Thank you Bean. I've read all of your links and what you've written. I stand by my opinion.....I think your statement about Reagan's civil rights record being mean-spirited and bigoted is laughable. He was no more a racist or bigot than Obama is a terrorist. Both are whacky statements made by members of the Great Left Wing.

RR vs FDR

It's 1980 vs 1932

I'm 4 Obama

Beanster, this is your last chance. You said, "...as long as GOPers persist in the quest to cannonize Reagan while whitewashing his mean-spirited and downright bigoted civil rights record."

I challenged you to provide specific examples. Here's what you've come up with: 1) He kicked off his campaign in Neshoba County, MS, 2) He proclaimed support for states' rights, 3) You inserted a link to some things Jesse Helms said, 4) You yapped about George Wallace and things he said, 5) You claimed you were giving me a history lesson while I merely ranted "Reality according to Tin Cup," 6) You implied I was merely hiding behind anonymity and 7) The Gipper put Nelson Mandela on a terror watch list.

If Reagan's civil rights record was truly mean-spirited and downright bigoted, surely you can do better than that, Bean!

In time for his 90th birthday
He was put there by The Gipper.

(link...)

Republican Platform
(link...)

RONALD REAGAN
believed that people were basically good, and had the right to be free.
He believed that bigotry and prejudice were the worst things a person could be guilty of.
He believed in the Golden Rule and in the power of prayer.
He believed that America was not just a place in the world, but the hope of the world.
As Ronald Wilson Reagan goes his way, we are left with a joyful hope he shared.
May God bless Ronald Reagan and the country he loved.
________
President George W. Bush
Funeral Service for Former President Ronald Wilson Reagan
Washington National Cathedral
Washington, D.C.

Beanie, I like how you threw the mean spirited bigoted civil rights record at Reagan then used Jesse Helms and George Wallace to back up your claims. Nice. Again, where do they teach that?

It's true that the concept of "state's rights" was severely tarnished by it's use as justification for some states' intransigence on federal civil rights legislation. But is the concept due for a re-thinking? The reaction, and the resulting reflexive opposition to the concept of state's rights is the reason the federal government can essentially ignore the California medical marijuana referendum and Oregon's decision to allow assisted suicide, is it not?

Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Just sayin'.

Boston was very racially polarized at the time. I'm surprized it was to that extent.

____________________________________
"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse."

I looked up Governor Wallace's '63 Inaugural address.

I quote

"From this Cradle of the Confederacy,this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland..In the name of the greatest people that ever trod the earth,I draw the line in the dust & toss the gauntlett before the feet of tyranny & I say Segregation today,Segregation tomorrow,Segregation forever.

We can no longer hide our head in the sand & tell ourselves that the ideology of our free fathers is not being attacked and is not being threatened by an other idea.

It's logic..is irresponsible as it runs the full gamut of human desires..including the theory that everyone has voting rights.

The International racism of the liberals seek to persecute the International white minority to the whim of the International colored majority.

If We amalgamate into the one unit..We become a mongrel unit."

I think folks that voted for Wallace for president in '64,'68,'72 & '76 got the message.

FYI:Wallace got creamed in the south by Carter in the '76 primaries but won Boston,Mass.

Appreciate you clearing up the question about my being a racist, beanster. BTW, "he is actually sometimes quoted......?????" Who actually sometimes quoted Reagan as vowing not to be "out-n******d?" When did he say that? Do you have any of those quotes? If it actually sometimes happened, that means he was quoted more than once. If that's the case, you should have little difficulty finding such a quote and the person quoting.

I think you're full of it, beaner. I think you're full of yourself, too. Where do you get off re-writing history and deciding who's a racist? Next thing you know, Obama will be preaching to us about patriotism.............

Does that make me a racist? Were all "George Wallace inclined voters" racists?

Probably.

"States' rights" was code for resisting the federal government's attempts at integration, and Wallace was one of the last open practitioners of states' rights. He didn't talk about race early in his career, but after losing to an arch-segregationist in 1958, he vowed never to be "out segged" again (he is actually sometimes quoted as saying he'd not be "out-niggered"). His campaign literature appealed openly to racism, showing pictures of little white girls surrounded by menacing black guys to illustrate the dangers of race-mixing.

Near the end of his life, he renounced his earlier "states' rights" views and publicly apologized to black Alabamians for his anti-integration, anti-black policies, pronouncements and platforms -- even visited a black church to ask for forgiveness.

Why would he have felt the need to beg forgiveness for being a racist?
Wallace stands convicted by his own confession.

