration/immigration contract so people who are in the wrong country can relocate hassle-free.</h1>OK, now who's gonna start the revolution and where do I sign, send my money, etc.? The more I think about this, the more I like it. I really don't want anything to do with the right-wing freaks anymore. I don't want to lose my rights. I don't want to go deeper and deeper into debt. And if we have a new country, then Bill Clinton can technically be President again - as long as we have a grandfather clause for citizenship. ;-)
10:27 p.m.
Nov 9, '04
I'm going to take a moment here and just let all the incoming people who are Googling "Fuck the South" that most (but perhaps not all) of the comments on this thread are tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek.
Nov 9, '04
Such as that last comment -- perfect example.
<h1></h1>12:21 a.m.
Nov 10, '04
Of course, just when I think all this secession talk is all just morbid joking, here comes somebody who's deadly serious. They've even got a flag.
Also, a legal analysis from Slate.com on the possibilities.
12:24 p.m.
Nov 10, '04
OK, with all of this talk of secession - joking or not - I have a question. Being not-quite-30, I don't remember a time when the country was this divided. History books and reflections in political climate of various times don't really touch on this sort of sentiment as, if it existed, it was obviously fleeting (unless, of course, a war followed, tons of people died, and slaves were freed).
Has there ever been a time since the Civil War where the country was so divided that there was talk of secession? If so, when and why?
Nov 10, '04
http://www.concealedposition.com/index.htm#fuckthesouth
Fuck his inferior education and his bad manners.
Nov 10, '04
No! You mean the guys an idiot? Really? You mean when he wrote that all of the founding fathers were Northerners and that Virginians, Georgians, and Carolinians had nothing to do with it? You mean he doesn't know that Alexander Hamilton, George Clinton (the governor of NY not the rock star) owned slaves? Or that slavery really didn't extend at all west of Kansas and was mildly controversial in that state?
wow. what a screed. i guess folks need to unload their frustration somehow.
cc: try the 1892 and 1896 elections, they were pretty darn divisive.
also pick up Fiorina's new book which says we actually aren't that divided at all!
Nov 17, '04
The person that wrote and operates "Fuckthesouth" appears to be Nick Jehlen according to Rick Bradley. Curiously, the info about Nick is no longer on Rick's site but it can't escape the long arm of Google's cache. Nick used a pseudonym on his whois.com registration.
Registrar: DOTSTER Domain Name: FUCKTHESOUTH.COM Created on: 04-NOV-04 Expires on: 04-NOV-05 Last Updated on: 10-NOV-04
Administrative, Technical Contact: Swift, Jonathan [email protected] 1 Main St Madison, WI 53703 US 608-257-4131 (Now disconnected, I wonder why...?)
Ironically, Nick lives in Wisconsin which Kerry won by the slimmest of margins at just 11,813 votes (1,488,935 to 1,477,122).
It also appears that many of Nick's fellow state citizens don't share his ideology in Dane County where he rents an apartment in the Madison Technical College District. He undoubtedly voted for Kerry who won handily by 181,032 to 90,356 which may have led to his misguided and "misunderestimation" of the nation's shift to conservatism.
Worthy of note is that in 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state to be accepted into the Union, well after the majority of southern states entrance.
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