Notice of Term

I’ve thought about it and thought about it and I’ve reached a decision. The Earth-Bound Misfit has come up with an appropriate (if snarky) moniker for today’s Republican Party -- The Confederate Party. Instead of twisting myself in knots when trying to explain the Southern wing of the Republican Party, in the future -- where appropriate -- I’ll just refer to it as The Confederate Party.

Make no mistake about it, I am a Southerner. I love this place (well, except during June, July and August. And most of May and September.) But the South never got over the Civil War and -- to be honest -- doesn’t want to in far too many places. You can twist it anyway you want, but the Old South could never have existed without slavery. There are good people down here. A lot of them. But the disease of slavery and bigotry has infected the South for generations. It infects us all. I have no idea when or how it will ever end.

Abraham Lincoln -- a Republican -- freed the slaves. For generations, Southerners were “yellow-dog Democrats”. Blacks were Republicans -- if they were allowed to vote at all. Lyndon Johnson -- a Democrat -- made sure blacks were allowed to vote. Blacks became Democrats and whites became Republicans. At least down here. No matter how complicated it gets, it’s just that simple.

It all gelled into Nixon’s Southern Strategy. That’s just the cold, hard fact. I find the term, Party of the Confederacy, appropriate.

Don Brown
October 14, 2010