I love the South, including the deep South. I generally favor states' rights. I will not vote for Obama although I consider myself an "undecided voter" (McCain, Barr or not vote at all). Does that make me a racist? Were all "George Wallace inclined voters" racists?

So you can't support states' rights or kick off a campaign in the deep south without being called a racist?

Not when you kick off a campaign in the deep south with a speech about state's rights. The appearance was suggested to the Reagan campaign by the Mississippi GOP, who said it would win over "George Wallace inclined voters."

So you can't support states' rights or kick off a campaign in the deep south without being called a racist? Now who's being closed minded Beaner?

Why not damn the south. How bout g** damn the whole US of A?!!

Hey Beanie, some examples of Reagan's mean-spirited and bigoted civil rights record? Or, this time, you can say something else stupid about Reagan and attach an article by Strom Thurmond when he was a dixiecrat in the 40's. (Where do they teach that ploy?)

I think we all know where this is headed (even us stupid, redneck, embarrassing hillbillies get it). If you won't vote for Obama, by definition, you are a racist and you are a close minded.............

This is a great year to vote for a third party or independent candidate in Tennessee.
Try the Green Party (link...) or the libertarian Party (link...) or Ralph Nader or even the Constitution Party. One of my favorites is the Personal Choice Party. A proportional representative system is a more democratic form of government. We could make every vote count and truly represent the people.

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." - H.L. Mencken

Larry Van Guilder

I had been assuming that McCain would hold onto TN's electoral votes, but I'm really having second thoughts. There are four big reasons.

1) Obama has real, infectious optimism. I think that was a lot of the appeal of Reagan and the whole Morning in America thing. Americans like genuine optimism.

2) McCain is a truly bad candidate. He looks and is old, short, weak and confused. He contradicts himself, and his temper gets him to say stupid things.

3) Economy and gas prices. (My personal feeling is that the unanswered "Gore will bring $4/gal gas" ad was what sunk him in his home state.) Change is called for. Obama's it.

4) The war. It was a mistake and people know that.

Other things (Barr pealing off the far right, effective organization, wide-based Internet fund raising, supreme court over-reaching) will contribute to what could be a landslide Dem victory this fall with Barack leading the parade.

Wow! I can only hope that my vote cancels yours out metulj. You sound like a RECENT graduate of our university system and a certain Obama supporter. Your father-in-law doesn't need to "crack a book in years" to know the evils of Marxism. I'll bet he works and (over) pays taxes........

Cuba....a fine example of a surviving Marxist state.

I half expected the old "Obama is a Marxist" line myself.

There are a lot of us dumbass rednecks ready for a change....not quite ready for Obama's brand of socialism though. I guess this makes me part of the unlearned and uneducated crowd, too. It takes a village........idiot.

Because he's dead?

Well, the truth is he's not alone.

Anyways...how bout an over/under on Utah?

what have the republican'ts done in the last 8 years to make any sane person vote for more of the same? remember these dumbass redneck unlearned uneducated fox news watchimg fools voted for mike huckabee in the republican't primary. these morons enjoy making sure that tennessee is the laughing stock of the good ole usa. these fools would vote for w .............. a third time given the opportunity. they still believe invading iraq was a good idea. they think $4/gallon gasoline is a good thing. they believe the oil companies deserve the money they are stealing. how dumb are these fools?

An example of a typical TN voter: I once worked with a man whose wife required alot of medicine and medical attention. He was also a union worker. He is a republican and voted for Bush in 2008, in spite of Bush's big business policy skyrocketing our medical costs and republicans stepping on the working class and unions. In 2008, we have the choice to help fix this nation, or continue our current path; $4/gal for gas, and endless war, and struggling economy. If Tennesseans are dumb enough to give G.W.'s policies another 4 years in the White House then they deserve what they get. Is it too much to ask people to think?

Yep. Anyone who slips up and speaks the truth in an election year should apologize immediately.

Bullshit like this:

Monday, Bredesen caught up to the Obama bandwagon, endorsing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, saying he would be a “great, great president.”

But Bredesen said Tennessee “probably is not” in play for Obama versus Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the presumptive Republican nominee, in November’s general election.

...doesn't help. Leadership!!!

But it's vintage Bredesen. He told the troops the same thing about Kerry in 2004.

____________________________

"It's gettin' so a businessman can't expect no return from a fixed fight. Now, if you can't trust a fix, what can you trust?"

Good to see that KnoxViewers (75% at this counting anyway) aren't completely delusional. Probably the best thing you can do to help Obama from Tennessee is to give him money. Your vote isn't going to do much this time around (but it's still worth being counted)